next year's baseball team

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oregontrack
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next year's baseball team

Post by oregontrack »

the baseball team, unlike the softball team, is kind of hard to forecast because of the upcoming draft and so many of these kids can play multiple positions... and it's kind of hard to get any tangible information from the program. mark karaviotis, anyone?

C: this is the only position i think we can safely pencil in. tim susnara (.268/2/24) is the man. slade heggen is a capable back-up.

1B: this was phil craig-st.louis' spot, but he forgot how to hit this year and he's graduating anyway. kyle kasser (.266/0/21) was inserted once league play began when we were batting, like, .205 as a team, and kasser kept his spot in the line-up the rest of the way. ideally, you want your 1B to have a little power (kasser has none) but beggars can't be choosers. if an incoming freshman with a nice bat comes through next year i think he could fit here and we'd find another spot for kasser, but for now...

2B: daniel patzlaff started the year here, kasser played here a bit, and carson breshears finished the year. breshears was inserted when patzlaff took over 3B for matt kroon. breshears is a nifty fielder with a knack for getting on base (.378) despite a dismal BA (.205), and he was only a freshman, so he could get better with the bat in his hand. i think he'll get the nod.

SS: million dollar question: did mark karaviotis die? he played in one series, and was never heard from again. chip kelly in his prime couldn't keep a lid on an injury situation quite like this. travis moniot (.168/5/18) started all year instead. he showed a bit of pop but was horribly inconsistent swinging the bat. good defender, though. if karaviotis is back @ 100% he could play third, short, second...

3B: mark karaviotis was originally scheduled to start at 3B, actually, with moniot winning the SS job outright during practice. w/ karaviotis out, kroon took over, then lost his job mid-year to patzlaff. so... who the hell knows? karaviotis, kroon, and patzlaff are all back next year, in theory. if karaviotis is healthy, you gotta figure he'll get the job, right? Right?

OF: the outfield is scary because while we return all three starters, all three are draft eligible and i just don't know how some of them grade out. lf aj balta (.219/9/47) hit for a terrible average all year but he was among the league leaders in HR and RBIs. cf austin grebeck (.250/1/15) had an OBP of nearly .400 at the top of the order, and is a great defensive center fielder. and jake bennett (.312/0/25) more or less saved the season (insomuch that it was saved) when he was inserted into the line-up mid-season. he was our only player over .300.

SP: i expect irvin and krook to both go pro. that leaves david peterson (4-5, 3.63) as the friday starter, and a bunch of question marks after him. matt mercer (2-2, 4.28) made five starts at the end of the season, once krook was deemed a lost cause. he pitched well at two difficult venues, getting wins in corvallis and tempe. a little inconsistent in his other starts. he was only a freshman. isaiah carranza (2-1, 3.61) and kyle robeniol (3-2, 7.09) combined to make 6 mid-week starts. carranza was the better of the two, and settled into a consistent bullpen role late in the season. honestly though, we need a good freshman starter from the incoming class.

RP: again, hard to say w/ nogo leaving. brac warren settled into the 8th-inning role, but he doesn't have the stuff of sherfy, reed, clev, nogo... so i don't know if he naturally progresses to closer. carranza has good stuff, but not nearly as experienced. cooper stiles will be a senior, assuming he doesn't get drafted and bolts (submariners are weird). of the freshmen, i thought cole stringer had the best stuff, but he got tagged a time or two. we'll see how this develops; jimmy sherfy came out of absolutely nowhere to win the job in 2012. it can happen.

we'll know more when the draft happens and we see where our recruits are taken... we'll need pitching help. we return a lot of everyday players, but it's up to you to determine if that's a good thing or not.
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UOducksTK1
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Re: next year's baseball team

Post by UOducksTK1 »

On paper, this is probably the least exciting team we've seen.

Do Not Fear. Isaiah 41:13
oregontrack
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Re: next year's baseball team

Post by oregontrack »

at this point i really can't disagree. i like this year's freshman class, but they need to perform better next year. we really need a strong incoming class, too. i know kenyon yovan isn't expected to come to school (expected top five rounder) and we'll be sweating out a few others as per usual, but the guys that do come need to be good right away.
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uosportsguy01
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Re: next year's baseball team

Post by uosportsguy01 »

I noticed where Serrano decided not to coach on USA Collegiate team and instead wanted to focus on recruiting this summer for Tennessee. Maybe our coaches should do the same.

As to Karaviotis, heard he was redshirted this year due to a shoulder injury.
uosportsguy01
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Re: next year's baseball team

Post by uosportsguy01 »

And Checkett's with a shitty facility and little recruiting money, just got UC Santa Barbara into a super regional. Come on man!
oregontrack
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Re: next year's baseball team

Post by oregontrack »

checketts and UCSB to the CWS after knocking off #2 overall seed Louisville with a walk-off grand slam.

arizona to the CWS after taking the first two games against mississippi state.

for those keeping score at home, we took the series with both ucsb and arizona.
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uosportsguy01
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Re: next year's baseball team

Post by uosportsguy01 »

I've been vocal about bringing Checketts back to Oregon as he can flat out coach, but with getting Gaucho's to Omaha, gotta think he'll be wanted by numerous top programs now and won't be around in a year. A young, up and coming coach at a mid level program and getting them to college WS is a big plus on the resume. The other thing about him I really like is the health of his pitchers. While I haven't studied it in depth, a cursory look tells me none of his top pitchers have had to have TJ surgery. We've seemed to had an issue with that. Irvin, Krook, Karracker, Reta have all gone under the knife recently. And yes, along with being the head coach, Checketts is also the pitching coach at UCSB, so it's a great reflection on him.
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