Oregon @ Portland (Ducks win series 1-0)

[BillM]

The million dollar question . . . our weekend pitchers kept us in a lot of games until our bullpen gave some of them away. We'll have Christian Johnson and then ????? Maybe Alex Keudell????

June 6-8 is going to be interesting to see who gets drafted and how high. Then I think we have to wait until August to see who goes among our juniors and high school recruits.

Brando Tessar (Fr)
Scott McGough (Jr)
Tyler Anderson (Jr)
Kellen Moen (Sr) - gone
Alex Keudell (Jr)
Jeff Gold (RS-Fr)
Porter Clayton (Fr) - mission?
Madison Boer (Jr.)
Joey Housey (RS-So) - hurt?
Jimmie Sherfy (Fr)
Brandon Brennan (Fr)
Christian Jones (So)
Ryon Healy (Fr) - needs to be in the lineup

[BillM]

Freshmen coming in next year - but may be drafted and sign a pro contract

Billy Flamion (OF/LHP) #4 in CA
Scott Heineman (RHP/INF) teammate of Ryon Healy
Sam Johnson (RHP) top ranked player in Oregon
Joe Mello (SS) #56 in CA
Spencer O'Neil (OF) #3 in WA
Jake Reed (RHP/INF) #35 in CA
Tommy Thorpe (LHP) All-State First Team in WA
Mitchell Walding (SS)
Thomas Walker (3B) CIF-South Second Team
Cole Wiper (RHP) #2 in WA

[cordy02c]

tyler is gone that's a foregone conclusion with him being a first round pick

[oregontrack]

I'm a little afraid about losing a huge chunk of our pitching staff for next season though. Will we be able make a postseason push next season?

I think so, I think our offense will be a lot better. And one thing I've come to learn about a Horton-led program is that it will have standout starting pitching. No one knew how we were going to replace Erik Stavert after the '09 season, and Anderson/LaTempa/Thornton all became legitimate aces. We lost LaTempa/Thornton off last year's team, and Boer stepped right in (and pitched better than they did) and Kuedell/Jones each took giant leaps forward.

I think we'll have Jones, Kuedell, and Clayton going Friday-Saturday-Sundays next year. I think Jones becomes as shut down ace, and I think Kuedell comes back and becomes a solid Boer-esqu Saturday guy. Clayton might have the best stuff on the team, if Jones doesn't. McGough, Tessar, Brennan, Gold, Housey, Johnson etc......... I think the bullpen will be better, too.

Also one thing to keep in mind is that baseball is a game of averages, and things tend to even out. We haven't met a close game we couldn't blow in the end. Those things don't tend to carry over from season-to-season. There's a lot of luck involved in baseball, and we've taken our lumps this year.

[greenyellow]

I'm a little afraid about losing a huge chunk of our pitching staff for next season though. Will we be able make a postseason push next season?

I think so, I think our offense will be a lot better. And one thing I've come to learn about a Horton-led program is that it will have standout starting pitching. No one knew how we were going to replace Erik Stavert after the '09 season, and Anderson/LaTempa/Thornton all became legitimate aces. We lost LaTempa/Thornton off last year's team, and Boer stepped right in (and pitched better than they did) and Kuedell/Jones each took giant leaps forward.

I think we'll have Jones, Kuedell, and Clayton going Friday-Saturday-Sundays next year. I think Jones becomes as shut down ace, and I think Kuedell comes back and becomes a solid Boer-esqu Saturday guy. Clayton might have the best stuff on the team, if Jones doesn't. McGough, Tessar, Brennan, Gold, Housey, Johnson etc......... I think the bullpen will be better, too.

Also one thing to keep in mind is that baseball is a game of averages, and things tend to even out. We haven't met a close game we couldn't blow in the end. Those things don't tend to carry over from season-to-season. There's a lot of luck involved in baseball, and we've taken our lumps this year.

I think that Clayton may leave to go on his mission so he's 50-50 in my book in returning.

[oregontrack]

I talked about that in the Oregon State thread, I think. Mormons don't tend to go on their missions until they're 19, right?

[greenyellow]

I talked about that in the Oregon State thread, I think. Mormons don't tend to go on their missions until they're 19, right?

That's usually true but I think that they can also go at 18 if requested.