2005 Aggie Baseball Season Preview
Friday February 4th-Thursday February 10th
TAMABINPO's Long Anticipated 2005 Aggie Baseball Preview
Excitement-wise, 2004 is going to be tough to top. Our first win of the season was an Opening Day no-hitter by a transfer, who would go onto be a supplimental first round draft pick, and our last win of the season was against the defending National Champions in a win-or-go-home Regional game thanks to a game winning grand-slam. There was a heckuva lot that went on in-between all that (and a little bit after) well worth the price of admission (in all, 64 games worth of admission).
I'll be the first to admit that I am a little bit surprised at how well we did last year but all that does is build up expectations for this year....which I would say has happened. Even though we lost our top power hitter (Cory Patton) and an All-Big XII starting pitcher (Zach Jackson) I think we are a better overall team this year from top to bottom. We continue to have some excellent JUCO guys stepping into a Maroon and White jersey and we have some solid freshman stepping foot onto campus as well.
To help you get to where you want to go a bit more easily, here is a table of contents for your navigational convienience (this will be added to as the week goes on):
Prerequisites
Roster
Returning Lettermen Stats
Summer League Recap
2004 Draft: Who Was Picked
Old Ags In the Pros
Breakdown By Position
Schedule/Opponents
Prerequisites
Sure sounds an aweful lot like school doesn't it? Well, don't worry because these prereqs aren't painful to bear....I don't think.The first source that I want to point you to is Aggiebaseball.net. Scott does an incredible job over there discussing Aggie baseball with a bit more of an insider's view that I do here. I learned a lot about this upcoming season from his site so I wanted to be sure to thank him. He started his season preview a few weeks ago so if you missed any of that make sure that you catch up. He's also got a lot of insight to our next crop of recruits (click on his 2004 Archive).
For those who want more info on the 2004 season, then I'll point you to my 2004 Season Preview and to my 2004 Aggie baseball archives. Don't try to memorize any of it, you'll hurt yourself, just look it over. Lots of good stuff in there.
Over the last month and a half I put together a couple of Aggie baseball related articles here at TAMABINPO that I think are important for you to read before you read next Wednesday's section on pitchers. That section has been somewhat written with the assumption that you've read the other stuff so you might want to check out "2004 Aggie Pitching Stats: Game-by-Game & Individual Game Logs" and "The Curious Case of Rob Ray" if you haven't already.
Finally, I just want to let you know that there is some action going on this weekend that you might be interested in. The biggest series will be when #6 Stanford (3-0) travels to play the defending National Champs, #3 Cal State Fullerton (0-0), for a 3-game series. This is going to be a great matchup between two big West coast programs. If you want to listen to any of those games, I should warn you that Stanford's audio broadcast is kind of difficult to find so here's a link that should get you there quicker than following their maze through the Stanford website. If the game isn't on KZSU-1 then try KZSU-2.
In the Big XII, #4 texas starts their season tonight as they travel to San Diego State to take on Tony Gwynn's Aztecs. This will be our first look at the longhorns minus some major contributors from seasons past. Also, Kansas will be in Hawaii taking on Hawaii-Hilo for about a week and Oklahoma State gets a head start on us when Arkansas-Pine Bluff travels into Stillwater.
2005 Roster
Alphabetical: Numerical:Oops....sorry about listing weight/height instead of the typical height/weight. I have confidence that you can adjust quickly and avoid any major confusion.
Player Pos Cl-L B/T Wt/Ht # Player
============================================ ====================
16. Baldwin, Andrew OF Sr-1 R/R 200/6.1 1. Dalton, Parker
13. Bartek, Travis OF Sr-1 R/R 190/6.0 2. Beunger, Jess
4. Boggs, Austin 3B So-1 B/R 185/5.10 3. Stouffer, Blake
2. Buenger, Jess INF Fr-H B/R 175/5.10 4. Boggs, Austin
40. Carpenter, Will INF Fr-R R/R 195/6.1 5. Pennington, Cliff
38. Chambless, Jordan RHP Fr-H R/R 200/6.1 6. Creps, Austin
15. Cline, Jon Michael LHP Sr-1 L/L 180/6.0 8. Harughty, Lee
23. Corgan, Chance P/INF Fr-H R/R 170/6.2 9. Hill, Ryan
6. Creps, Austin RHP So-1 R/R 180/6.2 10. Turner, Clayton
1. Dalton, Parker INF So-1 R/R 180/6.0 11. Meyer, Jason
27. Donaldson, Dan LHP Jr-2 L/L 200/6.4 12. Mavroulis, Coby
39. Frame, Doug LHP So-1 L/L 225/6.0 13. Bartek, Travis
37. Gerald, Evan RHP Fr-H R/R 220/6.3 14. Ray, Robert
24. Glover, Brandon OF Fr-H L/L 190/6.1 15. Cline, Jon Michael
8. Harughty, Lee C Fr-R R/R 180/6.0 16. Baldwin, Andrew
42. Hering, Hart RHP Jr-T R/R 235/6.3 17. Infante, John
9. Hill, Ryan INF Jr-T R/R 210/6.3 18. Nicholson, Kyle
33. Hohman, Tyler INF Fr-H R/R 190/6.0 20. Rampy, Blake
44. Howes, Andy INF So-T R/R 220/6.5 21. Whelan, Kevin
17. Infante, John OF Jr-2 R/R 190/6.0 22. Jones, Chris
22. Jones, Chris P/OF Fr-H R/R 230/6.2 23. Corgan, Chance
34. Marlatt, Kyle RHP Sr-1 R/R 215/6.3 24. Glover, Brandon
12. Mavroulis, Coby 1B/OF Jr-2 L/L 205/6.3 27. Donaldson, Dan
11. Meyer, Jason LHP So-1 L/L 180/5.10 28. Pouk, Justin
18. Nicholson, Kyle P/INF So-1 R/R 185/5.11 29. Stinson, Craig
36. Paulson, Erik RHP Fr-H R/R 205/6.1 30. Soeder, Tyler
5. Pennington, Cliff SS/P Jr-2 B/R 175/5.11 31. Stein, Keith
28. Pouk, Justin C Sr-2 R/R 200/6.1 32. Sebek, Todd
20. Rampy, Blake RHP So-1 R/R 170/6.2 33. Hohman, Tyler
14. Ray, Robert RHP Jr-2 R/R 190/6.4 34. Marlatt, Kyle
32. Sebek, Todd INF/OF Fr-H R/R 175/6.0 35. Sokol, Justin
30. Soeder, Tyler LHP So-S L/L 160/6.1 36. Paulson, Erik
35. Sokol, Justin RHP Jr-T R/R 215/6.5 37. Gerald, Evan
31. Stein, Keith INF/OF Fr-H L/R 165/5.10 38. Chambless, Jordan
29. Stinson, Craig C Jr-2 R/R 205/6.3 39. Frame, Doug
3. Stouffer, Blake INF Fr-H R/R 175/6.0 40. Carpenter, Will
10. Turner, Clayton RHP Sr-T R/R 200/5.10 42. Hering, Hart
21. Whelan, Kevin P/C Jr-2 R/R 195/6.0 44. Howes, Andy
Returning Lettermen (19): A.Baldwin (Bryan, Tx; Bryan/San Jacinto JC), T.Bartek (Sparks,
NV; Reed/Feather River JC), A.Boggs (Pflugerville, Tx; Connally), J.Cline (Palestine,
Tx; Elkhart/Tyler JC), A.Creps (Spring, Tx; Klein), P.Dalton (Houston, Tx; Memorial),
D.Donaldson (Houston, Tx; Memorial), D.Frame (Tomball, Tx; Tomball), J.Infante
(Coppell, Tx; Coppell), K.Marlatt (Enid, OK; Enid/San Jacinto JC), C.Mavroulis
(Abilene, Tx; Cooper), J.Meyer(Abilene, Tx; Cooper), K.Nicholson (College
Station, Tx; A&M Consolidated), C.Pennington (Corpus Christi, Tx; Carroll),
J.Pouk Streator, IL (Streator/Wabash Valley JC), B.Rampy (Tomball, Tx; Tomball),
R.Ray (Lufkin, Tx; Lufkin), C.Stinson (Cranston, RI; Bishop Hendricken),
K.Whelan (Kerrville, Tx; Tivy)
Transfers (4): L.Harvell (Richmond CC), H.Hering (Weatherford JC), R.Hill (St.Mary's U),
A.Howes (Chandler-Gilbert CC), J.Sokol (Iowa Central CC), C.Turner (Northwestern State)
Freshmen (13): J.Buenger (Bellville, Tx; Bellville), W.Carpenter (Sugar Land, Tx; Elkins),
J.Chambless (Corpus Christi, Tx; Calallen), C.Corgan (Plano, Tx; Forney), E.Gerald
(Amarillo, Tx; Tascosa), B.Glover (McKinney, Tx; McKinney), L.Harughty+ (Spring, Tx;
Spring), T.Hohman (Tomball, Tx; Tomball), C.Jones (San Clemente, Ca; Mission Viejo),
E.Paulson (Midland, Tx; Midland), T.Sebek (Kerrville, Tx; Tivy), K.Stein (College
Station, Tx; A&M Consolidated), B.Stouffer (San Antonio, TX; Alamo Heights)
Players Lost (6): M.Alexander*, W.Blackmon+, B.J. Boening, B.Bowe*, S.Holdren (UT-SA),
B.Jackson, Z.Jackson$, J.Moore*, C.Patton*$, J.Ruggiano*$, E.Scheidt*,
E.Schindewolf*$, B.Steinocher+ (SFA), T.Stroud, J.Turner+
+Redshirt, *Graduated Senior, $DraftedA few other small notes. 1.) There is no "i" in the spelling of Jordan Chambless. 2.) Parker Dalton is not the same guy as Dalton Parker or even Parker Daulton. 3.) There is only 1 "r" in Hart Hering's last name. Just wanted to throw that out there before confusion ensued.
Returning Lettermen Stats
Returning Aggie Lettermen (ranked by ABs from 2004):
Hitters:
Player Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS
===================================================================
A.Boggs 2004 64-64 260 42 86 52 5 19 29/18 5/5 .331 .830
C.Pennington 2004 63-63 257 60 87 35 5 17 18/33 12/15 .339 .865
2003 63-61 241 54 82 41 2 18 27/22 12/14 .340 .832
C.Mavroulis 2004 63-59 234 51 75 47 3 19 36/24 5/7 .321 .826
2003 11-6 26 5 6 1 0 2 4/4 0/1 .231 .718
2002 45-40 139 22 35 19 0 9 33/23 3/5 .252 .618
J.Infante 2004 57-56 204 39 56 32 3 16 28/18 11/17 .275 .739
2003 44-16 69 15 17 9 3 10 11/7 1/3 .246 .803
C.Stinson 2004 56-55 195 29 56 37 3 16 33/25 0/1 .287 .789
2003 22-18 62 10 17 8 1 2 13/9 2/3 .274 .714
A.Baldwin 2004 40-39 135 22 38 19 2 8 16/15 2/5 .281 .714
T.Bartek 2004 41-31 115 26 33 18 1 8 17/12 4/5 .287 .740
K.Whelan 2004 16-9 43 9 10 4 1 2 7/3 0/0 .233 .618
2003 26-13 49 4 12 6 1 3 10/4 2/3 .245 .675
P.Dalton 2004 5-2 8 4 3 2 0 2 2/2 0/0 .375 1.170
2003 16-2 13 6 3 1 0 2 3/0 0/0 .231 .718
J.Pouk 2004 <-----------------Redshirted-------------------->
2003 49-47 160 33 52 27 5 15 22/14 3/5 .325 .920
2002 47-46 158 26 53 24 1 10 24/7 2/6 .335 .783
Note: Mavroulis was granted an injury red shirt for his 2003 season as
were Dalton & Pouk for their 2004 seasons
Pitchers: See Pitchers section of Position Breakdown SectionSummer League Recap
Kevin Whelan, Robert Ray & Cliff Pennington
The Aggies' Cape Cod All-StarsThis past summer 22 of our returning players went off to played ball somewhere (two ended up not playing--Frame and Meyer). This huge number (we only had 13 play the previous summer) is due largely in part to the Texas Collegiate League's inaugural season which helped keep players close to home in a competitive league. I'll give you a list of the players and where they went then hit ya up with the numbers....
Player Pos League Team
======================================================================
Andrew Baldwin OF Northwoods Wisconsin Woodchucks
Austin Boggs 3B Texas Collegiate McKinney Marshalls
Jon Michael Cline LHP Texas Collegiate Mineral Wells Steam
Austin Creps RHP Texas Collegiate McKinney Marshalls
Parker Dalton 2B/SS Texas Collegiate Mineral Wells Steam
Dan Donaldson LHP Cape Cod Bourne Braves
Doug Frame LHP Texas Collegiate Graham Roughnecks
Lee Harughty C Texas Collegiate Mineral Wells Steam
Hart Hering RHP Texas Collegiate Weatherford Wranglers
Ryan Hill INF Texas Collegiate Highland Park Blue Sox
Andy Howes 1B Texas Collegiate Highland Park Blue Sox
John Infante OF Texas Collegiate Coppell Copperheads
Kyle Marlatt RHP Cape Cod Cotuit Kettleers
Coby Mavroulis 1B Cape Cod Harwich Mariners
Jason Meyer LHP Texas Collegiate Mineral Wells Steam
Kyle Nicholson RHP Texas Collegiate McKinney Marshalls
Cliff Pennington SS/RHP Cape Cod Falmouth Commodores
Blake Rampy RHP Texas Collegiate Colleyville Lone Stars
Robert Ray RHP Cape Cod Wareham Gatemen
Tyler Soeder LHP Texas Collegiate Graham Roughnecks
Craig Stinson C/1B NONE Team USA Trials
Cape Cod Bourne Braves
Kevin Whelan RHP Cape Cod Wareham GatemenWe had 7 players catch on up in the Cape Cod league, historically the most prestigious summer league in the land. Pennington, Whelan & Ray were all named to the Cape Cod All-Star team (and were Baseball America's #9, 10, & 11 Cape Cod Prospects, respectively) while Pennington & Whelan were also named to Baseball America's Summer All-American team and were awarded the league's Russ Ford Outstanding Relief Pitcher honor (to Whelan) and the Manny Robellow Award ("10th Player" to Pennington).
In the Texas Collegiate League Parker Dalton, Jon Michael Cline, Austin Boggs, & Ryan Hill were named to their respective All-Star rosters for the July 12th game (in which Boggs HRed) while Austin Creps, Blake Rampy, Hart Hering, Boggs & Hill were named to play in the league's Futures Game at the end of the season, which was a showcase for top talent.
Aggies in 2004 Summer Leagues
Pitchers:
Player League G GS W-L S IP H R ER HR SO/BB ERA
==============================================================
D.Donaldson CapeCod 12 0 1-0-2 23.0 22 6 5 3 14/8 1.96
R.Ray CapeCod 15 2 2-1-0 32.2 21 10 7 1 57/18 1.93
K.Whelan CapeCod 18 0 2-2-11 21.2 9 4 1 0 31/6 0.42
C.Mavroulis CapeCod 1 0 0-0-0 1.0 0 0 0 0 2/0 0.00
K.Marlatt CapeCod 9 8 2-3-0 43.0 53 30 23 4 25/11 4.81
C.Pennington CapeCod 1 0 0-0-1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1/0 0.00
B.Rampy TCL 11 0 0-0-0 14.0 10 2 2 0 13/14 1.29
A.Creps TCL 12 2 3-0-1 21.1 20 4 4 0 24/5 1.69
H.Hering TCL 17 1 1-1-6 28.1 21 7 5 0 33/8 1.91
T.Soeder TCL 15 3 3-2-0 48.1 46 22 17 5 25/20 3.17
J.Cline TCL 8 7 1-5-0 40.2 46 25 19 2 30/15 4.20
K.Nicholson TCL 4 1 1-0-0 12.2 15 7 6 0 17/9 4.26
Note: The Cape Cod league ERA was 2.74
Hitters:
Player Year League G AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB BA OPS
======================================================================
C.Stinson 2004 Cape Cod 19 62 2 11 5 1 4 17/6 .177 .575
C.Pennington 2004 Cape Cod 39 148 26 41 20 3 12 23/21 .277 .773 21 SB
K.Whelan 2004 Cape Cod 22 14 2 1 2 0 1 7/3 .071 .378
C.Mavroulis 2004 Cape Cod 22 63 4 10 3 0 2 13/4 .159 .399
D.Donaldson 2004 Cape Cod 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 .000 .000
A.Baldwin 2004 Northwoods 29 90 5 24 7 1 7 13/4 .267 .691
K.Nicholson 2004 TexasColl 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 0/0 .500 1.50
R.Hill 2004 TexasColl 51 192 29 61 29 5 16 19/19 .318 .837
P.Dalton 2004 TexasColl 50 189 25 55 17 5 13 36/11 .291 .766
A.Boggs 2004 TexasColl 22 86 17 25 27 5 12 18/9 .291 .912
L.Harughty 2004 TexasColl 31 66 3 16 11 2 6 19/6 .242 .714
A.Howes 2004 TexasColl 38 112 12 26 21 6 8 37/19 .232 .762
J.Infante 2004 TexasColl 42 132 16 26 15 1 5 29/13 .197 .532
B.Rampy 2004 TexasColl 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1/0 .000 .000I went ahead and highlighted some of the numbers that jumped off the page at me....good and bad.
Up in the Cape Donaldson, Ray, & Whelan were all lights out on the mound which could mean bad news come draft day for the Ags but Pennington's summer could cause us just as much pain on that same day.
Marlatt & Donaldson's HRs allowed concern me somewhat since they both gave up several last spring.
In the Texas League I was concerned with Rampy's K/BB ratio since that was something that was starting to see in the last month of this past spring. Austin Creps has very impressive numbers across the board as does JUCO transfer Hart Hering. I think that the one stat that I was most pleasantly surprised with is Jon Michael Cline's K/9IP of 6.63 during the summer after seeing his 2.68 in the spring.
In the backs of our minds we should take those pitching numbers with a grain of salt because they were playing in wood bat leagues which will hinder the hitters....I know, that's no fun....but it's true [An extreme example from last summer is Robert Ray who was spectacular (21 IP, 29K, 0.86 ERA) but it didn't carry over into the spring].
That said we should praise our hitters who did so well with the wooden sticks.
There were some of our starters who struggled with wood (Stinson, Mavroulis & Infante) but there were just as many who excelled. Austin Boggs hit just under .300 and had an even better OPS of .912 while JUCO transfer, Ryan Hill, hit well over .300 and showed great bat control drawing as many walks as strike outs. I doubt that anyone would have bet anything other than Monopoly money that Parker Dalton would have hit 5 HRs. Down the line I was a bit discouraged by the high number of strikeouts but I think that had more to do with the adjustment to the wooden bats than the talent.
Aggies Taken in 2004 Draft
Here's a look at the guys who were on our roster last year and the incoming freshmen who were taken in the 2004 MLB Player Draft:# Name YR POS TEAM Sign? Bonus
=======================================================
32 Zach Jackson Jr LHP Toronto Yes $1,017,500
177 Cory Patton Sr OF Toronto Yes unknown
347 Jordan Chambless HS RHP Cleveland No n/a
748 Justin Ruggiano Sr OF Los Angeles Yes unknown
776 Erik Schindewolf Sr 2B Arizona Yes unknown
817 Clayton Turner Jr RHP Milwaukee No n/a
1419 Brandon Glover HS OF Milwaukee No n/aAnd here are the scouting reports (if given) from MLB.com's draft report....
Really the Glover and Chambless scouting reports are the only ones that are important for 2005 but I liked reading about the old guys too.Zach Jackson
LARGE FRAME. EXCELLENT BODY. PHYSICAL SPECIMEN. BROAD SLOPED SHOULDERS. STRONG, MUSCULAR, DURABLE, PROPORTIONED, ATHLETIC BUILD. QUICK FULL WINDUP, 3/4 DELIVERY. LOOSE, EASY ARM. HIDES BALL WELL. SNEAKY QUICK FB W/ DECEPTION, MOST 89-91, ARMSIDE TAIL, OCCAISIONAL CUTS. BALL GETS ON HITTER QUICK. NOT AFRAID TO PITCH INSIDE. CIRCLE CHANGE W/ SINK, DECEPTION. 3/4 SLURVE W/ SIGNS TIGHT ROTATION, DEPTH. PITCHABILITY. SHOWS POTENTIAL 3 ML PITCHES W/ PLUS COMMAND & DECEPTION. EXCELLENT MAKE-UP.Cory Patton
LARGE FRAME. BROAD, SLOPED SHOULDERS. SQUATTY, THICK, STRONG, OVERALL BUILD. BODY TYPE SIMILAR TO MATT STAIRS. SEVERE OPEN STANCE, FLAT BAT. HAND HITCH W/ LOTS OF MOVEMENT. BAT POTENTIAL. STRENGTH, QUICKNESS W/ LIFT FOR FUTURE PLUS PWR POTENTIAL. BALL JUMPS OFF BAT. JUST HITS. AVG ARM W/ ONLINE CARRY. OFFENSIVE, RUN PRODUCING TYPE BAT POTENTIAL.Jordan Chambless
LARGE FRAME. SLOPED SHOULDERS. LEAN, MUSCULAR, WELL DEFINED, ATHLETIC BODY. STRONG OVERALL BUILD. MATURE, VERY SLOW, DELIBERATE FULL WIND UP, HIGH 3/4 DELIVERY. RAW ARM STRENGTH W/ QUICKNESS. COMFORT ZONE 90-91, OCCAISIONAL RUN. FLASHES DOWNER CB W/ TIGHT ROTATION & QUICK BREAK. FEEL FOR CHANGE UP W/ FADE. BIG, STRONG, ATHLETIC RHP W/ ARM STRENGTH & ABILITY TO SPIN BALL.Brandon Glover
MEDIUM HEIGHT. SOME UPPER BODY DEFINITION. WIDE BACK, LONG ARMS. SHORTER TORSO THAN LOWER BODY. SLIGHTLY OPEN, UPRIGHT STANCE. DEAD HANDS START. PULLS BALL. STINGS PITCH DOWN, UNDRESSES INF ON RIGHT SIDE. LIFTS BALL TO RIGHT CENTER TO CF. GOOD JUMPS IN OF. STRONG, ACCURATE ARM. SLOW OUT OF BOX, BETTER 1B TO 3B.Erik Schindewolf
SMALL FRAME. SLOPED SHOULDERS. LEAN, WIRY OVERALL BUILD. WIDE, SLIGHT OPEN STANCE W/ FLAT BAT. SOUND APPROACH. SHORT, COMPACT LINE DRIVE STROKE W/ QUICKNESS. SPRAY HITTER, USES WHOLE FIELD. CONSISTENT CONTACT. SOFT, SURE HANDS. MAKES ROUTINE PLAY. BASEBALL INSTINCTS. PLAYS HARD. EXCELLENT MAKEUP. GOOD KID. LIKES TO PLAY.
Old Ags
Speaking of old guys, I wanted to mention that I have created an "Old Ags" section of the main website. It basically lists recent players who have gone on to play professionally and their stats in their careers. Check that out whenever you get a chance.Break Down by Position
Now let’s take a look at each position (2004 starter)....Catcher
Justin Pouk
Player Cl-L B/T Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPSCatcher has been a position that we've been quite strong at over the last few years and that continues for 2005. Justin Pouk was our starting catcher in 2002 & 2003 but hurt his back and red-shirted last year when Craig Stinson took over the everyday job and was named a member of the All-Big XII team (and also got an invite to try out for Team USA). I imagine that Stinson will catch the majority of innings and Pouk, who can rake, will pick up the rest while DHing and playing some first base (allowing Coby Mavroulis to play some OF or DH) in the meantime.
=========================================================================
C.Stinson Jr-2 R/R 2004 56-55 195 29 56 37 3 16 33/25 0/1 .287 .789
2003 22-18 62 10 17 8 1 2 13/9 2/3 .274 .714
J.Pouk Sr-2 R/R 2004 <-----------------Redshirted------------------->
2003 49-47 160 33 52 27 5 15 22/14 3/5 .325 .920
2002 47-46 158 26 53 24 1 10 24/7 2/6 .335 .783
L.Harvell Jr-T R/R 2004 54 27 2 16 .325 .892
L.Harughty Fr-R R/R 2004 <-----------------Redshirted------------------->
Lance Harvell's 2004 stats come from Richmond CC1st Base
Player Cl-L B/T Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPSMavroulis had a phenomenal season last year after missing most of 2003 with a back problem (he was granted a medical red-shirt for the year). Not only did Mav step up to provide a huge bat for us but his defense was great at 1B, only one error in 552 chances....an important thing with Pennington over at SS because sometimes he gets a bit too much juice on his throws. Mav might get some DH action to help his back which will lend Pouk or Howes some time over at that part of the diamond.
==========================================================================
C.Mavroulis Jr-2 L/L 2004 63-59 234 51 75 47 3 19 36/24 5/7 .321 .826
2003 11-6 26 5 6 1 0 2 4/4 0/1 .231 .718
2002 45-40 139 22 35 19 0 9 33/23 3/5 .252 .618
A.Howes So-T R/R 2004 31-29 108 26 41 28 2 13 20/22 2/4 .380 .978
J.Pouk Sr-2 R/R 2004 <-----------------Redshirted------------------->
2003 49-47 160 33 52 27 5 15 22/14 3/5 .325 .920
2002 47-46 158 26 53 24 1 10 24/7 2/6 .335 .783
Andy Howes' 2004 stats come from Chandler-Gilbert CC (wooden bats)2nd Base
Player Cl-L B/T Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPSThis will be one of the more interesting positions to watch in the early part of the spring. Parker Dalton was having a spectacular start 2004 when he broke his hand very early on and ended up taking a medical red-shirt. Both of these guys had good summers in the Texas League. Hill was one of the top Division II players and I'm sure he didn't transfer here to play second fiddle so I expect to see his bat in the lineup....somewhere. I love his SO/BB ratio which was continued during his incredible summer. Scott over at Aggiebaseball.net is reporting (from his Jan 12th post) that Dalton will be the starter with Hill and Buenger backing him up.
========================================================================
P.Dalton Jr-2 R/R 2004 5-2 8 4 3 2 0 2 2/2 0/0 .375 1.170
2003 16-2 13 6 3 1 0 2 3/0 0/0 .231 .718
R.Hill Jr-T R/R 2004 58-58 199 58 74 50 9 24 21/32 8/9 .372 1.045
J.Buenger Fr-H S/R 2004 <------------------High School----------------->
Ryan Hill's 2004 stats come from St.Mary's University (Heartland Conference)Short Stop
Penny During 2004 Regionals
Player Cl-L B/T Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPSCliff Pennington is the man up the middle....2003 Big XII Freshman of the Year, 2004 All-Big XII, 2004 Cape Cod All-Star, 2005 Preseason All-American....I think I've said enough. Dalton's name is on the list simply to show that there is another guy who can play the position if Cliff catches the flu. Enjoy it folks cause I have a feeling Cliff will not be back for his final go-round in Maroon and White in 2006.
============================================================================
C.Pennington Jr-2 S/R 2004 63-63 257 60 87 35 5 17 18/33 12/15 .339 .865
2003 63-61 241 54 82 41 2 18 27/22 12/14 .340 .832
P.Dalton Jr-2 R/R 2004 5-2 8 4 3 2 0 2 2/2 0/0 .375 1.170
2003 16-2 13 6 3 1 0 2 3/0 0/0 .231 .7183rd Base
Austin Boggs
Player Cl-L B/T Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPSSimilar situation as Pennington....Boggs will be our third baseman and our probable 3-hole hitter. Pouk can play just about anywhere as can Hill.
==========================================================================
A.Boggs So-1 S/R 2004 64-64 260 42 86 52 5 19 29/18 5/5 .331 .830
R.Hill Jr-T R/R 2004 58-58 199 58 74 50 9 24 21/32 8/9 .372 1.045
W.Carpenter Fr-H R/R 2004 <-----------------High School------------------>
J.Pouk Sr-2 R/R 2004 <-----------------Redshirted------------------->
2003 49-47 160 33 52 27 5 15 22/14 3/5 .325 .920
2002 47-46 158 26 53 24 1 10 24/7 2/6 .335 .783Outfield
Infante making an incredible catch
Player Cl-L B/T Year G-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPSJust to clarify....as you can see, Baldwin started in 39 games while Bartek started in 31 and they both played LF for a majority of the time so I only highlighted Baldwin's name because he technically had more starts but realistically they both played about the same amount.
===========================================================================
A.Baldwin Sr-1 R/R 2004 40-39 135 22 38 19 2 8 16/15 2/5 .281 .714
T.Bartek Sr-1 R/R 2004 41-31 115 26 33 18 1 8 17/12 4/5 .287 .740
J.Infante Jr-2 R/R 2004 57-56 204 39 56 32 3 16 28/18 11/17 .275 .739
2003 44-16 69 15 17 9 3 10 11/7 1/3 .246 .803
C.Mavroulis Jr-2 L/L 2004 63-59 234 51 75 47 3 19 36/24 5/7 .321 .826
R.Hill Jr-T R/R 2004 58-58 199 58 74 50 9 24 21/32 8/9 .372 1.045
C.Corgan Fr-H R/R 2004 <------------------High School------------------>
C.Jones Fr-H R/R 2004 <------------------High School------------------>
K.Stein Fr-H L/R 2004 <------------------High School------------------>
B.Glover Fr-H L/L 2004 <------------------High School------------------>
E.Paulson Fr-H R/R 2004 <------------------High School------------------>The possibilities in the OF are endless and I have absolutely no clue who will be in the outfield for the Aggies as the season rolls on. The biggest problem will be finding someone to fill in for superstar Cory Patton in RF. Infante is really the only player that I see who will absolutely be in the lineup and roaming CF. Bartek had a great second half of last season and Baldwin had a great first half of last season. Unfortunately we can't have the two molecularly bonded together as one so we're going to hope one has a great full season. If MJ can't get Ryan Hill's bat into the lineup in the infield I expect to see him at one of the OF corner positions. I went through the box scores from the Fall World Series to see how the lineups were filled out.
G1 G2 G3Going off of that you would think that the 3 veterans would be starting (Infante, Baldwin & Bartek) but I could still envision Hill out there....Your guess is as good as mine....
LF: Bartek/Sebek LF: Bartek/Sebek LF: Bartek/Harughty
CF: Infante/Corgan CF: Infante/Corgan CF: Sebek/Infante
RF: Baldwin/Stein RF: Baldwin/Stein RF: Baldwin/Paulson
G4 G5
LF: Bartek/Sebek LF: Sebek/Bartek
CF: Infante/Corgan CF: Infante/Corgan
RF: Baldwin/Paulson RF: Stein/C.JonesPitchers
Back during football season I did a pretty comprehensive breakdown of our entire 2004 pitching staff and for simplicity's sake I'm just going to cover the general stats, splits that I didn't cover then, and our newcomers.
Newcomer & Preseason All-American Clayton Turner
Returning Aggie Lettermen:We have 12 returning pitchers, losing only 2 lettermen from 2004 (Zach Jackson and Justin Moore), which is like night and day from last year when we brought back only 3 pitchers.
Player Cl-L R/L Year G GS W-L-S IP H ER HR SO/BB ERA AGs
======================================================================
B.Boening So-1 RHP 2004 2 0 0-0-0 2.2 5 4 0 0/2 10.12 -
J.Cline Sr-1 LHP 2004 3 1 2-0-0 6.2 3 2 0 2/3 2.70 64
A.Creps So-1 RHP 2004 13 0 2-0-1 27.0 27 12 0 23/8 4.00 59
D.Donaldson Jr-2 LHP 2004 15 4 1-1-1 34.0 30 18 3 22/23 4.76 43
2003 14 1 1-3-1 37.0 37 14 2 25/13 3.41 n/a
D.Frame So-1 LHP 2004 18 3 2-1-0 25.2 30 12 1 35/16 4.21 55
B.Jackson Sr-1 LHP 2004 1 0 0-0-0 2.0 3 3 1 2/1 13.50 -
K.Marlatt Sr-1 RHP 2004 17 8 5-1-0 53.0 52 34 4 35/17 5.77 47
J.Meyer So-1 LHP 2004 24 12 8-2-3 106.0 88 34 3 111/41 2.87 57
K.Nicholson So-1 RHP 2004 21 0 3-0-0 37.0 40 21 3 19/18 5.11 -
C.Pennington Jr-2 RHP 2004 6 0 0-1-2 4.1 3 1 0 3/3 2.08 -
2003 <-------------------DNP------------------->
B.Rampy So-1 RHP 2004 20 0 2-2-4 29.0 17 7 0 24/12 1.55 -
R.Ray Jr-2 RHP 2004 15 7 2-2-1 44.2 61 26 4 54/15 5.24 51
2003 12 3 4-0-0 37.0 34 9 1 42/12 2.19 n/a
T.Soeder So-1 LHP 2004 4 1 0-0-0 6.0 8 8 1 4/4 12.00 29
K.Whelan Jr-2 RHP 2004 10 0 0-2-0 8.2 7 4 0 11/4 4.15 -
2003 <-------------------DNP------------------->
Transfers:
Player Cl-L R/L Year G GS W-L IP H ER HR SO/BB ERA OBA
===================================================================
C.Turner Sr-T RHP 2004 16 14 10-3 100.1 87 39 6 103/42 3.50 .238
J.Sokol Jr-T RHP 2004 15 15 12-1 97.1 100 28 9 63/13 2.59 .266
H.Hering Jr-T RHP 2004 <-------------------n/a------------------->
*Note*
Hart Hering transferred from Weatherford JC
Clayton Turner transferred from Northwestern State (Southland Conference)
Justin Sokol transferred from Iowa Central CC
Freshmen:
Player Hometown (School) R/L
=================================================
J.Chambless Corpus Christi, Tx (Calallen) RHP
C.Corgan Plano, Tx (Forney) RHP
E.Gerald Amarillo, Tx (Tascosa) RHP
C.Jones San Clemente, Ca (Mission Viejo) RHP
E.Paulson Midland, Tx (Midland) RHP
no red-shirted freshmanWe have replaced ZachJack with Clayton Turner, who along with Jason Meyer was named to the NCBWA's Preseason All-American team. Turner, who was drafted by Billy Beane's Oakland A's last year, is a senior so we're only going to get 15-18 starts out of him here at A&M. I'm looking for him to step into the Saturday starter's role with either Robert Ray or Kyle Marlatt as the Sunday starter.
I did a huge post on Robert Ray's career here at A&M a couple of weeks ago so if you'd like to read up on Ray more feel free to click the link given. Basically though, if Ray doesn't work out as our Sunday guy it's not the end of the world because he has had excellent success out of the bullpen during his college career (minus two isolated outings).
I think that a lot of Ags have some what of a distorted impression of Kyle Marlatt because they remember his first appearance at Olsen Field which was, coincidentally, his best start during his time here (an 8 inning Tournament ending shutout against New Mexico), and have embedded that performance into their minds as the standard Marlatt performance. I don't have anything against Kyle at all; I just simply haven't been wowed over.
Overall in 2004:I think that Marlatt would be an excellent weekday starter for us where he can eat up innings and save our bullpen for the weekend as opposed to a mediocre Sunday starter where we’ll need the bullpen help out a lot more. We just need someone else to step into the Sunday role to make that happen.
53.0 IP, 52 H, 5.94 K/9, 2.89 BB/9, 5.77 ERA
Big XII in 2004:
27.1 IP, 33 H, 14K/15BB, 4.61 K/9, 4.94 BB/9, 8.89 ERA
Summer League (Cape Cod):
43.0 IP, 53 H, 5.23 K/9, 2.30 BB/9, 4.81 ERA
[The entire LEAGUE average ERA in the Cape Cod was 2.74 &
Kyle had the highest ERA of any ERA Crown qualifier (35.0 IP min)]Doug Frame, on the other hand, I think has the stuff to become a great arm for us. He has a filthy slider and a good fastball and his K/9 is simply insane. Last year he just threw too many pitches to each guy he faced (~4.43 pitches per batter faced) and couldn't get himself deep into a game before his pitch count got out of control. I'm excited to see if there is any progress with him this year.
Pitcher BF P/BF
==================
Pennington 20 4.95
Whelan 20 4.53
Frame 124 4.43
Patton 20 4.25 note: numbers are approximate due to
Cline 28 4.21 incomplete pitch counts
Rampy 114 4.17
Soeder 30 3.97
Meyer 441 3.96
Ray 219 3.87
Donaldson 152 3.86
Nicholson 174 3.83
Creps 122 3.73
Boening 17 3.71
Jackson 515 3.68
Marlatt 225 3.63
Moore 782 3.46That leaves the odd man from the weekend rotation, Dan Donaldson and Doug Frame to start on the weekdays and pitch out of the pen in long relief on the weekend if needed.
Jordan ChamblessIf the hype surrounding freshman Jordan Chambless is legit he could work his way into the starting rotation (this guy just looks like a beast) but I imagine he'll start the season out of the pen similar to what Jason Meyer did last year, especially since he did not practice with the team in the fall. In high school he was named All-State as a Jr and a Sr and earned 3rd team All-State as a So. He threw 7 no-hitters, 15 shutouts, and struck out >425 batters in his 4 varsity seasons at Calallen HS. I could only find a few of his numbers from his Jr and Sr seasons but they're impressive.
2003 Junior YearHe was drafted by the Indians in the 12th round of the draft but that was many rounds later than some anticipated because teams were afraid he wouldn't sign because he was recruited heavily by the A&M football team as a QB where he red-shirted this past season. His scholarship is charged against the football team which is great for Coach Johnson.
================
Pitching: 12-3, 1.31 ERA, 170 SO, 46 BB, 6 one-hitters, 2 no-hitters
Hitting: .346 BA, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 45 R
2004 Senior Year
================
Pitching: 15 starts, 13-1, 0.46 ERA, 182 SO, 92.0 IP,
13 CG, 9 SHO, 4 No-hitters, 1 perfect game
Hitting: .450 BA, 10 2bls, 4 3bls, 6 HRs, 49 R, 42 RBIAlso watch for freshmen Chance Corgan and Chris Jones to make an impact on the mound if they don't red-shirt. Jones was Baseball America's 68th top prospect in the nation his senior year (the only Aggie recruit to make the list).
I wanted to show you a quick comparison to Clayton Turner's numbers and Zach Jackson's numbers from prior to arriving in Aggieland (Zach came from Louisville and Turner from Northwestern State)...
Player Cl-L Year G GS W-L IP H ER HR SO/BB ERA
==========================================================
C.Turner Sr-T 2004 16 14 10-3 100.1 87 39 6 103/42 3.50
Z.Jackson Jr-T 2003 21 19 7-6 112.2 121 54 12 75/29 4.31
2002 17 14 10-3 83.0 80 44 8 46/24 4.77I think we're going to be a a very good position to win a lot of the games he starts.
Blake RampyWith regards to the end of the game I think we're going to be in pretty good shape. Blake Rampy had a great season for us last year and I see him moving up an inning or two in order to set-up for Kevin Whelan. Whelan was simply insane in the Cape Cod and throws a hard, but some times straight, fastball. Even if Whelan doesn't fit the bill for us Rampy earned my trust last year as a closer.
I never sat down and calculated our pitcher's home/away splits from last season so I thought I'd do that quickly and then calculate the splits between starting and relieving....
Home v. Away
Home v. AwayI think it's extremely interesting to see how much pitching at home helps out. The most notable differences are with the 3 guys returning who threw the most innings pitched (which also provides a much better sample size)....Meyer, Marlatt, & Ray. It’s as if they are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dan Donaldson and Blake Rampy also had a lot of help from the home crowd as well.
HOME AWAY
Pitcher IP ERA ERA IP
====================================
J.Cline 1.2 10.80 0.00 5.0
A.Creps 19.2 4.58 2.45 7.1
D.Donaldson 24.1 4.01 6.52 9.2
D.Frame 20.1 3.98 5.06 5.1B.Jackson 0.0 0.00 13.50 2.0Z.Jackson 67.1 3.74 3.38 53.1
K.Marlatt 29.1 3.68 8.37 23.2
J.Meyer 44.1 0.81 4.38 61.2J.Moore 27.1 6.26 3.52 23.0
K.Nicholson 23.1 5.01 5.92 13.2
C.Pennington 2.0 4.50 0.00 2.1
B.Rampy 13.0 0.69 2.25 16.0
R.Ray 33.0 3.82 9.26 9.2
T.Soeder 5.2 12.71 0.00 0.1
K.Whelan 5.0 7.20 0.00 3.2
====================================
Totals 309.2 3.95 4.45 238.2Not on 2005 team
Start v. Relief
We have 8 returning pitchers who appeared in games as both a starter and as a reliever in 2004. I should point out that SO/BB is the pitcher's actual number of strikeouts and walks while the K/BB is the ratio of strikeouts to walks.J.Cline IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
==================================================
Start..... 5.0 1 0 0 0/1 0.00 0.0 0.00 .067
Relief.... 1.2 2 2 2 2/2 1.00 10.8 10.80 .286
A.Creps IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
=================================================
Start..... 3.0 1 0 0 2/0 INF 6.0 0.00 .100
Relief.... 24.0 26 15 12 21/8 2.65 7.9 4.50 .277
D.Donaldson IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
=================================================
Start..... 13.0 17 8 8 9/8 1.13 6.2 5.54 .327
Relief.... 21.0 13 12 10 13/15 0.87 5.6 4.29 .167
D.Frame IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
=================================================
Start..... 11.0 11 5 3 18/6 3.00 14.7 2.45 .262
Relief.... 14.2 19 9 9 17/10 1.70 10.4 5.52 .311
K.Marlatt IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
=================================================
Start..... 42.0 37 27 25 25/15 1.67 3.2 5.36 .236
Relief.... 11.0 15 9 9 10/2 5.00 8.2 7.36 .341
J.Meyer IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
==================================================
Start..... 81.0 73 34 31 80/33 2.42 8.9 3.44 .253
Relief.... 25.0 15 3 3 31/8 3.88 11.2 1.08 .176
R.Ray IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
==================================================
Start..... 32.2 41 19 17 37/10 3.70 10.2 4.68 .301
Relief.... 12.0 20 9 9 17/5 3.40 12.8 6.75 .357
T.Soeder IP H R ER SO/BB K/BB K/9 ERA OBA
==================================================
Start..... 4.0 7 5 5 2/1 2.00 4.5 11.25 .389
Relief.... 2.0 1 3 3 2/3 0.67 9.0 13.50 .143
Jason Meyer during the 2004 RegionalsThe reason I bolded Jason Meyer's K/9 and his ERA is because those are the two numbers that really jump out at me and kind of scare me. His numbers aren't nearly as good when you break him down into starting v. relieving. He still has good numbers as a starter but they're not the All-American numbers that his relief appearances made them look like. I strongly believe that there was some effect of his heavy use last season which led to some inflated starting numbers at the end of the season (his ERA over his last 7 starts of last season was 5.35). Thankfully, he decided to sit out summer ball to rest his arm.
Our Schedule/Opponents
Schedule
Here is a pretty quick and easy breakdown of our opponents but you can click HERE for a complete season schedule. Over at BoydsWorld.com, Boyd has our schedule ranked the 15th most difficult in the nation in his "Annual Strength of Schedule Column". Baylor (4th most difficult) was the only other Big XII team in the Top 20. Boyd also ranked A&M as the 3rd most likely team to be underrated by the RPI.
I bolded the games that I was most excited about. Our season opener is February 11th versus Tennessee at Minute Maid Park and our home opener is against #8 Washington on February 25th. The rankings are Baseball America's current rankings (any >25 were from their preseason rankings because they only show the current top 25; I always use BA for simplicity's sake) and the team's 2004 record is listed as well....
Opponent (alphabetically) Scheduled Meetings
===============================================
#10 Baylor (29-31) +: May 13-15 (A-H-H)
Evansville (28-32): Feb 26 (H) & 28 (H)
Houston (30-29): Feb 13 (N), Mar 22 (A), & May 10 (H)
Jacksonville (25-31): Feb 18 (N)
Kansas (31-31-1) +: Apr 1-3 (H)
Kansas State (26-30) +: Apr 22-24 (A)
Lamar (41-16): Mar 29 (H)
Missouri (38-23-1) +: Apr 8-10 (A)
#50 Nebraska (36-23) +: Apr 15-17 (H)
#21 Notre Dame (51-12): Mar 5 (N)
Oklahoma (38-24) +: Mar 24-25 (A)
#23 Oklahoma State (38-24) +: Apr 29-May 1 (H)
#19 Rice (46-14): Feb 12 (N), Apr 12 (A)
Sam Houston (19-30-1): Feb 15 (A), Apr 5 (H)
#48 San Diego (35-21): Feb 26-27 (H)
South Alabama (30-28): Feb 19 (A)
#34 Tennessee (38-24): Feb 11 (N)
#4 texas (58-15) +: May 20-22 (H-A-A)
Texas State (32-26): Mar 6 & 15 (N), Apr 19 (H)
texas tech (40-21) +: Mar 18-20 (A)
UCLA (32-26): Mar 11-13 (H)
#30 USC (24-32): Mar 4 (N)
UT-Arlington (35-29): Mar 8 (H)
UT-San Antonio (27-31): Feb 22 (A), Apr 26 (H)
Wake Forest (17-33) Feb 20 (N)
#8 Washington (39-20-1): Feb 25 & 27 (H)
H: Olsen Field, A: Opponent's field, N: Neutral field, +: Big XII OpponentAs you can tell from all the bolded font above I'm excited about quite a few non-conference games, especially the Washington, USC, & Notre Dame games. It's fun to have some big name schools on your schedule that you don't normally play.
Also, if you're only going to go to two non-conference games all season make them the Tennessee game at MMP on Friday and the home opener against Washington. Both teams' have an All-American starting pitcher who should be throwing against us on those nights (I'll get to them in a bit more detail a little later on).
Everybody's friend from over at Texags.com, Luke the Drifter, helped me (and you) out by compiling a comprehensive schedule of each Big XII team. You can d/l it here (please right click and "save file as")
I'm going to quickly run through a few of the teams on our schedule. Not everyone but some teams that I could find some good info on and I thought were interesting.
t.u.
I had to rewrite this section after the "events" that went on last week. texas was not only hit pretty hard by the draft and graduation but they are also without their most experienced starting pitcher, Sam LeCure. In the draft they lost their best hitter (Curtis Thigpen), their All-American starter (J.P. Howell), their All-American closer (Huston Street), their Sunday starter (Justin Simmons), and a cog from the bullpen (Randy Yates). Also, shortstop Michael Holliman transferred to Oral Roberts after an excellent summer in the Texas Collegiate League.Unfortunately they are returning two of the best freshmen in the nation from last season (OFers Carson Kainer and Drew Stubbs) they return their entire infield minus Thigpen at 1B. The horns are very solid fundamentally and play small ball extremely well so I doubt they have any trouble producing runs given their success moving runners by either sacrificing or stealing bases.
The good thing about losing LeCure is that it should deplete their great bullpen which was already taking a hit with Street leaving after his junior season. J.Brent Cox is one of the better relievers in the nation but he's also losing Randy Boone and Buck Cody who will join sophomore, Kyle McCulloch, in the starting rotation. I don't doubt that they have good arms ready to fill in but it still needs to be seen if they're ready to step up from HS or JUCO into a top notch DI bullpen.
In addition to the loss of LeCure to grades, it was reported earlier this week that there are some questions about a few other longhorns eligibility (Preston Clark, Nick Peoples and OSU transfer Thomas Incaviglia). I'll keep an eye on that for ya.
I think the easiest way to look at the longhorn's losses is to simply show them to you.
Hitters (>30 AB)
Player GP-GS AB R H RBI HR XBH SO/BB SB/A BA OPS
===============================================================C.Thigpen... 72-72 278 57 105 51 7 37 26/36 10/16 .378 1.033
C.Kainer.... 54-47 167 31 56 24 3 12 29/17 3/5 .335 .844R.Russ...... 45-38 129 29 39 25 13 13 20/14 6/8 .302 .860
D.Stubbs.... 71-70 266 51 80 47 8 27 75/28 28/34 .301 .846
S.Johnston.. 70-68 267 48 79 51 7 26 41/16 15/25 .296 .797
D.Prince.... 55-32 142 35 42 19 0 10 18/19 12/15 .296 .799
R.Hudson.... 56-42 164 27 47 24 3 8 20/5 4/8 .287 .694J.Reininger. 61-54 160 28 44 33 4 14 11/15 47/31 .275 .828
T.Teagarden. 73-73 260 50 71 51 10 28 46/44 1/2 .273 .855
H.Harris.... 56-37 133 16 36 21 0 9 22/28 3/5 .271 .770
W.Crouch.... 21-8 31 8 8 3 0 2 4/6 2/2 .258 .733N.Warrick... 26-11 39 7 10 6 0 1 11/4 7/9 .256 .623
C.Wheeless.. 26-16 62 9 14 10 0 4 11/8 2/3 .226 .614M.Holliman.. 52-49 173 35 39 28 5 13 38/28 8/9 .225 .711
D.Maroul.... 50-29 116 21 26 16 5 13 36/4 1/1 .224 .688
Pitchers (>5 IP)
Name G/GS W-L-S IP H R ER SO/BB HR BAA ERA
============================================================H.Street.... 31/0 6-1-12 57.0 36 14 10 59/13 3 .179 1.58
B.Cody...... 40/0 1-2-2 44.2 31 11 9 47/17 1 .195 1.81
J.Cox....... 37/0 6-2-5 63.2 47 16 15 63/19 2 .204 2.12J.Howell.... 24/20 15-2-1 135.1 90 45 32 166/53 7 .188 2.13S.LeCure.... 24/23 9-3-0 123.0 97 45 32 113/34 3 .213 2.34K.Yates..... 28/0 1-1-0 41.1 40 14 14 45/21 1 .252 3.05
K.McCulloch. 25/8 7-0-1 52.2 48 22 19 34/18 1 .233 3.25
R.Boone..... 18/4 3-1-0 44.0 46 19 16 30/14 1 .272 3.27J.Simmons... 18/18 10-3-0 90.1 87 47 42 43/33 6 .264 4.18The longhorns will have quite a few ?s going into the season than they've had the last couple of seasons and the pitching.
Tennessee, Rice, & Houston
I'll do them on tomorrow in the MMP College Classic PreviewWashington
This is going to be a great match up at Olsen Field during the Dominoes Pizza Classic Tourney that we're hosting. The Huskies have some good arms (and a couple great ones....you'll read about those in a few minutes) which is something that I'm always interested in.Position-wise Brent Lillibrigde (Jr; #11) is a 2 time All Pac-10 CFer but will be the team's opening day SS (little fella--5'11"/185). He is probably one of the top 5 or 6 offensive short stops in the nation this year.
UW did a nice preview of themselves so here that is.
San Diego
The Aztecs have already picked up a 7-4-1 record on the young season. They've played Cal Poly (went 0-3), Hawaii Hilo (went 5-0), Cal State Northridge (tied only game), and UC Riverside (won series 2-1). Next Tuesday they will play a common opponent of ours, USC, away.Just going to give you a couple of links and tell you that their catcher/DH, Jordan Abruzzo, is an All-American and is currently hitting .327 with 2 Hrs, & 24 TB in 49 ABs with a .914 OPS.
Kansas
I just wanted to say that KU somehow landed former Stanford Cardinal, Kodiak Quick, who I think has one of the coolest names ever (which was a topic I covered in one of the first handful of posts I ever did here at TAMABINPO). He threw a 3-hit complete game in their season opener against Hawaii-Hilo this past Saturday.Kansas just finished up a big 6 game series with Hawaii-Hilo down in Hawaii last night where they went 5-0 (the last game was late but they were winning 6-0 after 6 innings). I think that it is safe to say that after getting hammered by both Kansas and San Diego, Hawaii Hilo isn't a great baseball team this year. Tomorrow the Jayhawks travel out to Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, CA to take on the mighty Stanford Cardinal for a 3 game series (keep an eye on my boy, Kodiak Quick, against his former team).
Oklahoma State
OSU has 24 new players on their 34 man roster (17 JUCO, 4 4-yr Transfers, and 3 true freshmen).Wow. Let that sink in.
It'll be interesting to see if 2nd year coach, Frank Anderson, can overcome such a large turnover from a team who made it to Omaha in his first go-round. Their incoming class was ranked extremely high by both Baseball America & Collegiate Baseball so it's not as if they don't have talent coming back in. Here's a good season preview article from OSU's website that I ran across.
The Cowboys started their season by "playing" Arkansas-Pine Bluff last weekend in a 3 game series and pretty much had their way with the Lions, outscoring APB 55-2 on the weekend. Their offensive attack was led by....
Name AB R H RBI SO/BB BA
==================================
R.Ryal...... 11 7 5 4 1/4 .455 2b (2), 3b
T.Wright.... 10 7 6 10 1/4 .600 2b, HR (2)
A.Carr...... 10 6 5 9 1/3 .500 HR (3)
C.Brown..... 11 4 5 8 0/2 .455 2B, HR (2)
J.Parish.... 7 4 2 6 0/2 .286 HR (2)
C.Gutierrez. 9 3 4 4 0/4 .444 2b, HROSU will be in the MMP College Classic playing real teams this weekend so if you want to catch them here's their schedule for that:
Fri v. Rice (noon)
Sat v. Houston (noon)
Sun v. Tennessee (11am)texas tech
Cameron Blair is a very highly regarded SS and I hate tech. They lost their big corner infielders, All-American Josh Brady & All-Big XII Josh Haney, but out in that west Texas wind I'm sure they'll find some one to step up the power numbers.They won their season opener against New Mexico 18-6 and they will continue to play one of the biggest joke non-conference schedules I've seen in a long time until just before Big XII action starts when they play USC and Wichita State once each (they also play TCU twice and they've had some nice things said about them and their pitching so I'll give tech the benefit of the doubt there).
Here is a link to their season preview from the tech website.
Park Factors
Something that I didn't do last year was show you guys (and gals) the Park Factors for all the stadiums that we're going to play in. Park Factors show if a park is more of a pitcher's park (<100)>100) with a score of 100 being completely neutral. I listed them in the order that we play in them and then bolded the high and the low for ya....Park Factors 2001-2004MMP & RR's Park Factors were taken from BP and the rest were from Boyd's World (with permission).
Location PF
===================
Olsen Field 98
===================
Minute Maid 102
Sam Houston 98
South Alabama 91
UTSA 88
Round Rock 103
texas tech 98
Houston 90
OU 101
Mizzou 113
Rice 98
Kansas State 96
Baylor 89
texas 94Opponents
t-sipsI thought that this would be the easiest way to get some of the names of our opponent's players out there to yall. The talent we're going to be facing is incredible, 7 future opponents played on Team USA this past summer and one other was invited to tryouts. Below I have created a list of every player on our schedule who was named to some sort of All-American team in 2004 or to a Preseason All-American team for this year. Each letter represents a different publication's All-American team while the number following the letter explains if the player was 1st team, 2nd team or 3rd team on that publication's list. (You can click HERE for a simpler chart.)
All-Americans
Name Po School Teams
=====================================
Jordan Abruzzo C San Diego g3, h1
Cameron Blair SS texas tech e2, f1, g1, i3
Jeff Clement C USC c1, e3, f1, g1, 03USA, 04USA
Craig Cooper OF Notre Dame e3
J.Brent Cox RP texas c2, e3, g1, 04USA
Ryan Doherty RP Notre Dame d3, e1, g3
Michael Gardener SP UT-A e3
Alex Gordon 3B Nebraska a1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1, i1, 04USA
Derrick Gordon SP Lamar h1
Michael Griffin 2B Baylor g3, 03USA
Luke Hochevar SP Tenn c1, 04USA
Carson Kainer OF texas h1
Zack Kalter UT USC f1
Ian Kennedy SP USC b1, c3, e2, g2, h1, 04USA
Sam LeCure SP texas g2
Brent Lillibridge SS Washington g3, 03USA
Tim Lincecum SP Washington b1, e1, g1, h1, i2, 04usa
Eric Lis 1B Evansville f1, g3
Mark McCormick SP Baylor c1
Kyle McCulloch SP texas h1
Kyle Parker SP Washington f1
Jeff Samardzija SP Notre Dame h1
Matt Spencer OF texas f1
Drew Stubbs OF texas b1, c1, e3, g2, h1, 04USA
Taylor Teagarden C texas c2, e2, g2, 04USA
Pat Tumilty DH Evansville h1
A.J. Van Slyke OF Kansas f1
J.P. Walters SP S.Alabama d3, g3, h1
a-2004 Baseball America All-American
b-2004 Baseball America Freshman All-American
c-2005 Baseball America Pre-Season All-American
d-2004 NCBWA All-American
e-2005 NCBWA Pre-Season All-American
f-2004 Baseball America Summer All-American
g-2005 Collegiate Baseball "Louisville Slugger's" Pre-Season All-American
h-2004 Collegiate Baseball "Louisville Slugger's" Freshman All-American
i-2004 Collegiate Baseball "Lousiville Slugger's" All-American
03USA-2003 Team USA member (couldn't find '03 Tryout Invitee list)
04USA-2004 Team USA member
04usa-2004 Team USA Tryout InviteeWe have the opportunity to see some of the elite players in the nation square off against our boys and most of those showdowns will be home games or games close to home (Houston or Round Rock).
It is so odd not to see a single Rice player on that list, isn't it?
UT's Luke Hochevar & Nebraska's Alex GordonCollege Baseball guru, Will Kimmey of Baseball America, thinks that Tennessee's Luke Hochevar (Jr; #19; RHP) will make a very strong push to be the first pitcher taken in the 2005 draft coming off of a couple of freak injuries in '04. He was one of Team USA's best starters this past summer where he was able to showcase his 4 pitches to scouts and opponents alike. BA did a feature article on Luke during their South Region Preview a couple of weeks ago for those of you interested in reading up on our Opening Day starter opponent.
If you don't already know Nebraska's third baseman, Alex Gordon (Jr; #4), then you haven't paid much attention to the Big XII or to NCAA baseball, for that matter. Gordon was the 2004 Big XII Player of the Year as well as a unanimous All-American and his success is expected to continue as he has been named the Preseason National Player of the Year by both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America. He is also the favorite to be the #1 player taken in the upcoming draft. Gordon was also the topic of a feature article from Baseball America during their Midwest Region Preview.
Notre Dame's Ryan DohertyJust wanted to mention that this guy is not only an All-American closer but he is 85 inches of All-American closer. You do the math. It is huge for Notre Dame to have such a lights out stopper because up they play a lot of 7-inning double headers during conference play (scheduled because of the unpredictable weather) and a great closer shortens those games even more.
U-Dub's Sophomore Duo of Lincecum & ParkerWashington is ranked the highest they've ever been and they bring two solid sophomore starters, Tim Lincecum (So; #14; RHP; Pac-10 Freshman of the Year & Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year), & Kyle Parker (So; #8; RHP; BA Summer All-American), to the table as well as last year starter turned closer, Richie Lentz (So; #6; RHP; BA's New England Collegiate League Top Prospect).
Lincecum is simply a strikeout machine. He K'ed 161 hitters in only 112.1 innings for a K/9 of 12.9 (second in the nation to only Jered Weaver). Let’s put it this way....He struck out 32.5% of the batters that even stepped into the batter's box (that's total batters faced not just official at-bats against) as opponents hit a paltry .207 against him. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to a rowdy Olsen Field crowd (if he's the Friday starter, which he should be, he'll get our home opener). He only pitched in front of +1,000 people 5 times last year and only twice were those crowds larger than 2K. On top of that he has a tendency to walk people so get ready for "Ball 5! Ball 6!...". I'm really glad that we're getting a couple of the Pac-10's better teams on our schedule this year to strengthen our schedule and RPI.
USC's Jeff Clement & Ian KennedySpeaking of Pac-10, 12 time National Champion, Southern California is on our schedule for the first time in 11 years. They are led by All-American and two-time Team USA member catcher Jeff Clement (Jr; #24) who BA featured in an article during their West Region Preview. The Trojans also have one of last years top freshman pitchers, Ian Kennedy (So; #31; RHP), to toe the rubber for them.
(for those interested, those baseball cards are 2004 SP Prospects National Honors inserts)
Overall
Overall I'm really excited about this coming season and I can't wait to get out to Olsen Field for some more Olsen Magic.Like I said in the intro, we lost a couple of big number guys but I think we're a deeper team than we were last year. As long as we stay healthy I'm not too concerned about the offense and I think our relievers will be much improved from a year ago. Hopefully someone will emerge to take over the Sunday starting role which plagued us last year.
Hope you enjoyed the Season Preview and make sure you check back tomorrow for a Minute Maid Park College Classic Preview.
Gig'em Aggies and Long Live the Rally Rooster!
One more note....the Rally Rooster is getting a new site hosted by the guys who are in the know so I'll update the link when it is passed to me.
posted by AgRyan04 at 10:02 PM
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