2017 Pitching Preview

[GTNavyNuke]

Here’s my 2017 pitching preview / guess. If you look at last year, you’ll realize that guess is an appropriate word. But I tried to base this guess on facts as opposed to “alternate facts”. https://gtswarm.com/threads/2016-pitching-preview.9197/ One thing that does come out from last year is:

1) We had lots of pitchers but it didn’t matter given the inexperience when we lost King, Hughes and English. They were 3 of my top 5 expected impact players. We may have 20 pitchers this year, but lose 3 expected high impact players and we are screwed. We may have already lost English.

2) Poor summer ball stats aren’t a definitive sign of poor performance the next year. Gold didn’t do well in summer ball but did when he had to for us last year! Pat Wiseman had good summer ball stats (only in Valley league) and didn’t do well for us. Gorst didn’t pitch summer ball and really came on for us.

One observation is that we have a young pitching staff (seems that way every year) but a very talented Sophomore class that will hopefully carry us this year and next. And two Fr who we are lucky didn’t go / want to go in the draft.

Conclusion: “If” we stay healthy we can have the best team ERA in years. That is a big “if” given past years’ experience.

Here’s the data and in the next post, I’ll discuss the individuals.

Media Fire where I upload my files to is down right now . Ill post the chart when it's up since the chart makes the the overall picture easier for me to understand ..... here's the link

https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/99e4/3b476c1i85y6tp46g.jpg

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Seniors:
· Jonathan King – an anchor starter I hope. Needs to stay healthy. Was in November according to Hall. Please stay healthy!
· Ben Parr – solid last year with 4.18 ERA and 60.1 IP which is most of any returner.
· Zac Ryan – high impact with return to form. No summer ball, but in November Hall said, "Zac threw the ball really well this fall. That was very encouraging.”

Juniors:
· Jared Datoc – Hardly pitched last year with only 7.2 IP. Over the summer he got 15.2 IP in Coastal with a good 2.30 ERA. He could be a dark horse to come out.
· Ben Schniederjans. No idea. Injured last year. Had a 5.40 Fr ERA and a 6.75 So ERA.
· Pat Wiseman. Must be doing better to have made the roster as his stats aren’t good.

Sophomores:
· Tristin English is probably injured. Here’s what Hal said in November which gives me some hope that maybe he isn’t hurt and it’s all a misunderstanding, "Tristin's definitely going to go back to pitching as long as he's healthy and he's throwing bullpens and seems to be progressing, but he's also our best hitter," said Hall. "To this point those guys (Hughes, English and King) have all done well in their throwing programs and I'm very optimistic they'll be 100 percent and ready to go in February."
· Jonathan Hughes is essential and as noted Hall said he was doing well in November.
· Bailey Combs. Bailey had a great .64 ERA last year in only 14.0 IP. His summer was ok, 3.49 in 28.1 IP in Sunbelt. So I think he’ll come on better this year.
· Burton Dulaney. 5.72 ERA last year in a lot of innings - 45.2. Especially for a Fr. I remember some games last year where he was really dialed in. Only pitched 4.0 innings over the summer so I hope he’s ok.
· Jake Lee. Like Dulaney, a lot of innings last year – 45.0 with a 6.80 ERA. He was really tough sometimes; a lot of potential. Jake only pitched 12.0 innings over the summer.
· Keyton Gibson. Another heavily used Fr with 43.0 IP and 4.40 ERA. He pitched more over the summer at 28.1 innings but had a poor 7.31 ERA in Coastal.
· Micah Carpenter. 7.52 ERA last year and no summer. As I remember, control was his problem.
· Robert Winborne. 7.20 ERA last year and hardly used in 10.0 IP. He had 29.1 IP in Coastal over the summer with a 5.52 ERA. So hopefully better.

Freshman:
· Xzavion Curry – high impact expected. Was Perfect Game #194 overall ranked player. Here’s what Hall said about him in November, "If we started today Xzavion Curry is definitely one of our best pitchers," Hall said. "The trick with him is going to be how we're going to use him because he's also a very good infielder, he's a very good athlete. We'd like to try to use him as a two-way guy but we really need him to pitch. I was very pleased with him."
· Garrett Gooden – medium impact but I hope I’m wrong and he’s high. Was Perfect Game #191 overall ranked player.
· Connor Thomas – ranked #64 nationally by Perfect Game for all LHPs.
· Jay Shadday - don’t know a lot. Ranked as high as #11 pitcher in Georgia in 2016. So he has potential for later years.
· Andy Archer – don’t know a lot. He also played water polo.
· Nick Wilhite – great outfielder and hitter. Don’t know much about pitching.

 

[FredJacket]

Seniors:
· Jonathan King – an anchor starter I hope. Needs to stay healthy. Was in November according to Hall. Please stay healthy!
· Ben Parr – solid last year with 4.18 ERA and 60.1 IP which is most of any returner.
· Zac Ryan – high impact with return to form. No summer ball, but in November Hall said, "Zac threw the ball really well this fall. That was very encouraging.”

Juniors:
· Jared Datoc – Hardly pitched last year with only 7.2 IP. Over the summer he got 15.2 IP in Coastal with a good 2.30 ERA. He could be a dark horse to come out.
· Ben Schniederjans. No idea. Injured last year. Had a 5.40 Fr ERA and a 6.75 So ERA.
· Pat Wiseman. Must be doing better to have made the roster as his stats aren’t good.

Sophomores:
· Tristin English is probably injured. Here’s what Hal said in November which gives me some hope that maybe he isn’t hurt and it’s all a misunderstanding, "Tristin's definitely going to go back to pitching as long as he's healthy and he's throwing bullpens and seems to be progressing, but he's also our best hitter," said Hall. "To this point those guys (Hughes, English and King) have all done well in their throwing programs and I'm very optimistic they'll be 100 percent and ready to go in February."
· Jonathan Hughes is essential and as noted Hall said he was doing well in November.
· Bailey Combs. Bailey had a great .64 ERA last year in only 14.0 IP. His summer was ok, 3.49 in 28.1 IP in Sunbelt. So I think he’ll come on better this year.
· Burton Dulaney. 5.72 ERA last year in a lot of innings - 45.2. Especially for a Fr. I remember some games last year where he was really dialed in. Only pitched 4.0 innings over the summer so I hope he’s ok.
· Jake Lee. Like Dulaney, a lot of innings last year – 45.0 with a 6.80 ERA. He was really tough sometimes; a lot of potential. Jake only pitched 12.0 innings over the summer.
· Keyton Gibson. Another heavily used Fr with 43.0 IP and 4.40 ERA. He pitched more over the summer at 28.1 innings but had a poor 7.31 ERA in Coastal.
· Micah Carpenter. 7.52 ERA last year and no summer. As I remember, control was his problem.
· Robert Winborne. 7.20 ERA last year and hardly used in 10.0 IP. He had 29.1 IP in Coastal over the summer with a 5.52 ERA. So hopefully better.

Freshman:
· Xzavion Curry – high impact expected. Was Perfect Game #194 overall ranked player. Here’s what Hall said about him in November, "If we started today Xzavion Curry is definitely one of our best pitchers," Hall said. "The trick with him is going to be how we're going to use him because he's also a very good infielder, he's a very good athlete. We'd like to try to use him as a two-way guy but we really need him to pitch. I was very pleased with him."
· Garrett Gooden – medium impact but I hope I’m wrong and he’s high. Was Perfect Game #191 overall ranked player.
· Connor Thomas – ranked #64 nationally by Perfect Game for all LHPs.
· Jay Shadday - don’t know a lot. Ranked as high as #11 pitcher in Georgia in 2016. So he has potential for later years.
· Andy Archer – don’t know a lot. He also played water polo.
· Nick Wilhite – great outfielder and hitter. Don’t know much about pitching.

Good stuff. Seems the margin of error for pitching results is razor thin especially with the assumption English will not pitch (fingers still crossed we'll be surprised). We still need great health throughout the staff...also, need to have a key starter (or two) AND several others (bullpen) to really step up. I choose to remain optimistic. Looking forward to a good baseball season.

 

[MWBATL]

Great write-up GTNavyNuke!

Bottom line is that we are just razor thin in terms of depth (imho) and simply cannot afford the number of injuries we have been experiencing in past years. I have no idea why those injuries have been occurring so I have no idea if we are "due" to have a good year, or if this year will allow the trend again. I am not sure returning a lot of guys whose ERA was around 7 is much encouragement, it just shows how weak our staff was last year. And that was with an infield defense and DP combination amongst the nation's best (which will be missing this year, iirc). One can always hope for improvement, but........

As always, it will be interesting and I will be there (once the weather warms up) to cheer them on.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

And here is the chart which is what I did to try and get an overview of our pitching situation.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Great write-up GTNavyNuke!

Bottom line is that we are just razor thin in terms of depth (imho) and simply cannot afford the number of injuries we have been experiencing in past years. I have no idea why those injuries have been occurring so I have no idea if we are "due" to have a good year, or if this year will allow the trend again. I am not sure returning a lot of guys whose ERA was around 7 is much encouragement, it just shows how weak our staff was last year. And that was with an infield defense and DP combination amongst the nation's best (which will be missing this year, iirc). One can always hope for improvement, but........

As always, it will be interesting and I will be there (once the weather warms up) to cheer them on.

I think we have a lot of depth...... 20 pitchers only one of whom is probably injured. As you point out, the ones with a 7 ERA are not what we want to see with the game on the line.

That said, we have a lot of potential in the sophomore class. A bunch were thrown to the wolves early and I think were getting better by the end of the season. Also with three capable seniors and Curry, we can be ok. Can be, not will be....... it'll be a fun season watching it play out.

 

[65Jacket]

What gives you hope that English maybe OK? I thought it was pretty sure that he had Tommy John.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

What gives you hope that English maybe OK? I thought it was pretty sure that he had Tommy John.

I haven't seen anything to confirm the Instagram I didn't see. I don't doubt that English got Tommy John surgery, I just can't confirm it. So until confirmed, I'll have "hope"

Unlike Reagan (Trust but verify), I believe in "Verify but verify." (I wish we had Reagan again.)

 

[FredJacket]

I think we have a lot of depth...... 20 pitchers only one of whom is probably injured. As you point out, the ones with a 7 ERA are not what we want to see with the game on the line.

That said, we have a lot of potential in the sophomore class. A bunch were thrown to the wolves early and I think were getting better by the end of the season. Also with three capable seniors and Curry, we can be ok. Can be, not will be....... it'll be a fun season watching it play out.

As for starting pitching... when was the last time Tech had a freshman pitcher step in as a real force in the starting/weekend rotation? Can Curry or Gooden be that this year? Would be so big if that were the case. If you're right @GTNavyNuke about the depth and the 'potential' in the sophomore class is realized, maybe we can see what we all want to see... improved pitching across the board. 24 days to FIRST PITCH!

 

[RoosterJacket]

My guess is the weekend starters will be King, Hughes, and then one of the following will be competing for that 3rd spot: Parr, Curry, Lee, Dulaney, Gibson.

That's assuming Ryan will be our closer again and King/Hughes are healthy.

On Wiseman, I wonder if he made the team as more of a potential replacement for English at 1B? I think he hit some this last summer and also got a few AB last season. Just an off the wall thought.

 

[MWBATL]

As for starting pitching... when was the last time Tech had a freshman pitcher step in as a real force in the starting/weekend rotation? Can Curry or Gooden be that this year? Would be so big if that were the case.

Mark Pope comes to mind right away as a starter in his freshman year (iirc). He certainly pitched significant innings and I remember students wearing "pope hats" (like bishop's hats, actually) in the stands that year.

 

[65Jacket]

Wasn't Pope the closer as a freshman? He was an outstanding starter in his last year.

 

[MWBATL]

Wasn't Pope the closer as a freshman? He was an outstanding starter in his last year.

Without going back to look I had thought he had started a bunch of midweek games early in the season, and progressed late in the year into the weekend lineup. HOWEVER, my memory is getting worse and worse every year, so I may well be misremembering!

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Here is Baseball America article posted yesterday: http://www.baseballamerica.com/coll...Anthem&utm_source=twitter#AO3T7bQOuKdPiIhD.97

"Two-way player Tristin English and fifth-year senior Jonathan King—Georgia Tech’s Friday starter in 2015—also didn’t factor into last season on the mound, and both should provide an additional boost."

So either the article is misleading or English is ok ...... but the internet is never wrong.

 

[augustabuzz]

Here is Baseball America article posted yesterday: http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/2017-college-preseason-top-25-capsules-no-21-georgia-tech/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=588c417504d301245e4cfa65&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter#AO3T7bQOuKdPiIhD.97

"Two-way player Tristin English and fifth-year senior Jonathan King—Georgia Tech’s Friday starter in 2015—also didn’t factor into last season on the mound, and both should provide an additional boost."

So either the article is misleading or English is ok ...... but the internet is never wrong.

I would feel better if they had written, "...and each should provide an additional boost."

 

[senoiajacket]

 

[FredJacket]

That explains the right arm in a sling. Notice the left leg wrapped & elevated. Must have been 2for1 at the Ortho Intstitute.

Seriously, I hate seeing this. Prayers for speedy & complete recovery.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

View attachment 2240

Thanks, I guess. It is what it is.

The truth is better than an alternative fact.

 

[AE 87]

Thanks, I guess. It is what it is.

The truth is better than an alternative fact.

Smh. An alternative fact is still a truth. That's what the word fact means.

Can we keep the anti-intellectual political pot shots out of the baseball forum? If you want to discuss it start a thread in the lounge.

 

[FredJacket]

Reiterating. Still sucks. Hope he gets well & comes out strong in '18.