2019 Season Previews

[FredJacket]

Just read this:
"Connor Thomas continued to build on the end of his freshman season, which saw him pitch well after he regained his eligibility. He did not pitch over the summer, content to rest his fatigued arm and allow a slight knee issue to clear up. He gained a little weight and comes into the season with a well-rested arm.

This fall Thomas worked with pitching coach Jason Howell on developing a fourth pitch. He plans to make the curveball a part of his repertoire.

“I plan on throwing it more,” he said. “I worked on it all fall. I have lot of confidence in it.”

He has a lot of confidence in his teammates, too. The rotation is loaded with Curry, Tristin English, Brant Hurter, Amos Willingham and freshman Luke Bartnicki.

“We’re really deep,” Thomas said. “We had pitching last year, but not nearly as much as we have this year. It’s doubled, if not quadrupled. It’s really deep. “

Anyone concerned the coaching staff is "helping" Thomas add/improve his curveball?

...asking for a friend.

 

[FredJacket]

From the Rumble Seat doing some predictions. It's fun to dream...

February
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...prediction-february-danny-hall-yellow-jackets

March
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...arch-college-baseball-miami-louisville-athens

April
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...ion-april-unc-auburn-clemson-vatech-bc-athens

 

[FredJacket]

 

[GTNavyNuke]

.........
https://www.masseyratings.com/cbase/compare.htm

Interesting that Massey and Moore have us finishing 52nd and 62nd. Last year we finished 54th.

And our 2018 recruiting class was 42nd.

What I did in the attached is set up the data so I could compare the average prior three years recruiting classes to the next year RPI. Here's what I got:
Year; RPI; Prior 3 year recruiting average;
2014; 29; 22
2015; 41; 32
2016; 23; 19
2017; 76; 23
2018; 54; 14
2019: ??; 27

So past on our past conversion of recruiting ranking to RPI, it's easy to see how a straight algorithm would get us to 52nd or 62nd.

Hopefully this year will be different and we'll exceed expectations.

 

[FredJacket]

From the Rumble Seat doing some predictions. It's fun to dream...

February
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...prediction-february-danny-hall-yellow-jackets

March
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...arch-college-baseball-miami-louisville-athens

April
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...ion-april-unc-auburn-clemson-vatech-bc-athens

...& May
These guys predict a 39-16 record. I'll take that.
https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2...ay-duke-pitt-mercer-westerncarolina-acc-socon

 

[Female Jacket]

Just when things were looking sunny...

"Suddenly a couple of issues with the pitching staff have created some unexpected problems for the Georgia Tech baseball team.

Reliever Andy Archer had surgery on his right arm last week and will miss the rest of the season. Tristin English, being counted on to carry a lot of the load, had an issue develop from Tuesday’s bullpen session and will start the season on a restricted pitch count.

It was anticipated that Archer, a rangy right-hander, would be the team’s closer. He was Tech's most effective late-inning arm last season when he made 26 relief appearances and went 4-0 with a 3.64 ERA and three saves. Archer struck out 41 and walked 17 in 47 innings.

“I hate it for him because he will miss the year,” coach Danny Hall said. “I hate it for us because he’s very valuable.”

The injury occurred when Archer was playing long-toss with teammate Keyton Gibson and felt it happen. He had an MRI, saw a couple of doctors and had ulnar collateral (UCL) surgery with a internal brace. Archer was at practice on Wednesday, observing batting practice while wearing a contraption to keep the elbow immobilized.

The procedure is an alternative to Tommy John and has a shorter recovery time. The operation has been pioneered by Dr. Jeffrey Dugas of the famed Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center in Birmingham, Ala. With the new procedure, the UCL is repaired with a piece of super strong tape that is coated in collagen, which helps the ligament heal. It is less invasive and less painful than Tommy John surgery and can be used when the injury is less severe."

 

[Female Jacket]

“The timing is probably better, if there is such a thing,” Hall said “Now we can adjust and solve the problem.”

English will start the season in the bullpen because of a limited pitch count. Hall hopes to gradually be able to increase English’s workload, but in the meantime wants his bat in the lineup.

“The biggest thing is we want him hitting every day, then we’ll figure out where he slots in … is he a reliever, does he start there?” Hall said. “A lot depends on our other guys.”

It likely means big Brant Hurter or newcomers Amos Willingham and freshman Luke Bartnicki will move up a spot in the rotation.

It also means an open audition for closer, although Jonathan Hughes finally appears to be fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery that shut down his freshman season. Hall said Wednesday that he sees Hughes as a short-inning guy and that he was throwing 94 mph on Tuesday.

“He’s back from where he had surgery when he was a freshman,” Hall said. “It’s taken him that long to get to where he’s 100 percent. He had a good summer and we thought toward the end of last year he was making some strides.”

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Sucks for Archer, but we'll have him next year. He hasn't used his RS and only pitched 2 years. He is 21 already so can go in the draft whenever; won't be this year during an injury year.

Great news on Hughes being ready and throwing 94 mph with control! I've been wondering why there has been so little info on him.

Also sort of cements English relieving for a while. If that gets him more time at 1st and ABs, great. We need for him to make $M in the draft this year by having a great year.

 

[THWG]

As much as I hate it for Archer, this still doesn't dampen my outlook on the season. For once, it seems like we have the depth to overcome this and we basically just replaced Archer with English in the pen. Also, I'm not worried about English since he'll still be able to pitch. You don't take a chance on a guy's future when he's already had a severe injury so I think this is just precautionary. And like @GTNavyNuke said, this allows him to play 1B every day.

Also like what I heard about Hughes. He was my wildcard for the pen and if he has his old form, then he is the closer.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Interesting the other talent D1 Baseball see us having coming in. Remember there are about 300 teams in baseball; out of the top 100 expected impact players, we have 3.

#49 Cort Roedig (RHP)
#62 Luke Bartnicki (LHP)
#74 Will Shirah (RS) (LHP)

Scrolling through the ranking, the SEC and ACC are very well represented. Given the elite players only play 3 or maybe 2 years, everyone needs to be reloading every year.

Separately at catcher, D1 has McCann as the #7 catcher in preseason. And English as #14 at 1st.

 

[FredJacket]

I'm curious what "event" would occur (that isn't 'recovering' from surgery/injury) to a pitcher that allows him to still pitch; but on pitch count. Bottom line... hope they have nailed the diagnosis on English. Need him to play 55 games (plus) this season. If that means not pitching.... I'll take that over tearing up the arm & missing significant time.

 

[MWBATL]

Ah, pitching injuries...I see our pitching coach is still with us

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Ah, pitching injuries...I see our pitching coach is still with us

What you say is factual. But correlation is not causation. If Archer did hurt his arm doing long ball practice, I don't know that can be blamed on Howell. But there may have been stress in other practices which injured the arm and the long ball was the final straw.

It seems we have had fewer pitching injuries in the last few years. My issue is more with pitching effectiveness and development of pitchers. Hopefully this year it'll be shown that what we have had is a decade (tic) of bad luck.

Baseball America Joe Healy picked us as an Omaha sleeper: "Joe Healy: Georgia Tech. A weekend rotation of Xzavion Curry, Tristin English and Connor Thomas is a pretty good starting place. Georgia Tech must replace Joey Bart, but it has the bats to do so."
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2019-ncaa-baseball-crystal-ball-predictions/

Baseball America also picks us to be third seed in Athens for the NCAAs. That would be interesting, but means we didn't do that well in the regular season. Way too early. Hope we win on Friday.

 

[83jacket]

Pitching in my opinion are correlated to travel youth baseball. By the time kids get to college their arms have been overworked for 8 to 10 years. Too much competitive baseball at early ages with too much summer baseball with emergence of Perfect Game baseball

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Pitching in my opinion are correlated to travel youth baseball. By the time kids get to college their arms have been overworked for 8 to 10 years. Too much competitive baseball at early ages with too much summer baseball with emergence of Perfect Game baseball

Last couple days, more pitchers out. FSU #4 starter McMullen and OU Jr top bullpen relievers with arm injuries. Another #1 starter @ LA Tech to a broken foot ---- scooter?

There are a lot of injuries that seem to surface this time of year.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Back to pre-season previews. If you believe D1 Baseball position player rankings, we are stacked in the in-field. They rate top 30 (out of 297 teams) players for who is best at that position for their team: hitting & fielding & athleticism & college & summer ball.

Biggest surprise to me: Serratos at 3rd#12. Given his poor fielding last year, they must project great improvement. I hope so, he was my pick for biggest upside surprise since he is the one who we need to improve the most. For the complete picture:
C - McCann #7
1st - English #14
2nd - Waddell #18
SS - No one from GT
3rd - Serratos #12

And in outfield we only had Murray #31 out of 100 players.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

D1 Baseball puts together its "Analytics: Top 100 Draft Eligible Pitchers". It's based on statistics of Zone Control, Pitch Ability, and Durability similar to what the pros use to evaluate pro potential.

#1?

Connor Thomas! Dude, can you say "moneyball"? Really all from his So year as he didn't pitch over the summer this last year. Let's hope it keeps up! http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=207333

#10 is X.

 

[FredJacket]

D1 Baseball puts together its "Analytics: Top 100 Draft Eligible Pitchers". It's based on statistics of Zone Control, Pitch Ability, and Durability similar to what the pros use to evaluate pro potential.

#1?

Connor Thomas! Dude, can you say "moneyball"? Really all from his So year as he didn't pitch over the summer this last year. Let's hope it keeps up! http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=207333

#10 is X.

Very cool! I'm no pitching expert/scout; but in general terms... I'd think a guy with Thomas's skill set is quite attractive. Extremely effectively without relying on being over powering. He throws tons of strikes & hits the spots to get batters out. The upside... lower risk of fatigue/stress type injuries.... compared to majority of draft-worthy amateur pitchers who simply throw in 90s and over power. Not saying the heat isn't an asset; but when weighing risk of investment & upside... I'd assume a guy like Thomas is sought after.

Can't wait to see what he can do for Tech this season.

 

[Female Jacket]

Curry and Thomas in, Archer is out, English is going to mostly hit with occasional close, Hurter? Hughes? Amos? Who else starts? And why is the two freshman, Bartnicki and Roedig getting more media then the other sophomore pitchers? I counted 5 sophomore pitchers, 4 seniors excluding the names mentioned above so is this "deep" pitching staff hype?

 

[Female Jacket]

I just looked back at an article by By Akshay Easwaran :
"Rotation

• Luke Bartnicki, LHP
• Xzavion Curry, RHP
• Brant Hurter, RHP OR Cort Roedig, RHP (weekday)
• Connor Thomas. LHP

Relievers

• Andy Archer, RHP
• Micah Carpenter, RHP
• Hugh Chapman, RHP
• Keyton Gibson, RHP
• Jonathan Hughes, RHP
• Robert Winborne, RHP

But even with a glut of talented arms and a variety of ways to order them, the Jackets really need one thing: consistency — consistency to start games, consistency in relief, and consistency to close out games. Georgia Tech has the potential to shut down opposing lineups day-in and day-out, but will they be able to at a consistent-enough clip to get them to the postseason for the first time since 2016? Well, we’ll find out soon enough."