joeywa
Unofficial HS BBQ Consultant & Baseball Pundit
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2013
- Messages
- 17,739
Good evening all. Welcome back to baseball coverage and discussion here on Horn Sports. And to those who are new around here, welcome on board.
I want to give a few disclaimers and thoughts before I begin.
- I am a Texas alum, first and foremost. I am a fan. I won't hide this. That said, I really do try to remain somewhat realistic throughout the season.
- I don't want to get caught up in the "fire the coach," "small ball sucks," and/or "so-and-so can't play X position on this team/at this level." Leave that for other sites.
- I am neither a professional journalist nor former professional athlete/coach. I just try to "call 'em like I see 'em."
- Much to my displeasure, I am not able to attend a lot of UT baseball games in person. I do try to get down to one series in Austin, and one West Coast series if time allows. Otherwise, I am a follower like many of you, via LHN and radio broadcasts.
- My style, (if you will,) of calling a game is pretty straight forward. I do Play by Play, sometimes with a bit of color injected for good measure. I will recap an entire inning from start to finish, so I may not be following as closely to "Live" as you'd like. If an inning runs long, there's a good chance I'll post what I have and continue in the next post.
- I do this because I enjoy it. Bottom line. I would like to think of myself as a "Teddy" starter kit. Teddy is the announcer from Bull Durham. Although that is probably far too much self praise. Ha!
- If there is something you'd like for me to do differently, look into, answer, please feel free to ask. I'll try to get it done/answered for you.
- Sit back and enjoy 2015, as we're about to get rolling.
2015 Preview and Thoughts
In researching the 2015 version of this Texas Longhorn team, the common theme I keep reading/hearing is "hungry." Hungry is a great adjective, as I'm often hungry, I tend to smoke BBQ when I'm hungry, and I post pics of said BBQ, which makes others hungry. Hungry is something I'm quite familiar with. Augie, being a 'foodie' of sorts, also knows the meaning of "hungry."
This team was on the doorstep of the College World Series Finals last season. Getting to Omaha, let alone making a run like they did, was not a surprise to anyone wearing a Texas uniform last season, although it did catch many of the fans off guard. There were calls for Augie's head early in the season. There were rumblings of his replacement. Some folks said, "hang in there, this will work itself out," and "this team is focused and they believe in themselves." Few listened. So when the Horns went on their run to Omaha, including impressive wins over A&M and Rice in the Regional, and a sweep of Houston in the Super Regional, they took with them a majority of surprised internet fans.
Losing to eventual CWS Champions Vanderbilt in Omaha left a bitter taste in this team's mouth. It left them hungry for more.
Spring practices and scrimmages let the coaching staff see what they have on hand this year. Players seeing the mound for the first time, like Kacey Clemens, Kyle Johnston, Parker Joe Robinson, Chance Callihan, Tyler Schimpf and Andy McGuire, gave an indication that even with the loss of Morgan Cooper, (Tommy John surgery-will miss 2015,) this pitching staff has some very capable young arms. Add in guys like Parker French (Sr.,) Travis Duke (Jr.,) Chad Hollingsworth (Jr.,) Ty Culbreth (Jr.,) Jon Malmin (So.,) Blake Goins (So.,) and Josh Sawyer (So.,) you've got a salty arsenal that most programs in this country would love to have.
While pitching was the key in the first two games of the spring, the offensive side of the ball reared its head in game 3. 24 hits. That happened. Throughout the series, Zane Gurwitz, Ben Johnson, Tres Barrera, Brooks Marlow, CJ Hinojosa, Connor Macalla and Collin Shaw-all hit the ball well, and will be counted on in 2015 to be key contributors at the plate.
Defensively speaking, CJ was on point, Bret Boswell showed some real flashes at 3B and Michael Cantu at C was very solid, especially for a Freshman.
The spring outings also gave a peek into what the new baseballs would bring to the table in 2015. Lower seams will have an impact on the carry of the ball this year, and hopefully ramp up the offense a bit from previous years.
What does all this mean to the 2015 campaign? I think it means that this is one talent-rich team that has the makings of a fun season and a run in Omaha. I think it means that Tommy Nicholson, Skip Johnson and Augie Garrido have to be salivating at the team that is going to be suiting up in the burnt orange this season.
Let's take a look at the possible early-season lineup.
1B: Travis Jones (Fr.) from Humble. I think this frees up Clemens for pitching duties as well as possibly DH
2B: Brooks Marlow (Sr.) You cannot count out his senior leadership in the IF.
SS: CJ Hinojosa (Jr.) I'm expecting a real breakout year from CJ offensively and an even stronger '15 flashing leather.
3B: Bret Boswell (RS-Fr.) Injured last year, all we heard was what a great player he was. Well, all he did in Summer ball with the Santa Barbara Foresters was hit .281, 24 RBI; 53 PO & 76 A on defense
RF: Collin Shaw (Sr.) He's an ESPN Play-of-the-Day type player. Solid outfield who had a huge CWS to build upon.
CF: Zane Gurwitz (So.) Played 3B last season, but I can't think of anyone better suited to step into CF and Mark Payton's vacancy than Zane. He's a gamer.
LF: Ben Johnson (Jr.) Expect big things from Ben in '15. He has the pop in his bat and some serious speed on the bases. Defensively he's a huge asset.
C: Tres Barrera (So.) According to Augie, he has really emerged as the leader for the catcher position. Won the Home Run Derby at the CWS, and we will see that bat light up Disch this season.
DH: This one is up for grabs. I think you have a lot to choose from. I could see Clemens, Cantu, Macalla or McGuire fill this role at some point this season. Look for Augie to mix it up a bit here. There are some really explosive hitters on this year's roster.
Starting Rotation: This one is a bit more difficult. Three of the first four series this season are four-game series. So your typical 3-man rotation won't be in play. We will see a lot of fluctuation here. Also, losing Cooper causes some shuffling to fill the void. If there is a coach in the country that is better than Skip Johnson at managing a pitching staff, I have yet to see him. Skip is the Yoda of pitching coaches; he just has a way with these kids that is amazing. There is a reason why he is in demand from MLB pitchers on his off time. Understand that Augie has said that the starting rotation is currently up for grabs, which leads to some speculation on my part about the spots.
That said, here's my prediction, based on a 3-man rotation:
Friday: Parker French
Saturday: Chad Hollingsworth
Sunday: Josh Sawyer, (This could be any number of guys right now. I could see Ty Culbreth, Connor Mayes and Tyler Schimpf getting a shot at this role until the coaching staff finds the one they're most comfortable with. This was the hardest one to determine.)
Closer: Kyle Johnston; He has some nasty stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him rotated in as a starter from time to time, maybe even flipping roles with French.
This year's team has a nice mix of upperclassmen leadership and ambitious youth. There are a few guys that are moving to new roles this year, and as long as they accept their roles, and accel in them, this team will be tough to beat when it matters. There was a total restructure of the environment, expectations and culture around this program last year. When the guys buy in, the results are apparent. So, stay hungry, because beginning in a week, we will be smoking up some Owl to kick things off.
Saturday at 1 PM CST is the Annual Alumni Game at the Disch. The game will be on LHN. I'll be doing PBP here for those of you that won't be watching the game.
Stick around, I'll do a series by series prediction prior to next week.
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