Lineup and Rotation Predictions?

floridahighschoolcoach · Jan 13, 2026

76 laugh all you want but if you pitch deep on Friday then burn your best arms on Saturday out of the pen due to the starter not going deep and then on paper the Sunday guy is the weakest of the starters and the most likely to go less innings , then the pen arms are pitching back to back days .where if a reliever throws Friday and then rest Saturday would it not make sense for him to be sharper with a day rest? I know winning Friday is very important but so is a fresh pen . 76 if I saved a kid in the ocean from a shark you say I was starving sharks because no matter what I say you have a disrespectful response. BTW the coach at Florida had a
national championship team and SEC championships and I heard him talk about pitching that way based on the staff he had at the time. Btw tge Florida coach was a former pitching coach as well.

floridahighschoolcoach · Jan 13, 2026

Note . With this pitching staff I don't think it matters as much as most as they are so many good options. The heels have guys who want pitch a lot who would be weekend starters for a lot of programs.

floridahighschoolcoach · Jan 13, 2026

dantecalla said:
Sounds like cause to me!?!?!

DurhamHeel5 said:
There is one post on this thread where someone says they believe Wes would be better than Hubert.

One.

The OP wasn’t a comparison of the two either. Maybe we don’t have to invent a Wes-lifer contingent to argue against?

TommyAshley said:
Yea. I’ve voiced that opinion before at times. And if baseball was one of the worst teams in the country while NC natives were thriving elsewhere , I’d voice it a lot louder. But how may NC natives you see tearing it up - in positions of need - for other teams out of state in baseball vs in football while the Heels struggle on the football field?

And again, like someone tried to equivocate Texas and Carolina football….Forbes has a strong program built on NC natives and continues to be strong by building local, and then branching out to other places for talent.

Do you disagree on building w and securing home grown talent being important to a college program ?

Deansmith1 said:
This sounds like more excuses about lacking the resources necessary to compete. Given everything that has been invested in this program over the past two years, not having a competent quarterback is hard to justify.

GraceNugent said:
I love all the options Forbes has for this year, some spots may be changed based on recent performance, etc.... I also think that guys that may not be in the starting lineup on opening day or drift in and out may have other roles to play as well both from a situation baseball perspective and clubhouse impact standpoint (Carter French for example). But I will throw my hat into the ring on perspective lineups and rotations:

Rotation:
Ryan Lynch
Jason DeCaro
Folger Boaz
(*this may not be the order on opening day but I could see this being how it shakes out by ACC play)

Pen/mid weeks:
Cam Seagraves
Olin Johnson
Jackson Rose
Caden Glauber
Matty Mathijis*
Walker McDuffie
Andrew Wallen*
Tom Chimelewski

My question marks:
Cam Padgett
Kyle Percival*
Boston Flannery
(if anyone wants me to expand on those please let me know)

* coming off injury

Lineup:
1. Jake Schaffner - 6
2. Owen Hull - 8
3. Gavin Gallaher - 4
4. Cooper Nicholson - 5
5. Eric Paulson - 3
6. Macon Winslow - 2
7. Sawyer Black - 9
8. Perry Hargett - DH
9. Carter French - 7

DH/7 rotation could include Rom Kellis, Maginnis, Hargett, French, etc... think until someone really steps up the left field and DH spots will be in flux

OldYoungHeelAlum said:
Anybody else been here long enough to remember when people were using Frank Beamer’s first five years at VT as a reason to keep John Bunting around for an extra year? Time is a flat circle.

TommyAshley said:
We’ve discussed it w Coach Forbes on the weekly shows before. IIRC Friday and Sunday are the ‘most important’ games in a series Tone setter and either winning, salvaging or sweeping on Sunday.

*Quotes added because of the realization that all three are imooetant

Grace how do you see Matthew M used will he return to closer or will Walter M still remain in that role?

TarHeelColby10 · Jan 13, 2026

akillesheel17 said:
to bolster the Lynch thoughts, MLB Pipeline's early Draft top-100 has Lynch ~60 and DeCaro ~90 (Lynch being a draft-eligible sophomore, idk how much that's been mentioned here. I think I've brought it up once). I'm sure we all think that's low on both with the improvement we're expecting, but even in relative terms, they're seeing a lot to like about Lynch. I'll be really curious to see if he's really added a usable 3rd pitch. Didn't need one last year for two great starts, but I think he will if he's going to be season-long starter who can give 5+ innings every outing.

my own predictions:

1. Schaffner SS
2. Hull CF
3. Gallaher 2B
4. Nicholson 3B
5. Winslow C
6. Paulsen 1B
7. Tyler Howe DH -> rotates with Maginniss, Black, and maybe Hynek early on, but I think it settles here. we'll make this my "neck out there" call to avoid conformity, lol.
8. Sawyer Black LF
9. Carter French RF

I think/hope DeCaro is going to be good enough to keep the Friday role all season, so weekend rotation will be DeCaro/Lynch/Boaz. Midweek starters Olin Johnson and Cam Seagraves, but that's basically playing darts.

I think ALOT of people forget Jason is still only 19 years old. Good chance the velo ticks up more this year as well.

UNC76 · Jan 13, 2026

floridahighschoolcoach said:
76 laugh all you want but if you pitch deep on Friday then burn your best arms on Saturday out of the pen due to the starter not going deep and then on paper the Sunday guy is the weakest of the starters and the most likely to go less innings , then the pen arms are pitching back to back days .where if a reliever throws Friday and then rest Saturday would it not make sense for him to be sharper with a day rest? I know winning Friday is very important but so is a fresh pen . 76 if I saved a kid in the ocean from a shark you say I was starving sharks because no matter what I say you have a disrespectful response. BTW the coach at Florida had a
national championship team and SEC championships and I heard him talk about pitching that way based on the staff he had at the time. Btw tge Florida coach was a former pitching coach as well.

If you didn't post ridiculous stuff like "we are a bubble team, and might not make the tournament", and "Pitt is probably the only series we will win the rest of the season", I would show you more respect. I'm pretty respectful to most everyone else here, because they earn it.

I tend to be a very positive person, so your doom and gloom personality rubs me the wrong way. The post above is a perfect example. If I am the coach, my decision about who starts Friday and Saturday is not decided by the remote possibility that the Saturday starter might get knocked out of the game early. For the record, Lynch and DeCaro are both ranked in the top 25 collegiate draft prospects by Baseball America, with Lynch ranked slightly higher, so I don't think you can go wrong with either as the Friday starter. However, your "logic" is not the correct way to make the decision.

GraceNugent · Jan 13, 2026

floridahighschoolcoach said:
Grace how do you see Matthew M used will he return to closer or will Walter M still remain in that role?

I think it will depend on Matthew Matthijis recovery, I think it bears to keep in mind that Jake's experience coming back from Tommy John is not exactly the norm, his age, experience and mindset was huge for his superb season. I do think Walker will probably stay in the closer roll and Matty may eventually ease into a true set-up man mode. But I don't think we will know anything for sure until we begin the season. I love Walker in the pen, I think that is the place for him but he has shown he can start so Forbes has flexibility.

floridahighschoolcoach · Jan 14, 2026

76 . I own last year's offense no way to put it but the MLB did in fact prove that last year's team was not over talented as only 2 position players were drafted. I can see 6 position players drafted in June by MLB . Now will this year's team play as well as older guys who went undrafted last season? Time will tell but I definitely think they are a lot more talented than last year's team.

floridahighschoolcoach · Jan 14, 2026

Thanks Grace and I assume Matthew will not pitch more than one game a weekend very often early on and definitely not back to back and with Walter not being able to go back to back days last season very often I was wondering if they eventually share the closers role?

akillesheel17 · Jan 14, 2026

floridahighschoolcoach said:
Thanks Grace and I assume Matthew will not pitch more than one game a weekend very often early on and definitely not back to back and with Walter not being able to go back to back days last season very often I was wondering if they eventually share the closers role?

IIRC Matthijs had the brace procedure, not full TJ - so, keeping in mind that all recoveries are different, I'd expect to see Matthijs used about as aggressively as Boaz was last year. Might not be fully leaned on as stopper/high leverage guy early, but I don't really expect kid gloves, either.

premn · Jan 14, 2026

Worth listening to coach talk through some of the early pre-season roster considerations here. He seems pretty confident that Matthijs will contribute meaningfully, sounds really high on Boaz, and mentioned Glauber as a freshman who might push for innings. In the field—Gavin at 2nd with the juco transfer at 3rd. Talks about rotating corner outfield opportunities based on offensive matchups with plenty of options he feels good about.

UNC76 · Jan 14, 2026

floridahighschoolcoach said:
but the MLB did in fact prove that last year's team was not over talented as only 2 position players were drafted.

Not really, Unless you are a pitcher who throws 95+ like Knapp, MLB teams are usually hesitant to draft players who are 23-25 years old. Stokely, Madera, VDB and Bass were all in that age range. Stokely was 1st team All ACC, VDB was 3rd team, Madera led the team in average at .332, and Bass had more than respectable numbers... .292 avg, 11 HR, 47 RBI and 12 SB, I'll take 4 guys like that every year.

tarheeldon13 · Jan 15, 2026

Unless Black, Hargett, Maginnis all underperform, I don’t see how French should have a spot in this lineup.

premn · Jan 15, 2026

tarheeldon13 said:
Unless Black, Hargett, Maginnis all underperform, I don’t see how French should have a spot in this lineup.

Obviously his ceiling is limited because he has shown 0 power but French is a really nice floor to work from. I think most teams would take your 9 hole guy hitting .280 with a record of clutch performance—remember he hit .400 in the tournament last year. He had 12 RBI and that was batting after a rotating cast of DHs who couldn’t get on base to save their lives.

tarheeldon13 · Jan 15, 2026

premn said:
Obviously his ceiling is limited because he has shown 0 power but French is a really nice floor to work from. I think most teams would take your 9 hole guy hitting .280 with a record of clutch performance—remember he hit .400 in the tournament last year. He had 12 RBI and that was batting after a rotating cast of DHs who couldn’t get on base to save their lives.

.280 with 0 extra base hits is awful. I’m sure he’ll have a little more pop this year but hoping to see someone else take the spot

premn · Jan 15, 2026

I fought in the Carter French wars all offseason, I’ll say what I said in June and July: I think those other guys are going to have to nearly match French in the field rather than French having to nearly match them at the plate. Hargett apparently has made strides and Black is a true OF so I think it’s very possible and very clearly raises the ceiling of the team. But French in the 9 hole wasn’t the problem with our offensive production last season and I think he represents a floor you can absolutely work with.

tarheeldon13 · Jan 20, 2026

1. Shaffner SS
2. Hull CF
3. Gallaher 2B
4. Winslow C
5. Paulsen 1B
6. Nicholson 3B
7. Black RF
8. Hargett LF
9. Magnnis DH

ttodd1868 · Jan 26, 2026

Lost 188.1 IP with 2 being starters. (11 IP to RP)
We used about 8-9 arms in pen
It will be interesting to see how long/short the leashes will be early when trying to figure it out

DeCaro
Lynch
Boaz

Pen
Cam Seagraves
Olin Johnson
Cam Padgett
Kyle Percival - LH
Tom Chimelewski - LH
Boston Flannery
Jackson Rose - LH
Caden Glauber
Andrew Wallen

Stoppers/CP/SU
Walker McDuffie
Matty Matthijs

That leaves:
Tim Lawson LH - Interesting player
Riley Leatherman
5 FR - I noticed 2 of FR didn't throw in the scrimmages (Holiday and Hurey)

Lineup
Looks like 6 spots are locked in
DH / OF corner spots:
Looks like it will be a battle of Sawyer Black, Perry Hargett, Carter French , Lee Sowers , Rom Kellis and Maginnis
Also worth mentioning the FR Tyler Howe ( started against NC state in scrimmage)

Leaves backup C Colin Hynek
3 FR

SamHeel · Jan 26, 2026

Pitching - deepest pitching at UNC top to bottom maybe ever. Lot of strong arms and variety in there. Starting pitching is good, but the depth is really strong.

French - senior likely means he gets the nod in corner OF spot unless he struggles at the plate or someone completely outshines him. Forbes did sit VB in favor of Gallaher as I recall.

Pitching and Defense wins a lot of games. Hope the middle defense is good.

Lineup and Rotation Predictions?

floridahighschoolcoach

Senior

floridahighschoolcoach

Senior

floridahighschoolcoach

Senior

TarHeelColby10

All-Conference

UNC76

All-Conference

GraceNugent

All-Conference

floridahighschoolcoach

Senior

floridahighschoolcoach

Senior

akillesheel17

Sophomore

premn

All-Conference

UNC76

All-Conference

tarheeldon13

Redshirt

premn

All-Conference

tarheeldon13

Redshirt

premn

All-Conference

tarheeldon13

Redshirt

ttodd1868

Redshirt

SamHeel

Senior