3B next season

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Is Landon Jordan our 3B next year or Halter?

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Jordan or Foscue. Jordon gets the first shot unless we have a 3rd string catcher ready to go

 

[Cat Duck]

That will be an intriguing battle for sure. I personally think Jordan wins that spot, and I see no reason to break up the Westburg/Foscue combo up the middle at this point.

I would not mind seeing Halter in the corner outfield, he has a cannon. Or on the mound.

 

[Go Budaw]

I think some combo of Foscue and Halter / Jordan will occupy 2B / 3B, with the holdover going to the outfield or DH’ing.

CF is also a question mark, does Rowdey have the range to cover it?

I would say right now, lineup could look like this:

C - Hancock / Jones
1B - Cumbest?
2B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
3B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
SS - Westburg
LF - Allen?
CF - Rowdey?
RF - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan
DH - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan / Jones / Hancock

Plenty of pop in that lineup regardless of how it shakes out, but pitching will be a massive liability unless we have a bunch of guys step up.

 

[o_dawgnabit]

I think some combo of Foscue and Halter / Jordan will occupy 2B / 3B, with the holdover going to the outfield or DH’ing.

CF is also a question mark, does Rowdey have the range to cover it?

I would say right now, lineup could look like this:

C - Hancock / Jones
1B - Cumbest?
2B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
3B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
SS - Westburg
LF - Allen?
CF - Rowdey?
RF - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan
DH - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan / Jones / Hancock

Plenty of pop in that lineup regardless of how it shakes out, but pitching will be a massive liability unless we have a bunch of guys step up.

I think you mixed up Tanner Allen and Cumbest

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

I think some combo of Foscue and Halter / Jordan will occupy 2B / 3B, with the holdover going to the outfield or DH’ing.

CF is also a question mark, does Rowdey have the range to cover it?

I would say right now, lineup could look like this:

C - Hancock / Jones
1B - Cumbest?
2B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
3B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
SS - Westburg
LF - Allen?
CF - Rowdey?
RF - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan
DH - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan / Jones / Hancock

Plenty of pop in that lineup regardless of how it shakes out, but pitching will be a massive liability unless we have a bunch of guys step up.

Do we move Cumbest to 1st? He runs like a deer and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. He has been a defensive replacement out there before also. I would think you move Hatcher to first and leave Cumbest in RF with Rowdey in CF and Allen in LF.

 

[Cat Duck]

Do we move Cumbest to 1st? He runs like a deer and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. He has been a defensive replacement out there before also. I would think you move Hatcher to first and leave Cumbest in RF with Rowdey in CF and Allen in LF.

I'm of the opinion that we should move Hatcher to 1B too. Allen isn't great defensively anywhere, but many teams, including Vanderbilt, put offensive weapons out in LF or RF (J.J. Bleday). We could do the same.

Bottom line our OF defense is going to take a step back without Mangum and MacNamee.

 

[J-Dawg]

c - platoon Hancock/Jones
1b - Why move Allen after 2 years here?
2b - Foscue/Halter/Jordan
3b - Foscue/Halter/Jordan
ss - Westburg
lf - Cumbest
cf - Rowdy
rf - Hatcher
dh - situational out of Hancock/Halter/Jordan/Jones

Pitching-wise, obviously an experienced and (hopefully) endurance-improved Ginn is your Friday night guy. Beyond that we've got to find another starting arm to round out the weekend and give us a midweek guy. Would be nice if it was a lefty. Cerantola and Brandon Smith obviously are in the mix, but who after that?

 

[dawgdr]

Is Alexander not playing next year?

 

[Bucksnort_Dawg]

If I'm not mistaken, Hatcher came in as a first baseman. TA is a very capable first baseman, but one can tell that he is uncomfortable at that spot. I think it's gotta be TA in left, Rowdy in center, and Cumbest in right. Put Hatch back in his natural spot at first.

 

[msstate7]

Is Alexander not playing next year?

Out of eligibility, right?

 

[Go Budaw]

Do we move Cumbest to 1st? He runs like a deer and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. He has been a defensive replacement out there before also. I would think you move Hatcher to first and leave Cumbest in RF with Rowdey in CF and Allen in LF.

No idea at this point, it was just a suggestion and that’s why I put “?” by Cumbest / Allen. I like Cumbest’s size as a big target at 1st, and think he could provide some added athleticism at the position. I think we’d be good either way as long as Cumbest is an every day player somewhere. Just need to decide the best overall fit.

 

[johnson86-1]

I think some combo of Foscue and Halter / Jordan will occupy 2B / 3B, with the holdover going to the outfield or DH’ing.

CF is also a question mark, does Rowdey have the range to cover it?

I would say right now, lineup could look like this:

C - Hancock / Jones
1B - Cumbest?
2B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
3B - Foscue / Halter / Jordan
SS - Westburg
LF - Allen?
CF - Rowdey?
RF - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan
DH - Hatcher / Halter / Jordan / Jones / Hancock

Plenty of pop in that lineup regardless of how it shakes out, but pitching will be a massive liability unless we have a bunch of guys step up.

That's the case just about every year. For starters we have:
(1) a true friday night ace in Ginn,
(2) a returning sophomore who was solid towards the end of the year in Smith
(3) a potential ace in Cerantola, subject to getting better control
(4) a RS Freshman that has a high ceiling in McLeod, and was supposedly a potential starter before getting sick

For the bullpen...well...are we getting Self and Price back with an additional year of recovery for both? And Tyler Spring, who I think at least got the chance to start a midweek game or two?

So yea, maybe a little more uncertainty than usual even though we know our top end talent is good.

 

[Cat Duck]

That's the case just about every year. For starters we have:
(1) a true friday night ace in Ginn,
(2) a returning sophomore who was solid towards the end of the year in Smith
(3) a potential ace in Cerantola, subject to getting better control
(4) a RS Freshman that has a high ceiling in McLeod, and was supposedly a potential starter before getting sick

For the bullpen...well...are we getting Self and Price back with an additional year of recovery for both? And Tyler Spring, who I think at least got the chance to start a midweek game or two?

So yea, maybe a little more uncertainty than usual even though we know our top end talent is good.

For real, most years I would be thrilled with what we have returning.

 

[Cat Duck]

No idea at this point, it was just a suggestion and that’s why I put “?” by Cumbest / Allen. I like Cumbest’s size as a big target at 1st, and think he could provide some added athleticism at the position. I think we’d be good either way as long as Cumbest is an every day player somewhere. Just need to decide the best overall fit.

Cumbest is Wes Rea Part 2. I hope he develops some power next year if he wants to start on the baseball team. Last thing we need is more seeing eye singles.

 

[Go Budaw]

That's the case just about every year. For starters we have:
(1) a true friday night ace in Ginn,
(2) a returning sophomore who was solid towards the end of the year in Smith
(3) a potential ace in Cerantola, subject to getting better control
(4) a RS Freshman that has a high ceiling in McLeod, and was supposedly a potential starter before getting sick

For the bullpen...well...are we getting Self and Price back with an additional year of recovery for both? And Tyler Spring, who I think at least got the chance to start a midweek game or two?

So yea, maybe a little more uncertainty than usual even though we know our top end talent is good.

In other words, we have one known asset and a whole bunch of question marks.

Can Brandon Smith be a consistent weekend guy?
Can Cerantola not hit the diamond girls with pitches?
What can MacLeod do?
Will Self and Price ever be healthy and effective again?
Any JUCO’s or true freshmen that can help immediately?

I’m sure we’ll get favorable answers to some of those questions, but most likely not all of them.

Contrast that to this year, where we knew what we had with certainty in Small, Ginn, Plumlee, and Gordon coming into the year (4 reliable guys). And even with those known players, we STILL didn’t have enough guys step up to have a NC-caliber staff. Never had a reliable lefty out of the pen all year. Liebelt did step up as did White (most of the time when we actually used him). But it wasn’t enough as we saw last night.

 

[8dog]

Spring has left state

After cerantola, macloud and smith its price, self, eagan and brock. A lot of newcomers coming to campus though.

This time last year we assumed liebs was a cut and didnt think twice about colby white

 

[8dog]

Cumbest was subbing late for hatcher in rf so i think thats the natural fit. Hatch to first and cumbest to rf frees up the dh slot for jordan/halter/hancock

 

[Go Budaw]

Cumbest is Wes Rea Part 2. I hope he develops some power next year if he wants to start on the baseball team. Last thing we need is more seeing eye singles.

He had 4 doubles and a HR in his 14 hits this year....as a true freshmen. Only 49 AB’s. There’s no evidence at all that he won’t progress in the power department. But yeah, he plays football, so he must be exactly like Rea.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I would like to see what Cumbest can do in short relief from the Rubber...he had around a 1.00 era and 10 Wins his senior year...you figure someone with that size and athleticism could bring the heat with the right instruction.

 

[Cat Duck]

Cumbest was subbing late for hatcher in rf so i think thats the natural fit. Hatch to first and cumbest to rf frees up the dh slot for jordan/halter/hancock

Where are you planning to put Allen? LF?

 

[8dog]

Yes. Because reportedly allen told the secn thats where he will be

 

[Cat Duck]

Yes. Because reportedly allen told the secn thats where he will be

I like that idea personally

 

[catvet]

We have some talent coming in at the P spot. The bullpen may be young but we have some mid 90s guys on the way. A couple of years from now we will look like a true CWS bullpen where mid 90s guys keep coming. That's the next step for us

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

I would like to see what Cumbest can do in short relief from the Rubber...he had around a 1.00 era and 10 Wins his senior year...you figure someone with that size and athleticism could bring the heat with the right instruction.

Maybe let Cumbest play the Mitch Moreland position. Let him play RF and close some games?

 

[StillTbonewannabe]

In other words, we have one known asset and a whole bunch of question marks.

Can Brandon Smith be a consistent weekend guy?
Can Cerantola not hit the diamond girls with pitches?
What can MacLeod do?
Will Self and Price ever be healthy and effective again?
Any JUCO’s or true freshmen that can help immediately?

I’m sure we’ll get favorable answers to some of those questions, but most likely not all of them.

Contrast that to this year, where we knew what we had with certainty in Small, Ginn, Plumlee, and Gordon coming into the year (4 reliable guys). And even with those known players, we STILL didn’t have enough guys step up to have a NC-caliber staff. Never had a reliable lefty out of the pen all year. Liebelt did step up as did White (most of the time when we actually used him). But it wasn’t enough as we saw last night.

Plumlee sat out the year before and Ginn was a true freshman so we really only could count on Small and Gordon on the pitching staff. Plumlee did have a decent season as a sophomore.

 

[maroonmania]

If I'm not mistaken, Hatcher came in as a first baseman. TA is a very capable first baseman, but one can tell that he is uncomfortable at that spot. I think it's gotta be TA in left, Rowdy in center, and Cumbest in right. Put Hatch back in his natural spot at first.

On SEC Now, TA stated that the coaches had talked to him about moving to LF next year.