Went to the game last night. A few notes....
* Tons of fans were waiting at the gates to be let in when I arrived around 5:15. The atmosphere was perfect. Both teams lined up to start the game as the sun was setting on the classic minor league park. The girl that sang the national anthem did an awesome job and sang it they way it was intended. For a minute you seemed to forget all the NIL talk, transfers, and west coast teams that shouldn't be in the conference. An ACC backyard rivalry with both fan bases excited to be there. It was real baseball and did not feel like a scrimmage. This is a no brainer to make an annual event for both teams who have a great baseball following.
* The game was close and that made it even more perfect. So many opportunities to get a look at guys in as simulated a big game environment as possible.
* Maybe a preview of how the pitching staff will roll this year? Forbes has hinted it will probably be a lot more match up based than last year and that's how this game went. It is impossible to replace Knapp, but I think this year it will have to be done with more depth and a few more guys getting looks. Early guess is we saw the 3rd weekend starter (Boaz). Decaro and Lynch most likely the other two. Don't think Seagraves will be starter, but he had a great outing last night. Didn't blink in the environment and was way more comfortable with his offspeed pitches and command. So many weapons on this staff and Gaines/Howell are making all these guys better. And we didn't even see the majority of the staff last night.
* McDuffie looks primed to be the trusted closer. His slider is so absurd and hard to hit even when you know its coming. He gets so many swing and misses on balls out of the zone and I can see opposing teams taking a more patient, drive up his pitch count approach to him. Now that he's adding more pitches to his arsenal, he's going to be even harder to hit and will give him more ways to get batters out no matter their approach. He's just a unique pitcher and fun to watch.
* Freshman. Last year around this time, Forbes talked about Lynch. McDuffie, and Seagraves as ones to watch. Said the same thing this year about Glauber, Rose, Holiday. Glauber looked like he could be in the mix for a lot of innings. The ball jumped out of his hand and command looked pretty good to boot. Holiday's high spin rate on the breaking ball showed up last night as he was brought in to be a righty on righty matchup. Rose was the lefty on lefty guy.
* The offense was simply not there last night. It's one game and it's the fall where the guys are still lifting a lot differently than they will in season...but it's still the biggest question mark for me this season and will dictate how deep a run they can make. Schaffner should end up being a solid bat for us, but he is definitely not a prototypical leadoff guy like Kepley and having that high OB%, energetic boost will be sorely missed. Gavin struggled last night and missed so many barrels on the hands. He's proven and will be the anchor of the offense for sure, but we better get some production around him or he will never get a pitch to hit when it matters.
* Carter French simply produces. Starter. Off the bench. Defense. Pinch run. Pinch hit. Just gets the job done and will be tough to uproot. Seems we always get guys with great metrics and look the part in the uniform, but some guys are just old school baseball players and know how to play the game with all the intangibles. He is him.
* Guessing Hull will be the CF starter, but not sure any of the other outfielders have separated themselves from the pack. May end up a revolving door until someone can break out and claim the other spot.
* Tons of fans were waiting at the gates to be let in when I arrived around 5:15. The atmosphere was perfect. Both teams lined up to start the game as the sun was setting on the classic minor league park. The girl that sang the national anthem did an awesome job and sang it they way it was intended. For a minute you seemed to forget all the NIL talk, transfers, and west coast teams that shouldn't be in the conference. An ACC backyard rivalry with both fan bases excited to be there. It was real baseball and did not feel like a scrimmage. This is a no brainer to make an annual event for both teams who have a great baseball following.
* The game was close and that made it even more perfect. So many opportunities to get a look at guys in as simulated a big game environment as possible.
* Maybe a preview of how the pitching staff will roll this year? Forbes has hinted it will probably be a lot more match up based than last year and that's how this game went. It is impossible to replace Knapp, but I think this year it will have to be done with more depth and a few more guys getting looks. Early guess is we saw the 3rd weekend starter (Boaz). Decaro and Lynch most likely the other two. Don't think Seagraves will be starter, but he had a great outing last night. Didn't blink in the environment and was way more comfortable with his offspeed pitches and command. So many weapons on this staff and Gaines/Howell are making all these guys better. And we didn't even see the majority of the staff last night.
* McDuffie looks primed to be the trusted closer. His slider is so absurd and hard to hit even when you know its coming. He gets so many swing and misses on balls out of the zone and I can see opposing teams taking a more patient, drive up his pitch count approach to him. Now that he's adding more pitches to his arsenal, he's going to be even harder to hit and will give him more ways to get batters out no matter their approach. He's just a unique pitcher and fun to watch.
* Freshman. Last year around this time, Forbes talked about Lynch. McDuffie, and Seagraves as ones to watch. Said the same thing this year about Glauber, Rose, Holiday. Glauber looked like he could be in the mix for a lot of innings. The ball jumped out of his hand and command looked pretty good to boot. Holiday's high spin rate on the breaking ball showed up last night as he was brought in to be a righty on righty matchup. Rose was the lefty on lefty guy.
* The offense was simply not there last night. It's one game and it's the fall where the guys are still lifting a lot differently than they will in season...but it's still the biggest question mark for me this season and will dictate how deep a run they can make. Schaffner should end up being a solid bat for us, but he is definitely not a prototypical leadoff guy like Kepley and having that high OB%, energetic boost will be sorely missed. Gavin struggled last night and missed so many barrels on the hands. He's proven and will be the anchor of the offense for sure, but we better get some production around him or he will never get a pitch to hit when it matters.
* Carter French simply produces. Starter. Off the bench. Defense. Pinch run. Pinch hit. Just gets the job done and will be tough to uproot. Seems we always get guys with great metrics and look the part in the uniform, but some guys are just old school baseball players and know how to play the game with all the intangibles. He is him.
* Guessing Hull will be the CF starter, but not sure any of the other outfielders have separated themselves from the pack. May end up a revolving door until someone can break out and claim the other spot.
