TU23 wrote:G-wave wrote:Next years team will depend on these JC's all who have really good numbers to go along with a hand full of Fr on this years Team who have decent talent. Vet wise all we have coming back is Spoon and Massey who I hope can get it together in a Summer league. Don't know if Grant, France or Born will come back as 5th year SR. My question is who in the incoming FR. class can make an impact ? Was told we have 3 or 4 LHP's who could make a difference.
We have 4 or 5 good young freshmen pitchers coming in that can contribute next year(assuming we don't lose any to the draft):
Josh Bates: RHP 6'2 190 from Orlando, FL. Low 90s FB
Justin Campbell: LHP 6'6 200 from Troy, MI. High 80s FB...will be a monster in 2 years.
Brendan Cellucci: LHP 6'4 210 from Wyncote, PA. Touches low 90s. Good off-speed stuff for a hs kid.
Hayden Onorato: LHP 6'3 220 from Alpharetta, GA. Touches low 90s. Advanced approach for an 18 year old. Will contribute right away.
Alson Pough- RHP 6'2 175 from Paramus, NJ by way of IMG Academy in Florida. Needs to get bigger and stronger. Mid to high 80s FB. Good prospect.
Forrest Webber- RHP 5'10 180 from Huntsville, AL. Tough little SOB. Great control with 4 pitches. Mid to high 80s FB. A lot like Brandon Gomes with slightly less velo but better secondary stuff.
Jewett started behind the 8 ball because Pierce left so late in the process taking 2 of our recruits with him. We picked up whatever scraps we could, but there is going to be a significant amount of turnover on the pitching staff. A lot of competition for roster spots. I'd be shocked if the local kids from Jesuit, for instance, make the team this year. They will stay in school but not be on the official roster like Galy did last year.
Jewett's strength is and always has been recruiting. We're going to be okay. People need to give him some time and stop worrying about Andy Cannizaro. Andy walked into a great opportunity at MSU. I've known Andy since I was a kid and played with him and am confident in saying that Tulane was not a great fit for either side with him. MSU was perfect for him. Jewett is our guy. I'm confident in that.
We're getting exactly what we need...an influx of talented JUCOs with some good, young talent (better than what Pierce ever brought in with some exceptions i.e. Spoon). One thing about JUCOs that you've got to love....they live and breathe baseball. It's a difficult route to take. They play a ton of ball with no frills or benefits. We need that type of attitude going forward.
Pitching has been our achilles heel. Look at stats from last year to this year...hitting and fielding are pretty close to identical. Home runs are close to identical. Pitching is nowhere near where it was. We lost 5 or 6 guys with more than 10 appearances each (and didn't do much to replace them)....that will decimate your bullpen in a hurry. A guy like Gillies would have been a 5 inning guy in most years...this year he's making 20 appearances. We're going to be okay. This year sucked in a lot of spots, but it was a necessary re-set. Big Jew will get it going, I can promise you that.