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That's it! Tumis' theme music when he's warming up before the start of the inning--The Cars "Let the Good Times Roll".He should mentor Tumis--a new pitcher with wildly nasty stuff, and the build of Rik Ocasik.
And Coach is real high on Hurley this year. That was not the case last year. Hurley coached one of the teams in the 3rd game. In his interview, Hurley said he is moving towards being more of a sinker/slider thrower and less of a curve baller. And that has worked real well for him in Fall Ball practices.
Hurley also put on 15 lbs of muscle over the off-season (part of Coach's new-found focus on physical fitness, I suppose...?). He should mentor Tumis--a new pitcher with wildly nasty stuff, and the build of Rik Ocasik.
On paper, this team is better than last year, or the year before.
We've stockpiled some serious talent up and down the lineup and pitching staff.
Who takes Gordon's spot on the team?
Who takes Campbells spot on the team?
How well is this team going to jell offensively?
Just how strong is this defense going to be?
Now if Tumis turns out to be as good as I think he is, we may want to make him the closer. His "stuff" will wow you.Who takes Gordon's spot on the team?
This is the toughest loss. LBJ should be all-everything, but we don't (yet) have that awesome 1-2 punch of 2 top notch starters. Witt was awesome before he got hurt, and he may be that top notch #2 starter when he's fully recovered--he's still working on it and may be a 4 innings or less pitcher for the 1st half of the year...? Hurley is pretty good IMHO - not bad, not great, pretty good. In some years, he'd be good enough to be our #3 starter. This year, he'll probably begin as our #2 starter. Howard looked really good in Fall Ball. He may start.
The pen looks better than in recent years. Of the true Freshman, Tumis will wow everyone with his stuff--he puts some kind of crazy movement sauce on the ball. I don't know if LSU's lineup could hit Tumis effectively. If he masters his control, the college baseball world will soon all know his name. When you see Tumis pitch, you think "THAT'S the guy I want pitching against the best competition we face at the crucial point in the game." His control ain't perfect though...
Selvig will get a lot of innings--very, very good control and reliable. He will probably not wow you with his stuff however (unless you're easily impressed). [another Ace Whitehead? That would be really good to have another Ace Whitehead though!] The Coaches seem to like Hamilton the best of the true Freshmen ...?
Who takes Campbells spot on the team?
Amazingly, this is not a worry. The OF is so good and so deep, the problem we have there is getting everybody enough playing time so they don't hit the portal.
How well is this team going to jell offensively?
I don't know about chemistry, but we'll get a lot of hits, a lot of doubles, and a lot of homeruns with this lineup.
Just how strong is this defense going to be?
It's looking pretty good. Thomas' blazing speed should translate well to the OF. Cummings and Gasparino also look good in the OF. Gasparino (very tall) may rob some batters of homeruns at the fence! Flores may turn into the best SS glove we've had in a while. Powell = excellent glove. Jack O'Dowd may be the weak link in the IF, and he's not bad at all. D. Kennedy has a very good glove (2B or SS). That big dude we had at 1B in Fall Ball Game 3 was good in the field. And he was constantly smiling real big--he loves this game! It's good to see that.
C may be just so-so. Schuesler won't be all-confererence or anything, but he gets the job done. Galvan may still need some more coaching/work on his D behind the plate. Oliver Service=could be the most athletic catcher we've seen in quite some time, and he has a gun for an arm. But he may not even play C???
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