baseball position switch

[flatwaterfan]

I am hoping that Mossey can be the starting SS and Christensen moves to 3rd. I think Christensen would be a great 3rd base vs a decent SS.

[HuskerHacker]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a couple position changes. Bolt and Erstad will work things "their" way and the best players will be on the field. Every time I think about husker baseball I hear those same few words. Quote: "it will be hell on the bases"

[flatwaterfan]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a couple position changes. Bolt and Erstad will work things "their" way and the best players will be on the field. Every time I think about husker baseball I hear those same few words. Quote: "it will be hell on the bases"

 

 

What's your take on the outfield? Rich Sanguinetti sounds like a heck of a player and Urban sounds like a really good fit. The OF spots should be highly contested.

[HuskerHacker]

Honestly, I think there is a shake up forth coming. I think Erstad, Bolt and Christy will open every position up to competition and all our athletes will be pushed/challenged. Yes Sangi appears to have talent but I think one won't know how skilled he is until he's been in the program awhile. IMO our outfield is deep. Cooper, Keiser, Pritchard and Scheffert all return. (I think?) Erstad has said he will put the best athletes on the field. That means the best chance for an incoming player to see the field is through batting potential and speed.(remember, hell on the bases) Pritch and Cooper have the speed... can they improve their bats?

 

I am actually wondering if we might see a position change with Scheff or Pritch into the infield? Yes Christensen and Peters are for sure returning but Asche is gone and it is vital for us to find a replacement for both his glove and his bat. Therefore the competition is needed.

 

As for Urban, he is a solid outfielder with a good bat and above average speed. Erstad showed his recruiting ability when he convinced him to change his mind and it appears as though Urban and the coaching staff are all on the same page. Rich Sanguinetti and Bolt know each other already and probably know each others expectations so I think Sangi may see the field early. Also, don't count Bubba out yet. He's still in Lincoln (uselessly crossing my fingers). If Bubba stays, the outfield is loaded.

 

My concern is mostly in pitching. Silva has his work cut out for him. Logan is injured and resting (Hopefully its not prolonged) and we haven't signed any pitchers yet.

 

Our current commits: (shows the OF depth)

OF - Sangi from Bolts old gig though he was committed to us before Bolt was announced.

OF - Urban from Millard South, changed his mind from football at SDSU to play baseball for Erstad and Bolt

OF - Darby from Wyoming, righty with a very respectable ERA but is projected to play OF. Also has impressive HR potential. Darby Link

OF - Black from Montana, committed to Erstad over Arizona. Black's Commitment Statement

[flatwaterfan]

Excellent points.

 

Speaking of Scheffert, I wonder if he will be pitching more? I agree we may see him in the infield too as potentially Farmer could be going to 3rd and Scheffert back to 1st if Christensen stays at short.

 

Didnt know about the Darby & Black commits. Appreciate the links!

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

Honestly, I think there is a shake up forth coming. I think Erstad, Bolt and Christy will open every position up to competition and all our athletes will be pushed/challenged. Yes Sangi appears to have talent but I think one won't know how skilled he is until he's been in the program awhile. IMO our outfield is deep. Cooper, Keiser, Pritchard and Scheffert all return. (I think?) Erstad has said he will put the best athletes on the field. That means the best chance for an incoming player to see the field is through batting potential and speed.(remember, hell on the bases) Pritch and Cooper have the speed... can they improve their bats?

 

I am actually wondering if we might see a position change with Scheff or Pritch into the infield? Yes Christensen and Peters are for sure returning but Asche is gone and it is vital for us to find a replacement for both his glove and his bat. Therefore the competition is needed.

 

As for Urban, he is a solid outfielder with a good bat and above average speed. Erstad showed his recruiting ability when he convinced him to change his mind and it appears as though Urban and the coaching staff are all on the same page. Rich Sanguinetti and Bolt know each other already and probably know each others expectations so I think Sangi may see the field early. Also, don't count Bubba out yet. He's still in Lincoln (uselessly crossing my fingers). If Bubba stays, the outfield is loaded.

 

My concern is mostly in pitching. Silva has his work cut out for him. Logan is injured and resting (Hopefully its not prolonged) and we haven't signed any pitchers yet.

 

Our current commits: (shows the OF depth)

OF - Sangi from Bolts old gig though he was committed to us before Bolt was announced.

OF - Urban from Millard South, changed his mind from football at SDSU to play baseball for Erstad and Bolt

OF - Darby from Wyoming, righty with a very respectable ERA but is projected to play OF. Also has impressive HR potential. Darby Link

OF - Black from Montana, committed to Erstad over Arizona. Black's Commitment Statement

How can you guys forget about kash? One of our best imo

[HuskerHacker]

Kash is not forgotten. lol (especially his bat)

 

Not sure what infield position he could play. (Third maybe, he has the arm.)

 

Yes he will be in contention for the outfield but... so too will the incoming. Kash btw, is one of my favorite players and he seems to have the tenacity that Erstad and Bolt are looking for.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

Kash is not forgotten. lol (especially his bat)

 

Not sure what infield position he could play. (Third maybe, he has the arm.)

 

Yes he will be in contention for the outfield but... so too will the incoming. Kash btw, is one of my favorite players and he seems to have the tenacity that Erstad and Bolt are looking for.

He's could really play anywhere I think. He was a good shortstop in high school, but 3rd sounds more possible if you are thinking of him playing infield.

[Turn2]

From my perspective, I think position changes will depend on certain baseball truisms and high school players transition to BBCOR bats:

 

Strong up the middle (SS, 2nd, C, CF)- any new players not only need to adjust to the speed of the game and play very good D but can they hit. In my opinion, catcher and SS are defense first and hit second. CF has become a 50/50 balance between defense and offense and 2nd is tipping toward offense first. However, you can't have a defensive liability at any of these positions.

 

Corner's (LF, RF, 3rd, 1b)- Offense first; in an ideal world, these players would be best hitters with the best power numbers. That being said, you aren't going to trade defense for offense at any one of these positions (not talking about playing a stiff at any one of these positions, that is what DH is for). At these positions you play offense early and defense late. Issue with newcomers (high school only), is transition to BBCOR bats. Our freshman last year had 2 extra base hits last year and they had same amount of time using BBCOR as upper classmen (fall then spring). Most college coaches will tell you the biggest improvement for a college player is from their freshman year and sophomore year.

 

My initial blush is that their will be fewer changes than some may think.

[HuskerHacker]

excellent post Turn

 

I tend to agree with the "fewer changes" opinion. When I attempt to evaluate the strength of the team I tend to see our middle infield as solid. I also think 1st is a wrap and I don't see Keiser, Cooper, Kash/Sheff not at least initially penciled in as the starters. Maybe the Juco recruit gets a shot to show what he can do but all in all, most moves (if any) will likely occur as a result of run production. Meaning the best bats will be given the best look.

 

On a side note, how sweet would it be if a certain Bubba is thrown into the mix?

[Turn2]

excellent post Turn

 

I tend to agree with the "fewer changes" opinion. When I attempt to evaluate the strength of the team I tend to see our middle infield as solid. I also think 1st is a wrap and I don't see Keiser, Cooper, Kash/Sheff not at least initially penciled in as the starters. Maybe the Juco recruit gets a shot to show what he can do but all in all, most moves (if any) will likely occur as a result of run production. Meaning the best bats will be given the best look.

 

On a side note, how sweet would it be if a certain Bubba is thrown into the mix?

 

I expect 1 to 2 new faces in our line-up, but this is due to turn over and not replacement. I fully expect Farmer to remain at first. However a move to 3 rd is not out of question. We could have a new face in outfield, especially if Kash moves back to infield. Only one proven catcher (Burleson). I would expect a Stucky to take over as no. 2. Haven't heard grest things about incoming catching recruit. Pitching has a chance to be very good. We have some minor injuries that need to heal but we have a lot of depth and ability...Travis Huber is blowing up in Caly summer league.

[HuskerHacker]

do you have a link to the summer stats for Huber? He was projected to be a possible stud. Is he starting to gain that "stud" reputation?

[Turn2]

do you have a link to the summer stats for Huber? He was projected to be a possible stud. Is he starting to gain that "stud" reputation?

 

http://www.bluesbaseball.com/stats/HTML/2011/HTML/teamcume.htm?SPSID=101&SPID=33&DB_OEM_ID=100

 

Huber on same summer team as Christensen.

Player era w-l app-gs cg sho sv ip h r er bb so 2b 3b hr ab b/avg wp hbp bk sfa sha

Travis Huber 2.75 3-0 8-7 0 0/1 0 39.1 25 13 12 11 44 4 0 2 141 .177 4 2 0 1 1

 

tried to make this decipherable, but didn't work. Key stats:

 

ERA- 2.75

IP- 39.1

K/bb- 44/11

BAA- .177

WHIP- < 1

[HuskerHacker]

Yost is struggling though

[flatwaterfan]

Good posts. I am enjoying this discussion.

 

Couple of things. I thought I read somewhere that Stucky chose to transfer? Do I recall incorrectly?

 

I can appreciate the line of thinking about 'less changes' than a person might think. Some good thoughts there. One of the things I am trying to determine is how do the players we have now fit in with the new philosophy and how fast will we try to transition to that philosophy. That makes it doubly hard to figure out.

 

 

Great to see us get another SS in Ethan Garlington