Post draft

[flatwaterfan]

I'm happy that Chad has come back! The offensive should be pretty good again. I tried to put together a batting order but struggled a bit as we have a bunch of good hitters. We had 9 guys over .300 last year and Austin Christensen is a good batter that will see a few AB's as a DH/PH. He gives us an additional lefty at the plate. So he's in the mix too. If Peters gets the start at 2nd, we would play the bunting game/sacrifice game with him. I wonder if they should have Rich lead off as he is our best base stealer and have Pritch bat 3rd. That would breakup our lefties, put our best base stealer on the pads right away to put pressure on the D. They will probably leave Pritch in the leadoff spot though for this year as he did such a great job last year.

 

Pitching will have some new arms but it looks like development & progress of the current talent will be the key for this upcoming year.

 

Defensively we have a lot of solid players but SS is still a question in my mind. It will be interesting to see if they move Kelly to SS or keep him at 2nd. Personally I'd like to keep him at 2nd. I am guessing they will play Chad exclusively in the OF per his desire. Peters gives you a solid 2nd baseman, but I am not not sure of Kelly's accuracy at ss. Plezak will get a good shot I think. Headley is a wild card. I think he's a 3rd baseman but I think he practiced some at short when he first came in. Wish we had Edrington this year.

 

Catcher is also a bit of a question but I think the 2 Juco players will fill in nicely. Plus we have Fish so we should be okay there.

 

What other lineups/combinations do you think would work?

[HuskerHacker]

Losing Stock and Kiser hurt. Stock had power and Kiser was always a tough out.

 

Catcher as you mentioned is a thin position for us. The Juco's need to step in and perform well. Fish has shown flashes but... we need depth back there as well as the stick.

 

Infield is probably set with Kelly, Scheffert, Kash and Peters. (Howell comes in with a lot of hype too and Headley was strong when he was given a chance to game.)

Outfield with Darby, Chad, Sang and Pritchard (Quentin is also liked by the staff so expect him to contend.)

DH is totally up for grabs and until the Juco's and freshmen start hitting and strutting their stuff one can't make any reasonable guesses.

The pitching will improve and might surprise a few of us. Bummer, King, Kubat, Bublitz, Keller are all young arms that will only improve. Lemke may finally be healthy and will probably be given a chance at the weekend rotation but may also be asked to close. (Reduce the stress on his arm) I also like the fact that our incoming class has some solid young arms. (Mid 90's with off speed mix. I expect there to be improved competion on the mound this fall/coming spring).

 

I don't expect the line-up to change much. I think Pritch stays at the top, I think Sang and Chad are 2 or 3, we might see Darby at the 4 or 5 spot with Scheffert and Kash in the that mix too. (4, 5, 6 mixed between the three pending the pitcher being righty or lefty). The 7,8 and 9 holes were productive for us last year and will be again. Kelly and Peters both have speed and Kelly seemed to perform well in the middle part of the line-up but Erstad and Bolt also pushed him to the top of it often too. (He, Kelly, is the dark horse here as he can flat out game both on the field and with stick. If his power improves, expect him to maybe move to the 2 or 3 hole.)

 

Truth is, the skers have some good sticks but no scarry sticks. We need someone that we can place in the cleanup hole that scares the opponent. (Alex Gordon like) Someone that seemingly always delivers and has a good potential of the gaps and/or the long ball. (Darby, Kash, Kelly, Scheffert maybe Chad?)

[HuskersNC949597]

Don't forget, Kelly broke Alex Gordon's record for home runs by a freshman, and did it in 50+ fewer at-bats (this is obviously tempered a little bit by playing in the Big 10 opposed to the Big 12, but still a pretty good sign of things to come IMO.)

[Nexus]

Losing Stock and Kiser hurt. Stock had power and Kiser was always a tough out.

 

Catcher as you mentioned is a thin position for us. The Juco's need to step in and perform well. Fish has shown flashes but... we need depth back there as well as the stick.

 

Infield is probably set with Kelly, Scheffert, Kash and Peters. (Howell comes in with a lot of hype too and Headley was strong when he was given a chance to game.)

Outfield with Darby, Chad, Sang and Pritchard (Quentin is also liked by the staff so expect him to contend.)

DH is totally up for grabs and until the Juco's and freshmen start hitting and strutting their stuff one can't make any reasonable guesses.

The pitching will improve and might surprise a few of us. Bummer, King, Kubat, Bublitz, Keller are all young arms that will only improve. Lemke may finally be healthy and will probably be given a chance at the weekend rotation but may also be asked to close. (Reduce the stress on his arm) I also like the fact that our incoming class has some solid young arms. (Mid 90's with off speed mix. I expect there to be improved competion on the mound this fall/coming spring).

 

I don't expect the line-up to change much. I think Pritch stays at the top, I think Sang and Chad are 2 or 3, we might see Darby at the 4 or 5 spot with Scheffert and Kash in the that mix too. (4, 5, 6 mixed between the three pending the pitcher being righty or lefty). The 7,8 and 9 holes were productive for us last year and will be again. Kelly and Peters both have speed and Kelly seemed to perform well in the middle part of the line-up but Erstad and Bolt also pushed him to the top of it often too. (He, Kelly, is the dark horse here as he can flat out game both on the field and with stick. If his power improves, expect him to maybe move to the 2 or 3 hole.)

 

Truth is, the skers have some good sticks but no scarry sticks. We need someone that we can place in the cleanup hole that scares the opponent. (Alex Gordon like) Someone that seemingly always delivers and has a good potential of the gaps and/or the long ball. (Darby, Kash, Kelly, Scheffert maybe Chad?)

 

In case you weren't aware, Keller transferred. It'll be interesting to see who fills his spot next season.

[HuskerHacker]

Bha.... that's right. Forgot

[flatwaterfan]

Power numbers will remain a bit down due to the tempered bats...

 

Maybe Roeder is a guy that can make up for Keller.

[HuskerHacker]

He's ding well in the summer leagues.

[Blackshirts007]

Bats will be as good as anyone in the country, pitching better step up