FGCU Games 2 and 3

[scane]

Time for another exercise in futility known as a midweek game. We have failed to score in 2 of our last 3 midweek games and got down big early in the other one.

FGCU comes into the game 25-9 with an RPI of 49. They are coming off two consecutive losses to Jacksonville.

This has to be at least a 3-1 week to make enough progress towards .500 to keep our postseason at-large hopes on life support. Probably needs to be 4-0 to make any meaningful progress. Our RPI is currently at 65. We'll see whether the series win against Clemson was a sign of improvement or whether Clemson is just in a slump (they've now lost 4 of their last 5 games).

McMahon pitched fairly well in his first official start. Hopefully he can stretch it longer this week. The bullpen should be well rested without a game on Sunday. Cook and Hammond didn't pitch at all last weekend, and Bartow hasn't thrown since his 4 inning outing on Friday.

 

[Miami04]

I’m at this game. Down for the Hall of Fame Banquet. We are up 2-0 after one. Some clutch two out hitting. If you are new to Miami baseball you may not be familiar with that.

 

[Miami04]

And this is as close to has to be 4-0 week as we will have.

In my opinion this team is not making the tournament but 4-0 would help.

 

[scane]

That was a surprisingly good performance tonight. McMahon was great. 8K/0BB and could have gone the distance if it wasn’t his second start. Offense was decent with minimal strikeouts (mostly Toral). More impressive still that neither Quinones or Escala played.

 

[Lance Roffers]

You see the impact the coaches were expecting to have with a healthy McMahon all year. He was going to be the Sunday guy and they were going to have Cabezas as the closer and Bartow as the multi-inning reliever with Veliz as the mid-week guy.

That whole plan got scrapped when they had to scramble after his injury. He is a real talent and lengthens the pitching for the stretch run. Veliz is nearing a return as well.

I know we are a beaten down fan base, but I continue to say this team is trending towards good things. There are true foundation pieces in place that are young and the recruiting class should add some more high level talent after this year.

An at-large bid is not out of discussion, but we obviously have to win the series, and really need a sweep to get back on the radar.

 

[rok]

Anyone know why Escala DNP

 

[PGrady24]

The pitching staff is definitely good enough to get us on a nice win streak and into consideration. With Reyes back, our offense will be better. This weekend is a must sweep. Let's be honest, if we cannot sweep Pitt at home we dont deserve the post season. We have dropped too many winnable games to just win 2/3 at home against a subpar opponent.

 

[SanAmaro2005]

A sweep against anyone is not an easy thing. I understand we need it, but it's hard to expect it. The pitching should be there for us. What're the chances of McMahon moving to a weekend spot at some point? Having Reyes back is huge, and if Gabe Rivera keeps hitting the ball it almost feels like we have a threatening lineup all of a sudden. Zamora has been great, and I'm still confident in Burns and Gonzalez even though their years haven't been awesome. (I did not see this Rivera performance coming. Nice surprise.) Things are looking up, but we may have dug ourselves an inescapable hole unfortunately.

 

[BWCD]

In my opinion this team is not making the tournament but 4-0 would help.

Let's be honest, if we cannot sweep Pitt at home we dont deserve the post season.

This is pretty much where I'm at with this season/team.

I see some good spots - Rivera's hitting, Toral showing signs of life, McMahon's return, McKendry and Bargfeldt have been solid for the most part...Zamora/Escala up the middle, Quinones coming out of nowhere like an RKO. There are some pieces here. There's room for much improvement, but there are some good pieces.

It all comes back to DiMare for me. Can he pull this together as the head man going forward? I have my serious doubts. Just feels like he doesn't have it, especially if he's staying on the same trend line as Morris is with style and approach.

 

[PGrady24]

A sweep against anyone is not an easy thing. I understand we need it, but it's hard to expect it. The pitching should be there for us. What're the chances of McMahon moving to a weekend spot at some point? Having Reyes back is huge, and if Gabe Rivera keeps hitting the ball it almost feels like we have a threatening lineup all of a sudden. Zamora has been great, and I'm still confident in Burns and Gonzalez even though their years haven't been awesome. (I did not see this Rivera performance coming. Nice surprise.) Things are looking up, but we may have dug ourselves an inescapable hole unfortunately.

I understand that it's hard to sweep, but when you're at home playing against a team from up north, I expect a sweep. There's no way they can match our talent, even with the gaping holes on the roster. All 3 of our weekend starters are legit, we just have to find a way to score more runs. We just beat Clemson at Clemson and won a big midweek game. The postseason run starts with a sweep this weekend.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

I understand that it's hard to sweep, but when you're at home playing against a team from up north, I expect a sweep. There's no way they can match our talent, even with the gaping holes on the roster.

This just isn't true, and we look like a bunch of yokels when people say it. They just took two of three from the Georgia Tech team that toyed with us for an entire weekend. Teams like Pittsburgh have legitimate D1 baseball players. They just get hit by a lack of quality depth. But make no mistake...their weekend rotation and lineup absolutely has the ability to beat this Miami team on any given day.

 

[scane]

There are true foundation pieces in place that are young and the recruiting class should add some more high level talent after this year.

I think we've seen enough this year to say that both Escala and Zamora are going to be really good players. Quinones should be solid behind the plate although I can't shake the feeling that he'll end up as more of a .280 or .290 career hitter. Between them we're in good shape up the middle the next two years (need a CF to emerge). Rivera has also shown signs of being a really good hitter, but I need to see a larger sample size.

On the mound Federman and Cook both look like they will be key pieces in the next couple years, and last night McMahon was what we all hoped he would be coming out of high school.

Beyond that Cloonan, Jenkins, and Gil have shown flashes at times. Hopefully they can make solid jumps this offseason, and you'd have to imagine given all the hype that Toral will start hitting at some point in his career.

 

[BP Joe]

Is anyone else surprised we haven't seen/heard more from our coach in waiting? I am not there, so, maybe there's more locally that I don't get. But the players still appear to get all of their signs (sometimes on every pitch) from Coach Morris, the lineup changes so often it's hard to keep up, etc.

I hope there's a lot more transition planning behind the scenes then we are seeing though, as DiMare's job will be tough enough without starting from scratch on making game-day decisions.

 

[rok]

Next year's lineup doesn't look so bad right now

Zamora ss
Escala 2b
Gonzalez 3b
Reyes lf
Amditis c
Rivera rf
Quinones dh
Toral / Gil 1b
Jenkins cf

 

[Lance Roffers]

One thing to keep in mind is you are going to see player movement after this season ends. Some of the freshmen who have fallen off in their playing time are going to choose to leave. We have 11 commitments from kids who reasonably should be expected to make it to campus. We always add a few more late in the process.

We have six seniors and a few players who will leave through the draft (Cabezas, Romy, Bartow most likely). You will see some players leave who want to have a more guaranteed role than what we can offer.

But the core of a future top-10 club is in place and it will be important to add on to it. The recruiting class next year is inevitably a bit less than this year's, but there are a couple of standouts expected to make it to campus. One is a catcher who could take the job from Amditis, who has not taken the next step with the bat that was expected this year.

 

[scane]

As far as roster attrition:
Seniors: Burns, Mediavilla, Bargfeldt, Tackett, Hammond, Perez
Draft: Bartow, Cabezas, Gonzalez, Reyes
Likely to transfer: Sparber, Allen

Beyond that there’s usually a weird departure, an incoming kid that doesn’t sign but goes JUCO, somebody gets homesick, etc.

Draft status for Cabezas, Gonzalez, and Reyes is partially dependent on how they finish the season but I suspect all three get drafted in the first 20 rounds and leave.

 

[Lance Roffers]

Totally my conjecture but I'd be surprised if that's all that leaves. A couple of the freshmen who started the year in the starting lineup will leave in my mind.

Veliz is also draft eligible so we will have to sweat that one out.

 

[scane]

Totally my conjecture but I'd be surprised if that's all that leaves. A couple of the freshmen who started the year in the starting lineup will leave in my mind.

Veliz is also draft eligible so we will have to sweat that one out.

Gil (especially if I’m wrong about Romy) and/or Jenkins wouldn’t stun me. I’d say maybe Cloonan too but it’s my impression they see him more as a pitcher in the long run and they usually get a second year.

Beyond that I don’t know if Epstein sticks around for a 5th year. Lane and Paige are question marks too.

I started the year with the assumption Veliz would leave but unless he comes back with a strong finish the extra year with leverage would be a big benefit to him.

 

[PGrady24]

This just isn't true, and we look like a bunch of yokels when people say it. They just took two of three from the Georgia Tech team that toyed with us for an entire weekend. Teams like Pittsburgh have legitimate D1 baseball players. They just get hit by a lack of quality depth. But make no mistake...their weekend rotation and lineup absolutely has the ability to beat this Miami team on any given day.

Pitt beat Georgia Tech twice by 1 run and one of those games in the 14th inning. At Home. They could have easily been swept. You need to win your home series against weaker teams. If you think Pitt has anywhere near the baseball talent Miami has you're wrong.

 

[BP Joe]

As far as roster attrition:
Seniors: Burns, Mediavilla, Bargfeldt, Tackett, Hammond, Perez
Draft: Bartow, Cabezas, Gonzalez, Reyes
Likely to transfer: Sparber, Allen

Beyond that there’s usually a weird departure, an incoming kid that doesn’t sign but goes JUCO, somebody gets homesick, etc.

Draft status for Cabezas, Gonzalez, and Reyes is partially dependent on how they finish the season but I suspect all three get drafted in the first 20 rounds and leave.

I am not sure Romy's finish will have much to do with it - he's a good enough athlete and someone will take a shot on him for a very low signing bonus. He's gone in my opinion.