College Baseball 2013

[CubsWin]

I know you want to go BPA over needs in the baseball draft, but with the strength of the catching in this draft and our clear lack of depth/quality of it in the system I'd be a bit disappointed if we don't draft a catcher in the first 3-4 rounds.

I'm hoping for that, too. Things would have to fall right, of course. If teams are taking catchers just a few picks ahead of the Cubs, I wouldn't want them to make a big reach just to fill a need. And who knows how the Cubs are grading these guys internally. This front office has done nothing to make me second guess them thus far so I trust them to make the best pick.

 

However, if Theo & company have some strict rule of taking BPA and only BPA with no wiggle room for consideration of organizational weaknesses, I'll be disappointed. But I haven't heard or read anything yet that leads me to believe that they do.

[Guest]

Pretty good run for Indiana collegiate baseball: Purdue was great last season as they were consistently ranked in the top 25, Indiana State has a chance to produce the #1 pick in this June's draft, Notre Dame is a top 25 staple this year and now Indiana cracked Baseball America's top 25 for the first time in school history.

[OleMissCub]

Mizzou had an announced attendance of 123 at their baseball game last night. Goodness...

 

Guess their girlfriends didn't even attend the game.

[toonsterwu]

Super ... not excited, but intrigued, with this weekend's matchup of UVA vs. NC State. UVA"s first real test of the year (nothing against Clemson, but UVA's owned Clemson for awhile now). A very young UVA lineup and staff going up against a talented Wolfpack squad. Last year had the excellent Rodon/Kline matchup, but Ogburn shut down UVA last year. A lot of solid 2014 draft talent being matched up. The games being at UVA should help, but personally, I think State might be a better team. That said, UVA plays solid, sound fundamental baseball.

[toonsterwu]

Man ... can't believe UVA swept the doubleheader. Rodon was erratic (but also shows how good he is ... as erratic as he was, he still only gave up 2 h and 2 r's). Really loving what Waddell is showing. As he gets bigger and stronger, more velocity could come. It isn't hard to envision him as a possible first rounder in 2015.

 

Hope we can get the sweep. This UVA team is looking much better than I anticipated. Wonder if UVA could end up hosting a regional again.

[Guest]

Man ... can't believe UVA swept the doubleheader. Rodon was erratic (but also shows how good he is ... as erratic as he was, he still only gave up 2 h and 2 r's). Really loving what Waddell is showing. As he gets bigger and stronger, more velocity could come. It isn't hard to envision him as a possible first rounder in 2015.

 

Hope we can get the sweep. This UVA team is looking much better than I anticipated. Wonder if UVA could end up hosting a regional again.

He's already getting a few Hultzen comps (with the usual disclaimers that Hultzen projects to be better).

[toonsterwu]

Sort of a lazy comparison, IMO. I've seen those (BA had one a few weeks back), but the comparison is sort of the "hey, there was a good lefty here a couple years ago, and he's a lefty" comparison. I think Waddell's 3 pitches are better than Hultzen's as a freshman. Hultzen's velocity was a bit better at a younger age. I mean, I can understand why the comparisons are made, but then, you can make vaguely similar comparisons for any lefty with velocity that reaches into the 90's.

 

Anyhow, awesome sweep for UVA. Damn impressed with this team.

[Guest]

Sort of a lazy comparison, IMO. I've seen those (BA had one a few weeks back), but the comparison is sort of the "hey, there was a good lefty here a couple years ago, and he's a lefty" comparison. I think Waddell's 3 pitches are better than Hultzen's as a freshman. Hultzen's velocity was a bit better at a younger age. I mean, I can understand why the comparisons are made, but then, you can make vaguely similar comparisons for any lefty with velocity that reaches into the 90's.

 

Anyhow, awesome sweep for UVA. Damn impressed with this team.

 

Wasn't paying attention but is Trea Turner back for the Wolfpack?

[Guest]

South Carolina swept by Arkansas at home. Arizona is 0-6 in the Pac-12 (at least they've faced quality opponents like Oregon and Oregon State). Stanford continues to be surprisingly mediocre, lost 2 of 3 to a bad Utah team.

 

I know UNC has done nothing to be dropped from #1 but I really prefer Vanderbilt and Oregon State.

[toonsterwu]

Sort of a lazy comparison, IMO. I've seen those (BA had one a few weeks back), but the comparison is sort of the "hey, there was a good lefty here a couple years ago, and he's a lefty" comparison. I think Waddell's 3 pitches are better than Hultzen's as a freshman. Hultzen's velocity was a bit better at a younger age. I mean, I can understand why the comparisons are made, but then, you can make vaguely similar comparisons for any lefty with velocity that reaches into the 90's.

 

Anyhow, awesome sweep for UVA. Damn impressed with this team.

 

Wasn't paying attention but is Trea Turner back for the Wolfpack?

 

I think he came in briefly in one game, but I'd have to double-check.

[toonsterwu]

Well, that's another series win for UVA. Damn, this team is impressive. Derek Fisher gets hurt? No problem, Mike Papi, arguably the hottest hitter on the team, steps in. A bit worried about another inconsistent start from Waddell, so that's something to watch, but the pen is deep and versatile, and Silverstein seems to have found his prep form.

 

Granted, the tough part of the schedule hasn't hit yet, with series' against FSU/GA Tech/Hokies on three straight weekends, along with what could be great clash with UNC to end the year.

[Guest]

BA's midseason NCAA field of 64 prediction: http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/projected-field-of-64-2/

[OleMissCub]

Bobby Wahl is now 9-0 with a 1.21 era, 81.2 ip, 51 hits

 

draft stock must be pretty high now

[Guest]

The Field of 64 is out: http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/2013-road-to-omaha-begins-field-of-64/

 

For you Big Ten honks, Indiana will be hosting a region this weekend and is a very good team this year. Illinois made the tournament too.

 

The overall national seeds are : 1. UNC, 2. Vanderbilt, 3. Oregon State, 4. LSU, 5. Cal State Fullerton, 6. Virginia, 7. Florida St and 8. Oregon.

 

UCLA stuck in a regional with San Diego (Kris Bryant), Cal Poly and San Diego State (will face Michael Cederoth in the first game of the regional).

[toonsterwu]

Slate looks relatively okay for UVA in their regional. That said, the pitching was really shaky down the stretch, so nothing would really surprise me. If UVA is to advance to supers, I think the offense is going to have to show up in a big way, with the pen, and namely, Kyle Crockett, logging key work.

 

The bracket opposite them intrigues me - Miss St./So. Alabama/Mercer all seem fairly intriguing.

[rawaction]

IU is a really good team. Better than I ever remember them being. Got a lot of big pitchers over 6'5". Got a really good power hitter and some decent defensive guys who contribute enough with the bat. If they get there, I think they can beat Florida State. Not getting past Vandy though, I don't imagine. Would be nice to see them in the CWS.

 

National title in men's soccer. #1 team for a good part of the season in men's basketball. Ranked team in baseball. Good year for IU sports.

[CubInOK]

Let's all gush about our teams!!

 

OU has Johnathan Gray. Too bad he can't pitch every day.

[Guest]

Let's all gush about our teams!!

 

OU has Johnathan Gray. Too bad he can't pitch every day.

Overton isn't a shabby #2.

[CubInOK]

Let's all gush about our teams!!

 

OU has Johnathan Gray. Too bad he can't pitch every day.

Overton isn't a shabby #2.

But he's not Gray.

 

Also, Matt Oberste is a good batter.

[Guest]

Just an FYI, all regional games will be on one of ESPNU, ESPN2 or ESPN3.

[bukie]

Surprised Illinois even made the tournament, let alone landed a 3 seed, and now they're up on Georgia Tech 4-0 in the 6th.

[Guest]

LSU star freshman SS Alex Bregman and OF Raph Rhymes collided on a pop-up. Bregman has a concussion and is probably out for the rest of this weekend.

 

Quite a few upsets today (not just Illinois).

 

EDIT: Bregman cleared for tomorrow. Wow.

[SouthSideRyan]

Never entered my mind that Illinois would be in the tourney.

[toonsterwu]

Surprised Illinois even made the tournament, let alone landed a 3 seed, and now they're up on Georgia Tech 4-0 in the 6th.

 

I don't know much about Illinois, but Georgia Tech is a very hot and cold team. When on, they can probably beat anyone, particularly if Buck Farmer is pitching well, as they have some good bats. Still, I've seen them get stymied too many times by average pitching. I see they didn't pitch Farmer today - they gambled that they could get by and use him tomorrow, I guess. Hard to see Tech rallying to win the regional now - just don't think they have the pitching to go through a loser's bracket. Still, with that offense, I guess nothing should be ruled out.

[bukie]

Illinois has basically 3 good hitters and a good freshman pitcher in Duschene. They're now 3 outs away from forcing Vandy to beat them again to win the regional (they'd have needed to hold on against Vandy yesterday to have a real shot at actually winning the regional, but they aren't in Vandy's league at this point).