Two Weeks Out Projected Starting Lineup for Baseball

[Todd4State]

Closer- Ben Davis. I think he gets the first crack at it based on what I have heard. I would not be surprised if others step up and take the job though.
Relief Ace- Tyler Pitzker. I thought he would be our closer at first and I think he closes some but I also think that we use him in a 2-3 IP role as opposed to a traditional 1 inning closer type.
Set-up- Dane Burns. I love his upside and I think he puts it together this year.
Middle relief- Brandon Sweeney. SEC experience and can throw multiple innings
Middle relief- Maddux Webb. Former Citadel closer with a good breaking ball and low 90's fastball that could contrast well with our starting pitchers.

Friday- Tomas Valinicus. He's a legit Friday night ace and is going to be really good for the next two years. He's probably my favorite pitcher on the staff right now.
Saturday- Ryan McPherson. He's ready for this spot and I think he takes a jump forward this year too.
Sunday- Duke Stone/Charlie Foster. One of the things I want to see how the staff manages are these two. Lots of interesting possibilities and could be match up based if both perform well. A four man staff like this going into the season would be John Cohen's dream.

Midweek- William Kirk. Certainly could be Stone or Foster but Kirk has improved over the fall and spring and is a potential future potential rotation piece. Obviously, this could be Stone or Foster and it could be a spot that Jack Bauer or Parker Rhodes take over too depending on where they are at. We'll bring Bauer along slowly but I would not be surprised if he ends up having a major role out of the bullpen by the time the regionals start.

C- Kevin Milewski. Mike Piazza style catcher who is more hit over defense and has 15 home run potential or more if he plays everyday.
C- Andrew Raymond. Solid catcher who is a LH hitter with some pop and is a better defensive option.

1B- Noah Sullivan/Blake Bevis/Reed Stallman. Noah will be in the lineup everyday. Except for opening day because he is suspended for getting ejected in the final game last year. Playing 1B will open up DH for some other players and Bevis and Stallman are good RH/LH match up options when Noah DH's.
2B- Gehrig Frei/Drew Wyers. I think Frei will be in the lineup and will mostly hit LH and Wyers is a really good player who I think will play a lot also. Frei and obviously DH and play the OF too and Wyers can play SS.
3B- Ace Reese. Golden Spikes candidate and I think we see an improved defensive version of him this year. Very possible that he hits 20+ home runs this year.
SS- Ryder Woodson. If I have a concern anywhere right now it's at SS and wanting to see how Woodson adjusts to the SEC. I think he will be fine and I think he starts opening day. But if he struggles, I think we put Wyers here or maybe Gatlin Sanders who has been practicing a lot at SS. Gat can also play 2B too if that ends up working out better with Wyers at SS and we can also use Chone James at 2B as well in addition to Frei of course.

RF- James Nunnalee. He's a leadoff type hitter but that's probably next year honestly. Has good speed and is very good defensively and will be tough to strike out. If we go the match up route with him, I think this is where Vytas Valinicus could play some. He is more of a traditional RF with power who has good defense.
CF- Aiden Teel. He's an everyday guy who could play himself into the first round with a strong season. Very close to a five tool player.
LF- Bryce Chance/Frei/Justin Parker. This is an interesting and probably polarizing group. Chance is a solid player and he will likely start on opening day. He has become much better defensively and will be moving back to a position that suits him better IMO. Without him being one of the star players on the team I hope we see his strikeouts go down with the pressure off of him. Getting better match ups will help him too. Frei obviously can play here. Of all the freshmen hitters, I think Parker is the one that might bust out and have a big year. I actually think he is a bit underrated as this is a guy who has won national Home run hitting contests. Would not be shocked at all if he is starting by the time the postseason starts.

DH- Noah. And friends.

There will be a press conference on Monday so it will be interesting to see what Brian O'Connor has to say about the team and see if my thoughts and his align and also how they differ.

[AlSwearengen]

Todd, Homedawg posted a few weeks ago that Chone James could be the opening day starter at 2B. I was not expecting that and I assumed that Wyers would be the SS from the time we signed him; I hope it’s a case where Woodson pushed him over rather than Wyers not looking good at SS. I also hope we don’t have clubhouse issues b/c of playing time, though i don’t think we will.

[MStateDawg]

LF- Bryce Chance/Frei/Justin Parker.

Oh man, Coach Parker roaming the outfield 😂

[Todd4State]

Oh man, Coach Parker roaming the outfield ��

He's a man of many talents.**

[Todd4State]

Todd, Homedawg posted a few weeks ago that Chone James could be the opening day starter at 2B. I was not expecting that and I assumed that Wyers would be the SS from the time we signed him; I hope it’s a case where Woodson pushed him over rather than Wyers not looking good at SS. I also hope we don’t have clubhouse issues b/c of playing time, though i don’t think we will.

I could see Chone starting. But I think he would agree with me that Woodson will get the first shot at starting at SS.

If this works out the way I envision it I think we will see plenty of guys playing and getting playing time. Also BOC is a veteran coach and isn't a guy learning on the job so I feel confident that he and his staff will handle any internal issues as they arise.

Maybe football should try that hire someone with experience thing next time?

[WSOPdawg]

I could see Chone starting. But I think he would agree with me that Woodson will get the first shot at starting at SS.

If this works out the way I envision it I think we will see plenty of guys playing and getting playing time. Also BOC is a veteran coach and isn't a guy learning on the job so I feel confident that he and his staff will handle any internal issues as they arise.
\

The sheer # of talented players on this team should allow for maximum platooning to take advantage of LH-RH matchups in the batting lineup. I don't think we've ever had a team that was this blessed with this number of talented players.

[Homedawg]

I could see Chone starting. But I think he would agree with me that Woodson will get the first shot at starting at SS.

If this works out the way I envision it I think we will see plenty of guys playing and getting playing time. Also BOC is a veteran coach and isn't a guy learning on the job so I feel confident that he and his staff will handle any internal issues as they arise.

Maybe football should try that hire someone with experience thing next time?

Yep. I'll be shocked if anyone other than Woodson is the ss opening day...... as far as the football part you and I both know baseball and football here remotely on the same stratosphere in national image. Big difference in who each program can and can't hire.

[AlSwearengen]

Was Woodson tapped to be the starting SS at NCState this year? I know they were salty about losing him.

[Coursesuper]

Closer- Ben Davis. I think he gets the first crack at it based on what I have heard. I would not be surprised if others step up and take the job though.
Relief Ace- Tyler Pitzker. I thought he would be our closer at first and I think he closes some but I also think that we use him in a 2-3 IP role as opposed to a traditional 1 inning closer type.
Set-up- Dane Burns. I love his upside and I think he puts it together this year.
Middle relief- Brandon Sweeney. SEC experience and can throw multiple innings
Middle relief- Maddux Webb. Former Citadel closer with a good breaking ball and low 90's fastball that could contrast well with our starting pitchers.

Friday- Tomas Valinicus. He's a legit Friday night ace and is going to be really good for the next two years. He's probably my favorite pitcher on the staff right now.
Saturday- Ryan McPherson. He's ready for this spot and I think he takes a jump forward this year too.
Sunday- Duke Stone/Charlie Foster. One of the things I want to see how the staff manages are these two. Lots of interesting possibilities and could be match up based if both perform well. A four man staff like this going into the season would be John Cohen's dream.

Midweek- William Kirk. Certainly could be Stone or Foster but Kirk has improved over the fall and spring and is a potential future potential rotation piece. Obviously, this could be Stone or Foster and it could be a spot that Jack Bauer or Parker Rhodes take over too depending on where they are at. We'll bring Bauer along slowly but I would not be surprised if he ends up having a major role out of the bullpen by the time the regionals start.

C- Kevin Milewski. Mike Piazza style catcher who is more hit over defense and has 15 home run potential or more if he plays everyday.
C- Andrew Raymond. Solid catcher who is a LH hitter with some pop and is a better defensive option.

1B- Noah Sullivan/Blake Bevis/Reed Stallman. Noah will be in the lineup everyday. Except for opening day because he is suspended for getting ejected in the final game last year. Playing 1B will open up DH for some other players and Bevis and Stallman are good RH/LH match up options when Noah DH's.
2B- Gehrig Frei/Drew Wyers. I think Frei will be in the lineup and will mostly hit LH and Wyers is a really good player who I think will play a lot also. Frei and obviously DH and play the OF too and Wyers can play SS.
3B- Ace Reese. Golden Spikes candidate and I think we see an improved defensive version of him this year. Very possible that he hits 20+ home runs this year.
SS- Ryder Woodson. If I have a concern anywhere right now it's at SS and wanting to see how Woodson adjusts to the SEC. I think he will be fine and I think he starts opening day. But if he struggles, I think we put Wyers here or maybe Gatlin Sanders who has been practicing a lot at SS. Gat can also play 2B too if that ends up working out better with Wyers at SS and we can also use Chone James at 2B as well in addition to Frei of course.

RF- James Nunnalee. He's a leadoff type hitter but that's probably next year honestly. Has good speed and is very good defensively and will be tough to strike out. If we go the match up route with him, I think this is where Vytas Valinicus could play some. He is more of a traditional RF with power who has good defense.
CF- Aiden Teel. He's an everyday guy who could play himself into the first round with a strong season. Very close to a five tool player.
LF- Bryce Chance/Frei/Justin Parker. This is an interesting and probably polarizing group. Chance is a solid player and he will likely start on opening day. He has become much better defensively and will be moving back to a position that suits him better IMO. Without him being one of the star players on the team I hope we see his strikeouts go down with the pressure off of him. Getting better match ups will help him too. Frei obviously can play here. Of all the freshmen hitters, I think Parker is the one that might bust out and have a big year. I actually think he is a bit underrated as this is a guy who has won national Home run hitting contests. Would not be shocked at all if he is starting by the time the postseason starts.

DH- Noah. And friends.

There will be a press conference on Monday so it will be interesting to see what Brian O'Connor has to say about the team and see if my thoughts and his align and also how they differ.

There are so many options for the staff I’m not sure we will know until the lineup is announced. It’s gonna be fun to watch. Weather is looking promising for opening weekend. That will be fun.

[MStateDawg]

There are so many options for the staff I?m not sure we will know until the lineup is announced. It?s gonna be fun to watch. Weather is looking promising for opening weekend. That will be fun.

I doubt the opening day lineup will provide any long term insight. These position battles are going to carry on for at least the 1st month of the season. The good thing is, there aren?t really any ?bad? options.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

The sheer # of talented players on this team should allow for maximum platooning to take advantage of LH-RH matchups in the batting lineup. I don't think we've ever had a team that was this blessed with this number of talented players.

Agreed. I expect us to hit well in the 7, 8, and 9 spots in the order.

[Homedawg]

I doubt the opening day lineup will provide any long term insight. These position battles are going to carry on for at least the 1st month of the season. The good thing is, there aren?t really any ?bad? options.

Agree. And it for sure won't in one spot. Bc Sullivan won't be in the opening day lineup. And he has to be an everyday hitter

[Coursesuper]

I doubt the opening day lineup will provide any long term insight. These position battles are going to carry on for at least the 1st month of the season. The good thing is, there aren?t really any ?bad? options.

Of course, which is why I said this is going to be fun to watch. Sullivan won’t see game one, like Home said he has to hit, SS probably isn’t settled as is the outfield or catcher. But at least there are options that can play. It gonna be fun to watch the first couple of weeks until things get set.,

[Coach34]

This team wont have one line-up. We gonna have a line-up for RHPs and one for LHP's

[somebodyshotmypaw]

We should look at adding Hunter Renfroe to the roster. He would be an additional power bat. Might be March or April before he's in playing shape, but he could help as the season goes on. That's how college sports is trending. I'm only half joking.

[Jake]

We should look at adding Hunter Renfroe to the roster. He would be an additional power bat. Might be March or April before he's in playing shape, but he could help as the season goes on. That's how college sports is trending. I'm only half joking.

Take the Alabama approach, I'm sure there is a MS judge somewhere that could make it happen.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Take the Alabama approach, I'm sure there is a MS judge somewhere that could make it happen.

Bring back Reggie Perry for basketball. Bring in Tanner Allen and Hunter Renfroe for baseball. I'm waiting on Texas Tech to make Patrick Mahomes an offer that's bigger than what the Chiefs are paying. It appears there are no rules. The NCAA has no balls.

[MStateDawg]

Coach Oak spoke very highly of Reed Stallman in the preseason media session today. Said he & Nunnalee have been the most consistent players offensively thru the fall and into the preseason. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a couple starts opening weekend.