Gator Baseball Gator Baseball: Season Opening Series

FireFoley · Feb 14, 2019

Well Gator baseball kicks off the season by hosting a reasonably well known name is college baseball, Long Beach State. The Gators are ranked in the top 5 in most of the rankings but lots of question marks about the team are out there in probably all areas. They have the potential to be very good but will likely struggle at times due to youth, inconsistent pitching and hitting. But improving and being good at the end of the season is the goal. There has been more off season baseball talk on here than normal, primarily due to the new stadium talk and the money being spent (or should I say wasted in many people's view). Either way it is good to have an opening series against a team that we do not normally see, has a good baseball history and potentially a good team. If nothing else Long Beach State's baseball team might have the best mascot name in the biz: Dirtbags!!!!. For that reason alone, I am glad they are invading the MAC. Play Ball!!!!!!!!

rogdochar · Feb 14, 2019

Will we have any new home-run hitters this season?
We always have "shut-down" pitching.

Ocalaman · Feb 14, 2019

rogdochar said:
Will we have any new home-run hitters this season?
We always have "shut-down" pitching.

Pitching will have some question marks for awhile. Tyler Dyson is counted on to be the Friday night starter and he was a head case last year. Tons of talent, but he'll have to prove he belongs where Sully has put him. The other weekend starters, Tommy Mace & Jack Leftwich, got a lot of experience last year and if the expected improvement is there, they will be solid. There is no Michael Byrne to close out games and the bullpen, other than Jordan Butler and the McMullen brothers, are either new or have little experience. We're starting 3 freshmen, at 1st, 3rd & CF, and all come in highly touted with impressive high school and travel ball numbers and some power. Brady McConnell was the opening game starter at SS last year, but got hurt early and didn't play after the 1st couple of weeks. They're counting on him to be THE guy at SS. Blake Reese is back at 2nd, Maldanado at DH, Langworthy in LF , Will Dalton in RF and Brady Smith will start at catcher. So out of those guys there's not a lot of home run power except for Dalton.

Thick&ThinG8r · Feb 14, 2019

I'm attending Saturdays game and hope they can put up some runs along with some solid pitching.

ThreatMatrix · Feb 14, 2019

Hope they lose every f'ng game until the all in one is built.

FireFoley · Feb 15, 2019

It really is not officially baseball season until @dz_23 has commented in this thread. I thought for sure he would have been snooping around since we are opening against a real team (the Dirtbags) and not North Maine Vermont Tech Fairfield Shore or some other northeastern powerhouse trying to escape a frozen tundra!!!!

jaywalker72 · Feb 15, 2019

Is there a place that tracks exit velocity, barrels and other advanced stats for NCAA?

dz_23 · Feb 15, 2019

Im In guys, Go Gators. Got the game on, nice double play to start.

Remember guys, its not how you start, its how you finish. Long season, lets get HOT

dz_23 · Feb 15, 2019

4-0. I like it

Ocalaman · Feb 15, 2019

Does anyone know what happened to Andrew Baker & Connor Churchill from the 2018 team? Both are pitchers, although Baker played some CF and was used as a pinch runner. Neither is on this year;s roster. Baker is a junior and Churchill and sophomore.

FireFoley · Feb 15, 2019

I just got home from the game and I asked someone on the way out and was told Baker was no longer on the team and is playing elsewhere. Both Baker and Churchill were there for fall ball and both pitched in the fall practices. It seems like every year 1 or 2 players leave before fall starts like Keenan Bell did and then 1 or 2 more after fall ball. Perhaps they were told they were not going to be a part of the rotation or maybe grades? Baker was the only other lefty besides Butler so that surprised me a bit.

As for the game, not a lot to say. Not going to throw Dyson under the bus, but many of us are not sure he is a Friday nite guy. Also Matt Damon is not a catcher and I think I saw 4 or 5 passed balls. Not sure of the official scoring but the passed balls and the inability to catch foul pops was frustrating. I assume Matt Damon is catching b/c of his bat b/c Greenfield is better defensively but can't hit. Going to be fun with a lot of new faces. probably a roller coaster ride for a while but talent level looks promising.

Ocalaman · Feb 15, 2019

FireFoley said:
I just got home from the game and I asked someone on the way out and was told Baker was no longer on the team and is playing elsewhere. Both Baker and Churchill were there for fall ball and both pitched in the fall practices. It seems like every year 1 or 2 players leave before fall starts like Keenan Bell did and then 1 or 2 more after fall ball. Perhaps they were told they were not going to be a part of the rotation or maybe grades? Baker was the only other lefty besides Butler so that surprised me a bit.

As for the game, not a lot to say. Not going to throw Dyson under the bus, but many of us are not sure he is a Friday nite guy. Also Matt Damon is not a catcher and I think I saw 4 or 5 passed balls. Not sure of the official scoring but the passed balls and the inability to catch foul pops was frustrating. I assume Matt Damon is catching b/c of his bat b/c Greenfield is better defensively but can't hit. Going to be fun with a lot of new faces. probably a roller coaster ride for a while but talent level looks promising.

I agree about the catching woes. I know it was only 1 game and Smith is a solid hitter and can play many positions, but catcher is NOT one of them. He was horrible tonight. In addition to Greenfield we have Girand back from last year, plus a JC transfer named Santino Miozzi, who hit .291 with 21 RBI's in 41 games last year. You can't drop 2 foul opps and have so many balls go flying to the backstop and expect to bre a title contender. Sully will figure it out, though.

Tay Bang · Feb 16, 2019

Gator win, by the way. Had to go to Gatorsports.

BMF · Feb 16, 2019

FireFoley · Feb 16, 2019

I knew it was a long game but I just perused the stats and had no idea we issued a zillion walks and hit a zillion guys. Only 2 passed balls? Please. Friendly official scoring. Should be better today b/c Mace usually throws strikes. Defense was shaky but probably a lot of nerves. New CF seems to read the ball well off the bat which is awesome. Also just looked at roster and Nick Long and Cole Maye also not on team. I don;t think Maye ever pitched in a game but he was a big lefty who pitched a little in 2 falls but guess he never developed. Saw another frosh lefty on roster, so maybe he will come around. Since Nellie has to DH that really only leaves Matt Damon to catch unless the new 1B shows he can't hit. But I have a feeling if that continues, Greenfield will be inserted late into games that we lead for defensive purposes. Been a while since baseball had this many unknowns but that should make for lots of surprises both good and bad.

MADGator · Feb 16, 2019

Of course we always want Omaha but I’m looking forward to watching the new guys progress though that will mean L’s.

Starting three freshman, is that right? And McConnell who only played a handful of games last year so basically Groundhog Day again for him.

Ocalaman · Feb 16, 2019

Gators beat Dirtbags 5-2 Saturday. Tommy Mace pitched 7 innings, the defense was more solid than last night, UF scored 4 in the 2nd and sort of coasted to the win.

LagoonGator68 · Feb 16, 2019

FireFoley said:
I knew it was a long game but I just perused the stats and had no idea we issued a zillion walks and hit a zillion guys. Only 2 passed balls? Please. Friendly official scoring. Should be better today b/c Mace usually throws strikes. Defense was shaky but probably a lot of nerves. New CF seems to read the ball well off the bat which is awesome. Also just looked at roster and Nick Long and Cole Maye also not on team. I don;t think Maye ever pitched in a game but he was a big lefty who pitched a little in 2 falls but guess he never developed. Saw another frosh lefty on roster, so maybe he will come around. Since Nellie has to DH that really only leaves Matt Damon to catch unless the new 1B shows he can't hit. But I have a feeling if that continues, Greenfield will be inserted late into games that we lead for defensive purposes. Been a while since baseball had this many unknowns but that should make for lots of surprises both good and bad.

Eleven scholarships don't go very far....

solarman · Feb 16, 2019

Who was Sully going to use as a closer last year before Byrne took over the position? I can't remember.

Marine1 · Feb 16, 2019

FireFoley said:
Well Gator baseball kicks off the season by hosting a reasonably well known name is college baseball, Long Beach State. The Gators are ranked in the top 5 in most of the rankings but lots of question marks about the team are out there in probably all areas. They have the potential to be very good but will likely struggle at times due to youth, inconsistent pitching and hitting. But improving and being good at the end of the season is the goal. There has been more off season baseball talk on here than normal, primarily due to the new stadium talk and the money being spent (or should I say wasted in many people's view). Either way it is good to have an opening series against a team that we do not normally see, has a good baseball history and potentially a good team. If nothing else Long Beach State's baseball team might have the best mascot name in the biz: Dirtbags!!!!. For that reason alone, I am glad they are invading the MAC. Play Ball!!!!!!!!

I have to get back for some ballgames this year. Got to several last year with my oldest son and had an incredible time. Really enjoyed being back at a ball field. Took a bunch of years off from MLB but college ball brought me back.

Lots of memories growing up going to spring training games and followed the Marlins for years but they turned into a shyt show.

It’s Gator baseball now.

Gator Baseball Gator Baseball: Season Opening Series

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