Thursday February 19, 2009

2009 Baseball Preview

2009 Baseball Preview
Catcher
The Tigers are looking to replace Doug Hogan who had a very productive college career. Two underclassmen with very little experience are still battling for the starting spot and both are expected to play. John Nester is a sophomore from Riverside High School from Greer, SC. He saw limited action last season and homered three times in 39 at-bats. Phil Pohl is a true freshman from Copperstown, NY who has impressed the staff with his leadership. Nester might be a little ahead because of experience but Pohl might be the long-term answer because he is a very mature freshman.

First Base
Ben Paulson is a junior that returns as the starter at first base. As a sophomore he hit .310 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs. Paulson is a solid defender as well. Look for Paulson to be one of the top two or three run producers for the Tigers once again this season. Richard Mounce is a freshman from Blythewood, SC that impressed during the fall. He could get at-bats here or as a designated hitter.

Second Base
Mike Freeman is a junior who had a terrific sophomore season after transferring to Clemson from Georgia. Last year he hit .332 and played solid defense.

Shortstop
Stan Widmann had a down season after his serious surgery the previous year. He comes into 2009 slowed by injuries as well and two freshmen are pushing for the starting position. Brad Miller and Jason Stolz are two talented newcomers that could play either short or third. There is a chance you could see both true freshmen starting on the left side of the infield. Going into this weekend we might see Miller have a slight lead on Stolz at short.

Third Base
Matt Sanders played well late in his junior season at third. The Tigers struggled at the position last season and would like to stabilize the spot this year especially with some improved defense and run production. Miller, Stolz, Sanders or sophomore John Hinson may be the answer at third. Hinson has never been healthy so far in his career. I have questions about third but they may be answered with the newcomer Stolz.

Outfield
The Tigers have a little more experience in the outfield with five veterans and a newcomer battling for playing time.

Addison Johnson returns after missing the entire season injuries. He would be an improvement defensively and adds speed to the top of the lineup. He is counted upon to be one of the leaders of this team and could do it from the lead-off spot.

Kyle Parker enjoyed an excellent freshman season when he hit .303 with 14 homers and 50 RBIs. We could see Parker in right field or as a DH again this season. He finally settled in in right field last season and I think that is where he will begin this year.

Jeff Schaus improved during his freshman season and ended the year with a .315 average. He could play either corner outfield spot or DH this season but he should begin the year in left field. Schaus is not a power guy but is a line drive hitter with a high on-base percentage.

Wilson Boyd was a starter all of last season and hit .300 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. He could play anywhere in the outfield but chances are we could see him DH a bunch.

Chris Epps was overwhelmed a little early last season but also improved as the season went on. He is a fantastic athlete with good speed. His swing might be a little long so he will need to make adjustments this season.

Will Lamb is a bigger outfielder that also has a chance at playing time here or as a DH. This is an excellent athlete that might see time as a relief pitcher this season as well.

Pitching
The Tigers have depth in the pitching staff but question marks are still lingering. Improvement from the returners and a group of talented newcomers will have to help improve the staff of a year ago.

Trey Delk, Ryan Hinson and Graham Stoneburner saw action last season as starters. At times all three struggled at times last season but all hope to improve in 2009. Delk will be the opening day starter. He looked better as the season went on last season and actually ended the year with some impressive starts.

Freshman Chris Dwyer is a lefthander that impressed Clemson pitching coach Kyle Bunn in the Fall. Dwyer is set to start Saturday’s game against Charlotte. Sunday’s starter will be Stoneburner.

Craig Gullickson saw action last year as one of the top lefthanders out of the bullpen and looks to improve from a good 2008 campaign.

Matt Vaughn should rebound from an off-season injury to nail down the closers role and is a big key to this season. However, to start the season Ryan Hinson will be the closer until Vaughn is ready.

Five other newcomers including Kyle Deese, Scott Weismann, Kevin Brady, David Haselden and Joseph Moorefield could be counted on to help stabilize the staff in 2009.

The Schedule
No one plays a more difficult schedule year in and year out than Jack Leggett. This year North Carolina comes back on the schedule and Virginia is the ACC school that is not present this season. The pre-season Baseball America poll has the following Clemson opponents: #3 North Carolina, #14 Georgia, #20 Georgia Tech, #24 Florida State. Clemson also plays traditional in-state rival South Carolina four times.

The Keys
The Tigers are trying to improve off of a down season last year. I was regretfully right last season about my doubts about that squad. I hope I am wrong again this season but I still have some questions. I think this team will be improved and I have all of the long term confidence in Jack Leggett but my concerns this year are:

*Can Addison Johnson provide the missing spark? Last year we heard how devastating Johnson’s injury was to the team. He has a chance to prove his worth starting tomorrow.

*Can the bullpen improve? Last year’s bullpen was awful. There are some young, talented arms out there that I am hoping this team will have much more depth than they showed a year ago.

*Can the run producing positions produce? The corner outfielders, corner infielders and DH are run producing positions in college baseball. Outside of Kyle Parker and Ben Paulson, Clemson got little power and run production out of those positions a year ago. Schaus is a year older and the third base and DH spots will have more competition this season.

*Will this team be tougher? Leggett is known for toughness and his teams usually play with mental and physical toughness. Last year this was a tremendous disappointment. When faced with adversity a year ago often times that team played its worse baseball.

*Who will be the stars? In years past Clemson had the All-American type players almost every year. The Bert Heffernans, the Shane Monohans, Kris Bensons, the Billy Kochs, the Michael Johnsons and the Khalil Greenes of the college baseball world could be spotted almost every year in a Tiger uniform. Maybe Kyle Parker is that guy. Maybe it will be Ben Paulson this season. Maybe some of those freshmen like Dwyer, Miller or Stolz will be that kind of player. The last couple of seasons North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida State and Georgia Tech looked like their rosters were filled with big, strong, athletic bodies. In my opinion, Clemson did not look like those teams the last couple of seasons. Hopefully this team has had a year to mature and get more impressive looking and more athletic.

I think Clemson will be improved from a year ago. I am not sure the Tigers are ready to jump back into Omaha contention though. The good news though is that many of the programs in the ACC lost a bunch of talented players so maybe this more experienced group of Tigers can take advantage. I do know that it will be good to be back in Doug Kingsmore Stadium again tomorrow.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Mrs. Kathleen Bowers, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Kaitlyn L, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Sandy Wright, Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, Ronnie Queen, Edward Putman, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Anna Rawl, Vinnie Brock, Jean-Pierre Bailey.