boomstick

I found another JUCO commitment while digging around for summer ball assignments. Jordan Thompson, RHP at CVCC, committed to us two days before his teammate Mason Land committed and signed. Thompson looks like he had a pretty good year at CV with a strong K-to-BB ration and a decent ERA. Hopefully, that translates over to the SEC.

Now that the season has ended, I turn my attention to summer ball. I'm really interested to see how summer ball works this year, particularly for several of our guys who are on the fence with their draft status (namely Miller, Skipper, and Howell). Do these guys play summer ball while waiting on the draft or do they take the summer off? Here's my list of summer ball assignments so far: Ryan Dyal: Charlottesville TomSox (also listed with the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod, but don't think that's right) Bryson Ware: Falmouth Commodores, Cape Cod Kade Snell: Danville Dans, Prospect League Brayton Brown: Strasburg Express, Valley League Nate LaRue: Strasburg Express Trace Bright: Charlottesville TomSox, Valley League Will Morrison: Charlottesville TomSox, Valley League Cole Foster: Charlottesville TomSox, Valley League Cam Hill: Elmira Pioneers, Perfect Game League Jack Sokol: Elmira Pioneers, Perfect Game League Ben Schorr: Elmira Pioneers, Perfect Game League Still looking for these names: Mason Barnett, Blake Burkhalter, Garrett Farquhar, Joseph Gonzalez, Josh Hall, Kason Howell, Tyler Miller, Richard Fitts, Brody Moore, Carson Skipper, Carson Swilling, Peyton Sybrandt, Luke Burk, Mason Land, Jordan Armstrong, Riggs Threadgill. @warbiscuitif you know of any assignments, feel free to add them here.

I think part of the issue with baseball remaining an equivalency sport is that there are so many schools that couldn't afford to move it out to a head count sport. Not to mention the increase in money for the baseball scholarships, but it would also come with an equal increase of scholarship money for the women's side too. It's similar to why the third paid assistant legislation didn't pass. Most schools simply couldn't afford it, and they didn't want to pass something that clearly gave the advantaged more advantage. Like the video says, Title IX is a great thing, and I would never advocate for it going away. But I do think it's time to modify how it's applied, and it's time for the NCAA address how to more equally treat all of its student athletes and not just those that make money for them or their universities.

LSU held on and we clinched a spot in the SECT. We will be the 12 seed and will play either Miss St, Tennessee, or Ole Miss, depending on what happens tomorrow. OM seems most likely.

The bunker.

She almost beat the throw out and I'm not sure she ever reached full effort running to first. She damn near stops about 15 feet from the bag.

If I'm correct, LSU, UK, and Auburn would go and aTm would be left out due to the highest ranked common opponent tiebreaker.

LSU lost last night so they can’t sweep. But Auburn had to win one more or Mizzou would go ahead of Auburn by virtue of being tied with Auburn and having the series tiebreaker. We have to get to at least 10 SEC wins to ensure ourselves a chance at the SECT. At 9 wins, we’d be eliminated.

Yeah, an LSU win and an Auburn win, and this thing is done.

I've tried to find a verified source to confirm this and have only found a Texas A&M writer that has it the same way. The tiebreaker scenario could get a little hectic if both Auburn and aTm keep winning. Right now, the simplest path to Hoover is an Auburn win tonight or tomorrow (preferably tonight for my nerves) combined with an LSU win tonight or tomorrow (again, also preferably tonight). Should aTm win all three this weekend, Auburn would need to win all three this weekend. In that scenario, two potential multi-team ties are possible. If aTm and AU sweep, those two teams and LSU would be tied at 11-19, which would invoke a three-team tiebreaker for the last 2 seeds in the SECT. All three teams have played each other. So, the tiebreaker would be winning percentage of each team against the other two. Here's what that would look like: aTm: 3-0 against LSU, 1-2 against Auburn - total 4-2 (.667) Auburn: 1-2 against LSU, 2-1 against aTm - total 3-3 (.500) LSU: 0-3 against aTm, 2-1 against Auburn - total 2-3 (.333) LSU would be eliminated in that scenario, and AU and aTm would advance. The other scenario would include Kentucky. If the above scenario still happens and Vandy sweeps UK, then there'd be a four-team tie. And since all four teams didn't play each other this year, the tiebreaker would compare the records of each of the teams against the highest ranked common opponent. For all four, that team would be Miss State. LSU went 1-2 against them. The other three were swept. So, LSU would be in the SECT, and there would be another three-team tie. Since those three teams (AU, aTm, and UK) didn't all play each other, the highest ranked common opponent record would come into play again. The team used this time would be Florida. AU and UK went 1-2 against Florida while aTm was swept. So, in a four-way tie, LSU, Auburn, and Kentucky would advance to Hoover. Four-way tie at 11-19 with LSU, AU, UK, and aTm LSU: 1-2 against Ms St, all others swept 0-3, LSU advances AU: 0-3 against Ms St, 1-2 against UF UK: 0-3 against MsSt, 1-2 against UF aTm: 0-3 against Ms St, 0-3 against UF AU and UK advance with 1-2 records against UF, aTm eliminated UK holds 3-0 series win over Auburn and would be the 11 seed, Auburn the 12 seed That's the way I interpret the tiebreaker rules, but I'm not 100% certain it's correct since I haven't seen someone in an official capacity confirm it other than this aTm writer. https://twitter.com/Perroni247/status/1395068345695850496?s=20

Someone on another board who is close to LaRue said they didn't think he would leave. Apparently, he really loves Auburn and would stay as a backup catcher rather than transfer. Don't know if that will actually happen, but I could see him staying if we transitioned him to another position. Plus, he has raw pop in his bat and catching experience, and that's always nice to have around.

We played really well last night until the bottom of the 8th. Not to pile on too much, but you can't come into a 15-2 game and walk the leadoff guy on four straight pitches. The way the game ended allowed Mizzou to build momentum going into this next game and the rest of the series and might've undone a lot of the good work the offense and Jack did to that point. This game is so much about confidence, and giving Mizzou the chance to get comfortable at the plate and build some confidence is not what we needed to happen. So, we need to come out tonight and put together a really strong start to quell any momentum they built up off our bullpen last night.

The only place I know to see who has actually signed is Auburn's official website. No recruiting site has a completely updated list because none of them compile a list of HS and JUCO signees. We added a JUCO signee a couple weeks ago from Chatt Valley in Phenix City, Mason Land. As far as transfers, I've been told we're going to look at the transfer market to fill some potential holes, but there's no guarantee we take anyone. Plus, I'm not sure how the transfer portal will work with regards to college baseball. Right now, you can leave a D1 school, go to a JUCO school, and then be immediately draft eligible. So, there's multiple paths for college baseball unlike other sports. I'm curious to see how the one-time-free transfer works and if it helps college baseball at all. And we'll get our first taste of that this summer. If you go to this link and search for the word "signing," you'll see the list of names. https://auburntigers.com/sports/baseball/archives

I guess I should tie this back into the theme of the thread. I started to and then got sidetracked with work and forgot my train of thought. We currently have 17 guys signed to the incoming class, and if Harrison Owen comes (he’s still committed but not signed), he’ll be #18. We currently have 35 rostered players. We started the season with 38 in a year where you could have unlimited players on your roster. Next year, the roster limit is set at 40 with 32 allowed to be on scholarship, and in 2023, things will go back to the normal 35 roster limit with 27 scholarship players. With 6 seniors leaving plus Bliss and Miller likely gone, that makes 8 off of the 35. To fit in the entire class plus any transfers we may try to take, I think the roster number we bring back after this season needs to be 21-23, which means there are currently four guys either on the roster or in this incoming recruiting class that won’t make the team next year (assuming we use all 40 spots). I don’t think we will use all 40 if we didn’t use it this year when we could’ve. I expect the roster size to be in the 37-38 range again. So, it seems we still have quite a ways to go until we know what next year’s roster will look like.

Been a while since this was announced, but I just saw this post and thought it was worth the bump. The MLB Draft has been shortened to 20 rounds and will take place July 11-13. That brings a few interesting things to my mind. First, the shortened draft brings about the potential for guys on the fence to return (assuming we have room for them to return). Second, I'm curious what guys like Richard Fitts and Carson Skipper and Kason Howell will do between the end of the season and the draft. Typically, the draft would be in early June, and guys would report to summer ball teams or not go at all knowing they were going to be drafted and then would report to their new appointments once they signed. Given that there's 6 weeks or so between the end of the season and the draft, I would assume most guys would go play summer ball and then leave if they're drafted. Guys like Bliss and Miller will probably go straight to a training program to prepare for the draft and wait for their name to be called. But those on the fence might follow through with summer ball until things change. Also, here's a list of guys who are leaving as seniors and draft eligible players to keep an eye on: Jack Owen, Peyton Glavine, Cody Greenhill, Steven Williams, Judd Ward, and Rankin Woley have all graduated and won't return. Ryan Bliss, Richard Fitts, and Tyler Miller are showing on several lists as draft prospects. Kason Howell, Brody Moore, Carson Skipper, and Garrett Farquhar are draft eligible, but I think all will return. Skipper might be one that isn't showing on draft projections as much but could get drafted late.

For sure. I'd love to have him back. I've just been assuming that anyone that gets drafted is probably being encouraged to go since we're bringing in 17 new players and need the roster space. He just seems like a projectable arm. But of all the guys with potential to return, Skipper would be high on the list of guys you'd make room for.

You think Skip is coming back? I figured 90-92 from the left side with a good CB would be enough to get him drafted. If he comes back, that's a big help, even to the point where I'd consider a transition to the rotation since we likely won't have a LHP in the rotation.

I think Fitts and Barnett are the wildcards for next year. I'm not expecting Fitts to return because he has good stuff and projectability and returning to college and having another year like this year means there's no chance he gets drafted next year. So, I think he goes. But if he returns and can consistently replicate the performance we saw against LSU, I think he could drastically increase his draft stock. Maybe not first round, like was being thrown around in the preseason, but a top 3 round kind of guy. Barnett is similar IMO. He has really good stuff and can mix well. But command gets sketchy sometimes, and he can't rely solely on one pitch at this level. And that seems to be his thing. He never seems to have two pitches working together for a long period of time. It's also worth noting that he could've been stretched out too much too quickly after prepping in the offseason to be a reliever and could've run into a wall pretty quickly in SEC play when the innings started racking up. Biggest thing to me for Barnett is confidence and a steadiness. It seemed like he could get rattled pretty easily this season. Bright showed the same at times as well, but he seems to have worked through some of that and doesn't let mistakes compound now. I think we have two potentially good starters in Bright and Gonzalez. Both have shown flashes of real quality against good offensive lineups in the SEC. This summer will be HUGE for both of them. Then, you bring back Swilling, Burky, and Morrison, and that's three experienced, successful guys in the bullpen. So, you just need to build around that with the incoming guys. Throw in Barnett and Fuller, and there's good experience. Then, if you can get something out of Threadgill and a couple of the incoming freshmen like Allsup and Ziegler and Bosse, you have a pretty solid staff. I think you could leave Sokol in the midweek starting role again next year and have a very quality arm there. Then, who knows what happens with Garrett Wade and Cam Hill. Wade has always had the talent but harnessing it has been the issue. With him having somewhat of a clean slate and getting to rebuild from the ground up after surgery, I'm really excited to see if he comes back improved in the areas he was previously deficient in. Hill has two pitches that would be very effective as a Carson Skipper, Elliott Anderson type role. And if he finds a way to control both and can stay ahead of hitters, he has the stuff to be a closer. Just need to find that mentality. All in all, I think we have some potential in the pitching staff next year. Unfortunately, it took this year with many of them taking their lumps to get the experience they need.

Oh, I thought you were reverse rain dancing to keep the rain away!

You did not dance well enough.

Also, Kendall Rogers tweeted this out earlier.

According to Butch, Greenhill is out as a starter this week. Said the report this morning was good and there's a chance he throws 20-30 pitches on Sunday. He didn't mention anything on Ward or Owen. He mentioned getting Hall back would be a help but didn't specifically say he would be back. Jack Sokol will start Tuesday. Fitts will start Friday night. Mason Barnett will start game one on Saturday, which will be 9 innings. Joseph Gonzalez will start game two Saturday, which will be 7 innings. Trace Bright will start Sunday. With two starters down, the bullpen might be stretched a little thin by Sunday. So, if Greenhill is available, that would be helpful.