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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: Feb. 20
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Kendall Rogers
1:44
All right -- everyone. I hope you're doing fantastic. let's get to the question. Just remember, you can use the code SAVE23 to get 20% off an annual sub at D1B, here: http://www.d1baseball.com/subscribe
Guest
1:45
Thoughts on Jared Wegner, and...
Kendall Rogers
1:45
Let's just start here. What an absolute monster at the plate. I have my question marks about the Arkansas offense as a whole (OSU game the exception), but I came away ultra-impressed with Wegner and Tavian Josenberger. Literally everything off Wegner's bat was 106-110 in terms of velocity. He just makes very, very hard contact.
Sparky
1:46
Any thoughts on ASU after their sweep of SDSU? Do they have a shot next weekend in Starkville?
Kendall Rogers
1:46
Sparky -- I was just writing some things on Arizona State in my weekly column. I actually thought it was a GREAT weekend for the Sun Devils. They got Ross Dunn back on the mound, Khristian Curtis was up to 96-97 and threw very well and Timmy Manning closed out the weekend with strong pitching. Will Rogers also did some good things at the plate. Miss State will certainly be a much bigger test, but ASU seems improved.
WC_Drew
1:48
Even though Fullerton lost that series against Stanford, this was probably the best that they have looked to start a season in a few years and were very competitive in the two games that they lost. While it is still really early into the year, is it safe to say they have a chance to make it into the regionals and be competitive in Big West play (something that hasn’t happened since 2018)?
Aaron Fitt
1:48
Hi Drew -- yeah, I came away with the same impression from Fullerton's weekend. I know people hate the phrase "moral victories", but I thought that was a really encouraging performance from the Titans. Even in that loss Sunday, they scored 13 runs against a good opponent, so that's positive. I think the Titans are going to be better in all phases than they were a year ago, and I do believe they will a real factor in the Big West.
DUBking
1:50
DBU looked really solid this weekend against a not so great Fordham team. A lot of production from the new guys. Braxton Bragg with 12 SOs in 5.0 innings, Tom Poole with 2 homers on Saturday, and freshman Grant Jay really stood out reaching base in all 9 plate appearances. What do you think is this team's floor/ceiling?
Aaron Fitt
1:50
Nice start for the Patriots. That was a team I hated leaving out of our projected field of 64 heading into the season -- I mean they're in regionals every year for the last decade, and there is talent on the roster. It's just that Conference USA has some strong teams this year, even after losing some good programs, so I don't think DBU will waltz its way through -- it feels like there are five teams at the top that could finish in any order and I wouldn't be surprised. We wanted to see what the new guys could do for DBU, and the early returns are encouraging, as you point out. Ceiling for this team is a deep postseason run, which is always DBU's ceiling. One of these years, this program will break through to Omaha, it's only a matter of time.
Hogs23
1:52
Kendall, keep mentioning you have questions about Arkansas's offense. I'd argue it's fairly business as usual. They'll have games they explode and other games where there's plenty of traffic but a lack of timely hitting. Doesn't feel much different to me than any of the rest of the past four seasons, three of which ended in Omaha. What questions do you have that are different this year?
Kendall Rogers
1:52
Fantastic question. I think Jayson Jones is going to be a good one. I just think outside of Wegner and Tavian Josenberger, who in that lineup scares you right now? I will say this -- I still think Peyton Stovall is a premier talent but he needs to be a more consistent producer. Brady Slavens is a guy who has had an accomplished career and I think we all love, but he had trouble at times with velocity over the weekend. Lastly, I will say this -- I liked what I saw from John Bolton for much of the weekend. He gave the Hogs some production. Agree that Arkansas typically figures it out. I think they will offensively ... eventually. Yesterday's result was BIG for this team.
Abe
1:52
How do we teach young broadcasters that "vs." is pronounced "versus," not "verse"?
Aaron Fitt
1:52
Abe comin' hot today with a number of strong takes. I'm not going to post all of them but I appreciate them, and I'm on board with this one.
Gary
1:53
Southern Miss looks to have re-loaded at pitching after losing 6 to the draft and 1 to portal, thoughts?
Kendall Rogers
1:53
That was a really, really nice series sweep, especially considering they gave up three runs to a team who has a decent shot to make the NCAA tournament at the end of the year. Kros Slovis was really good out of the pen, Matthews Adams and Niko Mazza also were both very good in starts. Christian Ostrander is the man ... just another example of that on display.
Concerned Heel
1:55
Following a tough outing for the UNC bullpen on Opening Day they recovered nicely over the weekend to win the series vs Seton Hall. But how concerning should starting pitching be? Max Carlson didn't pick up where he ended last season and failed to show the ability to go deep into an outing, Will Sandy still can't throw a strike, and Connor Bovair has the stuff but is inconsistent.
Aaron Fitt
1:55
I'm not concerned about UNC right now. Carlson will be fine, it was just one mediocre outing in February. That guy is a proven bell cow, and I have every confidence he will be again. I think they actually have a bunch of good options for starting roles, or they can just mix and match all weekend once they get past Carlson, which is largely what they did last year and still hosted (and won) a regional. This pitching staff is definitely deeper and better than it was last year; give them a little time to figure out the right combinations.
arrowfan624
1:57
How worried as an ND fan should I be about our opening weekend?
Aaron Fitt
1:57
Well, there is a reason we left Notre Dame out of the preseason Top 25 coming off an Omaha trip; they lost some very important guys. I still think they'll probably be a strong regional contender, but that's not a great start, clearly. But again, it's February, and it's a cold weather team on the road. No need to push the panic button; there are a lot of winning veterans on that Notre Dame roster still, and they have a lot of pride. I can't believe that guys like Prajzner and Coetzee and Putz will let this season go off the rails. Intrigued to see how the Irish bounce back next week at UNCG.
Drew
1:59
Your thoughts on Texas State? The dismantled an outmanned Northwestern by a combined 56-18. You going to wait and see how they fair against Oral Roberts and Grand Canyon the next two weekends? Pretty crazy that they had a freshman come of the bench and hit 3 hr with 8 RBI in his first three collegiate at bats.
Kendall Rogers
1:59
Really impressed by Texas State's weekend. I thought they'd be pretty offensive this year, but Jose Gonzalez was ridiculous with nine RBIS, and of course, you can't talk about TXST without mentioning Chase Mora with three ABs and three home runs. I was really encouraged by Davis Powell having a solid weekend as well. He's replacing a superstar in Dalton Shuffield, and he fit in rather nicely both positionally and in that lineup. The Bobcats were on our radar for the Preseason Top 25, and they'll remain in the discussion for good reason.
Pokes Fan
1:59
How concerned should I be about Oklahoma State?
Aaron Fitt
1:59
Kendall and David Seifert were both at Globe Life, and it sounded like they both have some concerns about the Oklahoma State pitching staff -- and that shouldn't come as a surprise given how many runs OSU allowed. I think we all agree that the offense should be elite and the defense should be very good also. But do they have the pitching? I still believe there is depth of power arms on that staff, I saw a bunch of them in the fall. But they need to figure out which ones they can trust and lean on most. That's what February is for. This is a totally new group of arms, and it usually takes some time for groups like that to get settled into the right spots. Rob Walton will figure it out, I still believe that. But Kendall, perhaps you can offer more insight from the ground in Arlington...
Kendall Rogers
2:02
I have zero doubt that Oklahoma State is going to hit a lot this spring. We know about the Roc's of the world, but I really impressed with Beau Sylvester, too. He's a grown ass man (he looks like a veteran in the box) and has some serious pop. He's going to be a good one. I did like some things I saw from Drew Blake out of the pen. Overall, OSU really needs to get Janzen Keisel ready. I didn't see any arms out of the pen that would really scare me outside of McLean, who obviously has big-time, power stuff. With that said, as Fitt said, Rob Walton is very good, so I wouldn't press panic right now.
Guest
2:04
What do you think of the new pieces in the lineup and rotation for Ole Miss?
Aaron Fitt
2:04
I was already really high on Ethan Groff, Ethan Lege, Anthony Calarco and Grayson Saunier (my pick for national freshman of the year) heading into the season -- that's a major reason we ranked Ole Miss in the top five despite losing quite a few important pieces from last year's club. And it was great to see all of those guys get off to strong starts, reinforcing what we already believed. Pretty encouraging outing from Xavier Rivas on Sunday too; I know they were really high on him, but there's a big jump from Indianapolis U to Ole Miss. Good to see him get off to a strong start.
EagsBy10
2:05
When will USM get some respect? “ThEy LoSt ToO MaNy ArMs” every pitcher who saw action over the weekend has a better era than waldrep and against actual competition.
Aaron Fitt
2:05
I mean, if we thought they lost too many arms, we wouldn't have ranked them in the preseason Top 25. And as Kendall said above, we were obviously all super impressed by what the USM arms did this weekend. Just didn't really have anywhere to move them up since all those teams ahead of them took care of business.
Alex C
2:06
Who was your biggest surprise (good or bad) for TCU this past week at the plate and on the mound?
Kendall Rogers
2:06
I'll be honest -- there was nothing about TCU this past weekend that concerned me outside of Cam Brown having typical Cam Brown issues. Offensively, the two guys that stood out to me were Austin Davis and David Bishop. Brayden will always be Brayden, but Davis had more juice than I thought and Bishop, who gained strength in the offseason, looked like a more refined overall hitter. If those two go off this spring -- watch out.
cool 1
Andre
2:08
Charlotte managed 50(!) walks this weekend in 4 games (3 of those were 7 innings). How far can patient hitting take them?
Aaron Fitt
2:08
Yeah, and 18 of those walks came on Sunday, a program record.  Certainly plate discipline is a very valuable characteristic for an offense, but Charlotte can also do many other things well -- this is a loaded lineup that should hit for power and average, and has speed and athleticism too. The big thing to watch is how those SEC transfers in the rotation develop. Good start for Hudepohl, decent start for Evans, poor start for Langhorne. All three of those guys are mid-90s arms, and if they can all settle in as reliable starters, this Charlotte team could make a run at hosting a regional.
Eric Simmons
2:09
Time to be concerned about Texas after going 0-3 in Arlington?
Kendall Rogers
2:09
I'm never ever the person that presses panic after the first weekend of the season, but I didn't see much about Texas that gave me a lot of optimism. I'm very skeptical the weekend rotation will be good outside of Lucas Gordon (Morehouse and Sthele do have very good arms, so we will see), the bullpen didn't have a lot of juice for me, and the lineup/defense had issues throughout the weekend. Basically a worst-case scenario. Texas' young bucks are going to have to transition quicker than expected, unfortunately.
Mason
2:13
Are you at all worried about the 3rd arm in the Arkansas rotation? I am pretty confident in Smith and Hollan. While McEntire was great in the post season last year he has not been great in almost every other outing. Could McEntire maybe be a flash in the pan and Sundays turn into bullpen games for the hogs?
Kendall Rogers
2:13
I'll answer this one real quick. I really liked Hollan. Loose arm action and he was up to 92-93 mph with his fastball and good overall stuff. I know Aaron really liked him in the fall, and I'm sold, too. But I thought McEntire's stuff was pretty pedestrian if I am being honest. The FB isn't going to overwhelm people and the SL wasn't great over the weekend. Maybe a guy like Zack Morris could be another option if things falter? But I think they're going to obviously give Will more chances (as they should).
Ben
2:13
Thoughts on UVA's first weekend? not sure how strong UNC-W is supposed to be, and we historically have not had the strongest non-con schedule in the early weekends... so trying not to get too excited by one weekend and Gelof doing more Gelof things...
Aaron Fitt
2:13
I was there for the Sunday game and will have a piece up this afternoon with some thoughts on UVa and UNCW. But suffice it to say, I walked away very impressed with what I saw -- the Hoos looked awesome in every facet. It's a great, athletic defense. It's one of the best offenses in the country. And so far, so good for the new-look pitching staff. I was looking forward to seeing Jack O'Connor, and he did not disappoint; he's gonna be a huge star.

Also Jake Gelof is a bad man.
GatorChomp
2:15
Thoughts on the Florida weekend rotation? Top 5 in the country? Sprout up to 100 Friday night, Waldrep up to 98 Saturday, and Caglianone looking very solid up to 98 after not pitching for some time and coming back from TJ.
Aaron Fitt
2:15
Yeah we heard great reports on Calgianone yesterday, and that is super-encouraging. He might well wind up being the best two-way player in the country. That roster is clearly loaded with talent, and you have to be pleased with the early returns, even though it wasn't the strongest competition.
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