College baseball weekend preview
College baseball weekend preview NCAA.com
Chris Chavez in 1998 vs. Charleston Southern. — FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) “I’m very pleased with the leadership of John Sansone — can’t say enough about when we moved him from second to third, he had absolutely no gripes, no questions. His response was, ‘Whatever it takes,’” Martin said. “I think you can give the credit to Mike Martin Jr. and the way he has just worked dilligently with John. And I honestly believe the second part to this is john finally feels like he belongs. I think he just felt like he was walking on eggshells, playing a little tentative, then would get so frustrated when the hits weren’t coming, and the strikeouts were. Now he has a better grasp of the game. He’s not pressing, he’s the captain of the team, he’s the unquestionable leader. And he’s learned how difficult this game is.” Shortstop Taylor Walls is also off to a strong start, and Martin lauded him for hitting four balls hard in Wednesday’s win against Toledo. Walls and Sansone are two of six FSU regulars with more walks than strikeouts — a sure sign that this group of Seminoles has bought into the ultra-disciplined approach taught by the coaching staff. Juco transfer Matt Henderson, the starting second baseman, leads the way with 16 strikeouts and just four walks, for a .509 OBP. The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles have both gotten strong work from polished upperclassmen in the Friday starter role. For Georgia Tech, two-way star Brandon Gold is Mr. Steady, pumping quality strikes with an 88-91 fastball, a good breaking ball in the 76-79 range and a solid changeup. With last year’s Friday starter, Jonathan King, dealing with a shoulder issue that kept him out last week and makes him questionable for this Saturday, Gold has become the leader of the pitching staff, setting the tone on Fridays. He’s 1-0, 2.00 with 21 strikeouts and five walks in 18 innings. “Steady as she goes. He just throws a lot of strikes, he’s not gonna strike a bunch of guys out although he’s had some games he’s struck guys out,” Hall said. “He’s gonna locate and trust you to play good defense behind him.” That formula works for Florida State fifth-year senior righthander Mike Compton, too. Compton was solid but unspectacular last year, going 4-4, 3.55 in 71 innings, but so far he has been outstanding this spring, going 2-1, 2.16 with 13 strikeouts and four walks in 16.2 innings. His mid-80s fastball won’t overpower anyone, but he’s been around the block a few times, and he knows how to set hitters up. “Michael will go out and everybody that he faces knows him, because he’s been around,” Martin said. “He’s a good battler, he fields his position well. His changeup’s getting better. He just is one of those guys that has to locate.” “I thought he was very sharp in the way he threw all three pitches, and spotted his fastball better,” Martin said. “You can see him saying, ‘This is not what I’m used to.’ So he’s growing up. His bad pitches have been getting hit hard — welcome to Division I baseball.” • While King is Georgia Tech’s most notable injury, Florida State is dealing with three nagging injuries. Middle-of-the-lineup banger Quincy Nieporte sprained his ankle on Tuesday and is questionable for Friday’s series opener. Third baseman Dylan Busby is dealing with a quad injury; he came off the bench to pinch-hit Wednesday night (and had a bad at-bat), so he seems likely to play this weekend. And center fielder Ben DeLuzio has been playing through a hamstring issue — not a great thing for a player whose calling card is his premium speed. “He knows how to play hurt,” Martin said. “I’m really feeling like Busby and DeLuzio will be ready to go, just not sure about Nieporte.”
CHAMPS
PRESENTED BY Conference play begins in most leagues next weekend, but as usual the ACC is getting a one-week head start. The clear marquee series on the schedule for Week One of the ACC season is No. 21 Georgia Tech at No. 15 Florida State. The two teams enter the weekend with a combined 22-3 record, though Florida State has played a somewhat stronger schedule, with home weekend series against quality mid-major contenders College of Charleston and St. John’s. But Georgia Tech has dominated a decent schedule, going 12-0 while out-hitting opponents .321 to .238. The Jackets have a 1.72 ERA, and their opponents have a 6.62 ERA. And there were a few decent tests sprinkled in there — Georgia Tech’s best wins came against VCU (which has plenty back from last year’s super regional team), Auburn, Georgia State and Georgia Southern. Its best series win was a sweep of UMBC, which has designs on contending in the America East this year. “We’re definitely encouraged by what we’ve seen and how we’ve played, for sure,” Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said. “I think our schedule’s been fine. These mid-majors that are in our state, they’re all definitely good and capable of beating you. So it’s gone fine; we’ve pitched well, and we’ve played well. But we start that new season this weekend. “They’re Florida State. I say it every year, if you want to win the ACC regular season or finish near the top, you’re gonna have to do well against Florida State, because they’re going to be there every year. Definitely a tough assignment on the road. But I have the utmost respect for Mike Martin and his staff.” That respect is mutual. “My gosh, holy smoke, do we know what a challenge we’re up against, opening up against Georgia Tech,” Martin said. Like Georgia Tech, the Seminoles largely dominated their preconference schedule, out-hitting their opponents .321 to .217, and posting a 2.07 staff ERA compared with their opponents’ 7.89 mark. So something’s got to give this weekend. These two clubs have a number of interesting similarities. Let’s look at a few of the parallels:Blue-chip freshmen
When asked which player in his lineup has stood out the most to him through three weeks, Martin doesn’t hesitate: “Cal Raleigh, catcher. He’s pretty darn good. He’s a freshman — don’t get excited, Mike! — but he’s pretty darn good.” It isn’t in Martin’s DNA to hype up freshmen until they’ve truly established themselves. In that regard, he’s a little like Dean Smith, whom he said he emulated when he was a young coach. But Martin just can’t suppress his enthusiasm for Raleigh, a switch-hitting catcher batting .311/.431/.422 with 12 RBIs. It isn’t easy for a freshman to step right in and catch every day, and also hit in the 3- or 4-hole in the lineup, but Raleigh has done just that. “You don’t see it in this program. J.D. Drew hit eighth against lefties (as a freshman),” Martin said. “This guy, being a switch-hitter, hitting third and fourth . . . I don’t know when I’ve had a switch-hitter that I truly don’t give a flip whether he hits lefthanded or righthanded. I honestly can say I don’t care. I can go all the way back to Luis Alicea — I wasn’t in love with Luis from the right side. He only played 13 years in the big leagues. This kid’s pretty good.” Raleigh has also impressed the coaches with his toughness and leadership behind the plate. “He’s growing up every game,” Martin said. “He’s yelling at pitchers to make sure they get over against a lefthanded hitter. He’s reminding infielders, watch the delay. He’s on top of the game in many respects that go unnoticed. And he’s doing that as a 19-year-old kid.” Raleigh was our preseason pick for ACC Freshman of the Year, but Georgia Tech righty Jonathan Hughes wasn’t far behind him, ranking fourth on our list of impact freshmen in the ACC. And like Raleigh, Hughes has lived up to the advanced billing. MORE: An unsigned second-round pick by the Orioles out of high school last year, Hughes was about as marquee as a recruit can get. And he has stepped right into a rotation that needed a boost and has been the Jackets’ best arm so far, going 3-0, 0.50 with just three walks in 18 innings as the Sunday starter. Given the quality of his stuff — a power fastball that touches 94, a swing-and-miss slider, quality curveball and feel for a changeup — it’s a little surprising that Hughes has just six strikeouts in 18 innings, but that’s largely a product of his control and willingness to pitch for the sake of efficiency. “The thing you always look for in a pitcher is when they get in trouble, what happens to them? He’s done a tremendous job of pitching out of trouble. And he’s done a tremendous job of holding baserunners,” Hall said. “I’m probably a little surprised on the strikeouts, but because he throws so many strikes, balls get put in play on him pretty early in counts. We’ll probably take that over the strikeouts.”Breakout infielders
Both of these teams have balanced, dangerous lineups, but both have been led early on by unexpectedly stellar performances from veteran infielders. For Georgia Tech, shortstop Connor Justus has been a defensive whiz since the start of his college career, but his bat has taken a big step forward early in his junior campaign. After hitting .254 as a freshman and .249 last year, Justus has had a torrid three weeks in 2016, batting .435/.519/.652 to lead the team. After “That’s the bonus this year,” Hall said of Justus’ offensive production. “He worked really hard in the offseason on his hitting. I think he worked a lot on his approach. The work that he’s done is paying off. He’s always been a plus defender, now he’s realizing the fruits of his labor.” When D1Baseball’s Kyle Peterson returned from broadcasting the Georgia Tech-Auburn game this past Tuesday, he raved about the quality of Georgia Tech’s up-the-middle defense. Justus and second baseman Wade Bailey form a very slick double-play tandem, and Bailey has also gotten off to a strong start with the bat, hitting .373. And then there’s sophomore Trevor Graport, who made the team as a walk-on last year and wound up seeing some time in Tech’s beleaguered bullpen. Craport has forced his way into the lineup in eight of Tech’s first 12 games this year, providing improved defense at third base and a surprising offensive lift. He’s hitting .414. “Going into the fall, we felt like, ‘OK, we’ve got enough pitching,’ so we played him at third and we caught him. But he’s one of those guys that, for whatever reason, every time we’d play an intrasquad game, he’d find a way to get a couple hits, every time we’d play,” Hall said of Craport. “Sometimes it wasn’t pretty, but he just has that knack for getting hits. He’s worked pretty hard on his defense at third and he’s gotten better there. He hasn’t started every game, but been in there a lot.” Florida State has its own breakout player at third base in senior John Sansone, who has been a fixture in the lineup at second base over the last three years. Despite playing 60 or more games in each of his first three seasons, Sansone never hit better than .245, and never struck out more than 56 times. So it’s pretty noteworthy that he leads the Seminoles with a .341 batting average and, just as strikingly, has a 10-4 walk-strikeout mark. A to the last player to throw a no-hitter.Chris Chavez in 1998 vs. Charleston Southern. — FSU Baseball (@FSUBaseball) “I’m very pleased with the leadership of John Sansone — can’t say enough about when we moved him from second to third, he had absolutely no gripes, no questions. His response was, ‘Whatever it takes,’” Martin said. “I think you can give the credit to Mike Martin Jr. and the way he has just worked dilligently with John. And I honestly believe the second part to this is john finally feels like he belongs. I think he just felt like he was walking on eggshells, playing a little tentative, then would get so frustrated when the hits weren’t coming, and the strikeouts were. Now he has a better grasp of the game. He’s not pressing, he’s the captain of the team, he’s the unquestionable leader. And he’s learned how difficult this game is.” Shortstop Taylor Walls is also off to a strong start, and Martin lauded him for hitting four balls hard in Wednesday’s win against Toledo. Walls and Sansone are two of six FSU regulars with more walks than strikeouts — a sure sign that this group of Seminoles has bought into the ultra-disciplined approach taught by the coaching staff. Juco transfer Matt Henderson, the starting second baseman, leads the way with 16 strikeouts and just four walks, for a .509 OBP. The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles have both gotten strong work from polished upperclassmen in the Friday starter role. For Georgia Tech, two-way star Brandon Gold is Mr. Steady, pumping quality strikes with an 88-91 fastball, a good breaking ball in the 76-79 range and a solid changeup. With last year’s Friday starter, Jonathan King, dealing with a shoulder issue that kept him out last week and makes him questionable for this Saturday, Gold has become the leader of the pitching staff, setting the tone on Fridays. He’s 1-0, 2.00 with 21 strikeouts and five walks in 18 innings. “Steady as she goes. He just throws a lot of strikes, he’s not gonna strike a bunch of guys out although he’s had some games he’s struck guys out,” Hall said. “He’s gonna locate and trust you to play good defense behind him.” That formula works for Florida State fifth-year senior righthander Mike Compton, too. Compton was solid but unspectacular last year, going 4-4, 3.55 in 71 innings, but so far he has been outstanding this spring, going 2-1, 2.16 with 13 strikeouts and four walks in 16.2 innings. His mid-80s fastball won’t overpower anyone, but he’s been around the block a few times, and he knows how to set hitters up. “Michael will go out and everybody that he faces knows him, because he’s been around,” Martin said. “He’s a good battler, he fields his position well. His changeup’s getting better. He just is one of those guys that has to locate.” “I thought he was very sharp in the way he threw all three pitches, and spotted his fastball better,” Martin said. “You can see him saying, ‘This is not what I’m used to.’ So he’s growing up. His bad pitches have been getting hit hard — welcome to Division I baseball.” • While King is Georgia Tech’s most notable injury, Florida State is dealing with three nagging injuries. Middle-of-the-lineup banger Quincy Nieporte sprained his ankle on Tuesday and is questionable for Friday’s series opener. Third baseman Dylan Busby is dealing with a quad injury; he came off the bench to pinch-hit Wednesday night (and had a bad at-bat), so he seems likely to play this weekend. And center fielder Ben DeLuzio has been playing through a hamstring issue — not a great thing for a player whose calling card is his premium speed. “He knows how to play hurt,” Martin said. “I’m really feeling like Busby and DeLuzio will be ready to go, just not sure about Nieporte.”