Samford Baseball Preview
What a ride the 2023 season took us on. At the onset of the season, I am not sure if we knew we could contend for the Southern Conference title considering the preseason injuries. We had several unproven players who would have to step up and we lost one of our better bats to Mississippi State in the ever-dreaded SEC “call-ups”.
We had top-end pitching in Jacob Cravey, part of the top 50 signed class in 2020 and who is now in the Baltimore Orioles organization, and some key returners like Stephen Klein Jr., Garrett Howe, Garrett Staton, and Kaden Dreier to name a few. However, a slew of new guys like John Anderson, a big time transfer from Georgia Tech who casually slugged his way to 22 home runs last year, Josh Rodriguez, an easy new fan favorite for his mammo’s in Greenville, and freshmen phenoms Lucas Steele and Jayden Davis helped power this team to the verge of a Regional Final in Auburn. That team was special. You do not win three games in one day to go to the NCAA Tournament without some serious mojo.
So, where are we at going into this season?
Well, we lost a good bit of last year's team to graduation, transfer, and the MLB Draft. Most notably, Klein, Dreier, Cravey, and Davis are gone. In terms of sheer offensive production from last year returning though, we have 68% of our hits coming back, 75% of our home runs, and nearly 70% of our RBI’s. So from that perspective, we have an excellent core group of bats composed of Lucas Steele, Garrett Howe, Garrett Staton, Josh Rodriguez, Andrew Bennett, and John Anderson all returning. In our latest State of the Bulldogs Podcast with Lucas Steele and Garrett Howe, they emphasized the amount of returning guys and tossed in a few, new faces who might make an impact.
The newbies mentioned were Cullen Horowicz and Angelo Prieto who both play first. Cullen stands 6’4”, so a slightly different build than Klein Jr., and the guys praised his defense. Right alongside him is Prieto, who while just a freshman has impressed the team. He comes in a highly ranked prospect, top 150 in the country, from Miami. It is safe to say that 1st base is going to be a fun position to watch as these guys are aiming to jump in immediately and make an impact. I would expect Cullen to take the majority of the time early given his experience but who knows, the young freshman may be able to carve out a role in the lineup and on defense as the season progresses.
A returning hitter the guys threw out there was Aaron Walton. Garrett said he is one of the best defenders he has seen and especially praised his ability to track the ball. Defense will be the key to long-term success this season and he will, no doubt, be part of a stacked outfield with budding superstar Josh Rodriguez who was also mentioned. Garrett spoke to the flip that switched that enabled Josh to end last season on a scorching hot streak that saw him earn All-SoCon Tournament and Regional All-Tournament Team honors. If he can start hot, then watch out. He is a good bet for Player of the Year.
Speaking of, Garrett was not afraid to throw out there that he thought Lucas could contend for that title. Lucas is indeed an incredible player and his defensive versatility highlights his ability to play the game. He will be spending most of the season behind the plate and if he starts making some noise not only with his bat but also throwing dudes out, then watch out. We could have two hitters legitimately in contention for Player of the Year.
The scary thing about this team is that not only is the lineup deep, experienced, and confident but our pitching staff might just be the best in the conference. Coming into the season, we have three legitimate starters who would probably be most team’s Friday guy in this league. Starting us off will most likely be Brooks Rice. He transferred in from Northwest Mississippi Community College, which also gave us Michael Hiers, so safe to say All-American honors are in sight! But seriously, the guy stands 6’4” and mowed dudes down last season. Lucas in particular raved about him.
Following Brooks will most likely be Michael Ross. He missed the entire season last year but in his sophomore campaign earned All-SoCon Second Team honors after going 7-1 and only allowing SoCon hitters to hit .191 against him. To have a guy like that as your Saturday guy is crazy and then our Sunday guy looks to be Will Lynch. He is the only returning starter for the Dogs and if he has made a nice jump, then he will be the best Sunday arm in the league. I cannot stress enough that this trio could be special.
As far as the bullpen, Jacob Newman showed flashes of being a very good starter for us last year and could push Lynch for that third spot or at least provide a few quality starts when needed. Other guys like Heath Clevinger, Alex Gaeto, and Jake Holifield are returning guys who give us a lot of flexibility. Jake Holifield was even named Preseason Second Team All-SoCon. A guy that Garrett highlighted on the podcast was transfer Carson Lore. From down in Louisiana, Carson throws some un-hittable pitches. Garrett finally got his first hit off of him in practice and would not let him hear the end of it. His role will be critical in the closer spot. Ben Petschke is not coming out of that bullpen anymore and a guy like Carson might just be the one who can give us that edge to get to where we want to go.
I am not going to sit here and write that we are destined for Omaha, though that would be incredible. However, I will say that if this team does not finally break through to the Supers, then it will be a disappointing season. There is too much talent, too much experience, and too much drive for anything less.
So what does the rest of the conference look like?
The coach’s preseason poll was released on February 8th and the predicted order was (linked here: (https://soconsports.com/news/2024/2/8/samford-tabbed-as-favorite-to-win-socon-baseball-title.aspx):
Samford
Mercer
Wofford
Western Carolina
ETSU
UNCG
VMI
The Citadel
While Samford brings back enough production from last year to have an idea of what we might look like, VMI brings back almost everyone from an elite offense last year. UNCG brings back the least on offense and everyone else is bringing back between 50-60% of last year’s offensive production. On the pitching side, Wofford has the most production to replace as only 31% of their innings pitched is returning and 33% of their strikeouts. VMI, although a pretty poor staff overall, brings back the most. If they develop and get better, VMI is going to be dangerous. If I were to predict the final standings it would go like this:
Samford
Mercer
VMI
Wofford
WCU
UNCG
ETSU
The Citadel
VMI’s returning production alone is going to make them dangerous. I am surprised they are so low. Experience matters in college baseball and they will be one of the most experienced squads. I was glad to hear Garrett had them in his top three of teams who could win it. I must admit that I am buying the Mercer hype. I did not originally have them above VMI or Wofford but enough people seem to think they are going to deliver this year (mainly the 11Point7 guys and Lucas) so I’ll buy it.
Baseball is such a funky sport. The ups and downs are extreme. The downs can feel like they last forever. It is personal. A one-on-one battle each and every pitch that somehow culminates into the ultimate team sport. It is unpredictable. But here are my predictions:
Samford wins the SoCon
Josh Rodriguez earns Player of the Year
Michael Ross earns Pitcher of the Year
Samford gets past Vandy to advance to its first-ever Super Regional where anything can happen
We will be keeping you in the know throughout the season so be to sure subscribe to the Scoop and our podcast. Let’s go Dogs!