waltgreenberg
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I Root For: Rice Owls
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RE: D1Baseball Fall Report on Rice
(01-06-2021 07:18 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote: Yes, it’s premium content except for the opening paragraph ...
“FALL REPORT Kendall Rogers - January 6, 2021
History would suggest that Rice isn’t the type of program needing a total overhaul.
Reality would say otherwise.
When Matt Bragga took over as the Owls head coach before the 2019 season, it was abundantly clear to everyone around the program this wasn’t going to be an overnight fix. And it wasn’t. The Owls struggled for much of Bragga’s first season, finishing the year with a 26-33 overall record and failing to make the NCAA tournament for a second-straight season.
The Owls’ situation only worsened during[…]“
Sure hope there is something more encouraging than the above.
Actually, it's a pretty fair and balanced report. Kendall spoke to Bragga yesterday. It's a little rose colored on the pitching, IMO, but perhaps underestimates our offensive potential. Comeaux, Edwards and Bulman are all .300+ caliber hitters and plus defenders; not simply solid, veteran players.
Here's a couple excerpts...
Quote:You’re going to hear Garcia’s name a lot in this fall report, and in the spring. He’s the lynchpin to this Rice club. Garcia has a big-time arm with velocity in the mid-90s and impressive secondary stuff. However, he has always had trouble staying healthy and commanding the zone. If he can stay healthy and improve his command, the Owls would have a bonafide Friday night starter on this team — something it lacked last season. “We kept him pretty limited in the fall, but when he did pitch, it was a power breaking ball with a fastball up to 95 — his stuff was pretty electric,” he added. “He’s definitely going to be in the hunt for either that Friday or Saturday role, depending on our schedule. Overall, we’re really excited to have him back and healthy. We feel like he could come back and do a very, very good job for us.”
Elsewhere around the pitching staff, Bragga said the Owls had 16 or more pitchers touch 90 mph or better this fall, which was a significant improvement over last fall. “As you look at our pitching staff, velocity doesn’t win games for you — but it sure is a nice bullet to have, so to speak,” Bragga said. “The return and addition of more velocity is one of the things I’m most excited about with this team. Compared to where we were velocity-wise in the past, we’re in much better shape right now.
Quote:In all, the Owls welcome back several key cogs both in the outfield and infield. Particularly in the infield, Bragga’s bunch returns third baseman Braden Comeaux, catcher Justin Collins, second baseman Cade Edwards and first baseman Austin Bulman.
Comeaux has been a steady contributor throughout his career, and we don’t expect that to change. Edwards is a gritty player who can make things happen and Bulman has some definite power potential in the lineup. Then there’s Collins, who was off to a tough start offensively last season. However, he’s a strong backstop, excellent leader and he has certainly shown an ability to hit for power in the past. It would not surprise me if Collins finally has that breakout campaign it seems we’ve always been waiting for.
Adding to that infield experience is LSU transfer shortstop Hal Hughes. Hughes was a premier defender during his time with the Tigers but was not much of an offensive threat. That has changed since arriving in Houston.
There's a lot more on individual players, especially the newcomers. I still expect our lineup to be as follows:
1B Bulman, Becker (L)
2B Edwards
3B Comeaux
SS Hughes
C Collins, Benitez
CF Walsh
RF Garibay (L)
LF Gneiting (L), Cruz
DH Karp, Dunlap, Combs (L)
And if Garcia is healthy...
Weekend starters: Garcia, Brogdon, Holcomb/Deskins (LHP)
Midweek: Janac, DeLeon
Bullpen: Wood, Greenwood, Cienfuego, Larzabal, Linskey and Rickett
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