(10-20-2011 09:58 AM)Buccaneerlover Wrote: Nine new faces on a roster of what, 20 guys? One never knows. How did the locals do last year in high school? Hopefully they can be contributors and this group can make some noise again.
29 players, but also two new assistants, with Clay Greene and Reid Casey both gone. As for the local kids:
Carter - 36.2 IP, 5-1, 2.48 ERA, 35 SOs
Thompson - .453, 8 HRs, 35 RBIs
Jett - .445, 15 2B, 4 HRs, 43 RBIs, 16 SBs
Don't have senior numbers for Sanford.
It should be a faster group this year, with a bunch of the power gone. Pratt will likely be looking at a lot of RBI situations since he's the biggest bat left, and they might stick him at first. The speed of guys like Green and Scruggs, especially, will need to be better utilized in the running game than it has been in years past. I would expect Zach Waters to get a lot of time behind the plate, depending on what Skole wants to do with Hershey, who can play catcher or third (fitting that those are both positions of need).
There's a pretty strong pitching staff coming back, with the top two starters returning in John Long and Derek Bushey, who pitched a 2-hit shutout at NC State last year. Jake Long has pretty similar numbers to John, too, although his 1.64 ERA his second year at Spartanburg is much lower than John's was (2.41). Don't know if he'll start or not, but the bullpen is looking a little lean with no more Dak Rissman or Scott McNally, so he might move to the pen and Skole could start Freeman. He probably won't know until the Indiana series.
I'm eager to see what they do. I think if everybody plays to their potential, this team could win 35 games again.
