Opening Day is just 5 days away now as the Flames begin to prepare for the trip to Southern Miss to face the 18th ranked Golden Eagles in a huge mid-major showdown to start the year.
Liberty continued on with it's slate of scrimmages Friday and Saturday before bad weather moved into the area on Sunday. Liberty is expected to have one more short scrimmage Tuesday leading up the weekend.
Let's start with the bats as Camden Troyer continued his torrid start as he hit another left on left homer to go along with a single, walk and HBP to reach base 4 total times. He seems to have firmly solidified the starting RF job as we head into the weekend. True Freshman Kane Kepley continue to make a play for some time as he had 5 singles and 4 stolen bags on the weekend. He's slated to backup Jaylen Guy in CF but saw some time in LF this weekend as well. True Freshman Brayden Horton also hit a homer as he continues to show well in the early going. Andrew Jenner, the Winthrop transfer appears to have made a strong claim to start the year at 1B as well as he had 4 more hits including a double and made solid contact all weekend. Juco transfer Victor Castillo had a single and 3 walks and he continues to be in the mix for the LF/DH roles. 3b stalwart Cam Foster chipped in 2 singles and 2 walks to go along with a double and stolen bag as he reached base 4 times this weekend. Jaylen Guy continues his return from Tommy John with 2 singles, a double, a walk and 2 stolen bases. Jake Lazzaro added a single and continues to be the favorite to get the nod at SS. Catcher Gray Betts didn't record any hits but made good contact all weekend.
By my projections that just leaves 2B, LF & DH roles that are most likely up for grabs to start the weekend. I still think 2b comes down to Keeter/Simmons. LF could see Hillier, Castillo, Stewart, Kepley or even Horton in the mix. DH is most likely going to be 1 of the remaining guys from that group as well. The Flames will have 3 guys from that group to work in the lineup as needed. Hillier is going to find his way into the lineup one way or the other and if I had to guess I would think he may get the nod in LF for opening day & Castillo or Stewart will DH but that's just a guess. Hertzler could still factor in at 1B/DH as well to give a righty look. No point in getting too worked up over this as all these guys are going to get a shot at some point and whoever provides the best combo of hitting/defense will get the nod in left and if there's a guy that's swinging it then he will get the first shot to lock down DH at bats. Either way it's good to have depth with guys like Wheatley, Edmands and Mcneal that can help as well. The Flames may even go with some platoon matchups early if nobody has stood out enough to claim those jobs. The pitching will be stiff right out of the gate so the bats will be tested.
Let's move to the mound. Mikey Tepper went 4 Innings and had 4 k's and 5 hits and allowed 2 ER's. 4 of the 5 hits we're singles. Tepper has been sitting 91-94 so far in the early going. He has the potential to ramp it up to 95-97 once weather warms a bit. He seems primed to be the Saturday starter to split up the lefties. Nick Moran also went 4 innings and gave up 3 runs while striking out 3 and allowing 4 hits. Moran struggled in the first but then really dominated in his final 3 innings of work. He seems primed for one of the last 2 rotation spots as well. Garret Gainey also went 4 IP and allowed 2 early runs before settling in to allow just 1 more over the next 3 innings. He also had 2 strikeouts. Ryan Butler continued a strong spring with 4 IP. He got knocked around a bit in the 4th but filled up the strike zone in his first 3 innings and worked off a fastball changeup combo to keep the hitters off balance. Butler appears poised to have a shot at the middle relief/long man role that is so key in college baseball. Graham Edwards is a Juco transfer that looked good in 2 IP with 1 strikeout and sat 89-93 in his time. Let's move to the backend of the bullpen. Long time setup man David Erickson backed up last weekend with another good outing with a clean 1 1/3 IP and threw just 12 total pitches as he punched out 1 hitter. Trey Carter went 1 1/3 innings as well and had 2 K's 1 BB and 0 hits allowed. Cole Garrett also went 1 1/3 innings and had a strikeout, walk and induced 3 ground ball outs. NC State transfer Trey Cooper went 2 2/3 and had 3 strikeouts, no runs or hits and sat 91-94 from the left hand side. Finally, freshman Todd Hudson went 1 IP and threw just 10 pitches and topped out at 91 while featuring a 3 pitch mix including the fastball, slider & change.
So, where does that leave us heading into the weekend. I think Butler and Edwards could be the guys that the Flames go to early if a starter gets in trouble to try get some innings. Remember, in week 1 most guys won't go more than 4 to 5 innings as they get stretched out. As you get into the late innings you will see familiar names like Carter, Erickson, Garrett and Germanowski. Then there's some other young guys that can find themselves in the mix as well including Grubbs, Hertzler & Hudson. Cooper and Willard are 2 interesting names to watch as well. They could factor in a number of roles. The Flames are likely to go with best matchups this weekend as well rather than a set closer if the opportunity presents itself is my guess based off the past and the number of quality guys in the program. Hopefully I didn't miss anyone but my count that's 15 to 16 pitchers that I think the Flames would be comfortable putting out there once everyone is completely healthy and rolling.
Initial thoughts for this series. The Golden Eagles are a great team with a great fan base that expects to win. The Flames will be in a hostile environment right out of the gate and will find out what they have in a lot of these spots. One thing we know for sure is that Horn is going to take the ball Friday night as he's as good as what anybody else has. I think the Flames have more depth/options in every role/position than I can ever remember. It's one thing to have guys on the roster that cover all the spots, it's another thing to have guys on the roster that the staff feels good about that they can put in the game and perform. Liberty won't be a finished product this weekend. Nobody is that early but especially with all the new pieces they will need a little time to get everybody in the right roles once the bullets start flying. In fact, I would almost guarantee that by year end at least 2 to 3 guys that we don't have pegged for key roles or undefined turn into big time contributors.
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