The 2023 season came to a close Saturday as Liberty to Lipscomb 7 to 3 in the semi-finals of the ASUN tournament in Deland Florida. That will also close the book on Liberty's time in the ASUN. The ASUN gets a lot of heat among the Liberty fan base and some of it's certainly warranted but it was a nice landing spot for the Flames that treated them well overall the last few years. As for the season itself, it just never really got on track the way Liberty Baseball expects to. There were some great moments and some incredible young guys that developed over the course of the season. The action is still going as of now Liberty is at 97 in the RPI and has the 2nd toughest non conference SOS in the nation and 48th overall. Liberty got swept early at Southern Miss who was in contention to host yet another regional and then later were swept by ECU and Stetson on the road as well. The Flames were also unable to secure a series sweep this year. However, they swept 2 with ODU, beat VT and Duke on the road and took 1 from FGCU on the road. The pitching was inconsistent most of the year but the overall "stuff' of the stuff has never been better. Defensively, Liberty was fairly solid aside from the infield but the Flames did what they had to do to enhance a struggling offense mid-year which included Horton learning first base and Betts at 2B and Foster at SS the last few weeks of the season. Offensively, the Flames spent the first 2/3 of the season searching but really landed on a fairly solid lineup toward the end of the year. It feels like the Flames are a couple pieces away from having a really nice lineup next year.
Freshman Class
Liberty has said goodbye to some guys like Locklear, Mathieu & Wagner that have been key pieces for a long time. They will say goodbye to Gray Betts now who was basically a 5 year starter and will finish tied for 2nd in hits all time in the program. That being said it looks like the Flames may have the best Freshman class I can remember in some time.
Brayden Horton - He was the 1st to break into the lineup and ended up hitting .341 with 6 HR's and 40 RBI's in 164 AB"s and ended up with the highest slugging percentage on the team. He should be in the Catcher, First Base, DH mix next year and will be a regular in the lineup. Horton looks like a future #2 or #3 hitter for the Flames depending upon your age and view of metrics on where the best hitter in the lineup should go.
Kane Kepley - Liberty found their CF to take over for Guy. He finished at .310 with a homer and 19 RBI's and was 17/19 in stolen bases. I really love Kepley's game. He reminds me of a mix between a Steve Finley and Jacoby Ellsbury type outfielder. In any event Liberty has their leadoff guy and CF for the next several years.
Todd Hudson - Hudson was a 2 way player for the Flames and ended up at .292 with 2 homers and 12 RBI's in 47 AB's. He also pitched 30 1/3 innings and had a 4.75 ERA and averaged just about a strikeout per inning. Hudson really showed some pop late in the season at the plate and topped out around 92 on the mound. Hudson has a very high ceiling and could take a huge step forward next season.
John Simmons - Simmons hit .220 with 2 homers and 17 RBI's in 82 AB's. Simmons stats for the season don't blow you away but he took a huge step forward the last month of the season. Remember Simmons should have been a senior in high school this year. He looked overmatched in the early part of the season but when his number was called late in the year he was ready and delivered some key hits including the Grand Slam that flipped the tournament game against Lipscomb.
Talor Grubbs - Grubbs ended with a 4.05 in limited work. Grubbs looks like a nice piece for the bullpen as well and should take a big step forward.
Players that showed they belong
Camden Troyer - Troyer came out of the gate hot and then cooled but he proved to be a solid starting caliber RF. He was elite in RF and finished with a 1.000 fielding percentage and has an excellent throwing arm. He finished at .256 with 4 homers and 41 RBI and was 4/5 in stolen bases. I think he should be a .275 to .295 type hitter with 6 or 7 homers next year with a year of experience under his belt.
Graham Edwards - Edwards ended the year with a 3.28 ERA in 24 1/3 Innings and averaged over a strikeout per inning. Edwards finished the year as strong as anyone. He has a nasty 3/4 arm slot with movement that just bores in on righties and produces a lot of weak contact and gets a lot of swing and miss. Edwards looks like a back end of the bullpen type of arm for Liberty that they can rely on.
Cole Hertzler - Hertzler's ERA is a bit inflated but he had some downright dominant stretches. His most impressive stat was 51 strikeouts in 36 1/3 Innings. He's def. a back end guy in the pen going forward. He also hit a homer in some limited AB's. Hertzler was hurt by lack of command at times that really helped inflate his ERA.
Nathan Keeter - Keeter's final stat line doesn't blow you away either but he really swung it well the last 2 to 3 weeks and has some positional versatility. He just needs to improve defensively, particularly at 2B to become a full time starter but he's good enough at a minimum to play a solid role on a good team.
Trey Cooper - Cooper came on strong down the stretch and has nice velo for a southpaw. He should play a nice role for the Flames next year whether it's a starter or out of the pen.
Ryan Butler - Butler is another that final stat line doesn't tell the full story. He logged some valuable innings against some of the top 10 offenses in the nation. Butler should at least be a valuable piece in the bullpen in the future.
Draft Watch
Mikey Tepper - Tepper ended with a 5.23 ERA in just over 65 IP and had 78 K's in that time. Tepper was a hard throwing righty that came in and really benefitted from Matt Williams tutelage. He started slow but was really good the last month or so. He has the type of stuff that will get scouts attention and has a lot of movement. It's a little early to know what will happen yet but he has a really high ceiling and if he makes it back next year he could be an all league type player. He reminds me a bit of Max Alba last year but has better pure stuff.
Cam Foster - Cam played a post grad year so he is draft eligible. Cam is a big bodied kid that has a lot of tools and power. He ended up with a really solid year at .272 with 12 homers and 44 RBI's. His defense was shaky most of the year but he made some incredible plays. If he makes it back he should take another step forward and could be a .285 .to .295 hitter with 15 to 17 homers. Cam just needs to make the routine plays at 3B and cut down a bit on the swing and miss and he will be a draft pick at some point.
Trey Carter - I need to double check this but I believe Trey has a COVID year left. Trey had the most dominant stretch of the year of anybody from late March to late April where he was virtually unhittable. The tools are there and he's a physical specimen. Trey's one of those kid's that needs reps to stay in sync. I can totally identify with that. No clue at this point if he comes back or not but if he somehow makes it back that's a huge win for the Flames.
Return from injury?
Nick Moran - Moran has shown to be a pretty good option in the rotation in limited opportunity but wasn't able to make it back in. Fell Flames Diamond Collective Board member and former Flame Alex Close saw his start at Winthrop and really spoke highly of his pure stuff. He's an X Factor for the 24 Flames.
Will they or won't they?
Trey Gibson - Many have asked about the status of Trey Gibson. Gibson was away from the team this year. I haven't heard recently if there's a chance he could return but Gibson obviously had a huge Freshman season before a disappointing sophomore season.
Note : I'm certainly not forgetting Horn. We already knew what we had in Horn and even though he faded a bit toward the end I would expect him to have a big year next year. He will be a full year removed from injury and will continue to mature physically. His ceiling remains incredibly high.
Spots to target
Some of what's needed depends on what happens with those draft watch guys. Shortstop is the biggest need with Lazzaro and Wheatley both moving on and Mcneal in the portal. I'd expect a HS middle infielder to be added and a portal or Juco player, maybe even 2. I would expect the Flames to be in the market for a DH/1B/LF power bat or 2 from the portal and JUCO levels. Everybody's always looking for more pitching and I'm sure Liberty will be in that mix as well. The bulk of their public HS commitments are pitchers. So if I had to guess Liberty will be after middle infield particularly SS and a power 1B DH LF bat or 2 and relievers in the pen. 3B could be a potential area of need as well as we are on the Foster watch. Everybody in the game is after quality starters so without a guaranteed slot it may be difficult to add quality proven SP from the portal (Horn, Cooper, Moran, Tepper).
I know this year was disappointing to everyone involved but next year has the potential to be an incredibly talented team. Ben Blair and Brandon Clarke are 2 of the incoming signees that could be ready to contribute immediately. There are always holes to fill each year but Liberty is going to enter 2024 with a lot few question marks than they did 2023.
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