How it all fits together

 

This is the 2nd of a 4 part summer blog posting that will include a Summer league update on the Flames that are in action and also an update on the Flames that are active in the minor leagues.  Last week I posted the subtractions and the additions to the roster as of Saturday.  I'd still expect the Flames to add another player or 2 from the portal if they can land the right fit for the program that also matches a need.  That being said let's take a look at how it could all come together next year and what went right and what went wrong plus some notes on the schedule and Blair and Kepley.  

This year it was pretty obvious to break down what went wrong.  First and foremost the Flames suffered 3 crucial season ending injuries to Hillier, Horn & Butler.  Further, Horton's injury essentially cost him the first month and Rabon missed a month in the crucial portion of the conference slate.  Offensively, this was one of the best if not the best offensive clubs in recent memory as I wrote last month.  They will need to replace Hudson, Rabon & Sweatt but I'd expect the Flames offense to be a force in 2025 again based on the returning production plus what's coming in.  Defensively, the Flames were improved on 2023 but still not back levels of the early years of Coach Jackson's tenure.  As previously noted about 70% of the errors came from Marsh & Foster.  Marsh has all the tools to take a big step forward defensively in his Sophomore year and Foster improved from the prior year.  I'd expect both to be better next year and you could even see Foster in the 1B/DH mix some as well depending on how things work out.  I'd expect Dye to take a step forward at Catcher as well.  He held his own as basically as HS Senior and really made a huge impact with the bat.  I would expect him to really take a huge step forward.  Pitching wise it was a season of inconsistency and injuries.  You don't have another Horn in the program so when he went down you knew it was going to be tough.  Butler had stepped up from the long man role to a guy that could go 5-6 innings and 3-4 runs each time before he went down.  The bullpen was a complete roll of the dice all year.  The Flames could never find a reliable formula at any point in 2024.  Further, you had 2 new assistant coaches which is quite a challenge to overcome as well with a new pitching program and a new offensive approach.  Year 2 in both programs should be much better just with sheer familiarly with the programs.  

I'll take a look at what each portion of the roster could look like in 2024 (Way too early)

Starting Pitching - First, this is complete speculation on my part but I'd bet Blair will get a strong look to be a starter.  He excelled at LCA and was really the only consistent option from the pen in 2024 from wire to wire.  Moran should be back and will certainly take 1 of the spots.  Butler will be back and he could certainly factor back in as a starter as well.  Dolby is another potential option but he will need to be much more consistent next year to be a serious threat.  Cale Bolton will certainly factor in somewhere.  He made a great start in the tournament out of necessity but he could be an option next year as well.  Caleb Lingenfelter is a Roanoke College transfer that had TJ surgery and sat out the 24 season while rehabbing with the Flames.  He had quite a bit of success at Roanoke and I've heard good things about his bullpens here recently in rehab.  You'd have to think incoming freshman Jack Frankel will have a shot as well with his pedigree and national ranking assuming he makes it here.  Josh Mccusker had a really good year in JUCO this past year with a sub 3 ERA in 62 IP.  He could get a shot as well.  Lastly, Josh Swink was an interesting freshman lefty that had some success that could get a shot as well.  There's always the chance that somebody comes out of nowhere as well.  

Defensively you start up with middle with the returning core of Dye, Marsh & Kepley.  Horton is going to be in the lineup everyday whether it's DH, LF or 1B.  I think Simmons played his way into a starting role in that 1B/DH role.  I'm not sure what other positions he may be able to play at the College level but his bat plays.  Troyer and Foster are back as well and will certainly factor in.  Troyer plays elite defense in RF and has an absolute hose with incredible accuracy as well.  The bat has been hit or miss and seems to be hot early and late in the season but cool in the middle.  Cam's stats were probably a little less than expected this past year but you can do a lot worse than a .275 6 to 8 homer guy with 30 RBI's if that's the floor.  I'd expect Callum Early & Landon Scilley to get a strong look at 1 of the vacated infield spots as Freshman. Sawyer Black will get a look the Outfield as well if he makes it to campus.  Peter Johnson is a physical JUCO player that will have a shot at one of those corner Outfield spots.  Seth Christmas and Jaxon Sorenson are 2 more huge guys that put up incredible JUCO numbers.  Christmas will give the Flames catching depth and could also factor in the Outfield and DH roles.  Sorensen looks to me be a corner infield type player with DH potential.  Bryce Lane is probably the same type of guy as well.  Tucker Moore was the final addition via the portal from Mizzou.  He provides catching and outfield depth with a left handed swing.  That's 14 guys that could be capable of challenging for time. 

The bullpen is always the hardest part of the roster to project and this year is no different.  Certainly some of the guys that don't get 1 of the 4 rotation spots will move into the bullpen.  We've already seen Bolton have quite a bit of success down the stretch.  You start with the guys you feel the best about and that would likely be Grubbs, Mathieson & Mclaughlin.  They all had success at times last year and should take a step forward.  Ben Roberts could be an interesting watch in Summer league this year.   He definitely has the Velo and features a nice 2 seamer.  He's had some solid early returns thus far including a 3 inning scoreless outing.  Ty Goodson enrolled early and I'd expect him to take a step forward with a year under his belt.  Brayden Hill & Cooper Harrington will be both be freshman that will look to make their mark in their first year.  Joseph Webb has an interesting 3/4 or side arm look that you need in the bullpen these days.  Jackson Kendall had a sub 2 ERA in JUCO this past year and will certainly look to be an instant impact guy.  Michael Gibson & Spencer Hill are also veteran JUCO & portal guys that should factor into the depth chart as well.  Again, the bullpen will be the very last thing to sort itself out and will certainly be impacted by who is left over from the battle for starter.  Spencer Williams and Terry Kaler are 2 lefty's that should have a shot at the lefty role in the bullpen.  Seth Way a former VT commit, was the final addition to the team.  He will most certainly factor into the rotation or bullpen.  

-Probably the 2 most important updates are that Kane Kepley is playing in the Cape Code league and that Ben Blair is going to take the summer off.  I think resting Blair is a really smart move as we've seen Freshman sensations like Horn and Gibson wear down and give way to injury in the last handful of years plus the current state of UCL injuries that seem to be occurring every few days in the game.  

-Schedule wise it sounds like the Flames have the St John's Red Storm returning to Lynchburg for the first time in nearly a decade.  I'd also expect the Flames to return the midweek game @ Campbell this year from last year.  If things stay as usual UVA should be back on for  home and home this year.  The Hoos and Flames have been on a rotation of home and home every other year while playing @ UVA in the even year which was 2024.  

-Still sounds very likely that Hertlzer and Horn will be drafted and sign.  I'd expect Black will get drafted at some point but it will all depend on what his ask is.  That could certainly impact the draft status as well.