Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="MarkyMark, post: 4833026, member: 12210"] Some random thoughts as we are ~6 weeks out from opening day: 1) If Malcom embraces his role he can be a key player on the roster. Why? a) Provides quality pinch-hitting off the bench from the right side, b) Provides quality catching depth when wanting to rest Garbo or facing tough LHP (against teams who don't run a lot) and c) Provides quality Dan Hurley if facing tough LHP, and want to rest Dalena and put Luke at 1B 2) Van Emon can also be a key guy on this roster by providing quality mid-week starting pitching. I saw him once and wasn't blown away but that's not a real sample size and I'm not a pitching expert. His resume at the D3 level was impressive. Would be nice to have him develop into that high-quality during the week starter to face BC, KSU, etc. 3) Offensively although I think 1-9 is not as strong as last year (lost Smitty, Ben, and Dom) the depth is better with more flexibility. See Malcom above, for example. Also, Shpur, Kron/TC (whoever doesn't start), Brini, etc. bring unique stuff to the table (e.g. speed) and can provide quality bench depth. 4) To add on to #3 above I'd like to see a guy like Minick get a shot to be a spot starter at 3B in Feb/early Mar. If Bry is starting at 3B you kind of know what you're getting offensively there so let's see if you have something with the young guys. And I like Minick think the ceiling is high so try to get him some playing time. 5) If starting pitching can stay healthy they'll surprise to the upside. Not hard to improve on last year but I think it has a shot to be servicable and an asset. 6) My travel plan is to catch the opening 3 games in Tampa as well as the 3 versus UCSB and the midweek game versus UCLA. Undecided on seeing UC Irvine as it's on ESPN+ and my schedule gets in the way. Happy New Year [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

Forum statistics

Threads: 164,907

Messages: 4,414,305

Members: 10,239

Latest member: puggalo