Baseball, Anyone?

[ManAboutTown]

Jake Wells is your hitting coach and will run the offense

Edit: I stand corrected, from a person who would know. Deggs will control the offense.

[JMV JustMyView]

44 More Sleeps.

There have been a couple of things that have happened since Fall Ball.

C Austin Kelly decided to leave the program. Also, Will Pendergrast, who had transferred in from Houston, has left the program due to injury. He was originally signed as a catcher, but had played a lot of third base in the fall.

The Cajuns have brought in Austin Garrett, a grad transfer from Kansas State after losing the two catchers mentioned above. He is not expected to challenge for a starting role; the coaches felt they needed to add one just for numbers sake. CJ Willis can catch so that gives them three.

There will be plenty of competition this spring (and probably throughout the season). This is going to be a very deep team with a lot of interchangeable parts. It will also be,, in my opinion, the most athletic team since 2014.

While there are some on the roster who may make strides in the spring, here's the way I see things shaping up. This is just my opinion, based on watching several intersquads plus the scrimmages against NWST and LSU.

C--Julien Brock has won the job and had it won before the other two catchers left. Willis and Garrett will back him up.

1B--It looks like Carson Roccaforte has been moved to that position. He has handled it well defensively and putting him at 1B lessens the glut of talent in the OF. Willis can play there as well as Brandon Talley.

2B--Bobby Lada has moved from shortstop and looks much more comfortable. He swung the bat very well in the fall. But there's competition there from Trey Lafleur (Ole Miss transfer) and Jonathan Brandon. That will be interesting to watch.

SS--His name is Kyle Debarge. (Kinder La/Barbe High School). He's gonna be a star. That is all. (Lada of course could move back to SS if something happens, but Debarge is going to hit in the 3 hole, imo.

3B--With Pendergrass gone, there will be competition here. But my guess is Tyler Robertson is going back to 3B. Again, we have a slew of outfielders. And watch for Warnner Rincones. Excellent glove. His bat isn't ready yet, but you'll see him in the late innings, I think.

OF--Max Marusak is your center fielder and leadoff hitter. Heath Hood, Connor Kimple, Will Veillon and Connor Higgs are in the mix for the other two OF positions with Hood in the lead in LF. Your DH will probably come from that group as well.

P--There's no Connor Cooke on this squad who is going to come in and throw 96. But there are plenty of good arms. I do not think this is going to be a dominant pitching staff, but if we hit like I think we are going to, we'll be fine.

Texas transfer Drew Shifflet has the lead to be the Friday guy. Chipper Menard threw strikes this fall and that was the only thing holding him back last year. Hayden Durke has electric stuff but still needs to harness it. Tommy Ray, Austin Perrin will challenge for a starting role and Brandon Talley may wind up as a starter as well. And, the coaches love Peyton Havard, who has lost 30 pounds. Could be a mid week starter.

Jacob Schultz should be your late inning guy and Talley will be there if he doesn't start. Durke could be used late as well if he throws strikes. I think you'll also see David Christie, Bo Bonds, Blake Marshall and Jeff Wilson out of the pen. But also watch out for Freshman Dylan Theut. He's a lefty with very good pitchability with a good breaker and slider. He was a HS teammate of Julien Brock. Talley, Theut, Marshall, Menard, Perrin are all LHP.

Again, just my thoughts. You could very well see other names pop up when they start spring drills.

I think this can be a regional team. Players are pushing each other (iron sharpens iron) and unlike last year, everyone is on the same page.

Let's rodeo.

I guess I need to do a softball overview?

[KajunKrazy]

I did not know CJ was a catcher. Has he ever caught in a game for the cajuns in his career?

[KajunKrazy]

Jake Wells is your hitting coach and will run the offense

Edit: I stand corrected, from a person who would know. Deggs will control the offense.

Makes sense to me.

[Textitan]

I don’t believe so, however he was rated one of the top catchers in the country coming out of high school.

[CajunVic]

Jake Wells is your hitting coach and will run the offense

Edit: I stand corrected, from a person who would know. Deggs will control the offense.

LOL

[Rougarou]

Thanks, Jay. Looking forward to the season.

[DocCajun]

Good stuff! Cannot wait for baseball season to start

[cajundiehard]

February can't get here soon enough!

[wcd35]

Of the new guys, I really liked watching Marusek specifically hitting the ball in the fall. Just puts a charge into it. Debarge is gonna be real good as well