D1 baseball posted their full preview of UH today. Would recommend clicking over if you have a subscription. I think the line-up and rotation are above the paywall, so that should be kosher to share here.
Offensively they project
C: Tucker Redden
1B: Joe Davis
2B: Connor Hollis
3B: Jared Triolo
SS: Cooper Coldiron
LF: Drew Minter
CF: Grayson Padgett
RF: Lael Lockhart
DH: Ron Brown
Not a ton of surprises, other than I would’ve expected at least one of the group of Slaughter, Bielamowicz, Champion, Etzel and Fuentes to step into a starting role in year 2 with the program. Would also be surprised if Zach Needham doesn’t force his way onto the field at some point. He’s a JuCo kid who came here all the way from Washington state, and he absolutely mashed last year.
Weekend rotation projected to be Trey Cumbie, Aaron Fletcher and Ryan Randel, with frosh southpaw Clay Aguilar going mid-week. Mitch Ullom is out for the year with a torn labrum. Obviously would like to have more than 1 guy returning with significant starting experience, but that 1 guy has been dominant for 2 straight years, and if Fletcher is half as good in a starting role as he has been out of the 'pen, he’ll do fine. Rangel is a transfer from Orange Coast CC, the same school that gave us Chris Iriart, Kyle Dowdy and David Longville.
The bullpen has more returning guys with D1 experience than it’s had in a while. Even if Fletcher moves to the weekend rotation we have Hurdsman, Bond, Pulido, Villareal, Henry, and Baylor grad transfer Kyle Ott. D1B also mentions JuCo transfer Spencer Juergens as one to keep an eye on. No mention in the article of Jared Pettitte or D’mond LaFond, two guys whose recruiting profiles have me intrigued.
Can’t wait for the season. We have some holes to fill, but there’s a lot of intriguing talent to fill it.
They’re very high on the freshmen with Minter, Brown and Aguilar getting prime spots. Not to say they don’t deserve them because they’re all solid prospects.
Roster has Bielo listed as a LHP now so I’m wondering if he’s a full-time pitcher.
I’m very surprised that Slaughter isn’t considered a starter at this point. Dude was coming along nicely at the end of the year and absolutely smashed the ball during summer league. Catcher is a tough spot to pin down because we have at least three guys that are really good (Lovelace, Slaughter, and Redden). I could see Slaughter getting time in the outfield again.
The depth on this team is incredible, especially the pitching. We’ll be fearsome in the conference tourney and regional as we have so many arms. Really think this team could surprise and is a lot better than what the experts think (and they think we’re really good). If the offense does well, we could go far.
1st year in awhile where I have not been able to keep up with the new guys.
Infield looks to be solid defensively with Triolo, Coldiron, Hollis, & Davis.
Pitching, lots of arms and will have to find out who is going to step up in the bullpen. Also, interesting to see how things change with the pitching from Anderson to Rooney…
Also, hopeful Davis is healthy but curious who will be providing the power this year beyond him. We lost a lot with Schreiner, Wong, & Julks leaving.
Based on the lineup above, Brown, Minter, and Davis all have pop. Padgett also can drive a few out.
JUCO transfer, Zach Needham led his conference in homers (10) last year; I thought he might push for Scheiner’s spot at 3rd as he has a similar profile.
JUCO transfer, Josh Elvir also had some pop (11 HR) and led his conference in slugging percentage. Have a feeling he might be in the mix in the OF.
Nick Slaughter also wasn’t listed, but he’s got power and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Whitting get his bat in there.
I think the real difference in the ball club over the last few years has been pitching under Anderson, but then other than an off year or two we have had good pitching, and our ability to hit the long ball.
Let’s hope we have a couple more Iriat’s and Schreiner’s in the lineup this year.