Great article on the Niners from D1 baseball.
Doesn’t this require a premium subscription to the D1Baseball.com website? That’s how I saw it. Can those here who don’t subscribe see it?
1 Like
New commit for 2021 class:
2 Likes
Yes, I think a subscription is required. I can provide a cliff notes version some time.
2 Likes
It’s a terrific article. Lots of substance and accurate. Has to be a boon to our recruiting.
2 Likes
Great national pub for the program!! I think they have only highlighted 3 schools with a Fall Report so far. Wichita State, NC State and Charlotte.
2 Likes
It’s going to be fun to see these guys compete against outside competition in the Spring.
2 Likes
Here’s coaches Woodard, Robinson, & Bicknell breaking down the baseball roster in podcast form. There’s also some schedule discussion at the end. Get comfy. With 48 guys on the roster, this takes awhile. LOL
3 Likes
D1 has retweeted this article several times over the past weeks. Hopefully they are getting lots of hits and that leads to more coverage from them. https://d1baseball.com/featured/charlotte-blazes-its-own-trail-for-pitcher-development/
Here are some nuggets that were tweeted out from the D1 article:
– The @CharlotteBSB pitching staff has seen major gains this fall after sending 18 pitchers to train at an out-of-state private facility in the summer — part of a bold year-round pitching development plan. #D1Baseball
–Robert Woodard started implementing his bold vision for player development from day one of his tenure as
@CharlotteBSB’s head coach. And that’s not just a figure of speech.
–“I just always try to look at things from the lens of, if I was an 18-year-old kid who’s a pitcher, the way P3 and Driveline train pitchers — that’s what I would want to be doing.” 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝
– Charlotte’s pitching staff has seen major gains this fall after sending 18 pitchers to train at the P3 facility in St. Louis — part of a bold year-round pitching development plan.
– --“When I watched, 8 pitchers saw action, and all of them touched 91+. That doesn’t mean they’re finished products — there were plenty of deep counts, and Woodard acknowledged that there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of refining command & pitchability”
– Bryce McGowan has the best stuff of them all. A year ago at this time, he sat 90-92 and topped out at 94 with his FB. On Saturday, he attacked the zone at 94-95 for 2 innings and topped out at 96, flashing an above-average spin rate up to 2400 rpm.
– “@CharlotteBSB is hitting the JUCO ranks hard, an effort spearheaded by recruiting coordinator
@coachbick42, whose connections in the Midwest have already proven fruitful.”
– “Woodard also thinks [@WSCCbaseball] transfer Dillion Phillips could factor into the rotation mix; he sat 90-92 and bumped 93 from a high slot, mixing in a solid 79-81 slider with tight spin (up to 2605 rpm) and flashing a promising changeup at 80-82.”
–For many [@CharlotteBSB] pitchers, the new training regimen was a revelation…
– “As soon as I started cleaning up my movement patterns & moving more efficiently, I started to see jumps in my velocity, and I started feeling better the day after.” - McGowan
– “It’s special man,” Head Coach Robert Woodard said. “We have a blast every day we come into the offices; there are no days we don’t. I’m hopeful that our players can feel that energy when we get on the field."
- “I always want to toe the line of being respectful, it’s extremely hard to get there. But just thinking about being in Omaha and having the city of Charlotte watching us play there — that’s the goal. That’s the dream.” -
@rwoodard20
3 Likes
Any chance those practice microfiber shirts are available for purchase?
Nice to see updates on the pitchers. Would love to hear how some of the position players are coming along.
I’ve heard that McCabe is having a good fall offensively. He’s been at 3B and 1B. Transfer from NC State Will Butcher is having a good fall at the plate as well. He’s been working over at 1B. Lots of competition all over the field.
Mr. Bo, I don’t guess any of the practices are open to the public?
Closed practices due to Covid. MLB Scouts have been regularly attending the scrimmages though.
1 Like
Anything on the rest of the infield?
The infield (and even part of the outfield) will depend on what shakes out at catcher and first base.
There are 5 guys working out at catcher this fall. Returners Craig Keuchel and Jacob Whitley, along with newcomers Aaron McKeithan, Martin Zelenka, and Tyler Cotton. Zelenka shows promise, but he’s going to need time to adjust to D1 baseball (and a new country for that matter). Cotton will also need time. Keuchel’s bat will have him in the lineup one way or the other. If not behind the plate, perhaps in right field (where he spent some time last season) or maybe even at DH. Whitley plays the position pretty well, but needs to really get his bat going to earn playing time. McKeithan is more of an offensive option. There’s really not a clear winner in this competition yet.
At first base the options are returners David McCabe and Rafi Vazquez, along with newcomer Will Butcher. McCabe will be on the field; it’s just a question of where. He hits for power from both sides of the plate and could probably handle any position on the field save pitcher or CF. They are going to want Butcher’s bat in the lineup. If he can handle first well enough, Rafi could DH, where he spent last season. If I had to bet, I’m going with Butcher getting the nod.
If Butcher wins the job at first, that allows McCabe to shift over to third, which is probably his natural position. That leaves the spots up the middle open. We’ve got some promising young guys like Dante Defranco and Nate Furman. Transfer Thomas Caufield is also an option. In reality, the remaining two spots in the infield likely come down to transfers Austin Knight (Tennessee) and Jack Dragum (UVA) along with freshman Gino Groover. Groover’s athleticism is on another level. He is a freshman though and may need some time to get up to speed with the D1 game. The wildcard here is last year’s starter, Carson Johnson. He’s recovering from an injury this Fall and should be in the mix come preseason practice. As it stands right now, I’d give the edge to Dragum at 2nd and Knight at short.
Of course, none of this takes into consideration the potential to adjust the lineup based on matchups. More than anything though, they are in Fall camp and it’s a long way to March 1st (thinking baseball season gets pushed back a couple of weeks) and there’s still time for a lot to happen.
4 Likes
Is there anything like TOO great an embarrassment of riches? Are we likely to see a peeling-off of some of these guys?
It’s possible, but the NCAA did away with the roster cap for the time being. Nobody has to be cut.
Not to comment on our situation specifically, but there are only so many innings in a season. It’s nice to have the flexability of a large roster. It’s hell to manage the expectations of 18 to 22 year olds who all want to get off the bench and into the games. So, if there is an embarrassment of riches, there will be a self correction. Some of those guys may want to pretend they are basketball players and take themselves someplace they deem worthy of their presence. I’m assuming expanded rosters will be a one off next season only, so someone is going to be leaving anyway in the near future. Covid screws up everything.
Yep, there is a huge logjam in college baseball right now. Should raise the talent level across the board, but like you said there are only so many innings and so many spots, at all levels. D1 D2 D3, and juco rosters across the country are larger than normal.
Last year baseball saw the largest amount of players in the transfer portal. D1 Baseball has already started posting the 2020-2021 transfer tracker with 130+ names in it. It sounds like there could be more than last season. Lots of Ivy League players in there because they weren’t granted another year of eligibility and guys from teams like LaSalle who have dropped baseball this fall. MLB Draft will be only 5 Rounds again this summer too.