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HokiePWC

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Member since: January 10, 2012
Last post: 05/09/2022 07:15 AM ET

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Yup. Punchline is we are behind. Look at that Duke staff. Moscara pretty

much brought much of the Wake operation with him and they also have a business based GM.

Great info. Do we know that some of these guys are DSA's? I'm counting

more than 34. Looks like another '26 arm just committed too if I read that right elsewhere.

If he gets drafted I would think he almost certainly has to go. Since they

went to 20 rounds with slot bonuses the leverage for seniors has gone down considerably. Factor in some of the chatter we are hearing on the next CBA (MLB will potentially propose going down to 12 rounds) and this may be his best chance to get a decent deal.

Specific to Munoz, is your projections of him as the #3 assuming we pick

up a catcher in the Portal capable of significant innings? I know the staff loved Cooke behind the dish defensively, but man he caught a lot of innings. Hoping Oxendine is ready for a role back there.

Can't hurt right. I think he's more of a benefactor from the turnover in

the AD right now and the focus on football (see Men's Hoops) as far as the appetite to make a change goes. While I agree it's intriguing looking at the recruiting class coming in 2027, I don't think that saves him at all if the new AD wants to make a change. We will sink or swim in the Portal. Also will be interesting to see if Whit does anything with his contract on his way out.

Agreed it's a headscratcher. The dynamic changed for sure though as a lot

of meaningful baseball was played after his last appearance of the season (against UNCG).

Yup. It's just such a crapshoot though. So while I don't know the

circumstances around their exits, it stings when we lose productive arms like Swift and Crowl. We are going to have to make great evaluations on on the less than obvious guys that are already landing at what have traditionally been better programs. Hope we hit on that this year. Look at this past season though. Most of the big contributors ended up being recruited guys. The transfer arms had very mixed results with most of them having a diminished role by the end of the year. Not trying to be a downer, but it's just proven pretty difficult for us to play the Portal card well on the mound.

I'd say incomplete. I see what you are saying as far as the 2026

performance. Hate to say it, but his success probably depends on what talent evals in the Portal. Will be interesting to see how that plays out over the next month or so. If we do talk development, I like Eisenreich and his year over year. Interested to see what he can do with a guy like Austin Dean.

I think his usage this year was pretty telling. Less run this year than

last. Looks like they have a catcher coming in with the 2026 class, but feels like something they are going to be pursuing in the portal/JUCO.

We can't lose another series. These teams are either right with us

(Clemson and NC State) or below us in RPI. There are no more "good losses" as these are the teams we are competing with for the last bids. Still feels like a long shot. SOS is great, but we haven't won. The eye test doesn't help either as the committee will see some really ugly losses on weekends.

Was really disappointing. Miami aside, this was the part of the schedule

that was going to give us a chance to really add some conference wins. Just looks like it's not going to happen. The situational stuff is really frustrating. It's been a theme for a couple seasons, but we can't cover it up with the long ball this year. Not sure what we do with Szefc. This program seems have a lot of similarities with Men's Hoops. If there is no desire for change there then why would we expect it here (unless Szefc says F-it). Having commits from both of his boys I would think is a signal he wants to be here, but who knows these days. I do worry about the '27 class. There are a couple guys in there that could simply outgrow us either via the Draft or a more prestigious, better funded, program.

Next couple weeks are huge to close-out March. Winnable non-con and then

two winnable ACC series at home. In fact, four of our next five ACC series are ones we have to have with the trip to Miami sandwiched in the middle. As bad as it's been, there's an opportunity to go on a run here. I mean, statistically speaking, the pitching has to improve......right? Will see how those injuries treat us.

You and U2 are both spot on. We aren't there. Good call on the disparity

between the Massey and other rankings. I usually don't pay too much attention to the data models until a little later in the season. Point is we have some work to do and it's hard to envision us being the NCAA conversation as of today. Would love to be wrong.

Here's the problem with the "out of league" statement in my eyes...as of

this week Tennessee if #19 and Texas A&M is #22 in the D1Baseball.com poll. That's not head and shoulders above most of the ACC this year. So to say we are out of our league means we are not going to be competitive in our conference and not be in the conversation for an at-large bid. Those might be true, but I'm with you in that I'm not burning the raft yet. The offense is worrisome though. How do we find the runs necessary to win games? Pitching I think (hope) will steady, but you still have to find 5+ runs to win in this era of college baseball.

Yup. We have knocked it (for good reason), so have to celebrate the

bullpen for Sunday's W. We just aren't used to seeing that, especially late in the weekend. Hats off to Craytor. 3-plus with no walks. Will be exciting to have him contributing on the back-end if he can stay in the zone.

Not sure exactly how they coach it, but the "new age" way that a lot of

professional orgs. are adopting looks a lot like that. It's creating that momentum to start the steal on the move. If you don't time it right you have to get back to the safe lead distance and do over. Obviously it could create some situations where a savvy pitcher can use that against you, but baserunners are getting better and better at it. Pitch clock and limited pick opps help too.

Will be nice to have he and Exum ready for the bulk of ACC play. Seems

we typically have around 12-15 ish outs to cover out of the Pen on any given weekend night. Getting them into that equation would be great.

I probably missed it, so apologies, but what's up with Clement? Was

waiting until we got through a full weekend and a non-con to ask. Assume he's still working his way back. Do we expect him to get innings this year?