N2daWild

Harden might be the surprise player of the year. Pearson is going to play a role for sure.

Question for Project or the group. The 2026 class is huge, right now 26 players. In the portal era I believed classes would get smaller since most of the portal players are plug and play. So why the big class? Is Jay trying to be less reliant on the portal? Is it because of the money that was thrown at his last class by MLB? Something else?

When I grow up I want to be like Adam4848, Cheerwhine and Project. My idols

Yorke could very well lead the team in HRs.

Jay also seems really high on Cowan. I like Cowan but maybe not as much as Jay. Jay obviously knows more than me.

Thanks Doge

2B and 3B are wide open. All five guys will play. It might come down to who is hot at the plate.

Those that follow baseball know that the fall and the spring are different animals. My observations are based on the fall and could change a lot, come spring.

LIneup:
CF Curiel
RF Brown
C Arrambide
1B Yorke
SS Milam
DH Harden
3B Carraway
2B Dardar
LF Stanfield

Rotation:
Friday Evans
Saturday Cooper Williams
Sunday Schmidt
Weekday Noot
Closers, Guidry, Fontenot and Sheerin

CATCHER:
Arrambide- He is the clear starter. His defense has improved in receiving and framing. The arm was always elte. He has tweaked his swing and maybe lost a little power but still has plenty. He put one over the bleachers this fall. He has hit for a high average this fall and has been hitting to all fields.

Serna- Very strong looking player, well put together. His defense is good but needs to improve some. I expect he will play a role similiar to what Arrambide played last year. Right now he seems to be a HR hitter and I expect his average might be a little lower because of that.

Yamin- He has hit much better this fall compared to last year. He has hit quite a few doubles with one HR that I remember. It looks as though he lost some weight, perhaps to improve his nimbleness behind the plate. It is a luxury to have a third catcher that is an upperclassmen and it capable of some offense.

OUTFIELD:
Starters are LF Stanfield, CF Curiel and RF Brown

Curiel- He has put on 20 lbs since last season and is set to play CF. Rumor has it that he hurt his ankle recently. He should be ready be the start of season but could miss a lot of off-season training. He is set to have a huge year regardless. He is a draft eligible sophomore so this is likely his last year but you never know.

Brown- He is another one who has tweaked his swing. That is always frustrating for an athlete to reprogram muscle memory to what is initially worse results. He did show progress in the second half of the fall and I am assuming this will help him against Lefty pitchers. He is also primed for a big year.

Stanfield- Last fall Stanfield hit a couple of HR's. This fall he seems to be content to line the ball over the infield. He has hit the ball well this fall and made some highlight defensive plays in LF. Stanfield could be a really solid player and might improve his batting average which wasn't bad last year.

Harden- His Dad was telling me what a high character kid he is that he is just a winner. The first week of the fall he was hitting well in batting practice but it wasn't transferring to the scrimmages. By the end of fall he was hitting very well in the scrimmages with some power. I don't see him surpassing the three starters but he is going to play plenty and will probably see time at DH as well

Braun- He is well built for a freshman and has some power. He put one off the scoreboard in Biloxi. He doesn't have the speed as the other outfielders but is fast enough. He could also get some time at DH.

Patrick- Jay says he is the fastest guy on the team. That is saying something. I watched him chase a ball in the gap, playing CF, and it did look a bit like a video game. He also has good size to go with the speed. He needs some time to develop but he has a real high ceiling.

INFIELD:
Starters 1B Yorke, 2B Dardar, SS Milam, 3B Carraway

Milan- He is the starting SS and there is no close competition. He has flashed the defense this fall but has been relatively quiet on offense. He did have a slump last season but I'm not worried about his bat at all. We should expect more of the same from Milam

Yorke- I labeled Yorke a fan favorite early in the fall and many seem to agree with that. He has a Tom Farley charm to him and is quite funny. His nickname is "Big Sexy". The guy can hit. Real power, barrels the ball and doesn't chase. He also athletic for his size. He is going to be huge part of our offense this year and plays 1B well.

Carraway- He is fairly athletic in the field, has power and good size. His high ceiling is going to put him in the drivers seat to start but it will be a battle. You have five players that are going to fight for 2nd base and 3rd base, Carraway, Pearson, Dardar, Reaves and Simpson. Carraway has Made a few defensive errors this fall but Jay thinks enough of him to give him quite a bit of time at SS. His exit velocities have been very good.

Dardar- I'm not sure how high his ceiling is but he has been very solid. I don't recall any errors and he has hit pretty good. He is just a good baseball player. It's a very tight race for 2B but right now I think he has a slight lead.

Pearson- Little brother has lost a lot of weight and looks good. He started the fall with a lot of swing and miss but could have been tweaking his swing as well. By the end of the fall he was making contact, some outs and some hits. His defense if not top notch but he makes some good plays on occasion. Defensively he compares to Tommy White who played a really good 3B his last year here.

Reaves- He is athletic and has good range. His best position is 2B but he could factor at 3B as well. He hits really well but doesn't have great size. He barrelled a few balls this fall that turned into warning track outs. I imagine the infield battles will go on all season and he is definitely in the mix.

Simpson- He has mostly played 2B and 1B this fall. He had two HR's in Biloxi and showed why Jay brought him here. Many of the players are still getting use to the SEC, so lets see what he brings in the spring.

Clauss- He is probably the best glove not named Milam. He did have some errors though. He is a solid freshman but probably needs another year of development on offense and defense.

Ruckert- Offense is probably a head of his defense but he is good at both. Another freshman that is probably a year away but another good prospect.

Rumors are that Curiel fractured his ankle in weight room. 3 month recovery would be Feb.

We might not have two guys going 6 or 7 innings every weekend but we might. If not we can throw two guys for same effect. Guidry, Fontenot and Sheerin closing looks deadly

Strikes out.