5 Bold Predictions For Clemson Baseball
Today we begin our "Five Things.." series looking at bold predictions, reasons to be concerned, reasons to be excited and things to look for.
We open our series with our five bold predictions for the 2020 season.
1: The Tigers will make it out of the regional round:
Clemson has not reached the College World Series since 2010 and has not advanced to the Super Regional round of the tournament since that same season. Clemson advanced to a Super Regional eight times from 2000 through 2010 and reached Omaha and the College World Series four times during that stretch, before failing to win a regional each of the past nine years.
This was undoubtedly the downfall of former head coach Jack Leggett, and, unless current head coach Monte Lee finds a way to escape the trap of the regional round, could spell the end of the Lee-era.
But hold fast Tiger fans, because this will be the year.
Last season, Lee pointed to the lack of pitching as the reason for the Tigers inability to advance in the last five seasons, but this year he finally has the pitching depth that had been missing.
With eight starting pitchers vying for four spots, this is Lee's deepest team in terms of pitching which will ultimately lead the Tigers out of the regional round.
2: The biggest blow to the Tigers' team will be Michael Green's dismissal:
The Tigers lost a significant amount of firepower from last season with the departures of Logan Davidson, Grayson Byrd and Kyle Wilkie, who accounted for 37 home runs last season. But the biggest loss will be not from those three departures, but from the dismissal of Michael Green.
"Green, an outfielder, started 27 of the 28 games he played in and dealt with an injury in 2019," Brad Senkiw wrote in our observations story. "He recorded 26 runs scored, three home runs, eight doubles and 14 RBIs.
"Green caught fire late last season, ending the year on a 14-game hit streak. He scored 18 of his runs during that stretch and was one of Clemson’s best hitters in the postseason."
3: Tigers will win 40-plus games:
The Clemson baseball team will win 40-plus games after a disappointing 35-win season a year ago.
The magic number for hosting a regional bid has long been seen as the 40-win mark and with five wins added to their 2019 season the Tigers may have been playing their regional games in Clemson rather than a hostile environment in Oxford, Miss.
Which leads us to ...
4: Clemson will host their regional:
Clemson learned the hard way last season that it is difficult, if not damn-near impossible to go on the road and advance in postseason play. That is why, the Clemson Tigers will return home to host a regional.
The Tigers understand that there goals have not been met in the last nine trips to postseason play. The easiest way to make those goals a reality is to do play your postseason at home.
5: Monte Lee will field his best pitching team since his arrival:
"As surprising as it sounds, it should be," Senkiw added in our observations. "Sharpe and Mat Clark started a combined 25 games a year ago. Carson Spiers is back as the closer.
"And the Tigers have some power arms this year. If Carter Raffield and Spencer Strider return healthy, both can get well into the 90s. Mack Anglin is one of a few freshmen Lee is excited about and offer more power at the pitching position."