• The KillerFrogs

2017 Baseball Season Thread

TCUdirtbag

TCUdirtbag

Active Member
TCU is #1 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll:
https://twitter.com/TCU_Baseball/status/811243871887851521
http://baseballnews.com/collegiate-baseball-2017-pre-season-poll-12-19-16/
Joined by opponents #2 LSU (Houston College Classic), #17 Long Beach State (3-game series in Long Beach), #20 Texas A&M (Houston College Classic), #22 Ole Miss (Houston College Classic), #25 Arizona State (3-game series at Lupton), #26 DBU (midweek H&H), #27 Rice (1 game at Lupton), #28 Oklahoma State, #29 Texas Tech, #30 Texas.  West Virginia, Oklahoma and Cal also received votes.
 
With preseason polls and honors rolling out today, let's put the "looking ahead" thread behind us and move on to the real thing.  First pitch is in 59 days.
 
Meanwhile, CBN has annoucned their preseason All Americans.  TCU leads all schools with 5 preseason AA selections:
 
https://twitter.com/TCU_Baseball/status/810916837860970496
​First Team preseason All Americans:
Luken Baker (DH)
Brian Howard (RHP)
​Second Team preseason All Americans:
​Durbin Feltman (RP)
Evan Skoug (C)
​Third Team preseason All American:
Elliot Barzilli (3B)
 
Other preseason AAs we could see in the regular season include LSU RHP Alex Lange (first team), Rice relief pitcher Glenn Otto (first team), Long Beach St RHP Darren McCaughan (second team), OSU RHP Tyler Buffett (second team), Baylor relief pitcher Trey Montemayor (second team), LSU SS Kramer Robertson (second team), UC Irvine OF Keston Hiura (second team), Tech RHP Davis Martin (third team), A&M RHP Brigham Hill (third team), DBU relief pitcher Seth Elledge (third team), Ole Miss 3B Colby Bortles (third team),
 
TCU story: http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/121916aaa.html
CBN story: http://baseballnews.com/2017-ncaa-div-pre-season-americans/
 
When to expect preseason polls, based on 2016:
- CBN: late December
- D1, BA and Perfect Game: mid January
- USA Today Coaches: late January
- NCBWA: early February
- Big 12: about 1 week prior to opening day
 
Pharm Frog

Pharm Frog

Full Member
TCUdirtbag said:
The 2017 Collegiate Baseball preseason poll will be released later today!
Click to expand...
 
Hoping for 9th or 10th in this poll -- just a bit outside the Omaha range.
 
Texas Christian
image: http://www.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TCU-4c.jpg

 
2016 final record (ranking): 49-18 (No. 3)
Fall standouts: The Horned Frogs return nearly their entire team and brought in the fifth-ranked recruiting class, leaving little room for surprises this fall. But a few players were able to raise their profile. Coach Jim Schlossnagle said righthander Sean Wymer saw good results after working with pitching coach Kirk Saarloos to lower his arm angle, improving both his command and velocity. Outfielder Austin Ingraham, a transfer from North Central Texas JC, led TCU in hitting and extra-base hits this fall, giving himself a chance to force his way into the lineup.
Outlook: With so much returning talent and a streak of three straight CWS appearances, Schlossnagle knows TCU will have a target on its back this year. He has been preparing the Horned Frogs for that since they returned from Omaha in June, and said they did a good job of embracing their role this fall.
“Any time you have a club that returns so many veteran players, the natural reaction for the team is that it’s easy to go through the motions when you know what to expect,” Schlossnagle said. “My challenge to our players from the day we got back from World Series was to not be that team, to be stronger and get better. The focus was good this fall.”
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/eight-for-omaha-fall-ball-update/#81bxkSkHrKpMF0pr.99
 
Purp

Purp

Active Member
TCUdirtbag said:
With preseason polls and honors rolling out today, let's put the "looking ahead" thread behind us and move on to the real thing.  
Click to expand...
Just to bring the best part of that thread along with this one... it's worth the trip with your son to the Nokona factory to get a glove made.  Raise em right and teach them how to care for and break-in a glove properly.
 
tcumaniac

tcumaniac

Full Member
Did anyone else notice the bats in that .gif?
 
They all seem to be customized. Luken's says "Bakeshow" on it. Skoug's has a Horned Frog logo on the end cap. Elliot's says, "310," which upon further research, is the area code for Los Angeles, where happens to be from. 
 
Pretty cool. 
 
F

FBallFan123

Active Member
Pharm Frog said:
 
Hoping for 9th or 10th in this poll -- just a bit outside the Omaha range.
 
Texas Christian
image: http://www.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/TCU-4c.jpg

 
2016 final record (ranking): 49-18 (No. 3)
Fall standouts: The Horned Frogs return nearly their entire team and brought in the fifth-ranked recruiting class, leaving little room for surprises this fall. But a few players were able to raise their profile. Coach Jim Schlossnagle said righthander Sean Wymer saw good results after working with pitching coach Kirk Saarloos to lower his arm angle, improving both his command and velocity. Outfielder Austin Ingraham, a transfer from North Central Texas JC, led TCU in hitting and extra-base hits this fall, giving himself a chance to force his way into the lineup.
Outlook: With so much returning talent and a streak of three straight CWS appearances, Schlossnagle knows TCU will have a target on its back this year. He has been preparing the Horned Frogs for that since they returned from Omaha in June, and said they did a good job of embracing their role this fall.
“Any time you have a club that returns so many veteran players, the natural reaction for the team is that it’s easy to go through the motions when you know what to expect,” Schlossnagle said. “My challenge to our players from the day we got back from World Series was to not be that team, to be stronger and get better. The focus was good this fall.”
Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/eight-for-omaha-fall-ball-update/#81bxkSkHrKpMF0pr.99
Click to expand...
 

"Embrace the Target" seemed to work well for the Cubs.
 
TCUdirtbag

TCUdirtbag

Active Member
Kyle101011 said:
National championship or bust are my expectations for us this year. Go frogs
Click to expand...
Barton injuries, Omaha should be the expectation with this squad. But you never know how it will play out. A preseason #1 hasn't won in a long time.
 
B

bwood

Active Member
tcumaniac said:
Did anyone else notice the bats in that .gif?
 
They all seem to be customized. Luken's says "Bakeshow" on it. Skoug's has a Horned Frog logo on the end cap. Elliot's says, "310," which upon further research, is the area code for Los Angeles, where happens to be from. 
 
Pretty cool. 
Click to expand...
"Toocoldu" appears to be Skoug's
 
Gary's Shirtless Revenge

Gary's Shirtless Revenge

Full Member
Considering the match of young talent and seniors with big roles on this team, you have to say Omaha is a MUST and a National Championship is the goal. 
 
Given how close we were last year, the team has to embrace those expectations. This is the true price of success.
 
jake102

jake102

Active Member
Snooper2211 said:
NC for the Frogs is the only option.  This team is locked and loaded for a big run.  
Click to expand...
 
Kind of like 2011, IIRC. Had Purke and others coming back and it all fell apart
 
F

frogtex

Active Member
2011- Purke Winkler Maxwell all got hurt by seasons end

A thousand things have to go well to make it to Omaha and win...mainly health & playing well at the right time of year.

Stay realistic
 
TCUdirtbag

TCUdirtbag

Active Member
I would agree that we have a lot more depth on this team than we did on the 2011 squad.  We also don't have an ace like 2010 Purke.  You can dream (nightmare) up a bunch of parallels---Traver is always an injury risk, is Janczak really that good for a whole season, will lodolo be as advertised, what if baker and skoug get hurt, etc., will our middle infield still be error-prone, etc.  But the nightmare scenario is not what we're talking about.  On paper, this team should be hosting a super regional.  Get someone at home and find a way to win a series.  Omaha is gonna Omaha--so I'd never say national championship or bust.  But anything less than hosting a super would be a real disappointment.  
 

Latest posts

Top