baseball

[Editor's note: due to a super screw up on my part, I neglected to post this until after Michigan's first game, a 12-8 win over Ball State.]

I'm trying out a new game set for tournaments. I think I'll try and use something similar for weekend series (previous version). I'm open for suggestions on how to present the information consistently. For now, game set comes before a jump if on the front page, and details come afterward.

Long preview after the jump.

Today, I'm reminded of a story.

It was during that [1912] southern trek that he watched a University of Georgia baserunner try to score from second base on a single to center when a strong throw home seemed to beat the runner.  When the umpire yelled “safe,” Michigan catcher Goodloe Rogers spun about and hit the umpire while players swarmed onto the field.

“Rogers was always getting into fights,” said Rickey later, in barely concealed glee.  “I never could find out whether or not he started them, but he was always involved.  We were down playing Georgia.  I was on crutches as a result of a broken leg [a batted ball in practice had fractured a small bone in his foot].  Well, as usual, a fight started around home plate, and I hobbled off the bench and must have prodded several players with my crutches.”

Rogers, the team’s colorful, zany, and angry man - the sort of person Rickey always loved to have on his ball clubs - watched his coach in action.

“When the brawl was over, there lay B.R. flat on his back near home plate, his leg in a cast sticking straight up in the air.  On of his crutches was found in the Georgia dugout.  The other was in the stands.”

That came from an biography of Branch Rickey. It's been a rough year as a Michigan sports fan. Sure, volleyball was fun, but the last year has been one disappointment after another in the big sports that most of hang on to dearly.

Last year's opening day post at Varsity Blue came in a much different time. It had been a mild winter, and spring had already been starting to crack through to end the dreary season. Michigan was coming off 3 straight BigTen regular season titles. There was a warm feeling all around.

Every Opening Day, I have this tradition. I pray -- hard. One prayer for each loss in the previous season. It usually takes all day. But I think it's working. - Royals fan "Troy" in Liberty, Mo.

This year was something a little bit different. The Michigan athletics curse of 2009-2010 began to creep. After a dominant start in the BigEast/BigTen Challenge, Michigan started to struggle. Pitchers fatigued, players were injured, and ugly losses began to rear their head.

It ended up being a tough year, but as the saying goes, hope springs eternal. This spring is no different. Michigan has reloaded with the #18 overall recruiting class in the country, something nearly unheard of for a Northern program. The Wolverines return all but one major contributor to the 2009's best Big Ten pitching staff. Several key players have an extra year's experience.

This year we're hungry. Last season was a bad call by some crack-pot, home-cooking umpire from Georgia in 1912. This season is a fight for respect. Michigan is back at full health and they've got no other use for these crutches. Michigan is coming out swinging.

Weekend preview after the jump.

It may be in the 20s and snowing this week in Ann Arbor, but baseball's opening day is just 10 days away. And with baseball comes great hope that perhaps this last year of pain in Michigan sports may be washed away. The team comes in off a disappointing season plagued with depth issues, injuries, and just a few too many strikeouts but looks to be vastly improved in depth on both the mound and field.

As the first in a series of seasons previews, I've interviewed Michigan's coach Rich Maloney. Some highlights:

• Freshman Derek Dennis will be starting at shortstop and batting ninth. The hope is he'll be our #3 hole hitter in the next two years.
• Freshman Patrick Biondi will be starting in left field and leading off. The kid has "special speed."  The kid ran a 6.44 – 60 yard dash. The average MLB player is between 6.7-6.9. Biondi will be laying down plenty of bunts looking to get on base.
• The rotation as set up today would be Oaks, Burgoon, Matt Miller, and Brandon Sinnery. Coach sees Sinnery making a huge jump this year. Katzman is coming off surgery and won't be available to start games to start the season. He may be ready for the bullpen by season's start.
• At closer, we're going by committee from the sound of it. Sinnery may be used as closer if he doesn't get a weekend spot. Bobby Brosnahan is fully healed from Tommy John surgery and could be a left handed closer. He also has a shot at a starting spot. Kolby Wood also has a chance. Woo depth!
• Coach really would love a football player to try out for the baseball team. They were co-recruiting a player last year with football, but the recruit chose elsewhere.
• We're hosting Texas Tech for a midweek series in 2011. That's… like huge for Northern baseball.
• It's somewhat disappointing that the Big Ten Tournament is going to be in Columbus every year for the next three. Coach says they have to treat it like any other road games, just like Vanderbilt or any other tournaments.
• Kevin Krantz and freshman Cam Luther may be getting considerable time on the field.

More good stuff inside the podcast, so give it a listen. You too can catch up with the team Wednesday February 10th at the Junge Champions Center (between Crisler and Michigan Stadium) at "Meet the Wolverines Night." There will be photo and autograph opportunities as well as snacks and beverages for all of you broke college kids looking for free food and entertainment.

[Editor's note: FA has also put together a couple profiles of stars from Michigan's past. Here's pitcher Jim Burton and catcher Bill Freehan.]

Alumni

• Clayton Richard was traded from the White Sox to the Padres in the Jake Peavy deal (sorry to hear about that Tigers fans).  Richard had just come off back-to-back 8 inning gems (again, sorry Tiger fans) with the White Sox allowing just one run in each game.  Now with the Padres, he's started 2 games, going 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA.  He also collected his first RBI as a batter this week.
• Also related to that trade, recent graduate Chris Fetter of the Padres minor league system was moved back down from Single A Fort Wayne TinCaps back to the Short Season A-Ball Eugene Emeralds to make room for another one of the pitching prospects from the trade.  Fetter is 2-1 in 8 starts and one long relief appearance (a 4-inning save?) with a 2.57 ERA.  His 47 Ks in 42 innings is impressive, but his numbers at Eugene definitely weighted the totals down.
• Bobby Korecky of the Diamondback's Reno Rattlers Triple A team had been dominating this year as their closer (13 saves by the all star break), but his season was ended due to Tommy John surgery this last week.  The injury caused him to miss the Triple A All Star game.
• Rich Hill also is out for the season with shoulder surgery on his labram. He's expected back for spring training.
• Mike Cervenak (pictured to the right by Joe Gill of Express-Times Photo) continues to do great in Triple A for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the Phillies.  Cervenak is hitting .294 with 57 RBIs and a .765 OPS.  I'm still surprised he hasn't been traded by the Phillies. He's getting to the age where the Phillies probably won't be able to use him, especially behind Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz in the depth chart.  He's a two time Triple A All Star as it is, some other team could use him.

Recruiting

• No new updates on the drafted recruits (previous update here).  The last I've heard on each recruit is that they plan on being enrolled at Michigan in the fall.  Supposedly, not even batting practice with Evan Longoria could sway Dennis from his commitment.  The recruits could leave at any time until the season starts, much like Derek Jeter did back in the day.  I'll keep my eye on transaction lists until the season starts.

Current Team/Player News

• Tyler Burgoon is also listed as the 18th best player this summer by Church Of Baseball.
• Michigan backstop Chris Berset has been named a finalist for the Great Britain baseball world cup team.  What the hell this means?  I have no idea, but it sounds awesome.  I'll be investigating this further if he makes the 25 man roster which seems unlikely given the other catchers on the 40-man roster includes minor league guys for the most part.
• Yahoo! college baseball writer Kendall Rogers wrote this last week a report card for the BigTen teams last season.  Perhaps it was his opening statement's stupidity (he seems to think the BigTen hasn't had very good success the last five or so years), but his grade of Michigan seemed a little off base. 
  

  Michigan

  Grade: D+

  Season analysis: The Wolverines entered the season with high hopes, but had much trouble establishing consistency in conference play. Michigan compiled a 9-15 conference record and actually still finished the season with an overall record of 30-25. If not for winning overall record, the Wolverines would’ve finished the season with an F. It was a season to forget for coach Rich Maloney and his players.

  Michigan lost its top pitcher, top two hitters, and its entire infield over the off season. It lost it's closer and catcher for nearly half of the season. We didn't get our every day right fielder back until a month into the season. We lost our second baseman and on field leader for the last 2 weeks of the season. It's no surprise Michigan wasn't competing for the conference crown.  I'm not saying we deserved higher than a C+, but to say the .500 record saved us from an F is a bit over the top.

Summer ball updates after the jump due to length

Hi. I'm formerlyanonymous.  You may recognize me from other Michigan sports blogs as Maize 'n Brew and Varsity Blue.  For those of you not familiar with my posts, my primary topic has been Michigan baseball.  Obviously the season is a well over, but I'm also following our players through their summer leagues.  There are plans on the table to include more non-revenue sports in the future, and info on that will come after the dust of MGoMerger settles.

Also, for those with concerns about "non-revenue sports clogging your mgoblog internet tubes," the current plan is for my posts to be presented on Sundays.  Brian's previous football season schedules have generally left Sunday open for reflection on the previous days game with the column like post on Monday.  I'm hoping these non-revenue posts will take up that open space and not interfere too much with your football dependency – at least during the football season. 

To see the previous summer baseball update, visit Varsity Blue (July 4th Edition).  Also, those of you familiar with the team or my previous posts, I'll try to remember to include some information on who these players are in this post, but I'll go ahead and apologize up front.  You're basically walking into the last line before the credits of a movie.  You've missed all of the introductions, action, climax, and a majority of the falling action.  I promise there will be less parentheses in future posts.

Honors – Several players have received honorable mention for Pitcher and Hitter of the Nights, as well as Team Players of the Week.  Hitter and Pitcher of the Night are named by SummerBall. Charts:

The Cape Cod League (the most respected league) – Tyler Burgoon (Michigan's sophomore closer) has continued to be the best Michigan player this summer and ergo making the most news. As of the 20th, he’s racked up 17.1 innings of work with a 1-1 record and a 0.00 ERA. His 9 saves lead the league and his 27 strikeouts (14.2 per 9 innings) is ridiculous. He made the Cape Cod All Star Game at Fenway, but alas, the rain ended the game in just the 4th inning. He was slated to throw the 9th (or as necessary). Meanwhile, Ryan LaMarre (Michigan's starting left fielder and 3-hole hitter) still struggles, but less badly by comparison. He’s now got his average up to .243, good for third on the Gateman team. He’s also second on the team in RBIs with 12.

Prospect League – Garrett Stephens (back up 1st baseman who sees time when Dufek pitches) represented UM and the Richmond RiverRats at the Prospect League All Star game. He’s currently 8th in the league with 21 RBIs. John Lorenz hasn’t seen much playing time since the last update.

Lima Locos – Lots of good has been coming out of Lima lately. Kolby Wood (occasional 4th starter) has his ERA down to 0.66 in 11 relief appearances stretching 13.2 innings. His three saves are good for second on the team, which makes me contemplate his role next season for Michigan. Could we see another attempt at moving Burgoon to starter and put Kolby Wood as the closer? Looks good on paper right now.

Meanwhile, Bobby Brosnahan (redshirted last year as a freshman) is cruising right along with a 2.35 ERA over 15 innings pitched thus far. He’s making his case to be a middle inning or set up guy next season as a redshirt freshman. The last Michigan player with the Locos is short stop Anthony Toth (starter) has raised his average from .215 to .281 and has played solid defense.

Also, Toth was interviewed in a piece about baseball gloves by the LimaOhio.com. To give you a small sample of why baseball budgets are fairly large:

“We have a contract at Michigan with Louisville Slugger. The rep just came, had a bunch of models out and we got to pick out whichever one felt best. I went with that one and it worked out pretty well. … I think this is a $320 glove.”

That’s just one glove for one player. Not multiply that by the 20 or so on the roster, plus backup gloves each player probably has, you’ve got yourself quite the bill just for fielding gloves.

Alexandria Beetles – Again with the closers Michigan’s been developing, Matt Miller (one of our setup men) has 7 on the season, 4 in the last three weeks. He’s dropped his ERA a full run over that time. Kevin Vanghelwue (saw very limited time during the season and what he did wasn't good) also is pitching better and has lowered his ERA almost 2 runs. Tyler Mills (redshirted as a freshman this year) isn’t playing much. The freshman is just 6/36 hitting in limited playing time.

Valley League – At Fort Royal, Jeff DeCarlo (left handed reliever who saw little time) is pitching so far above his normal level I’m just perplexed. The guy has a 2.35 ERA now, and since the last update he’s thrown 5 appearances (9.2 IP) and only given up one earned run. He hasn’t even hit a batter in that stretch. He got a save? Who is this guy? His teammate Kevin Krantz (redshirted as a freshman this year) has tailed off and seems to be seeing less and less playing time. Krantz's defense has been spotty at best at third/shortstop. His batting average has also fallen .050 points to .239.

At Winchester, Brandon Sinnery’s (another occasional fourth starter) had a rough 3 starts, but his team has bailed him out each time. His ERA jumped from 2.00 to 4.31, but he has kept his 9 K’s-per-9-IP. Teammate Matt Gerbe (one of our setup men) continues to watch his ERA fall, this time from 9.69 to 6.29. It’s good to see he’s doing better since moving back to the bullpen.

Mike Dufek for the Lightning

Leesburg Lightning – Alan Oaks (right fielder and pitcher) went 1-1 over three starts in the last 3 weeks. His ERA has dropped to only 3.89, but his strikeout to walk ratio over the last 3 starts is 9:7 which isn’t good. Those walks have to go down. Eric Katzman (left handed pitcher) has just one relief inning in three weeks. He’s become buried in the pitching depth it looks like.

Mike Dufek (first base and sometime closer) has held down the closer role for the most part, recording 2 saves in 3 outings in the last three weeks. Not much playing time, but he’s made the most of it to a 0.93 ERA. At the plate, Dufek is only hitting .268, but he has cut down his K’s per At-Bat to just about 1-in-5. During the season he was closer to 1-in-4 at bats. It became crippling at times. I think our strategy for next season should mimic the MLB All Star Game. Let’s just throw 5 closers to shut down every game.

Travis Smith – Looks like Smith (3rd or 4th starter) has lost his spot in the rotation. After a few tough luck losses of the 1-0 variety, he lost two ugly starts over the last 3 weeks and was then used out of the bullpen. He’s currently 0-5 with a 4.58 ERA. Not good my friends.

Coley Crank – Crank’s (backup catcher or designated hitter) struggling. He’s still the everyday catcher, but his average is down to .198, third lowest on the team and lowest regular starter.

Matt Broder – Despite Broder's (redshirted as a freshman this season) team’s horrible website, I ran by an article in The Observer. Broder went the full 7 innings complete game, facing only 24 batters in the effort. Great job Matt.

WOOOOOOO! WOOOOOO! MUPPET

BRAIN OFF WOOO ZACH GIBSON WOO MANY HARRIS WOOO

ONE… OTHER! WOOO

WOOOO

WOOOO

WOOOO

ALSO WOOO