Baseball: Fordham Preview, Mets Exhibition

Submitted by formerlyanonymous on

Michigan

vs

Fordham
Friday 2:30pm, Mets Spring Training Complex #7, Port St. Lucie, FL
Matt Miller (0-2, 4.58 ERA) vs J.P. Mack (0-2, 9.58ERA)
Stats  
Notes: This is on field #7, and the first meeting between the programs

Michigan

vs

Fordham
Saturday 11am, Tradition Field, Port St. Lucie, FL
Alan Oaks (1-3, 2.73ERA) vs Max Krakowiak (0-2, 4.64ERA)
Stats  
Notes:

Michigan

vs

Fordham
Following Game One, Tradition Field, Port St. Lucie, FL
Bobby Brosnahan (0-2, 7.71ERA) vs Rich Anastasi (0-1, 3.07ERA)
Stats  
Notes: Second game of a double header.

Michigan

vs

NY Mets
Sunday 11am, Tradition Field, Port St. Lucie, FL
TBA vs TBA
Stats   TICKETS

Notes: Michigan trails 0-1-1 in the all time exhibition history. This game
counts for nothing in the standings, just fun for the fans and those
involved, unless you're Billy Wagner.

I'm still swamped with real life – hence the lack of a Coastal review- so shortened version of the Fordham preview after the jump. No Mets as this game means nothing.

Fordham

The Rams enter the weekend at 4-11 (#136 RPI) with their wins coming from a 3 game sweep (not all in the same weekend) of NYIT and a big mid-week upset of #11 Miami this past Tuesday, and almost upsetting them again on Wednesday – falling 8-9. Despite that big win, they also have a couple of moderately bad losses in Old Dominion and Pittsburgh. They aren't a horrible team, and they should be near the top of the Atlantic 10 again this year.

The starting pitching for Fordham has been subpar on the season, with no regular starter posting an ERA below Krakowiak's 4.64. Krakowiak, a righty, has started 4 games, going an average of 5.1 innings with only 15 Ks.He is also among team leaders in hit by pitch.

In an attempt to get better results, the lefty Anastasi has been promoted to the rotation for this weekend. In 6 appearances, he's thrown 14.2 innings, striking out 12 and allowing only 3 walks. The 6'-5" freshman shouldn't be too imposing on Michigan as we've seen pitchers like him before.

J.P. Mack will be making his 3rd start of the season after starting the year in the bullpen. In his four appearances, he's only thrown 10.1 innings, allowing 18 runs, only 11 of which are earned, and striking out 7. His opponent batting average is .391 and his opponent slugging percentage is .478. That should bode well for Michigan in the opener.

The bullpen has a couple of decent arms in closer Brandon Casalicchi and Jordan Grangard. Casalicchi is 0-1 with 2 saves, posting a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched. He's struck out 7 and walked 3 in his time on the mound with one hit batsman. Grangard has thrown 8 innings without a decision while posting a 2.25 ERA. He's struck out 4 and walked 7. The rest of the bullpen has either thrown too few innings or has been bad.

On offense, Chris Walker is their big (only?) bat in the cleanup spot. Walker is batting .362 with a .466 slugging and .397 on base percentage. The junior catcher is leading the team with 13 RBI (next closest is 8), and is tied with the team lead in total bases (27). The only other batter of note is Mike Mobbs. Mobbs is a senior centerfielder, currently sporting a .302 batting average and a team leading .519 slugging percentage. He has 4 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run on the season hitting in the 3-hole. Coincidentally, he's the team leader with 13 runs scored, the same number of RBIs as Walker.

The rest of the team is nothing to write home about, combining for a .293 slugging percentage as a group (minus Walker and Mobbs).

Relevant Reading

Michigan Daily – Wolverines swinging for sweep against Rams, will take on New York Mets in exhibition. Money quote:

“We gotta sweep this series,” Berset said. “It’s kind of needed right now with our record what it is. We’re gonna go down there and that’s what we’re gonna try and do … we’re definitely not overlooking them.”

Outlook

I think we sweep the Rams pretty easily. This should be a bit of a stat padding weekend for our hitters, and hopefully some of our bullpen can get some work in. I have no idea who pitches against the Mets. The way we used Burgoon last week, I have to assume there's something up with him, sick maybe? I don't think we would have started Brosnahan against Coastal if Burgoon would have been fully healthy. So with the potential of another starter, I'm expecting another score like 2009 with a 17-8 or so game. I don't see another tie with Billy Wagner-esque throwing-at-our-batters-type situations from 2008.

Hopefully I'll catch up with all the real life work by the end of the weekend and will have a bit more constructive recap this week.

Baseball/Softball
baseball
game previews
NY Mets
fordham

Comments

willywill9

March 19th, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^

Ha.. can't say I despise the Astros... shouldn't you be concerned with the Cardinals, Cubs nowadays anyway? As for me, teams that I despise include: Braves, Phillies. (Although, I'll give Braves fans credit, they're actually reasonable and nice fans.) As a kid I didn't hate the Yankees (at least until late 90s early 2000s.)

Joined: 09/22/2008

MGoPoints: 13162

Quag77

March 19th, 2010 at 6:31 PM ^

Only 3 K's today and we hit with runners in scoring position. Nice job. That's how you win even when getting out hit for the game. Crank and Toth hit great today. Not sure why Miller is getting hit so hard the last few games...we need him to go further than his last three starts. 3 inn - 10 hits, 4.2 inn-9 hits and 4.2 inn 7 hits. This puts the pen in a very bad position. I'm thinking he'll be just fine as he'll find a tweak that will make all the difference. I think we've had to burn up Sin in each of those games? Sin gave up 7 hits today in 3 inn as well? Burgoon did look very strong as his FB was sitting at 92-94 today...as FA questions, is he full time closer or does the lack of starters push him up front? Hell...if anyone knows that one, play the lottery as the players have no clue as to what role is whos (except Oaks). Need a sweep here boys. Stay strong tomorrow. Go Blue!

Joined: 07/28/2009

MGoPoints: 51

myrtlebeachmai…

March 20th, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^

If he is, have they always started him further into the weekend? I'm used to seeing the #1 guy be Friday, unless in a tournament where the Sat team is much better than Fri. He was lights out down here vs CCU.

Joined: 09/02/2008

MGoPoints: 997

formerlyanonymous

March 20th, 2010 at 12:54 AM ^

I think we were saving him for better teams lately. He's definitely the #1 at this point, no questions asked. I wonder if they just want to try and keep him as close to full rest as possible this weekend. He did throw on Sunday already, so it's a shorter week. As for last game of the series this week, I'm guessing we're going right-left-right in the rotation. It's not like we'd waste him on the Mets, a game that doesn't count in the standings. Next week, we'll probably see him move back up to Friday, to continue the progression. Not sure what to expect after that as Brosnahan hasn't really solidified himself in the rotation in my eyes. Miller hasn't been as dominant as others have expected, but I don't think he's been so not-dominant to validate his return to the bullpen. I really feel like Oaks and the combo of Burgoon/Miller offers us the best chance to win. Brosnahan needs a year of game experience before he'll be ready to break the weekend staff consistently - whether that be mid-week or bullpen. The big wild card is Katzman. If he can get back into the shape he was in last year, he'd be [optimistically] just as solid of an option as Miller or Burgoon at this point. But that's if he can find his command.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 38964

Quag77

March 20th, 2010 at 9:19 AM ^

I would have hoped that by this time we would have identified a solid 1-2-3 heading into conference play. Maybe coach has and no one knows or maybe he is still searching himself. I think that the home opener series should mirror and be a preview of opening week in conference...I hope. My thoughts... Fri - Oaks (No brainer here. The best we have and a work horse. Will go 7 or 8 easy.) Sat - Burgoon (Although a couple "ehh" games, still looks like the Sat guy with best control and giving opportunity to win. The team needs him as a starter, not closer.) Sun - Miller (Same as Burgoon, couple of "Oh shits" but can be dominate and should give best chance going late in game) Sat/Sun is switchable but should be a lock between them. Sinnery - Best set up we have right now. Need him for a 6-7-8 run if needed on weekends. Brosnahan - The best left arm out of the pen and would use as set up like Sin. Wood - Closer. With Burgoon as starter...a solid choice. He can and will get it done. Gerbe - Not a bad choice out of pen when need to save an arm or so. He's good for 1 or 2 but usually no further. I personally don't see Katz returning. Wish as we may, I think he will throw mid-weeks only. Call it what you will but not sure what happened there. Smith should be the mid-week starter and if can return to form (control) he may break into an appearance during the weekends. The rest - will be fighting for mound time during mid-week games. Unfortunately, there is not enough time or games before conference to "see what they got". They had a couple shots and it was what it was. What's coach thinking? Did he tip his hand this weekend? - - he puts Burgoon at the back end as closer again. But then who starts? He may be looking at Brosnahan and then moving Wood to set up. All plausible and could work but I like a lefty out of the pen myself. Not as if we've lost any games on the back end so far...we haven't had but maybe 2 chances at a save? Any other guesses/thoughts out there? FA - thanks for letting me spew my thoughts...hope you dont mind. Ha

Joined: 07/28/2009

MGoPoints: 51

formerlyanonymous

March 20th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^

I think we're on the same wavelength. I don't think Katzman was ever quite as dominant on a consistent level as Burgoon or Miller. If anything, one in three games may see him pitch better, but the other two he was much worse. Like you said, we haven't seen much of a chance for saves so far, so I have less of an opinion on closers, and Gerbe leads me to my next major point: I'm afraid that we're short one quality pitcher right now. I'm afraid of Oaks and Sinnery piling on too many innings in the non-conference season. They may be able to handle it, but I haven't seen anything from them (with little amount they've thrown in college) to settle my fears. Our weekend bullpen has been only Sinnery, Wood, Brosnahan (possibly switch him with Burgoon the way they've been used), and several guys that either are new or inconsistent. I expected Gerbe to be a bit better than he's been this season, and he's only got 3 appearances, only one that would be quality. His best was 3 scoreless inning where he gave up 2 walks a hit, a HBP and a WP. His latest and worst was .1 inning with 2R on 1H, 1BB in three batters before being pulled. Vangheluwe, Clark, and Ballantine just aren't producing yet. Perhaps they need another year to develop to the college level. That's not too surprising. DeCarlo is what he is... except in the few instances of brilliance when he isn't. I don't know if I trust him yet either. We really need one or two of these guys to step up on the weekend. If not we're going to see Oaks wear down a bit like Fetter did last year, or Sinnery get used up early in the season. Worse, we'll lose games because we don't have enough in the bullpen.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 38964

Quag77

March 20th, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^

as it turned out to be a stat padding blow out two days. Nothing wrong with that as the team needed the wins and nothing wrong with helping the stat book. Games like the last are great for guys that should be getting plate time but bad for the pitching staff. Disappointing that Wood got zero time on the mound and Burgoon only 1 inning. We need those two sharp...and the exhibition game is NOT the way to do it. imo Great sweep guys...Go Blue!

Joined: 07/28/2009

MGoPoints: 51

formerlyanonymous

March 20th, 2010 at 6:22 PM ^

I'm not disappointed with pitching working out the way it will. I don't mind Wood getting his inning or two in against the Mets as he won't do that poorly against them, so he's seeing better competition there. I don't consider pitching facing guys as low caliber as Fordham to be that productive either. At least with the offense, they need to continue to improve, and hopefully this weekend and next gets them hot and gelled. The guys in the back of the bullpen that needed the work, this should be good for them. The guys that didn't need the work (Wood, Sinnery, etc), this does nothing for them. Let them pitch in the exhibition where they can go out and compete rather than just throw. Burgoon may or may not fall in that group as he's still finding his groove. I wouldn't be surprised to see him throw again tomorrow just to get another inning or two in.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 38964

formerlyanonymous

March 21st, 2010 at 12:52 PM ^

Well, Wood got the 3 innings I suspected, and Burgoon with the 2. Both competed very well, with Wood giving up just 2 runs, Burgoon scoreless. Smith came in... not one that I would have expected to compete. He's given up 3 straight hits and 2 runs without getting an out. Michigan behind 4-1 now. EDIT: Add a wild pitch and another single to make it 5-1. Still no outs.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 38964

formerlyanonymous

March 21st, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^

Sounds like they're having fun today. Michigan Alum Cervanek exchanged lineups with Maloney. Powers was around the team for lunch the other day. Burgoon popped out of the dugout after Toth lined one into it, pointed him to the outfield... crowd loved it.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 38964