Pitt baseball recruiting class

[gary2]

Pitt Baseball Unveils 2022 Recruiting Class - Pitt Panthers #H2P

Pitt baseball has added 24 newcomers to its roster for the 2023 season, fifth-year head coach Mike Bell announced Monday.

pittsburghpanthers.com

 

[gary2]

Any idea on who the best 5 or 6 are?

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

That is an awful lot of recruits. I like the strategy. Let the cream rise to the top.

 

[gary2]

That is an awful lot of recruits. I like the strategy. Let the cream rise to the top.

We have 17 returnees

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

My worry is that there seems to be a lot of missing information in those write ups, and I wonder why that is.

 

[gary2]

My worry is that there seems to be a lot of missing information in those write ups, and I wonder why that is.

The catcher from Fla Int, the 1B from C.Conn, a pitcher from Vir.Tech look like good bets.

No results potential pitchers from Missouri and Auburn

A JCT SS.

Not awe inspiring

Guys from Hill College, Seton Hill, Allegheny College?

Maybe the freshmen have better credentials.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Guys from Hill College, Seton Hill, Allegheny College?

I'm assuming that those guys are just walk ons looking for a chance to be on the team for a year.

 

[pittchagg]

The catcher from Fla Int, the 1B from C.Conn, a pitcher from Vir.Tech look like good bets.

No results potential pitchers from Missouri and Auburn

A JCT SS.

Not awe inspiring

Guys from Hill College, Seton Hill, Allegheny College?

Maybe the freshmen have better credentials.

I think Melendez is going to be your everyday catcher. He was a quality player at FIU, a really good recruit, but his dad was fired as FIU’s head coach this spring.

The sixth year local kids from small local schools I’m looking at as basically walk-ons: local kids taking their free covid year to live out the dream of playing for the big hometown school. Maybe one of them will surprise, but they’re quality practice and locker room guys first and foremost.

Definitely feels like the plan for the pitching staff is to throw a bunch of arms into the mix and see who rises to the top. Interesting combination of guys from major conference schools, guys who were good recruits out of high school, and high-production guys from small schools.

Nessler, Martinez, and Ripepi are the three freshmen position players I have my eye on.

 

[New York Panther]

A 41 man roster (24+17)? Will Bell carry this many players or will there be cuts? And, if cuts, will some guys lose their scholarships? With this many players, there must be a lot of walkons or the schollies must be very small.

 

[gary2]

A 41 man roster (24+17)? Will Bell carry this many players or will there be cuts? And, if cuts, will some guys lose their scholarships? With this many players, there must be a lot of walkons or the schollies must be very small.

Some will leave between now and the start of the season. They always do. We will have about 6 less.

 

[pittchagg]

A 41 man roster (24+17)? Will Bell carry this many players or will there be cuts? And, if cuts, will some guys lose their scholarships? With this many players, there must be a lot of walkons or the schollies must be very small.

They have 11.7 scholarships to give whether there’s 30 or 40 guys on the team, so almost everyone is on a partial as it is.

We’ve rolled with ~35 or so the past few years, so this is a little high, but as Gary said, it’s likely that we’ll be under 40 by next spring.

 

[mike412]

They definitely need pitching, but the approach seems to be very much like last year: Bring in a lot of transfer pitchers and hope one can be the third starter and one can be the closer. Never did find the third starter last year.

I assume both Gilbertson and Corcoran are gone, so they have to find three quality starters among this group and the returnees. This could be a rebuilding year.

 

[gary2]

They definitely need pitching, but the approach seems to be very much like last year: Bring in a lot of transfer pitchers and hope one can be the third starter and one can be the closer. Never did find the third starter last year.

I assume both Gilbertson and Corcoran are gone, so they have to find three quality starters among this group and the returnees. This could be a rebuilding year.

The best of the bunch? Maybe our closer?

Graham Firoved - Baseball - Virginia Tech Athletics

Graham Firoved (51) Pitcher - 2021: Made 21 relief appearances … Allowed eight earned runs across 20.2 innings pitched (3.48 ERA) ... Posted a 3-0 record …

hokiesports.com

 

[pittchagg]

The best of the bunch? Maybe our closer?

Graham Firoved - Baseball - Virginia Tech Athletics

Graham Firoved (51) Pitcher - 2021: Made 21 relief appearances … Allowed eight earned runs across 20.2 innings pitched (3.48 ERA) ... Posted a 3-0 record …

hokiesports.com

Love the idea of a lefty closer. Phelps might get a look there, too, if they think Firoved’s a starter - he started a bunch of games at his JUCO. Seems like the only transfers who are straight bullpen arms are Bryan, Phelps, and Simmons, though in all likelihood most of the freshmen are bullpen guys this season.

Anyway, as to the starters, I think Bautista’s ticketed to be a weekend guy from his spot as the midweek guy as a true freshman. And I think Evans probably has the inside track at another weekend spot after being there last year. He wasn’t consistent enough, but did put together a few quality starts against UNC, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

From there, you’ve got guys like Fernandez who started a bunch of games at FIU and the JUCO, Oswald had a nice year as a starter at his JUCO and Mosley was a starter for three years at his JUCO, Sokol started a few games at Auburn and was a JUCO starter last year, and Candelario had a bunch of starts and relief appearances at Marist.

The point is…there’s guys. They’ve gotta find one, maybe two, out of that bundle who can string together quality starts.