Top 25 Chat (March 6)

Michael Lananna: Hey everyone, Teddy is delayed, so I’m hopping in for a few minutes. Let’s get to some questions.

Keith (Tallahassee): Despite FSU going 4-0 on the week, the pitching staff still allowed 22 runs against the likes of Oakland & JU - not to mention getting behind early against both. I expected more given the experience on this team, but is this just a case of early season blues or is the ceiling a tad lower than the preseason hype suggested?
Michael Lananna: Certainly, that’s more runs than you’d expect FSU to allow against those teams, but I don’t think the ceiling has shifted. FSU doesn’t have the pure stuff on the mound as some of the other top teams in the country, but the Seminoles should have enough returning experience to be formidable. Tyler Holton has been excellent so far in his sophomore year after having a strong first campaign last year. He struck out 13 in six innings this past weekend and is 3-0, 0.47 this year. I’m a fan. Cole Sands has had his ups and downs, but he has the stuff to be an effective Friday starter in the ACC. FSU is still, in my view, the team to beat in the ACC, though Louisville is right there, too.

Esteban (Long Beach, CA): How is the West shaping up as a whole this season? Last year was a disaster with a weak Pac-12 and a mediocre Big West/WCC offering.
Michael Lananna: Teddy and I talked about this a little bit in our podcast this morning (which should be up shortly). Personally, I do think the West is in a better position as a whole than it was a year ago. Coming off a CWS finals appearance, Arizona is on an absolute tear to start the season, and even though they’ve got a lot of different pieces compared to last year, the Wildcats are for real. Oregon State is one of the most talented teams in the country, especially up the middle, and the Beavers are playing like it. Washington and Stanford have both performed in line with preseason expectations, with Stanford especially impressive in overcoming the loss of ace Tristan Beck. As far as the Big West goes, I wouldn’t call it mediocre, although UC Santa Barbara has struggled more than anticipated. With that said, Cal State Fullerton has one of the best pitching staffs in the country, and Long Beach State is coming off a strong showing in a tough series at North Carolina this past weekend. There are several teams out west that have legitimate Omaha potential.

Stu Murray (Orleans, MA): Obviously Seth Beer has a plus, plus hit tool. My question is where does he project at the next level in the field? He runs on his heels, and awkwardly. HIs glove looks a bit shaky. Arm seems ok. Can he play OF in bigs? 1B only? Or is he an AL DH?
Michael Lananna: Beer’s future position is without doubt his biggest question heading into next year’s draft. I don’t think Beer is a liability in the outfield (in fact, he made a nice sliding catch this weekend near the foul line, and he threw out a runner at home late in Saturday’s game, to preserve a Clemson win). But he’s by no means a premium defender out there. First base seems like a realistic destination at the next level, although he still needs to learn the intricacies of the position. The bat is his carrying tool, and it’s a special one. Beer also has off-the-charts makeup and work ethic, which works in his favor as he transitions to first base now at the college level.

Michael Lananna: Teddy will be here in 15 minutes, at which point I’ll be racing off to lunch. But I’ll take a couple more questions.

Ben (Miamisburg, OH): JB Bukauskus has been displaying elite control this year so far. Has his changeup emerged as a consistent viable 3rd pitch yet?
Michael Lananna: When I saw him on opening day, Bukauskas threw about 4-5 changeups, and they weren’t particularly effective. He’s flashed a serviceable changeup in the past; it’s in there. But I wouldn’t call it a consistent third pitch quite yet. From talking with him, I know it’s an area of focus for him and something he’s very conscious of when he pitches. The thing about Bukauskas is, especially at the college level, he really only needs his fastball and his slider to get through most lineups. Both pitches are legitimate weapons, and so he usually has little need to sprinkle in the change during games. The progression of that pitch will be fascinating to watch, though, especially as ACC play begins and he faces more difficult lineups.

Bruce (Gotham): In what situation would you find it acceptable to pitch to Seth Beer?
Michael Lananna: In a home run derby.

Teddy Cahill: Thanks to Mike for pinch hitting. I apologize for being late, returning my rental car did not go as fast as I thought it would. Back to your questions

Dave (Austin, TX): Baylor's pitching staff has been a surprise this early season. 27 solid innings this past weekend against top tier competition. 2 weeks ago I would have said no way to a regional. But now? Is Steve Rodriguez turning this club around quicker than expected or still too early in the season to judge the bears?
Teddy Cahill: From what I saw in Houston, Baylor was rather impressive. Mike and I talked about the Bears a lot on the podcast today and what really stood out to me is the belief that Baylor plays with. They know they don’t have as much raw talent as some teams, but they believe that if they play the kind of baseball they want to, they can be successful So far this season, they’re doing just that. It’s still early in the season, so you don’t want to read too much into any weekend, but that was a very impressive tournament for Baylor. They look like they can make some noise in the Big 12 this season. Also, if you want more on the Bears, I went more in depth on them today in Off the Bat.

Disgusted Aggie (NC): Could be a knee jerk reaction but A&M's bullpen is a dumpster fire. Thoughts?
Teddy Cahill: Baylor finished the weekend with a walk-off grand slam against Corbin Martin, the second time in as many games that A&M blew a ninth-inning lead. The bullpen is a work in progress, no doubt. Martin pitched really well the day before against TCU, but in that ninth inning he wasn’t locating well and it cost the Aggies. There are very talented pitchers on that staff, they just need to figure out how to pitch in late-inning situations. I think they’ll be ok, but it is going to be something Rob Childress has to get straightened out quickly.

Lloyd (Lakewood): Why such a wide disparity between Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. One team is 6-5 the other is 6-4. Fullerton took 2 out of 3 against Stanford and hasn't done much else. Long Beach took 2 out of 3 on the road against North Carolina and hasn't done much else. One is highly ranked the other not ranked at all.
Teddy Cahill: The gap was pretty sizable coming into the year as well, when Fullerton was a top-10 team and Beach was No. 20. But right now the biggest reason is that Beach has a losing weekend and Fullerton does not. I really like the Dirtbags and they were one of the teams we discussed for the final spots in the rankings. I expect we’ll see them back in the Top 25 before too long.

Teddy Cahill: The gap was pretty sizable coming into the year as well, when Fullerton was a top-10 team and Beach was No. 20. But right now the biggest reason is that Beach has a losing weekend and Fullerton does not. I really like the Dirtbags and they were one of the teams we discussed for the final spots in the rankings. I expect we’ll see them back in the Top 25 before too long.

College Baseball Fan (Phoenix, AZ): Which freshmen players this year do you have an eye on? Any that are standing out with immediate impact to their team?
Teddy Cahill: This is just teeing me up to talk about Nick Quintana and a I swear this question isn’t a plant. But Quintana, the Arizona third baseman, is hitting .463/.540/.610. He’s really, really good. But there are plenty of freshmen making noise all over the country. Logan Foster and Braden Shewmake are hitting second and third for Texas A&M. Austin Langworthy is off to a good start for Florida. Todd Lott raked all weekend for Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ole Miss freshmen didn’t have the greatest weekend collectively in Houston, but the No. 1 recruiting class is off to a strong start. Luca Dalatri has been good in the UNC rotation so far. In short, there are a lot of exciting freshmen all over the country and I love talking about them.

John (Sooner Nation): How is Oklahoma not in the top 25?
Teddy Cahill: Literally the first team outside the top 25. The Sooners have been really hot to start the season. The competition since Long Beach State hasn’t been very good – which is a large part of the reason the Sooners isn’t ranked – but Oklahoma has won all the games, which is all you can ask of them.

Jimmy (Atlanta): Any chance Georgia Tech can maintain enough offense to overcome their Sunday pitching woes? Will Danny Hall ever recruit enough pitching? Seems like the same story every year.
Teddy Cahill: I think Georgia Tech will figure it out. The Jackets have quality arms on that staff, it’s just a matter of finding the right one for that rotation spot. But right now they’re really missing Tristin English, who would make that rotation really, really good. But they have to make do without him this year. And the good news is their offense is good enough to cover a lot of mistakes for now, but they need to find a solution pretty soon now that conference play is upon them.

BigBob (NOLA): La. Tech? for real or not ready for prime time?
Teddy Cahill: I wrote about Louisiana Tech in Off the Bat today. The Bulldogs aren’t going to keep playing .900 baseball, but they certainly look like contenders in Conference USA. It’s a veteran team and first-year coach Lane Burroughs has them playing very well right now. He said they really believe in themselves and are eager to take the next step after reaching regionals last year. Definitely a team to watch this season.

UCIrvineFan (California): Hello! What do you think of Keston Hiura's season so far? Golden Spikes worthy?
Teddy Cahill: Hiura was a first-team Preseason All-American for a reason. He’s capable of a Player of the Year type season and he’s off to a strong start. But there are a lot of really talented players around the country. Trying to handicap the Player of the Year race after three weekends seems pretty close to impossible. But he’s going to keep hitting. His track record in college and high school is really impressive.

Matt (Va): Does anyone on this St. John's team have a chance to be an above average MLB player?
Teddy Cahill: St. John’s brought in some really good pitchers this fall. Jeff Belge and Gavin Hollowell are the team’s best prospects in the long run, but they’re not being asked to play major roles yet. Second baseman Josh Shaw could be pretty good as well, though I don’t think he’s the next Joe Panik. This St. John’s team is more about veteran experience and understanding what they have to do to be successful than crazy raw tools.

Ben (Miamisburg, OH): Is Louisville's schedule so far as soft as it looks on paper? When the team is posting a .980 OPS and a 1.82 ERA, it doesn't speak well for the competition.
Teddy Cahill: It definitely hasn’t been the strongest schedule. The opening weekend tournament where Louisville played Maryland, Ball State and Alabama State is solid, but since then the Cardinals haven’t seen serious competition. But that’s fairly typical for an early-season Louisville schedule. The Cardinals will get tested later when they have Kentucky and Vanderbilt in midweeks and get into the heart of ACC play.

Russell (Austin, Tx): Hey Teddy, another disappointing weekend for the Longhorns. I don't understand, their starting pitching is good, their fielding is good, they just can't hit the baseball. What in your opinion is wrong with Texas?
Teddy Cahill: Well, part of Texas’ struggle at the plate this weekend was that it was playing Stanford, which has an elite pitching staff. This is a younger Texas lineup that still is working some things out. The Longhorns will probably get more offensive in the long run under David Pierce, but the strength of this team is still pitching. So they’re going to have to win some low-scoring games.

George (USA): With selection Sunday coming up this weekend for basketball I feel this is the best time to ask this question. Who is the baseball equivalent to the Gonzaga's in the basketball world? Meaning teams coming out of conferences outside of the top 10 rpi and having to build there resume thru early season non-conference games.
Teddy Cahill: The easy answer to this question was Coastal Carolina. There are some clear similarities between the two programs. But now that Coastal has moved to the Sun Belt, which ranked 10th in the RPI last year and will probably improve with the addition of Coastal, we have to look elsewhere. The answer is there really is no Gonzaga parallel in baseball. As good as programs like Kent State, Wright State, Bryant and Oral Roberts (to name a few) have been, they aren’t on the same level that Gonzaga is in basketball. That’s really what makes Coastal and Gonzaga basketball so special. It’s really hard to build that kind of program and sustain it.

Ben (Miamisburg, OH): How far out is Wright State? I know dropping one to Gardner-Webb didn't help, but they won the other 4 games this week and still have 3 wins against top 10 teams.
Teddy Cahill: Speaking of Wright State, the Raiders remain on the radar. They still have three Top 25 wins, which I believe is still tied for the most in the country. I’m still very much impressed by their 3-3 trip through Clemson and South Carolina.

Teddy Cahill: That’ll do it for today. I have to get on a plane soon. My apologies again for being late. There were a lot of great questions today and I didn’t get to them all, so if you leave them in the comments, I’ll come back and get to them there. In the meantime, check out all the other great content on BaseballAmerica.com today