Recruiting Emphasis

[Mike Rapp]

No, Sonny never played a down of college football. He was on a baseball scholarship.

 

[HankHill]

True. I didn't even notice that y'all were talking about Sonny. BTW: Vandy had a great marketing campaign for selling baseball tickets when Gray was there: "Sonny every weekend."

Back to UT baseball: Vols struggling mightily this year and they will probably have to replace:

Pitchers: Bret Marks, Drake Owenby,Andrew Lee, Peter Lehnstrom, and possibly Andy Cox

Hitters: Christin Stewart, AJ Simcox,Andrew Lee (again) and possibly Vincent Jackson.

There are no players on the roster to replace most of those guys and it is not reasonable to think any JUCO or true freshman can come in and pick up that slack. Senzel, Pruett, and Houser are the only guys returning that are hitting above .230. Plus Vols could lose their entire weekend rotation and their top 2 relievers.

The bad thing is it is completely reasonable to think JUCO guys could come in and be an upgrade. I'm sorry but a lot of the guys they have on roster are not SEC caliber when they walk on and don't even project well. This staff doesn't have any pipeline jucos like they did in Cali, but Walters and Chatt are a good place to start. They also let a lot of good local kids go to UK,USC,MTSU, and Memphis. I can't even tell you the last time I seen one of their coaches at a high school game or perfect game tournament.

 

[TechnoVol]

Good post.

It was funny in Lexington this weekend as it further confirmed what I had thought for several years.

EVERY state thinks the baseball talent in their state is great. I had a few people in the stands telling me how great high school baseball is in Kentucky and believing that UK should be doing far better.

Perhaps we are thinking and doing the same thing in Tennessee.

Perhaps high school and traveling team baseball is not nearly as good as we think it is. Perhaps Farragut dominates a state that is relatively week in baseball. Let's face it, the Farragut guys are not and have not tore it up in minor and majors.

Expanding out recruiting is likely the best thing we can do. Our glory days had teams made up of a few talented local players but a ton of guys from California, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana and such.

Vanderbilt has had a lot of great guys they can offer full scholarships to from the northeast and upper Midwest.

I've said in prior posts that the Farragut guys seem to lack a lot of natural talent but are well coaches and have played A LOT. Without the natural talent, there's a ceiling. And if they play too much without a natural love for the game then burnout is a real possibility.

I don't know how interested they were, but UT failed to sign Trevor Clifton from Heritage or Will Crowe from Pigeon Forge. Clifton signed with Kentucky but went pro instead and Crowe went to South Carolina. Out of the three (Clifton, Crowe and Serrano) Clifton has done apparently well in minors. Crowe has done well at SC and Serrano has struggled to be blunt at UT. Yet their senior years, Serrano had the lion's share of the publicity mainly because he pitched at Farragut.

Perhaps the staff should realize the numbers as demonstrated by Farragut guys should be adjusted do their situation and past performances.

I am concerned that a CDS that is trying to save his job will go heavy on JUCO guys next season. The team will be better but this is the same poison pill that shortened Delmonico's tenure. JUCO baseball is a far different animal that JUCO football and basketball and is a legitimate tool, but building a program who will be a part of the program for only 1 or 2 seasons is a slippery slope.

Couldn't agree more with this especially about the Farragut players. Never thought of it quite that way but makes sense.

 

[Backwards K]

Couldn't agree more with this especially about the Farragut players. Never thought of it quite that way but makes sense.

How can the "Farragut players" be blamed for this? Senzel is leading the team in hits, batting avg, 2nd in runs scored, and 3rd in RBIs. Simcox is 5th in batting avg, 3rd in hits, 3rd in runs scored, and 4th in RBIs. Serrano has been inconsistent on the mound but he's 2nd in Wins, 4th in innings, and tied for 3rd in batting avg against.

Sounds to me like the Vols would be better off if they had more Farragut guys. Like Phil Pfeifer who is Vandy's top guy out of the pen or David Allen and Chase Chambers who are two of the top players for Tenn Tech.

If you want to consider pro guys from Farragut, how about Michael McKenry who is with the Colorado Rockies and Matt Ramsey who is on the Miami Marlins 40 man roster. Not to mention Nick Williams, Curt Powell, and the Delmonico brothers who are on A and AA rosters.