Next Year

[wyatt]

Do we have any clue who might return next season? I’d assume that Wallace and Kocis might get drafted. Hopefully having Wedge will make us a prime destination for transfers. How many rounds is the draft this year? Did this year count as a year or was it a free year like basketball and football for eligibility?

[1972Shocker]

Do we have any clue who might return next season? I’d assume that Wallace and Kocis might get drafted. Hopefully having Wedge will make us a prime destination for transfers. How many rounds is the draft this year? Did this year count as a year or was it a free year like basketball and football for eligibility?

As I understand it thiis year counted. Last year (half of a season roughly) did not count.

[WstateU]

Bodes well for “Next Year”... there have been recent years where we ‘kicked it’ around the ballpark...

[Shockm]

Our best 3 hitters will either graduate or project for the draft. That isn’t a positive for next year.

[JJClamdip]

Our best 3 hitters will either graduate or project for the draft. That isn’t a positive for next year.

I would assume that Wedge is aware of that fact.

I am sure that the coaching staff is looking for some mashers.

[WuDrWu]

Twitter said DVV is gone. Not a surprise as he barely played the last month.

while they could come back, I don’t expect Eddy, Stumpy or Gibby back. Paxton highly unlikely to return.

I expect the middle of the defense to return and by that I mean Cadena, Stewart, Sigrist and Stroh.

Not a terrible base but we need power.

And a ton of pitching

[Shockm]

I would assume that Wedge is aware of that fact.

I am sure that the coaching staff is looking for some mashers.

I’m sure he has to be and it was meant as a fact, and not a criticism. It’s not impossible to find a masher, but 3 to 4 can be really difficult to turn around in one year. Our bench doesn’t have heavy hitting replacements so any replacements have to come from the outside. Our best chance to not slide downward, is for our pitching to show improvement. We did have some inconsistent but good arm potential from the bench. I’m not sure if we will be a contender next year, but it appears that we will likely lean on our pitching staff.

[1972Shocker]

Twitter said DVV is gone. Not a surprise as he barely played the last month.

while they could come back, I don’t expect Eddy, Stumpy or Gibby back. Paxton highly unlikely to return.

I expect the middle of the defense to return and by that I mean Cadena, Stewart, Sigrist and Stroh.

Not a terrible base but we need power.

And a ton of pitching

If all of this comes to pass then my expectations for next tear are a step backwards from this year especially in AAC play.

At this point Perfect Game has the Shockers' recruiting class ranked in the top 100 but just barely at #95. USF, ECU, Tulane, UCF and Houston all have 2021 classes ranked from #37 to #66 IIRC. I don't think Payton Tolle is factored into that ranking for the Shocks yet.

If we lose Kocis, Wallace and Gibson in addition to Bartlett then scoring runs next year may be a challenge. If some of the answers are currently on the roster, those will be the kind of positive surprises we need.

Even Jace needs a modest amount of run support to be successful. Whether are not the incoming arms will be ready for prime time remains to be seen.

[BAShocker]

Serious question. Any of of signings include a shortstop who hits, and hits with occasional power?

[Shockm]

There is a Fr. SS, maybe two, but I don’t know that they are sluggers. Stroh is raw, and might show big improvement next year, but Siegrist, and Cadena had good years, and Stewart may hit a higher average, but not with any power. Maybe Eric Wedge will strike gold, and find a transfer like Corrigan B. again, but I doubt our hitting problems will be solved. Ultimately, our goal of a positive season may be to get third in the AAC again or close to it. Either way, I still have confidence in Wedge.

[Shockm]

I'm not sure how much access there is on here to Taylor Eldridge's articles, but here is the one on next year. Not new information, but an optimistic feel, and it does point out how far our program has come in a short time with Wedgie. It's been a long time since we've been to the post season in baseball. As we all know, baseball takes a while to build up, because of the need for depth in pitching. If we would have had that quality depth this year, we probably had a good enough team to go to the postseason.

https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...251789098.html

If you don't have access, here are the main points of the article.

In the first full season under manager Eric Wedge, the Shockers compiled a 31-23 record. WSU had several notable accomplishments:

• For the first time since joining the conference in 2018, the Shockers entered the AAC tournament with a top-half seed. WSU was the No. 7 seed in 2018 and No. 8 seed in 2019 after winning just nine AAC games, which gives perspective on how impressive WSU’s jump to a No. 3 seed following an 18-win season in conference was this spring.
• WSU placed a record five players on the AAC’s all-conference first team, including freshman starter Jace Kaminska, reliever Aaron Haase, first baseman Garrett Kocis, third baseman Paxton Wallace and outfielder Corrigan Bartlett.
• The Shockers were even in the discussion for an NCAA Regionals at-large bid entering the month of May. While WSU’s postseason hopes have since been dashed, it was a step in the right direction of trying to return the program to its first postseason since 2013.

[WuDrWu]

Discussion of pitching was ongoing in the AAC tourney thread.

As of now, we don't have a lot coming back. Jace. That's about it.

Certainly hope Haase returns, but that spin rate attracts attention. For now, I assume he returns.

Spencer Hynes has ability but has struggled to put things together. Given his fall in innings as the season went on, I would think his return is speculative. If he does (and frankly I really hope he does) anything more than spot duty as a depth left hander seems hopeful at a minimum.

Derek Shaver showed a little promise and a very live arm late in the season.

Jacob Lindemann has so much ability. Great kid, really hope he can get healthy.

Foster Gifford helped us last year, not so much this year.

Creighton Hansen (I heard someone call him Sunshine lol) could be a little bit of a surprise. He's been brought along slowly, but shows a lot of potential. Follow him closely this summer.

Cameron Bye is a short term guy in the light of Hansen. Watch him during the summer.

Aaron Bechtel was in the senior day festivities, I don't expect him to return.

LJ McDonough was solid all year until Friday. He should help us again next year.

Josh Hansell has ability but needs to get better.


Pure speculation, but reasonable, sort of best case speculation next season would be something like:

Jace Kaminska - Continues to develop, reliable Friday ace of the staff.

Jacob Lindemann - Finally gets healthy and at least provides a starting position. Probably up and down, but a guy that's capable of 93-94 and 3 pitches for a strike.

Payton Tolle - Is the guy we all hope he is. Bring him along slowly and hope like heck he follows the Jace Kaminska plan and becomes a Saturday guy by conference time.

Josh Hansell - More of a pitch to contact type guy but can throw strikes and burn some innings as a Saturday or Sunday guy.

Creighton Hansen - Live arm, capable of 94-96, Mid week guy and someone that could spot help on 3 day weekends.

Haase and Bye torch the end of games. LJ and Shaver help bridge the way to those 2.

[molly jabali]

Is there such a thing as a transfer portal in baseball? If so, do you see our coaches being active in it?

[WuDrWu]

Yes, and I would anticipate very little.

Coach Wedge was very up front when he was hired about wanting to build the program with 4 year players that fit. Now, they took Spencer Hynes from Houston, but that was a serious need (LHP). I think if the opportunity presents itself, and it's a good fit, then yes, they'll take someone, but I think it will be few and far between.

[shoxlax]

If Ingram could shorten his swing and cut down on strikeouts, he could be a surprise next year. He certainly looks the part.