Fall Ball

[Shockm]

Who is our best new bat?

Kung is correct. Here is a little more information on new bats (3 hitters), from TE's article, just in case you didn't read it.

A trio of juniors, all newcomers, seem poised to join in on the hit parade this season in Garrett Pennington, who hit .397 with 37 extra-base hits to earn third team All-American honors for a top-10 Div. II team at Central Missouri last season, David Herring, who batted .348 as the starting shortstop for a Cowley County team that played for the NJCAA national championship, and outfielder Kyte McDonald, a former Mississippi State recruit.

[WuDrWu]

Garrett Pennington is a different type of hitter than you see at the college level imho.

He doesn't have the quickest bat of all time, but that's probably due to the fact the bat he uses appears to weigh somewhere between 40-75 pounds. In fact, it might be a baseball version of Thor's Hammer..Pennington's Hammer....he's the only one that can pick it up. The ball sounds different, looks different, coming off his bat. The young man hits the ball very, very hard and he makes contact consistently. He hit between .600-.750 for most of the fall before cooling down a bit at the end. I'm not saying he's going to hit .400-.500 this spring, but he is selective, his swing is powerful, compact and repeatable. He keeps his head still and squares up a lot of balls. I expect him to hit for average and power all season long.

David Herring didn't have the eye popping fall Garrett had, but then I don't think he needed to. He's a proven college hitter, much in the image of Brock Rodden. I'm not saying he'll have a Brock Rodden type first year at WSU, but there's little reason to think he won't succeed at this level.

I've masked very little of my excitement regarding Kyte McDonald. I like his approach, mannerisms and his professionalism. He LOOKS like a kid that has a Natty ring (and he does). Another kid that squares up a lot of balls, but what I like even more is that he has speed to burn. He starts fast and picks up speed. I hope we see some lineups with Kyte, Will Stark and Jack Little for instance because they will run all over the opposition. This team has EVERY reason to be successful in the field, at the plate and on the base paths. They have talent, experience, power, speed and maybe most importantly, depth. Depth is something we haven't seen for a very long time. At least a decade.

We have really good players that are going to be pushed. Sawyer Thornhill was our best hitter for much of last year and I'm telling you Jarrett Flaggert has all the skills to cover him. Rodden and Herring are going to be really good but Jack Little is going to push someone. Will Stark can absolutely play a number of positions and while still young and raw, Hogan Shelby has all the tools. We have at least 6 viable outfielders (McDonald, Stroh, Ingram, Rogers, Gustafson, Stark) and Pennington/Tolle at first. Milan and Birge behind the plate. And those are names that aren't reaching at all. Cooper Harris and Gage Williams have both caught in the past (Cooper will also back up 1st). Garrett could play right in a pinch. Charlie Rogan will learn and get better at 1st and again has all the tools. Plenty of guys can DH including Tolle.

I know it sounds like I'm describing the entire All American lineup for college baseball. I'm not. But we do have options. Let's say we start with Stroh in right because he had a good fall, hits for power, runs like a deer and has a cannon for an arm (best fielding arm on the team) but he's striking out too much (not exactly a stretch given the last 2 seasons for him). Chuck can play right easily. Kyte can move there and Chuck can play center. We've had almost no good options in recent years. Even losing Kocis last year was a near disaster. That won't be the case this spring.

[ShockTalk]

Garrett Pennington is a different type of hitter than you see at the college level imho.

He doesn't have the quickest bat of all time, but that's probably due to the fact the bat he uses appears to weigh somewhere between 40-75 pounds. In fact, it might be a baseball version of Thor's Hammer..Pennington's Hammer....he's the only one that can pick it up. The ball sounds different, looks different, coming off his bat. The young man hits the ball very, very hard and he makes contact consistently.

[1972Shocker]

Pennington does indeed look very strong and well put toghether:

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/1/18/baseball-rh-this-kid-can-whip-up-anything.aspx