2023 Off-season and Portal Recruiting

[WuDrWu]

FWIW, this transfer is a bit different than most others, and offers an alternative to the general "sports think" that many of us limit our thinking to around here.

Kyte graduated this spring. He's from Texas and I'm guessing that he'll probably work and live the majority of his life in Texas. He's smart as hell. A post grad degree from Rice, especially to those hiring in Texas means more than a post graduate degree from WSU. That's not knocking WSU at all. It just is what it is and Rice is a very good school. Kyte is exactly the kind of student athlete you want to have in droves in your program, and I hate to see him leave, but this one at least to me makes sense. I hope he has a great year except when he plays us.

[Shock Top]

If I had someone paying for me to get an MBA at Rice, I would take it!

[WuDrWu]

If I had someone paying for me to get an MBA at Rice, I would take it!

Anyone that wouldn't isn't smart enough to earn a post graduate degree at Rice, or anywhere else for that matter.

[1972Shocker]

Anyone that wouldn't isn't smart enough to earn a post graduate degree at Rice, or anywhere else for that matter.

So is Kyte getting a full ride? A combination of baseball and academic scholarships perhaps.

[WuDrWu]

So is Kyte getting a full ride? A combination of baseball and academic scholarships perhaps.

Through the grapevine, that is my understanding.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

[1972Shocker]

Those are video game stats for Drew Iverson, a 6-4 lefty. I will presume this was against high school competition.

A quote from Drew from the time of his signing last November:

"I need to get some velocity," Iverson said. "I've always been successful because of my command. I think quickening things up, breaking balls and sharper breaks will help me a lot."

I think if a pitcher has good command of 3 pitches he can be effective without being a flamethrower. I'd take another Steve Foral.

[1972Shocker]

Not sure if that has been posted or not but there is an updated roster on goshockers.com listing 38 players.

By position:
Catchers - 2
Infielders - 8
Infield.Outfield - 2
Outfiled - 7
RH Pitchers - 13
LH Pitchers - 6

By class:
Freshman - 16
Sophomore - 3
R-Sophomore - 4
Juniors - 9
R-Juniors - 2
Seniors - 4

By experience:
D-1 experience (excluding redshirt seasons): 3 Years = 1; 2 Years = 3; 1 Year = 6; Total = 10
Juco only experience: 12
High school recruits: 16

The only position players to have been in the starting lineup consistently are Mauricio Millan last year (54 starts) and Seth Stroh (100 starts over 3 years).

The only pitcher to have pitched any significant innings at the D-1 level is Caden Favors, mostly in middle relief.

No doubt there are some talented players on the roster but the clearly the lack of D-1 playing experience, especially among the pitching staff, makes it very difficult to have anything but the most modest of expectations for the 2024 season.

Hopefully, we will see signs of player development and growth that give us some hope moving forward.

[WuDrWu]

Nothing earth shattering, but I'd love to find out what happened to PG9 Jerson Martin. No Twitter change and a quick search revealed no updates best as I can tell.

Also nothing on recent commit Caleb Anderson who isn't listed.

And while I'm sure I missed it somewhere here, who is Mason Munz?

[shoxlax]

Catcher will be solid. Not sure about defense,but team will be able to hit. Pitching will be unknown and could be anywhere from average to awful.

Unless we load up on a weak non con, I see 20-25 wins right now. Will reevaluate in Fall.

[1972Shocker]

Shocker Baseball Joins Field at Inaugural Jax Classic

https://goshockers.com/news/2023/8/3...x-classic.aspx

The Wichita State baseball team will take part in one of college baseball's premier early season tournaments in 2024, joining the field at the inaugural Jax College Baseball Classic on February 23-25 at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville, Florida. The Shockers play three projected top 25 teams in Virginia, Auburn, and Iowa over the course of three days at the home of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.

Wichita State opens the Jax Classic against 2023 College World Series participant Virginia, who went 50-15 this past season. The Cavaliers won the ACC Coastal Division and rolled through both the Charlottesville Regional and Super Regional before going 0-2 in Omaha. Day two opponent Auburn is coming off a 34-23-1 campaign that featured a regional host, though the Tigers were bounced in two games from the Auburn Regional. WSU ends the Jax Classic against Iowa, who finished 2023 with a record of 44-16. The Hawkeyes also reached the NCAA tournament, going 2-2 at Indiana State's Terre Haute Regional.

So that is about a week into the season. Doesn't exactly qualify as easing into the season. But will have to see what the rest of the schedule looks like.

[WuDrWu]

Definitely our hands will be full early, and likely, often.

I have the O/U about 16X.

[1972Shocker]

Not sure how a ball well to the left of the 375 ft sign in the left center power alley can measure 379 ft and and only be a double. But Jaden did put a good swing on it.

[1972Shocker]

And while I'm sure I missed it somewhere here, who is Mason Munz?

Mason Munz is a 6-3 RHP from Kingman via Cloud County CC. He committed to the Shockers on April 28th, about a month before it was announced that Loren Hibbs would not be retained as head coach.

Looks like Mason was primarily a spot reliever for Cloud County. Last year, as a sophomore, he appeared in 19 games, all in relief and pitched a total of 19 innings finishing wiht an ERA of 5.68 and a WHIP of 1.42 with 21 strikeouts and 13 walks. Opponents hit .203 against him. His ERA was skewed by two bad outings where he gave up 7 earned runs in only 1 total inning (3 outs) of work. In his other 17 appearances he had an ERA of 3.0 and a WHIP of 1.24.

In one of his two bad outings, this one vs Butler County, he had a very odd line: 3 earned runs in 0.1 inning with giving up no hits and no walks. He came on in the 5th in relief of Shocker recruit Jack Mount and after getting the first hitter he faced on a fly ball he hit the next 3 batters to load the bases. He was then pulled from the game and his replacement gave up a single and a home run as Butler came back to win that game 9-8.

In any case, I'm thinking Mason very much fits the profile of a walk on but hard to know that for a fact.

[1972Shocker]