The 09 Tar Heels

UNC may have the best pitching staff in the nation, but their offense is full of question marks for next season. The only sure thing at this point might be Kyle Seager at 2b. Ackley will probably have to DH or play first if he recovers in time. Cavasinni is also coming off major surgery and the entire outfield may be up for grabs this fall with Bunting,Norton,Adams,Baldwin and Blanton competing for jobs.
Gore and Graepel return but will have to fend off stiff competition from Harrison and Michael for the starting SS position. I expect Holt's bat to get him in at an infield corner depending on Ackley's status.
If the offense sputters, it wouldn't surprise me to see Alex White's bat in the lineup.

 

This will be the 1st season in a long time that so many positions are up for grabs. And I don't care what people say, one never knows about TJ surgery and rehab time. Each person is unique. The breaking of scar tissue is important, yet it scares the crap out of the player.

I hope Cavi can come all the way back. He sure is exciting to watch run the bases. Holt should give them a good bat, as well as Bunting. It will be interesting to see. A lot of players will start with limited experience.

I'll be shocked if White gets many or any at bats. You just can't lay down a bat as long as he has and expect him to perform. It reminds me of Daniel Bard. Daniel probanly could have led the team in HR's, but he got rusty not hitting

 

Yea, I saw Bard crush a HR @Watauga. Light tower power !
I'm afraid the UNC offense is going to be pretty meager compared to the Bard era. I think White could knock the rust off his bat this fall, given the opportunity.

 

I hope he can. That would be cool to see.

Speaking of Bard. I saw Daniel hiit one to straight centerfield at the old Citadel park (I'm guessing 480+). I mean a towering one. Then in Jupiter he hit another rocket to dead cf that landed near the top of the 50' screen. I had a Cardinal scout (it's their spring training complex) tell me it was the hardest hit ball he had ever seen at the complex. To this date, Daniel may be the strongest HS hitter I have ever seen

 

Speaking of Bard (again), he joined Madison on Baseball America's minor league allstar team after entering the 08 season with a career minor league era over 7. I think the Red Sox converted him into a closer.

 

Yep...and they allowed him to go back to his regular mechanics. I don't know why so many dadgum pitching coaches feel they need to change someone's mechanics. There may be a very good reason a pitcher was successful with his original one.

I firmly believe many pitching coaches want to put their mark on someone they feel is special, so they can take the credit if it works out. The problem is when it doesn't work out, those coaches don't get the blame. I've watched this happen all of my life.

 

My Take.....

CF Mike Cavisinni/Ben Bunting
2B Kyle Seager
LF Dustin Ackley
C Mark Fleury
1B Micheal Knox/Brett Thomas
RF Zeke Blanton/ Greg Holt/ Gore
DH Alex White/Holt
3B Garrett Gore/ Holt
SS Ryan Graepel/Levi Michael

Weekend Rotation:
RHP Alex White
RHP Adam Warren
RHP Matt Harvey

Mid-Week Starters:
RHP Garrett Davis
RHP Patrick Johnson

Middle Relief:
LHP Brian Moran
LHP Logan Munson
RHP Colin Bates
RHP Ryan Leach
RHP Bryant Gaines
LHP Rob Catapano
RHP Jimmy Messer

Closer:
RHP Nate Striz

 

Thanks Travis, that is very helpful.

I still will be completely surprised to see Dustin do anything other than DH....and he certainly won't be playing OF. To comeback in less than a year from TJ Surgery is asking too much and I would question the motive in allowing it.

To be honest, I'm a little fearful about Dustin. He has great parents and his dad is tops in his knowledge of pro baseball. But...this is a unique year for Dustin. This is the year that he supposedly will be drafted in the top 10 picks. And his advisor will push Dustin to rush back as quickly as he can to put himself in the best bargaining position as possible--to prove he is 100% healthy.

And that is what scares me-- the possibility of rushing him back before he is ready. And there is not a foolproof timeline on being 100% from that surgery. It's different for each person.

BUT...I am praying that he does comeback 100% healthy in a short period of time. There is not a finer young man that I know. I put him up there with Woodard and Flack in his character.

 

Seth Baldwin

Seth Baldwin is like family to us. He is like a brother to my son as they have known each other all of their lives. I know he is a good outfielder and he can hit it a mile. I hope he gets a shot and does well. He played at North Henderson and East Rutherford, the same schools as Seth Williams and Chad Flack so maybe some of their greatness will rub off on him.

If you have ever seen him really get ahold of a pitch you know what he can do.

A funny on Seth. When he was just 5 years old playing coach-pitch ball the other teams coaches would cringe when Seth got the ball and had to throw it back to them. He would light them up. It was funny to watch.

Go Seth!!! We love you.