Texas Tech preview

[Comebakatz3]

I'm itching for more baseball, so I figured I would give you guys a preview of the upcoming battle with the Red Raiders. This first post will focus on pitching.

The Red Raiders kicked the season off with a 3 game set against visiting Oregon this past weekend and they took 2 of 3 games in that series. As Jeff Drummond wrote, the Red Raiders gave up 24 runs while scoring 22 of their own.

Here is how they went:
Friday:
Texas Tech - 4
Oregon - 9

Saturday:
Texas Tech - 12
Oregon - 11

Sunday:
Texas Tech - 6
Oregon - 4

Pitching profiles:

Junior right-hander Caleb Kilian returned for Texas Tech to be their Friday starter. Last week he went 3.1 innings while giving up 6 earned runs on 6 hits. Oregon did their damage on him in the 3rd and 4th innings, with 3 hits and 3 runs in each. While he struggled in his start last Friday, Kilian is an excellent righty who turned down the Orioles last summer to return to Texas Tech for his junior year. In 2018 Kilian had a 3.24 ERA 9-3 in his 11 starts with 63 strikeouts and just 28 walks through 72.1 innings of work, and 20 total appearances. UK faced him in the Sunday game a year ago in Lexington and he got the win, despite not starting, with 3.1 innings of work. He gave up 1 earned run off of three hits while striking out 5 and walking 3.

Bryce Bonnin got the start for Texas Tech in game two and he struggled mightily. He went just 0.1 innings while giving up 4 earned runs on 6 hits, and 4 walks with his lone out coming by way of strikeout. Bryce is a 6'1 sophomore righty who actually transferred to Texas Tech after pitching for Arkansas in 2018. Bonnin had a 4.26 ERA in 11 appearances striking out 16 in 19 innings of work. I am not sure if Bryce will continue to get the Saturday nod after a shaky start this past weekend, but I have to imagine that the Red Raiders will give him another chance before pulling the plug.

On Sunday the Red Raiders threw freshman lefty Mason Montgomery. Montgomery threw 4 innings giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits with one walk and one strikeout. Montgomery was ranked as the number 2 lefty in all of Texas a year ago and the number 9 overall player in the Lone Star State. They should continue to lean on him on Sunday.

Summary: All in all, the starters for Texas Tech aren't exactly anyone that the UK battery should be afraid to face. Kilian is talented, but the Cats should be able to scratch some runs against him.

The Red Raider bullpen really didn't show a whole lot of ability to keep the Ducks off the basepaths this past weekend, and they threw a whole lot of guys by necessity. Every game this past weekend featured 6 different Red Raider pitchers, and none of it was because they were just 'seeing what they had,' it was all out of necessity.

Three pitchers went in more than one game for the Raiders this past weekend. The most successful was Dane Haveman who made two appearances with 3 shutout innings of baseball. Haveman, a junior, is a big hefty lefty from Katy, Texas. Haveman faced 8 batters in his 3 innings and while he didn't give up a run, he wasn't infallible. He gave up 3 hits, including a triple and the Ducks hit .375 against the big lefty. UK faced him in the Saturday game a year ago and they feasted. Haveman only went a third of an inning and gave up 5 earned runs off of 5 hits to the Cats while walking 2 and striking out one.

John McMillon, a junior righty, was the first pitcher to come in on relief this past weekend and pitched pretty well for the Red Raiders, going two thirds of an inning giving up one hit and one walk. He pitched another inning on Sunday to remain perfect in the score column and picked up 2 strikeouts to close out the game. UK fans may remember McMillon from a year ago, he started the Saturday game against UK in Lexington. He went 5 innings against UK, but gave up 5 earned runs on 7 hits walking 2 and striking out 7. A year ago McMillon started 12 games for Texas Tech while making 18 appearances. He had a 4.02 ERA through 62.2 innings pitched and 73 total strikeouts. I am not sure why McMillon is coming out of the bullpen this year instead of starting. McMillon is a two way guy that started as a RF/DH a year ago and hit a 3 run home run against UK a year ago to help Tech win the Sunday game. He didn't play any at the plate this past weekend.

Ryan Keesee, a junior lefty, transferred in from Temple College and helped lead them to the JUCO College World Series. He started 14 games and had a 4.52 ERA in 69.2 innings pitched with 80 strikeouts. This past weekend he made two appearances and went 1.1 innings giving up just one hit against 5 batters faced.

Taylor Floyd is another transfer for the Red Raiders, this one a righty coming from Grayson Community College where he was NTJCAC Co-Pitcher of the Year after striking out 47 in 37 innings with a 2.78 ERA and 10 saves. He pitched 2.2 scoreless innings over the weekend giving up 5 hits while striking out 5 of the 12 batters he faced. He isn't infallible, but seems to pitch his way out of trouble with big time strikeouts.

Caleb Freeman, a junior right-hander, returns and will likely be a big part of the Tech bullpen. UK faced him in one game a year ago and he had 2 innings of one hit one run baseball while striking out two in the Saturday game. Last year he had a 5.18 ERA and a 1-0 record with 33 innings pitched. He struck out 31 hitters through those 33 innings. He got an innings worth of work this past weekend. He gave up one hit, a double, and one walk, but didn't give up a run.

Erikson Lanning returns after sitting out his junior year with an injury. The left-handed redshirt junior made two starts a year ago before taking a redshirt due to the aforementioned injury. He was used heavily as a sophomore pitching 40.1 innings with a 3.12 ERA. I imagine Tech may ease him into the season, but he will be available for long relief. He came in on relief of Bonnin on Saturday after he struggled and Lanning didn't fair much better. He worked 1.2 innings in that outing and gave up 4 runs, 2 earned, on 5 hits while striking out two and hitting one.

Trey Garlett is a freshman right hander that may also see some high inning numbers. The hometown kid threw 3.1 innings on Saturday and gave up just 2 hits, one of them a double that led to an earned run, and walking one while striking out a pair.

Clayon Beeter is a right handed redshirt freshman. It is unclear what his role will be, but if Saturday is any indication, the Red Raiders may try to look for him to be their closer. He picked up the save in the high scoring game recording back to back strikeouts to the only two hitters he faced.

Kurt Wilson (sophomore righty) and Noah Huerta (freshman lefty) may also see some work this weekend. Wilson threw 2.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 3 and hitting 2. Huerta went one full inning and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits striking out one.

SUMMARY:

Texas Tech pitching isn't necessarily anything to fear. They have a team ERA after one weekend of 6.67. Oregon hit .372 against them as a team and 20 of their 24 runs were earned. Tech pitchers walked 11 batters while striking out 22. All this against a Ducks team that went 26-29 a year ago and that hit .239 as a team. Red Raider pitchers gave up 9 doubles, one triple, but where they did well was that they only gave up 1 home run. So, UK may not be able to look towards the long ball to get on the board. They also hit 5 batters.

By contrast, UK pitchers have a 3.00 ERA with 37 strikeouts and 12 walks. The Governors hit an abysmal .186 against UK pitchers who gave up 4 doubles, 2 triples and a home run while also plunking 3 guys. Of course, this is to be taken with a grain of salt given that UK played a team not in a power 5 conference.

 

[MAYHOO22]

Thank you for the report. Big series for the young Cats. Win a couple, or just one, I expect a solid season. Get swept, and could be a preview of a very strong conference schedule that is very daunting.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Thank you for the report. Big series for the young Cats. Win a couple, or just one, I expect a solid season. Get swept, and could be a preview of a very strong conference schedule that is very daunting.

Yea, it is going to be big. If nothing else, it is a measuring stick. I am working on profiles for the hitters now... it will take me some time, but it is coming. lol

 

[CB3UK]

For lack of a better analogy, this is akin to that Duke game the basketball team played in Nov. Going to be a good barometer of this young ball team and help set my expectations for the season. We are young but we are talented. It would really be something to take the TT series. Lets go Cats!

 

[Oldtrainer]

Thanks for info.
Hill,

Yea, it is going to be big. If nothing else, it is a measuring stick. I am working on profiles for the hitters now... it will take me some time, but it is coming. lol

Thanks for info.
IMO Collett, Hill, Shelby, Reed, Shinn, and Thompson are worth price of admission! Have season ticket and be there after March 20th--GO CATS!

 

[Comebakatz3]

Now for the fun part... the offense. Texas Tech is number 3 in the country for a reason, and the offense is a big part of that. As usual, this early in the season opponents are still tweaking with lineups, so this is subject to change, but this is largely what TTU did this past weekend. I will also note that Tech faced 3 righty starters this past weekend, whereas against UK they will face

Gabe Holt a sophomore will once again lead off for Texas Tech. UK faced him a year ago at the top of the lineup and he was a pretty tough out. On the weekend against UK a year ago he went .400 with 5 walks, 3 RBIs, 4 runs scored and one stolen base. He hit .444 this past weekend with 4 hits in 9 at bats. He scored 4 runs with 1 RBI and he walked an amazing 6 times while only striking out once and he also went 6 for 6 on stolen bases. He was a Freshman All American a year ago and will be an extremely hard out. He has switched from 2B, where UK saw him last year, to playing CF or RF.

Dru Baker played short stop and hit in the two hole in the Saturday and Sunday games this past weekend. He hit 9th in the first game. The freshman struggled going 2 for 12 (.167) Still, when he hit he was fairly effective with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored while walking once and striking out twice. O'Tremba (DH/RF) hit second in game one, but struggled going 0-4. It wouldn't surprise me if Baker gets knocked back down in the lineup since he struggled up here. Baker also is a bit of a threat to steal going 1 for 1.

Josh Jung will once again be manning third base for Texas Tech. He is a junior and last year against UK he went 4 for 17 (.235) with 6 RBIs, 1 run, a double, 2 hbps, and 2 strikeouts. A second team All American a year ago, he played on the USA Baseball Collegiate team this summer with ZT. This past weekend he went 4 for 12 (.333) with 4 hits (1 double), 4 RBIs, 2 runs, with a pair of walks and a pair of strikeouts. He is going to be a nightmare to face in the 3 hole.

Junior Brian Klein also returns for the Red Raiders and will be manning second base this season. The middle infielder came on strong late in the year a year ago and started in the last 15 games. He hit .317 a year ago and is an interesting 4 hole hitter given that he only hit 4 home runs a year ago. So, he isn't exactly a guy who has power for days, but he is definitely a guy who can put it in the gaps. Against UK in 2018 he went 0-6 with 3 strikeouts and one walk. This past weekend he struggled and went 2 for 11 (.182) with 3 RBIs, a walk, and a strikeout.

Junior Doug Facendo comes to Lubbock by way of Howard College. He will likely DH for the Red Raiders, but he played catcher and 1B in JUCO where he hit .436 with 16 home runs, 68 RBI and 58 runs scored. He played in two of the three games (Sat and Sun) this weekend going 2 for 5 (.400) with 2 runs scored a double and a home run. He also drew 4 walks to just 1 strikeout. Like I mentioned earlier, O'Tremba was DH hitting second in the first game, but he struggled. So, I think that Facendo may get more swings. I believe, pursuant to a picture, Facendo hits from the right side, so he is apt to face those UK lefties.

Left-fielder Dylan Neuse should be hitting in the 6 hole for Texas Tech. The sophomore right-handed hitter (guess) transferred in after one season at McClennan Community College where he hit .333 with 8 home runs, 44 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. His claim to fame was that he hit an impressive 7 triples, which ranked 17th in the JUCO ranks. This past weekend he got an introduction to D1 baseball and did pretty well going 4 for 11 (.364) with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. True to his claim to fame, he also picked up a triple. He walked 3 times and struck out twice.

Senior first baseman Cameron Warren returns after hitting .326 a year ago. Against UK in 2018 Warren went 3 for 9 (.333) with 1 run, 1 walk, 1 HBP, and 1 RBI. He struggled some this past weekend going 2 for 9 (.222) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout, and 1 walk. He hit one of the team's 5 home runs on the weekend. He can be a dangerous hitter from the left side.

Max Marusk or Tanner O'Tremble are candidates to hit in the 8 hole. Both are freshmen outfielders that are either going to be in CF or RF. If Marusak plays, he will play in CF and Holt will man RF. If O'Tremba plays he will be in RF and Holt in CF. Texas Tech kind of has a treasure of riches with these two. Marusak was the number 1 OF prospect in Texas and the 8th overall prospect in TX, and the 88th overall in the country. O'Tremba was the number 1 overall prospect out of Colorado. Marusak started in game one and two in CF and he came in to play defense in the 8th inning of game 3. He struggled at the dish going 1 for 5 (.200) while striking out 3 times (team most) walking once and going 1 for 1 on stolen bases. O'Tremba started at DH in game one and in RF in game 3 and really didn't fare much better going 2 for 9 (.222). However, his highlight is that one of those hits was a 2 run home run. He scored another run on the weekend and walked once striking out twice. My guess is that O'Tremba gets the nod and hits down the lineup to try to give him better looks.

Sophomore catcher Braxton Fulford started and hit 9th in the last two games of the Oregon series. He led the team in hitting going 3 for 6 (.500) with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. Impressively, two of those 3 hits were long balls. He could move up the lineup due to his impressive outing in the first weekend, but they may keep him at 9th to make him a threat at the bottom. It is also good to note that Fulford had 3 assists on the weekend. Fulford played for Tech last year but struggled as a freshman hitting just .193 in 38 games and 26 starts. It is good to note here that Oregon stole 15 bases on 18 attempts. So, while the Tech catchers/pitchers did get some outs from runners attempting to steal, the Ducks ran on them a whole lot, and it was a team effort for Oregon.

Bench:

Parker Kelly got a start at first base in game three of the series this past weekend. The sophomore played in 8 games a year ago, but struggled going just 1 for 12 (.083). This past weekend he went 0-3 with a strikeout. He is a sophomore.

Cody Masters is a sophomore outfielder who played in two games this past weekend as a pinch hitter and as a defensive sub in LF. A year ago he hit .258 starting in 16 games and playing in 35. This past weekend he went 0-1 with a strikeout and one walk.

Freshman Cole Stilwell started behind the plate in game one and hit 8th, and is a candidate to either take over the role at catcher, or to at least spell Fulford. He was ranked as the number 3 catcher in the state of Texas a year ago, but he went 0-3 with a walk in the first game of the year this past weekend. He did grab an assist.

This is everyone who played for Texas Tech this past weekend. One thing I find interesting, as mentioned earlier, is that John McMillon neither started on the mound nor played in the field at all. He has struggled hitting the ball, with a career average of .204, but he hit 8 home runs as a freshman and shows some ability at times, as mentioned his lone HR a year ago, a 3 run shot, came against UK in Lexington and helped propel them to the Sunday win.

Texas Tech as a team really didn't show off the bats this wekeend. They hit just .271 as a team, but they showed off a whole lot of power with 4 guys hitting 5 home runs. They drew 26 walks, so they will definitely be patient at the plate and they really don't have a high tendency to strikeout with just 1 guy striking out more than twice. Other than Holt they aren't a huge threat to steal, but guys will go at times. I think Gei and Kessler (if he plays) will need to be wary of them stealing. Other than home runs, Tech had just 3 extra base hits on the weekend. Still, it seems like Tech did a great job of hitting when it mattered. Not sure what it breaks down to, but despite hitting over 100 points less than Oregon, the Red Raiders still got 2 wins, mostly due to timely hitting with 22 of their 22 runs scored being RBIs.

 

[Jeff Drummond]

Neglected to mention it the other day, but this was good stuff! Look forward to reading that for future opponents, too!

 

[Comebakatz3]

Neglected to mention it the other day, but this was good stuff! Look forward to reading that for future opponents, too!

I'll see what I can do. No promises given the time it takes. Lol