Diamond Notes: Pitching continues to shine for 20th-ranked Aggies
The Aggie Baseball team enjoyed a 4-1 week three, including a 3-0 showing in the Shriners College Classic at Minute Maid Park over the weekend. With air tight, low-scoring wins over Baylor (5-2), TCU (1-0) and Houston (3-2), Texas A&M cracked the top 25 in the D1Baseball.com poll for the first time in 2019, coming in at No. 20. Here are some Monday afternoon thoughts, stats, observations, interesting nuggets and takeaways on the A&M team coming off of the undefeated trip to the Bayou City...
Hitter of the Week
SS Braden Shewmake| 8-for-23 (.348); 1 double; 1 HR; 6 RBI
Don’t look now, but A&M’s best offensive player is starting to turn it on after a rocky start. Shewmake raised his average 75 points last week (from .185 to .260) after enjoying multi-hit games in four of the five games played. The junior has fixed some of the mechanical issues in his lower half, according to hitting coach Will Bolt, and is starting to square up balls and drive them at a much more frequent clip than he was the first two weeks.
Shewmake had 0 RBI through the first six games of the season and just 1 RBI through the first eight contests, but he drove in 6 runs in five games last week, including an opposite-field two-run shot against Baylor ace Hayden Kettler on Friday night. The OPS is back up to a much more respectable .759, and you can clearly see a more comfortable and confident hitter in the box than he was through the first few ball games.
Pitcher of the Week
LHP John Doxakis|8.0 IP; 4 H; 1 R; 1 ER; 0 BB; 12 K
Three straight weeks that sophomore lefty Asa Lacy has pitched as well as anyone in the SEC, and for the third week in a row, Lacy does not get TexAgs Pitcher of the Week. And that has everything to do with the fact that his teammate is John Doxakis. The junior lefty allowed a leadoff double against Baylor to open the game, then tossed a wild pitch that moved the runner to third base with one out. The runner scored on a sacrifice fly to give Baylor a 1-0 lead in the first inning. It was the first earned run allowed all year by Doxakis, and you could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
All he did from that point was stuff it down Baylor’s collective throat and was nearly unhittable over the course of the ensuing seven frames. Doxakis had all four of his pitches working and he was able to throw all of them in any count to keep the powerful and veteran Bears lineup off-balance the entire night. Dox’s slider is quite possibly the best secondary pitch in college baseball, but his development of the changeup to go along with a plus two-seamer and a mid-90s four-seamer has scouts drooling over the possibility of taking him very early in the MLB Draft this June – quite possibly in the first round. And over the course of his last five college starts dating back to his two postseason wins over Auburn and Indiana, nobody in college baseball has been better. Here are the numbers:
5-0; 0.52 ERA; 34.1 innings, 11 hits; 4 runs; 2 earned runs; 4 walks; 54 strikeouts
Let those numbers set in. It’s unreal how good the guy has been. One hit allowed every three innings. One earned run allowed every 17 innings. One walk allowed every 8.2 innings. 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings. That’s the raw data. It’s even better when you open your eyes and enjoy what this young man is giving you right now. Truly special stuff.
On the season, Dox is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA. He’s allowed one earned run on eight hits in 21 innings of work, issuing just two walks and punching a team-best 32. Opponents are hitting a paltry .113 against him.
Who’s White Hot?
LHP Asa Lacy - The sophomore southpaw completely dominated TCU for seven scoreless frames, utilizing a Big League mid-90s heater to go with an elite curve ball and ever-improving slider. Lacy continuously got himself into trouble by allowing leadoff runners to reach base in each of the first six innings (three via walk, two via hit batsman and one via a base hit), but each time he easily and niftily pitched his way around the mini jams with exceptional competitiveness and a next-level array of pitches in his bag of tricks.
Lacy’s numbers are quite similar to Dox. He, too, is 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA. He’s allowed one earned run on six hits in 18 innings, with 30 strikeouts against seven walks. His opponents average is .106, all while working around 13 free passes so far (six via hit batsman). Fix the subtle pitchability things that he deals with at times and you’re also looking at a true first round prospect in 2020, if not top 10 prospect.
We talk a lot about Dox’s hot streak dating back to the end of last year. Well, the same can be said about Lacy. Here are his numbers over his last six outings, going back to appearances against Sam Houston State, South Carolina and Georgia in 2018:
4-0; 0.32 ERA; 28.1 innings; 12 hits; 2 runs; 1 earned runs; 12 walks; 44 strikeouts
Combined, here’s what Dox and Lacy are doing in 2019:
6-0; 0.46 ERA; 39 IP; 14 H; 3 R; 2 ER; 9 BB; 62 K
Video. Game. Numbers. I’ll say it for the thousandth time – there isn’t a better tandem in college baseball than these two lefties. I’d take them over anyone going right now.
Who Else is Hot?
RHP Kasey Kalich - The A&M closer made three appearances last week and closed out wins over Baylor and TCU in Houston. He allowed a run on four hits over 3.2 innings of work, punching out five and walking just one. The stuff was very sharp on back-to-back nights at Minute Maid and he delivered in the clutch against both former SWC foes. Kalich is yet another JUCO bullpen arm that Rob Childress has developed into the closer and his stuff doesn’t take a back seat to any of his predecessors that have come in from the two-year ranks and developed under Childress. Kalich is 0-0 with a 1.17 ERA. He’s allowed just one run (earned) on four hits over 7.2 innings of work. He’s walked just one and struck out 11 so far.
RHP Bryce Miller - Like Kalich, Miller is a sophomore who came up the road from Blinn and is making an instant impact in the back end of the pen. The power-armed right-hander made three relief appearances last week, including key moments in wins over TCU and Houston, and rose to the occasion each time. In 4.1 innings of work last week, Miller allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked three and fanned six. He’s 2-0 so far with a dazzling 1.12 ERA in five 2019 outings and boasts a spectacular .107 opponents’ average thus far.
LHP Moo Menefee - This is one of the coolest stories of the young season. If you read or listen to me or any of us on the baseball beat at TexAgs, you’re fully aware that Aggie legacy Joseph “Moo” Menefee is only about a year removed from Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL in his left (pitching) elbow. Most pitchers don’t make it back to full strength until somewhere between 18-24 months. Moo might not be 100 percent just yet, but you can’t tell when watching him pitch. Childress called him a “big moment guy” this weekend and he sure looks like it. Menefee came on in the eighth inning against TCU with a man on and two outs in a 1-0 game. He faced one batter and got him swinging. Childress went back to Menefee in nearly the exact situation the next day – the tying run on third base and two outs in the eighth inning against UH. Once again, he set down the one hitter he faced via a swinging strikeout. Menefee has been up to 94 MPH with the fastball and has flashed plus stuff and command of his entire pitching mix. Moo saw action in three games last week and tossed 2.2 perfect innings in relief. Six of his eight outs recorded came via strikeout. Bonafide stud.
2B Bryce Blaum - The sophomore Ole Miss transfer and field leader enjoyed a great weekend in Houston, homering on the first pitch of the first inning against Baylor and adding another dinger in the one-run win over UH. He hit .278 in five games last week with the two homers, three RBI and five runs scored. On a team without a single .300 hitter through 13 games, Blaum is having the best season to date offensively. He leads the Aggies in seven offensive categories: hits (15), runs (14), home runs (3), total bases (25), slugging percentage (.490), OPS (.880) and steals (4).
OF Zach DeLoach - The sophomore is quietly turning things around at the plate. He went 4-for-12 (.333) in week three with one RBI and two runs scored. But what’s way more impressive than the hitting totals has been his eye at the plate. He walked seven times last week and struck out just once. DeLoach leads the Aggies with 11 walks – three more than any other player – and has a team-best .419 on-base percentage. That’s 29 percentage points ahead of Blaum. You’ll take an OBP like that from anyone in the lineup – much less from the nine-hole hitter.
OF Logan Foster - The junior went 6-for-19 (.316) last week while hitting in several different spots in the order. Three of his six hits were doubles and he also drove home five runs in five starts in right field. The Lincoln, Nebraska native drew a bases loaded walk against TCU for the only run of the game for either team. Foster elevated his average 23 points to .250 with a quietly impressive week at the plate, while raising his OPS a whopping 122 points to a respectable .726. He leads the team in doubles (3) and RBI (9) and still has more walks (7) than strikeouts (6).
Who’s Not?
OF Cam Blake - The junior can’t catch a break. Blake was unable to play in the field at all last year after shoulder surgery during the Fall of 2017. It caused him to miss almost half the season and relegated him to a DH-only role. He started the ’19 season red hot but then went into concussion protocol after running into the wall attempting to chase down a fly ball. Blake finally returned from that last week and went 1-for-9 (.111) before getting put back on the shelf after cutting the back of his head on the outfield wall in left field during an attempt at a leaping grab in front of the Crawford Boxes on Sunday vs. Houston. His status for this week is unknown, though it does not appear to be a serious injury.
DH Will Frizzell - The sophomore was the victim of several hard-hit balls that fell into the glove of opposing defenders and that caused a significant dip in production. Frizzell went 2-for-13 (.154) with just one RBI last week. Again, some of that was tough luck but this young man is immensely talented and is here to drive in runs and hammer the ball hard to all fields. The barrel count is there but the production must soon follow in an effort to bolster the middle of the A&M lineup.
Other thoughts and notes:
• Until an official announcement is made on lefty starter Jonathan Childress, it’s a situation where you hope for the best but fear the worst. Childress was pulled from the game during warmups entering the fourth inning on Sunday after tossing three no-hit frames against Houston. As he left, he favored his left elbow. The early reports were that it could very well be UCL related and nobody wants to hear that. Rob Childress was asked about the status of his elite freshman after the win over the Cougars: "Had some forearm tightness... An elbow issue. We’ll find out more this week." We’ll ask Childress for an update when he joins me Tuesday at 9:35 on TexAgs Radio.
• So, what happens if Childress is out for an extended period of time? My gut feeling is that Rob Childress would stick with the lefty theme and slide either Chandler Jozwiak or Dustin Saenz into the Sunday slot. Each of them has a Tuesday start under their belt, and while both are key lefties in the bullpen, Rob probably feels he can justify moving Joz or Saenz into a full-time weekend starter role because of how great Menefee has been in back end, short relief stints early in the season.
This is a slightly edited version (due to timeliness and to freshen it up and make it less specific to last week) of what I said last week regarding the need to give Moo Menefee a shot at cracking the lineup and helping out a struggling lineup:
“There’s one man with very limited action positionally that I would love to see crack the lineup to see if he’s ready: Moo Menefee. The elite pitching prospect who is less than a year removed from Tommy John surgery is already making waves on the mound. But Menefee is also a very good hitter and I would personally like to see Will Bolt and Co. offer him a midweek shot. It couldn’t hurt, and the offense could really use a power boost. Moo is talented enough to provide just that.”
Rinse and repeat. I feel the same today as I did last Monday, and both Rob Childress and Will Bolt said on radio that they would also like to give Moo a shot to swing the bat and see if he can kick start the lineup and provide a spark. Let’s see if that happens this week.
• Finally, let’s talk lineup. Bolt and Co. are having a rough time trying to figure out the best fit in the two-hole and cleanup spots. I’m equally as perplexed trying to guess what the best order is right now. I have a good grip on who the top nine guys are, but the order of the lineup is the tough part. With that said, here’s my best crack at it...
1. Blaum - 2B (R)
2. Walters - 1B (L)
3. Shewmake - SS (L)
4. Foster - RF (R)
5. Frizzell / Menefee - DH (L)
6. Hoehner - C (R)
7. Blake - LF (L)
8. T. Coleman - 3B (R)
9. DeLoach - CF (L)
Walters is a barrel-finder and would put a ton of pressure on opposing pitching hitting in a protected role in-between Blaum and Shewmake. The Aggies could do a lot of damage with that trio in the top-third of the order.
• D1B unveiled its latest Top 25 poll on Monday morning and A&M finally cracked the rankings, coming in at No. 20. That feels about right. A&M can do two things at an elite level ... pitch and play defense. The team ERA is 2.08 and the opponents average is .189. Meanwhile, A&M is fielding at a .981 clip and has made just nine errors in 13 games so far. Pitching and defense can win a bunch of games, and if the offense starts to really emerge, this team can make some serious noise in 2019. While the Aggies are 20th nationally right now, they’re ninth among SEC teams and one of 11 teams that cracked the Top 25. It’s a lot like football – a gauntlet every week and hands-down the toughest league in the country.
We learned a lot about this baseball team last week, but there is a lot of growth potential there for the taking as the Aggies inch closer and closer to SEC play. Buckle up – No. 1 Vandy comes to Olsen a week from Friday. It’s gonna be fun.
Are you ready for a good time?
Key notes from Will Bolt interview
- It was good to see us bounce back from a Wednesday loss. We responded the right way and played with a winning mindset and made enough plays. None of the plays were bigger than Bryce Blaum's snag to close out Saturday's game. We had just enough offense, and our pitching has been as good as advertised.
- Bryce is like a shortstop playing second base. Between him and Shewmake up the middle, we have a great duo. I'm not sure if that ball in the ninth would've scored the runner from first, but that still felt like a game-saving play.
- Braden Shewmake is starting to look more comfortable, settling in at the plate. I think his lower-half is what needed to be fixed, and he has definitely done that. Just being more athletic in the box, finding more barrels. Had a big home run on Friday. It really looks like he's starting to move in the right direction.
- The offense has to get better. We need to find the right combination in the lineup, without sacrificing good defense in the field. Pitching and defense give you a shot to win every single day, but we need to cash in on our opportunities at the plate more. If we could deliver a knockout punch at the plate, we could start saving our arms more frequently as a weekend carries on. Blaum has been very consistent, but we need more of that 1-9. It'll be something we continue to work on every time out.
- John Doxakis and Asa Lacy have both been incredible. To see Doxakis mature over his time here at A&M has been fun to watch. His command and body control are so much better now. He can manage the game so well. He always knows the right move to make. When you have an ace like that, it sets up the rest of the weekend. He just pounds the strike zone and that's what he did against Baylor. He gave up the early run, but really nothing after that. Doxakis has also taken Asa under his wing. They knew going into the season they needed to be the strong 1-2 punch for us.
- Cam Blake should be fine. he got stitched up in the dugout last night in the tunnel. Just a pretty good gash, shouldn't be any lasting impact. We're still waiting on an update on Jonathan Childress, but no real update at this time.
- Joseph Menefee is an old soul. He is not a freshman in any facet of his life. He is super competitive, super prepared, and he goes out there and gets outs. He is just a baseball player. He's a guy who can hit too, we'd like to see him get a chance at the plate soon. He is just a winning baseball player.