Diamond Notes: Shewmake rakes as Aggies sweep Kentucky, climb to No. 10
The suddenly-surging Aggie baseball team has risen to No. 10 in the D1Baseball.com poll after a 4-0 week that included a blowout home win over a rebuilding Rice team and a sweep at Kentucky. Texas A&M is riding a six-game winning streak and sits tied atop the SEC West standings with defending national runner-up Arkansas at 5-1 through two weeks of league play. It was a special week for the Aggies with lots of highlights and heroes across the board. Here are my Monday afternoon thoughts, notes, stats and interesting nuggets on the A&M team coming out of the sweep at Kentucky...
Hitter of the Week:
SS Braden Shewmake | 12-for-20 (.600); 2 doubles; 2 home runs; 9 RBI; 7 runs
The junior All-American shortstop has been showing signs of erupting for several weeks. But he put it all together in Lexington and had, quite possibly, the best weekend of his incredible Aggie career. After going 2-for-4 vs. Rice to open the week, Shew collected 10 hits in the series with the Wildcats.
He was literally foul line to foul line, hammering balls all over the field on a line. And when UK threw him a mistake pitch out over the middle of the plate, he tattooed it either over the fence or into the gap for extra bases and run-scoring production. Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of Shewmake’s series vs. Kentucky:
Friday: 3-for-5; HR; 3 RBI; 2 runs
Saturday: 2-for-5; HR; 4 RBI; 1 run
Sunday: 5-for-6; double; 2 RBI; 2 run
The Sunday game was his best game of the series, despite Shew not homering and not driving in as many runs as he did on Friday and Saturday. It’s the rare five-hit game. These are games that every baseball player remembers and takes with them. You know you’re going great at the plate when, in a game of failure where you’re an All-American if you succeed between three and four times every 10 trips to the plate, you find a way to reach first base safely via a batted ball in five at bats in a single contest. You can’t fake a five-hit day. You can struggle mightily and still get into a ball with three men on base and muscle it over the fence for a four-RBI game. But a five-hit game is an elite game. Shewmake is an elite player who is now back to truly playing the game at an elite level right now.
Shew’s average is back up where it needs to be. He leads the team with a .336 average and is also the club leader in hits (36), triples (3), RBI (27), total bases (56) and slugging percentage (.523). His .906 OPS trails only Bryce Blaum’s .940 OPS for the team lead. He also trails only Blaum (8-for-9) in stolen bases (6-for-6).
Exceptional player. Outstanding career. Turning it on of late. A WHOLE lot more to come.
Pitcher of the Week:
LHP Asa Lacy | 6.0 IP; 3 H; 1 R; 1 ER; 3 BB; 13 K
The sophomore from Johnny Land (Tivy Fight Never Dies) keeps getting better and better, and turned in one of his more overpowering outings Saturday in Lexington. Lacy fanned 13 batters over six innings and was constantly able to utilize his plus-plus fastball to get swing-and-miss when he had to have it. Take the fourth inning for example. The Aggies are leading, 4-1, but UK gets the first two on to open the frame ... one via a single and the other via a fielding error by Lacy covering first base. With runners at the corners and nobody out, Lacy locked in and proceeded to strike out the next three batters in a row to retire the side and get out of the mini-jam unscathed. The fastball is upper-tier and will likely get him taken in the first round of the 2020 Draft. But the young man has really learned how to pitch under the tutelage of head coach and pitching coach Rob Childress. He’s got a plus curve ball and a developing changeup, and is growing every day in his feel to pitch and ability to rise up and get big outs when the chips are down and the pressure mounts. That’s the mark of a winner and a college arm that you can ride.
Lacy is now 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He leads the A&M team with 56 strikeouts ... 11 more Ks than fellow lefty co-ace John Doxakis. His 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings is second on the team (Miller is at 14.9 Ks per nine) and his K/BB ratio is inching close to 4/1. Opponents are hitting just .154 off of Lacy in 2019.
Who’s Hot?
2B Bryce Blaum - The sophomore Ole Miss transfer won’t get nearly the publicity that Shewmake will get after what he did in Lexington but he quietly hit the cover off the baseball last week. Lost in Shew’s four-RBI game on Saturday and five-hit game on Sunday was Blaum’s 4-for-4 afternoon on Saturday in which he reached base in all five trips to the plate. He doubled twice, tripled twice, drove in four runs and scored nine more last week ... hitting .500 (9-for-18) in the four games. It’s hard to lose a player like Michael Helman and not take a major step back in the leadoff spot.
But Blaum has stepped right in and given the Aggies very similar production as what they got from Helman a year ago. And he does it with a burning fire and competitiveness that has penetrated the clubhouse and has profoundly impacted the mindset and makeup of this baseball team. Blaum is second on the team in average (.327) and leads the Aggies in runs (32), homers (4), on-base percentage (.421) and stolen bases (8-for-9).
C Mikey Hoehner - The junior transfer from Cisco JC caught all four games last week and went 6-for-16 (.375) with six RBI, including his first major college home run in Saturday’s win at UK. The Houston area product has hit all over A&M’s lineup but may be finding himself a home in the lower-third of the order after the recent emergence of Jonathan Ducoff and a potential reappearance of important lefty bat Will Frizzell in the middle of the lineup. Hoehner has been steady-Eddie behind the plate and at the plate for the Aggies. He’s this year’s Michael Barash and is making a huge impact on the 2019 A&M team. He leads the team in walks (16) and is second on the team with a .416 OBP. Hoehner boasts a salty .298 / .416 / .393 slashline through 26 games to go along with the above average defense behind the dish.
LHP Moo Menefee - The freshman came on in two critical moments in the Kentucky series and was lights out in both situations. Menefee tossed a pair of scoreless frames in the 5-3 win on Friday, allowing just one hit with no walks and three strikeouts. Thankfully, Moo needed just 20 pitches to get through his two innings because on Sunday, working on just one day’s rest, Menefee was called upon once again on very short notice after right-hander Christian Roa failed to get out of the first inning. Down 2-0 with Kentucky off and running in the first, the big left-hander came on and immediately retired the first batter he faced to get the Aggies back in the dugout. He proceeded to toss 3.1 scoreless innings of one-hit baseball. He did walk his first two batters of the season but punched out three to improve to 2-0 on the mound. Many of you have already taken notice of what A&M has in this young man. In case you haven’t, you’re looking at a potential first rounder in 2021 with unreal stuff, elite command of the strike zone and a competitiveness that runs at a 10-level all day, every day. Menefee has the ERA down to 2.03. He’s allowed three earned runs on just nine hits in his first 13.1 innings of college work over 10 relief outings. That includes a cool 9/1 K/BB ratio ... 18 strikeouts and just two free passes. Opponents are hitting a paltry .180 against him.
Thirteen. Months. Removed. From. Tommy. John. Surgery.
How good will this kid be in, say, a year from now? Or a month, even?
RHP Bryce Miller - The sophomore transfer from Blinn had the fastball cooking at up to 97 MPH on the gun at Kentucky’s new ball park and was flat dominant in two weekend outings. Miller came on in the sixth inning in place of Doxakis on Friday night and tossed a scoreless frame, striking out a pair. Then on Sunday, Miller worked the final three innings in the blowout win over the ‘Cats, allowing no runs on two hits with a walk an seven strikeouts to pick up the three-inning save. The tall, lanky right-hander has become this year’s Andrew Vinson. Not a closer but certainly could and would be a closer on a bunch of teams in the SEC. Miller has ever-improving pitchability to go along with wipeout stuff, and his 14.9 Ks per nine innings (31 strikeouts in 18.2 IP) leads the entire team. Opponents are hitting just .164 against him this season.
LHP Chandler Jozwiak - The sophomore is emerging as an all-important do-it-all lefty for Rob Childress and Co. He worked 2.1 scoreless and hitless innings in relief of Chris Weber on Tuesday night, fanning five to pick up the pitching win. Then on Saturday, the Brenham native tossed the final three innings in relief of Lacy for the extended save. He gave up a run on two hits but Kd four with no walks in the outing. Joz is 3-1 with a 2.28 ERA on the season. He’s struck out 36 hitters in 23.2 innings (13.7 Ks per nine innings ... third on the team). He needs to cut down on the free bases (12 walks and five hit batsmen) but Jozwiak’s progression from year one to year two has been one of the big mound developments thus far in ’19.
RHP Kasey Kalich - The sophomore Blinn transfer, a summer signee who made the 45-minute trek up FM 50 along with former JUCO teammate Bryce Miller, worked just once last week in his closer’s role but was spectacular. Kalich tossed an inning on Friday night to close out a 5-3 win and pick up save number six on the season. Much like Blaum effectively replacing the production of Helman in the leadoff spot and at second base, Kalich’s ability to make us all sort of forget how good Nolan Hoffman was last year has been pretty mind-blowing. Hoffman had one of the very best relief seasons in Rob Childress’ coaching career, but Kalich has been every bit as good in ’19 as Hoffman was in ’18. He’s 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA and six saves. He’s allowed just six hits in 12.1 frames over 10 relief appearances. Kalich has struck out 18 batters and walked just three. His .143 opponents’ average leads the entire squad.
Who’s Not?
RHP Christian Roa - It’s hard to call last week’s SEC pitcher of the week “not hot.” But I try to look specifically week-to-week, and in doing that, Roa would certainly fit into the not hot category for this week.
The sophomore got roughed up on Sunday afternoon in game three of the Kentucky series and had to come out of the game in the first inning. He allowed two hard hits and a pair of walks and left the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the first and with two runs already home for the ‘Cats. Thankfully, Menefee came on and got the Aggies out of the jam and limited the damage. It’s hard to put a finger on Roa’s ineffectiveness in the game at UK because he entered Sunday’s action as hot as any arm in the league. Here’s hoping the talented right-hander bounces back this weekend against Mizzou and carries his momentum forward from here.
OF Cam Blake - The junior went 3-for-17 (.176) last week in four starts hitting in the two-hole. While nearly everyone up and down the lineup enjoyed a big weekend at Kentucky, Blake struggled for the most part but did manage to get a hit in each of the three games on the road. With the rough week last week, his average dipped from a team-best .340 to .297. He also struck out four times last week, which is not something you typically see from the lefty bat in a given week. The A&M coaching staff has been in a desperate search for answers to the two-hole conundrum since Opening Day. They’ve tried Hoehner, Logan Foster, Blake and Ty Coleman in that spot in-between Blaum and Shewmake. And while you would think anyone would experience better numbers when sandwiched in-between that duo, the two-hole production has not been there much at all, consistently. Blake will likely continue to see action near the top of the order but Hoehner is a candidate to get another crack at it if Blake struggles again this week.
Other thoughts and notes:
- One thing that all hitting coaches look for in their lineup is depth and length. The two terms have different meanings but both are important. Depth is just what you think it is and exactly what we think of when we talk about depth in other sports. It’s having multiple players at various positions battling for spots and performing in such a way that you have suitable options at said spots in case of injury or to fill in for a player that isn’t going well at any given time. Length in a lineup refers to how dangerous your order is 1-9. At lot of lineups in college baseball have three or four guys - typically in the top-half of the order - that scare you. And in college baseball, with just 11.7 scholarships, it’s very tough to build a lot of length in your lineup. But taking a look at the current A&M lineup and how it’s constructed, there is a chance to have a very long lineup moving forward. One that does not allow a pitcher to come up for air 1-9. With Blake hitting second and Ducoff hitting cleanup and playing center field, it moves Foster and Hoehner down in the order. On Sunday, the coaches wrote up a lineup that included Ty Coleman and Will Frizzell hitting in the five-hole and six-hole, respectively. That left Hoehner hitting seventh (two hits and four RBI), Foster hitting eighth (two hits and one RBI) and Hunter Coleman hitting ninth (two hits, one double, one homer and two RBI). With the elder Coleman showing subtle signs of turning the corner, you have four guys who have seen a significant amount time in the four-hole in their career hitting sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth. That’s the definition of lineup length. Now all they have to do is produce. That’s the easy part, right?
- How about the bullpen numbers from last week: 21.2 innings; 12 hits; 7 runs (6 earned); 9 walks; 29 strikeouts. Nine different guys saw action in relief last week ... five lefties and four right-handers. Of all that the Aggies have going for itself right now, bullpen depth is right there among the top of the list in terms of team strengths. If I were to “power rank” the bullpen arms, it would probably look like this right now..
- Kalich (RHP) - 1-0; 0.73
- Miller (RHP) - 3-0; 2.41
- Menefee (LHP) - 2-0; 2.03
- Jozwiak (LHP) - 3-1; 2.28
- Saenz (LHP) - 1-0; 2.70
- Weber (LHP) - 1-0; 5.09
- Birdsell (RHP) - 0-0; 4.91
- Cole (RHP) - 0-0; 5.40
- Richardson (LHP) - 0-0; 3.86
- Nelson (RHP) - 0-0; 0.00
That’s four lights out arms right now plus four more power arms with serious stuff that just need innings and time to put it all together. You won’t find many fifth relievers as talented as Saenz or seventh and eight relievers even close to the talent level of Birdsell and Cole.
More pitching superlatives, statistically speaking...
- 9 arms with an ERA under 2.50.
- 10 arms with fewer hits allowed than innings pitched.
- 10 arms with a 3/1 K/BB ratio or better.
- 10 arms and an opponents’ average at .250 or lower.
One sneaky area of concern is the recent sloppiness with the gloves. The Aggies have been great defensively all year long but made seven errors last week, including at least one miscue in each of the four games and three errors Saturday’s game at UK. The fielding percentage was north of .980 - considered elite by any standard - but has dipped to a respectable .975. That is still good but I’d like to see A&M get back to picking it and playing catch at an air tight level this week, with four games against average competition (Lamar and Missouri) at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
As for the lineup, I wouldn’t do a lot differently this week. Roll with Blake again in the two-hole but I consider giving Hoehner another shot up there if Blake struggles in that spot this week. I like it like this for now...
- Blaum - 2B (R)
- Blake - LF (L)
- Shewmake - SS (L)
- Ducoff - CF (R)
- T. Coleman - 3B (R)
- Frizzell - DH (L)
- Hoehner - C (R)
- Foster - RF (R)
- H. Coleman - 1B (R)
Life’s good right now for Childress' squad. The Aggies are one of five teams from the SEC ranked in the D1B top 10, coming in at No. 10. The RPI is up to No. 19 nationally and on a rapid rise. With every Vandy win - and they swept Florida last weekend - that number will continue to grow and will look better and better as Vandy continues to play better and better. The Aggies are in first place in the West, along with Arkansas at 5-1 in league play. The SEC competition level really begins to rise after this coming weekend’s series against Mizzou. It would be huge to see the Aggies at least claim two wins vs. the Tigers to get to 7-2 or better in the league prior to April gauntlet that includes series against LSU, Auburn, South Carolina and Ole Miss … three of those four series on the road. The key to making a real run toward an SEC title in ’19 is the record entering that Murderer’s Row. At 7-2 or 8-1, the Aggies could go 6-6 during that 12-game conference stretch in April and come out of it five or six games above .500 entering the stretch run in May. That is why this weekend’s series against Mizzou is extremely important.
David Sandhop will have a full preview of the Aggies and Tigers this weekend at Olsen Field in his report coming out on Friday.
Key notes from Justin Seely interview
- I thought our ability to answer from being down was excellent on Sunday. We responded well when we faced some adversity on the road at Kentucky. Asa Lacy was fabulous and John Doxakis was really solid for us. On Sunday, Joseph Menefee really buckled down when Kentucky was hot and was crucial in stopping some of their early momentum. We’re really starting to round into a far more complete team. We’re growing into a much better team offensively and closer to fulfilling our potential at the plate.
- We want our main guys to feel comfortable in their roles, but at the same time we need to get other guys playing time so they can be prepared when we need them. If we give them some playing time now, they’ll be far more prepared to step up if someone goes down or when we need them in a crucial moment. I’m looking forward to getting some young guys more opportunities.
- I felt like every time Braden Shewmake stepped up to bat he would be on second or crossing home plate after three pitches. He has gotten to the point where he’s finally learned that baseball is a game and it should be fun.
- Ty Coleman and Will Frizzell were key this weekend, and we need them to be good in every aspect in order to be successful. They don’t need to lead the SEC in hits, but they need to bring a presence to the plate. Baseball is a sport where you feed off your teammates success, so when they’re hitting well and bringing a presence to the plate it spurs the whole team.
- Our bullpen really showed up this weekend and saved us on Sunday. Christian Roa struggled this weekend, but baseball is a humbling game. You’re not going to be at your best every single week. One week you can be the SEC pitcher of the week, the next you can’t find any consistency. We’re able to overcome that because our bullpen is so reliable. We have so many guys that we can call on that can come in and give us a solid, reliable outing.
- We typically have a very good gauge over who will have success on Sunday based off the previous two games. Coach Childress does such a great job of mixing and matching pitching to stifle the other teams batting.
- We need to be the best that we can be next week. We will respect our opponent and do our due diligence on the other teams, but it’s really about us and how we play. We have to make sure we renew our commitment everyday to each other.