2017 Season Expectations

[dotnet]

I go back and forth on how I feel about the 2017 season.  I either go from extreme optimism to very hesitant to expect anything. The more I think about it - I am convincing myself that the lineup will be okay. 

You expect Bonfield and Shaddy to be your typical stud SEC players - 425/550 (OBP/SLG)
Then from last year and listening to DVH, it seems we can be confident that Koch and Biggers will be really good players - 400+ OBP guys

That is four really good players, with the bonus that three of them are up the middle players.  That is a huge advantage. 

Then you really are just looking at needing 2-3 of the following to really develop into average to above average SEC players to have a really stout lineup:

Spanberger
Gates (hurt)
Cole
Lee
Arledge
Fletcher
McFarland
- or one of the other newcomers


There are reasons to love each of these guys, so the chance of having a stout line up - a phrase I've said every year for the last few - seems pretty high. 

I believe this lineup will do really well out of conference - I am mainly just worried about being able to produce in conference games against SEC pitching


On a pitching side - I think things are different.  There are a ton of arms - but there is no one who is proven to be able to go toe to toe with some of the 1-2 punches some teams can throw on Friday and Saturday night. 

For this team to be good on the mound, 2 of Campbell, Stephens, Knight, and Taccolini have to really become studs in my mind to give you a chance on the weekend. 

After that, there are so many 1st or 2nd year pitchers that you don't really know who can contribute and who will make a jump to be a quality SEC arm.  I like that there is a lot of high quality talent at least that we can hope on. 

I am tired of this nervous optimism though - I just want Friday to get here.

[PigWig]

I think this will be a tournament team, but we're probably still a year away from being good enough to host a regional or be a national seed.  I love the 1-2 punch of Knight and Campbell, and I'm also looking forward to seeing what Stephan has.  I think the lineup will be solid, but I am concerned about the injuries we've already sustained.

[TikiHog]

I hope I'm wrong but I see us as a bubble team at best

[Kevin]

I just like the fact it is a bunch of no names, outside bonfield & shaddy.  usually are better teams are like that

[bulldog04]

I expect this lineup to make more contact and strike a lot less than less year.  I also expect the pitching staff to throw more strikes and walk less with more velocity.  So my expectation is 10-15 game swing compared to last year which will put us comfortably in the tournament as a 2 or 3 seed.

[Earnhardt]

If we can get 4-5 guys who can hit over .300 this year I would feel pretty good about the season. I expect Bonfield, Shaddy, Koch, Arlidge, and maybe Gates once he returns from injury to hit over .300 this year. Having a catcher than can also hit will be big. I'm excited about some of the new guys we have, especially McFarland in center field but I want to wait and see how he adjusts form high school to college. I can see him hitting around .270-.280 and striking out quite a bit and making a big jump next year.

I also expect Knight and Campbell to have big years and am looking forward to watching Stephen pitch this Saturday. I like our depth in the bullpen as well.

I say we finish 39-26 and 16-14 in the SEC and get a 2 seed at a regional.

GO HOGS!

[Iwastherein1969]

Shaddy has a big chance to be POY in the SEC this coming season...I just have a feeling he's going to barrel-up on a lot of pitches this year

[PintailKiller]

I expect this lineup to make more contact and strike a lot less than less year.  I also expect the pitching staff to throw more strikes and walk less with more velocity.  So my expectation is 10-15 game swing compared to last year which will put us comfortably in the tournament as a 2 or 3 seed.

I agree with this assessment.  Look for a couple of the Fr to step up by conference play.

[bhogs05]

I think we will have a pretty good year by year end. I actually thought we could make some noise this year but seeing and hearing some people talk about the team it sounds like alot of people don't think we will be great. I still think we will make the tourney again though..Van Horn teams usually play really well when picked low to start the year.  We have plenty of arms..just hope the young pitchers can step up and hopefully our older position guys can have solid seasons.

[tennesseehogwild]

If we can get 4-5 guys who can hit over .300 this year I would feel pretty good about the season. I expect Bonfield, Shaddy, Koch, Arlidge, and maybe Gates once he returns from injury to hit over .300 this year. Having a catcher than can also hit will be big. I'm excited about some of the new guys we have, especially McFarland in center field but I want to wait and see how he adjusts form high school to college. I can see him hitting around .270-.280 and striking out quite a bit and making a big jump next year.

I also expect Knight and Campbell to have big years and am looking forward to watching Stephen pitch this Saturday. I like our depth in the bullpen as well.
I say we finish 39-26 and 16-14 in the SEC and get a 2 seed at a regional.




I will take this right now...


GO HOGS!

[BroyledNutts]

There's a vast difference between what I "expect" to see and what I "hope" to see in 2017 ... and I'm afraid this is going to come across as negative, but I don't necessarily mean it that way...

I expect a good amount of small ball
I expect a lot of called third strikes
I expect a lot of pop fly outs and weak dribblers
I expect to struggle at the plate once conference season starts
I expect to struggle in road games
I expect the pitching staff to do well against lesser programs, and struggle against highly ranked teams
I expect inexperienced players to kick it around a little
I expect a stiff wind blowing in for most of the season
I expect Sodexo pricing for a stale hot dog and a flat coke
I expect my ass to be in my seat 10 minutes early and for no less than 30 home games this year
I expect 3 or more months of Razorback Baseball with all the highs and lows that come with it
I expect hot RBI girls to keep my spirits up
I expect to have reasonable, entertaining, and respectable discussions of this team and this season on EI with guys I like and respect
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope for a .300 or better team batting average
I hope for a team fielding percentage of .978 or better
I hope for a team ERA of 3.35 or less
I hope for a conference record of 2-1 per series
I hope for Baum to host a Regional
I hope for baseball in June

[Knot2brite]

34-22 regular season....lots of youngins out there and some oldies from last year...I say we go to a regional

[goodguytex]

I expect and hope this team to fight every play, every inning and every game. I'm hoping for solid coaching, good small ball, and for the team as a group to fight hard.

I don't expect us to win conference, and we will probably barely make the NCAA tourney and might not last long. But we should be a fun team to watch grow up before our eyes and fight every game.

[justmaybe]

I was expecting a 3-4 seed then I noticed that schedule wise we don't play Florida or Carolina from the east and we get Vanderbilt at home.

That gives us probably 4 more wins assuming we are pretty decent. Makes us a 2-3 seed. And who knows if we get a spark the schedule make let us make a run if the pitching comes through better than I hope for

[BigBrandonAllenFan]

To expect less than Omaha is to have mediocre expectations of oneself.  If I'm on the team I expect to fight my way back to Omaha.

[jry04]

Shaddy has a big chance to be POY in the SEC this coming season...I just have a feeling he's going to barrel-up on a lot of pitches this year

Unfortunately he has to play defense, too. He has very little chance to be the POY. Should have a big season at the plate, though.

[dotnet]

Unfortunately he has to play defense, too. He has very little chance to be the POY. Should have a big season at the plate, though.

Assuming he isn't terrible, do you really think voters are going to not vote for someone based on defense?  I get if someone else is an excellent defender and it breaks a relative tie... but its hard to imagine that being the deciding factor with how much thought seemingly doesn't go into these things.

[jry04]

Assuming he isn't terrible, do you really think voters are going to not vote for someone based on defense?  I get if someone else is an excellent defender and it breaks a relative tie... but its hard to imagine that being the deciding factor with how much thought seemingly doesn't go into these things.

I do not see him hitting well enough to get the POY, and his defense is not great. He is a solid college player, but probably will not even be first team all-SEC. I do not think we need him to be to be good, though.