New Mexico’s Possible Lineups For 2018
How do you replace all the big boppers the Lobos lost to either graduation or the MLB draft? You plug in new ones, of course. That’s what Coach Birmingham has been doing since I’ve followed the MWC so I expect more of the same. But who returns?
Bozar’s Beliefs:
C – Daniel Herrera (SR) – .247 and 1
1B – Austin Bell (JR) – .233 in little time but can play first.
2B – Justin Watari (SO) – .268
SS – Hayden Schilling (JR) – .317 and 2
3B – Garrett Gouldsmith (FR) – For what he did for his sister if nothing else
OF – Beau Capanna (SO) – .299
OF – Jared Mang (JR) – .373 and 9 and a First Team All-MWC pick
OF – Danny Collier (SR) – .328 and 3
DH – Andrew Pratt (JR) – .247 and 3
SP – Austin Isenhart (JR) – 3-2 and 5.88
SP – Jacob Hilton (FR) – a MLB draftee who showed up. Give the kid a shot
SP – James Harrington (SR) – 1-3 and 7.18. Not very good numbers but had 5 starts
RP – Christian Tripp (JR) – 0-3 and 5.14 with 6 saves
Coach’s Comments:
C – Robby Campillo (FR) – Coach said this kid and Herrera might split time
1B – Jeff Deimling (JR) – redshirted in 2017. Hit .405 with 12 at juco
2B – Jared Mang (JR) – a position switch for Mang. A top player in MWC.
SS – Garrett Gouldsmith (FR) – see above
3B – Hayden Schilling (JR) – see above
OF – Larry Letha (JR) – juco transfer where he hit 18 home runs (!) last year
OF – Danny Collier (SR) – see above
OF – Cris Dunn (FR) – redshirted in 2017
DH – Could be anyone
SP – Justin Slaten (SO) – 2-2 and 3.74
SP – Cody Dye (SO) – 1-0 and 3.55 in 12 IP in 2017
SP – Drew Gillespie (SO) – 1-1 and 6.75
RP – Christian Tripp (JR) – see above
Coach is always most helpful to me. Nothing like a little trust and knowing what a cutter is. Anyway, you can see that he has some changes in store for the first game that I didn’t see coming. The rotation is all new and pretty young so he’s taking a bit of a chance there. However, he does have options. Freshman Matthew Rodriguez just might be one of those options. Glad to see the freshman Gouldsmith take on the challenge.
As I stated the offense should not be a problem. A lot of good hitters return but all the pop was supplied by the corner infielders (Stajduhar and Zoellner) and they’re gone. Who picks up the pace in dingers let alone who fills those positions are the two big questions. The rotation loses the three starters that had the bulk of the work. That will be a problem. Isenhart (on my list) is the only pitcher with substantial time on the mound (5 starts) and after that, your guess is good as mine. Closer will again be Christian Tripp as he did a pretty fair job last season.