What really jumps out at me is the similarity between the 2010/ 2011 series with these guys and last season to this season. In 2010, we took a young and injured team down to Tallahassee that was completely overmatched by the Seminoles. I think if we'd played Florida State 20 times with the players we had that weekend, we'd go 0-20. The Noles were loaded that year anyway and wound up in Omaha. When they came to Athens in 2011 though, I knew that we were a much stronger team and that Florida State had lost a few pieces off of their squad from the year before. We stood toe to toe with them in 2011. A colossal miscue by our third base coach cost us a chance to tie on in the 9th inning on Friday night and ended the rally that we started in a 6-0 hole. We won an extremely tight, entertaining game on Saturday, and then lost a late lead Sunday in a game that was over shadowed by the Johnathan Taylor injury.
Last year, we took a team down to Tallahassee that just wasn't ready to win that kind of series. Still, we acquitted ourselves well. I think our team left there feeling better about things.... we hung right with Florida State in both of the games that were played. A couple of bad innings ultimately did us in, but I thought then and think now that we had a good chance to win on Sunday had we played. Now, we get a Florida State team that has lost some guys, is much younger than we saw last year, and appears to be much more beatable. Alex Wood didn't throw a pitch in Tallahassee in 2010 and started on Friday night for us in 2011. Robert Tyler didn't throw a pitch down there last year and gets the ball tomorrow. And just as the last time they came here, Florida State is going to see a team that is a little bit tougher than the one they saw last season.
On Friday, we'll see Mike Compton. The 4th year junior righty was slated to start against us on Sunday last season. Compton missed 2013 following Tommy John surgery, but had a great freshman year in 2012. He kept Florida State's season alive in Omaha by pitching the Nole to win over darling Stoney Brook. Compton would go 12-2 as a freshman with a 2.87 ERA. He threw 91 innings that season and posted a 64/28 K/BB. He started 18 games for Florida State as a true freshman. That alone is very impressive. He was good last year, but not quite up to the level of his freshman campaign. For 2014, he made 15 appearances, all starts, and posted a 3.23 ERA and 7-3 record. He threw 83 2/3 innings, struck out 50 and allowed 19 walks. Last weekend against Oakland University (of Michigan), Compton went 6 innings and allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, with 6 K's and no walks. This morning, Scott Stricklin likened him to Derrick Lowe in that he throws a lot of sinkers and curveballs and gets a ton of movement. He's a tough guy to square up. We didn't have much of a problem making very solid contact with Johansmeier last Friday from Eastern Illinois. It's going to be a lot tougher for us to do that against this guy. Compton hails from Branson Missouri.
In the early game Saturday, we'll see sophomore Boomer Biegalski. This righty is built like a bean pole at 6'2, 165 lbs. He hails from Tallahassee and spent last season at College of Central Florida. This guy throws a fastball, change up and slider from what I've been able to find and primarily used his fastball and change last weekend. He also can throw a curveball, but apparently doesn't use it much. He had a pretty good debut for the Noles last weekend going 5 innings and allowing 7 hits and 2 runs. He also struck out 9 and walked 1 batter. To square away his Patrick Boling like line, he also hit 2 batters. So, I count 10 base runners in 5 innings. This guy wouldn't be Florida State's Saturday guy if he wasn't really good, though.
In the night cap Saturday, we'll see true freshman Cobi Johnson, a tall and skinny righty from Holiday Florida. His bio mentions that his father, Dane Johnson, reached the major league level and played with the White Sox, Blue Jays, and Athletics. From what I could find, he's got a good fastball that he regularly throws in the low 90s with soem good sinking action. He has a very good curve as well. His change up was not very well developed out of high school, but it wouldn't surprise if it has improved since last summer. This guy is a big time talent and I'd bet that we'll see him starting on Friday nights for Florida State next season. Last weekend, he went 5 innings against Oakland and allowed 2 hits, no runs, and struck out 6 while walking 2.
I respectfully disagree with the statement below that Florida State's bullpen is weak. They aren't Vanderbilt, but they've got some guys down there (it looks like the damage done to them by Jacksonville came against Florida State's B guys). With the spectacularly over-rated Jameis Winston no longer playing baseball for Florida State, I'm not sure who they'd use in save situation this weekend. Alec Byrd, Dylan Silva, and Jim Voyles appear to be Florida State's A crew. Voyles is a righty. Byrd and Silva and both lefties. Jim Voyles brother Ed Voyles also plays for Florida State. I imagine they they are of the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Voyles. Also, lefty Billy Strode did some good work against us last season.
Offensively, the Noles are lead by their OF. DJ Stewart lead the acc is average, OBP, and slugging percentage a season ago. The stocky left handed junior hails from Yulee Florida and played at the Bolles School. Sean McLaughlin made one really bad pitch last season in Tallahassee and unfortunately, made it to Stewart who took it VERY deep. This guy isn't Jason Heyward in the OF, but he moves better than you would think given his build. We'll see him in LF and hitting 3rd. He's the #4 2015 prospect in the acc as named by Baseball America. Stewart is off to a hot start on this young season, hitting .500/.684/.667 and has already drawn 7 walks against 2 strike outs.
CF Ben DeLuzio will hit 2nd for Florida State this weekend. The sophomore is the #3 2016 prospect in the acc by Baseball America. I remember being impressed with him last year in Tallahassee. He's 6'3, 190 pounds and runs very well. He hails from Windermere Florida. DeLuzio is off to a slower start this year, hitting .188/.278/.188. He has K'd 7 times in 16 ABs. Don't let that fool you though, this guy can handle the bat.
C Danny De La Calle won't wow anyone with his offensive prowess (though he's off to a very good .385/.467/.615 start to the year). We'll see the senior catcher hitting out of the 9 hole in all probability. He's a very good defensive catcher, may be the slowest player that we saw all of last season, but he can get a big hit when they need him to. He strikes me as the kind of guy that you can get out 10 times in a row, then he'll come up with the bases loaded and hit a 3 run double. He's outstanding defensively.
Florida State is young around their IF. Lots of true freshmen will see time for them this weekend, including Crisp County's own Taylor Walls, who we will probably see at SS. I read that Crisp County HS cancelled a game this weekend so they could bring their team to Athens to see Walls and Robert Tyler. That's pretty neat. Last season Florida State had a 5th year senior in Justin Gonzalez at SS. Now they have a true freshman. Last year they had a junior or senior (forget which) named Jose Brizeula at 3rd base. Now they'll have a freshman there. They had an upper classman at 1st, hitting out of the 5 hole last season. Now they've got a freshman there. It's not that these young guys aren't good players, but it's hard to replace that kind of experience and not miss a step. Offensively between Steward, De Luzio, and Josh Delph, their OF is really good... arguably as good as we'll see this year offensively. But it looks like we can pitch to some of their infielders. They don't appear to be quite as left hand heavy as they were hitting wise last season.
They are 7/9 in stolen bases on the young year. In 4 games, their opposition has only attempted 1 steal, which was successful. It'll be interesting to see how much we challenge their pitchers and De La Calle on the bases this weekend.
This is a series that I expect us to win. Florida State is a good team, but they aren't a dominant team this year. You can count on these guys playing well and not beating themselves, though.... One thing you can say for Mike Martin teams is that you're going to have to earn it against them. Stricklin this morning said that Martin does a great job of "making them believe that they're good." I don't know that Eastern Illinois really expected to compete with us last weekend.... They'd only been outside one time in all of 2015.... I think that weekend was more about them getting some work in and getting their feet wet for the long season. Florida State is going to get off the bus tomorrow afternoon fully expecting to beat us. That mentality can carry you so far. We've got a chance to make a real statement around the country this weekend... and so do they. I'm expecting 27 great innings of baseball this weekend.
Last year, we took a team down to Tallahassee that just wasn't ready to win that kind of series. Still, we acquitted ourselves well. I think our team left there feeling better about things.... we hung right with Florida State in both of the games that were played. A couple of bad innings ultimately did us in, but I thought then and think now that we had a good chance to win on Sunday had we played. Now, we get a Florida State team that has lost some guys, is much younger than we saw last year, and appears to be much more beatable. Alex Wood didn't throw a pitch in Tallahassee in 2010 and started on Friday night for us in 2011. Robert Tyler didn't throw a pitch down there last year and gets the ball tomorrow. And just as the last time they came here, Florida State is going to see a team that is a little bit tougher than the one they saw last season.
On Friday, we'll see Mike Compton. The 4th year junior righty was slated to start against us on Sunday last season. Compton missed 2013 following Tommy John surgery, but had a great freshman year in 2012. He kept Florida State's season alive in Omaha by pitching the Nole to win over darling Stoney Brook. Compton would go 12-2 as a freshman with a 2.87 ERA. He threw 91 innings that season and posted a 64/28 K/BB. He started 18 games for Florida State as a true freshman. That alone is very impressive. He was good last year, but not quite up to the level of his freshman campaign. For 2014, he made 15 appearances, all starts, and posted a 3.23 ERA and 7-3 record. He threw 83 2/3 innings, struck out 50 and allowed 19 walks. Last weekend against Oakland University (of Michigan), Compton went 6 innings and allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, with 6 K's and no walks. This morning, Scott Stricklin likened him to Derrick Lowe in that he throws a lot of sinkers and curveballs and gets a ton of movement. He's a tough guy to square up. We didn't have much of a problem making very solid contact with Johansmeier last Friday from Eastern Illinois. It's going to be a lot tougher for us to do that against this guy. Compton hails from Branson Missouri.
In the early game Saturday, we'll see sophomore Boomer Biegalski. This righty is built like a bean pole at 6'2, 165 lbs. He hails from Tallahassee and spent last season at College of Central Florida. This guy throws a fastball, change up and slider from what I've been able to find and primarily used his fastball and change last weekend. He also can throw a curveball, but apparently doesn't use it much. He had a pretty good debut for the Noles last weekend going 5 innings and allowing 7 hits and 2 runs. He also struck out 9 and walked 1 batter. To square away his Patrick Boling like line, he also hit 2 batters. So, I count 10 base runners in 5 innings. This guy wouldn't be Florida State's Saturday guy if he wasn't really good, though.
In the night cap Saturday, we'll see true freshman Cobi Johnson, a tall and skinny righty from Holiday Florida. His bio mentions that his father, Dane Johnson, reached the major league level and played with the White Sox, Blue Jays, and Athletics. From what I could find, he's got a good fastball that he regularly throws in the low 90s with soem good sinking action. He has a very good curve as well. His change up was not very well developed out of high school, but it wouldn't surprise if it has improved since last summer. This guy is a big time talent and I'd bet that we'll see him starting on Friday nights for Florida State next season. Last weekend, he went 5 innings against Oakland and allowed 2 hits, no runs, and struck out 6 while walking 2.
I respectfully disagree with the statement below that Florida State's bullpen is weak. They aren't Vanderbilt, but they've got some guys down there (it looks like the damage done to them by Jacksonville came against Florida State's B guys). With the spectacularly over-rated Jameis Winston no longer playing baseball for Florida State, I'm not sure who they'd use in save situation this weekend. Alec Byrd, Dylan Silva, and Jim Voyles appear to be Florida State's A crew. Voyles is a righty. Byrd and Silva and both lefties. Jim Voyles brother Ed Voyles also plays for Florida State. I imagine they they are of the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Voyles. Also, lefty Billy Strode did some good work against us last season.
Offensively, the Noles are lead by their OF. DJ Stewart lead the acc is average, OBP, and slugging percentage a season ago. The stocky left handed junior hails from Yulee Florida and played at the Bolles School. Sean McLaughlin made one really bad pitch last season in Tallahassee and unfortunately, made it to Stewart who took it VERY deep. This guy isn't Jason Heyward in the OF, but he moves better than you would think given his build. We'll see him in LF and hitting 3rd. He's the #4 2015 prospect in the acc as named by Baseball America. Stewart is off to a hot start on this young season, hitting .500/.684/.667 and has already drawn 7 walks against 2 strike outs.
CF Ben DeLuzio will hit 2nd for Florida State this weekend. The sophomore is the #3 2016 prospect in the acc by Baseball America. I remember being impressed with him last year in Tallahassee. He's 6'3, 190 pounds and runs very well. He hails from Windermere Florida. DeLuzio is off to a slower start this year, hitting .188/.278/.188. He has K'd 7 times in 16 ABs. Don't let that fool you though, this guy can handle the bat.
C Danny De La Calle won't wow anyone with his offensive prowess (though he's off to a very good .385/.467/.615 start to the year). We'll see the senior catcher hitting out of the 9 hole in all probability. He's a very good defensive catcher, may be the slowest player that we saw all of last season, but he can get a big hit when they need him to. He strikes me as the kind of guy that you can get out 10 times in a row, then he'll come up with the bases loaded and hit a 3 run double. He's outstanding defensively.
Florida State is young around their IF. Lots of true freshmen will see time for them this weekend, including Crisp County's own Taylor Walls, who we will probably see at SS. I read that Crisp County HS cancelled a game this weekend so they could bring their team to Athens to see Walls and Robert Tyler. That's pretty neat. Last season Florida State had a 5th year senior in Justin Gonzalez at SS. Now they have a true freshman. Last year they had a junior or senior (forget which) named Jose Brizeula at 3rd base. Now they'll have a freshman there. They had an upper classman at 1st, hitting out of the 5 hole last season. Now they've got a freshman there. It's not that these young guys aren't good players, but it's hard to replace that kind of experience and not miss a step. Offensively between Steward, De Luzio, and Josh Delph, their OF is really good... arguably as good as we'll see this year offensively. But it looks like we can pitch to some of their infielders. They don't appear to be quite as left hand heavy as they were hitting wise last season.
They are 7/9 in stolen bases on the young year. In 4 games, their opposition has only attempted 1 steal, which was successful. It'll be interesting to see how much we challenge their pitchers and De La Calle on the bases this weekend.
This is a series that I expect us to win. Florida State is a good team, but they aren't a dominant team this year. You can count on these guys playing well and not beating themselves, though.... One thing you can say for Mike Martin teams is that you're going to have to earn it against them. Stricklin this morning said that Martin does a great job of "making them believe that they're good." I don't know that Eastern Illinois really expected to compete with us last weekend.... They'd only been outside one time in all of 2015.... I think that weekend was more about them getting some work in and getting their feet wet for the long season. Florida State is going to get off the bus tomorrow afternoon fully expecting to beat us. That mentality can carry you so far. We've got a chance to make a real statement around the country this weekend... and so do they. I'm expecting 27 great innings of baseball this weekend.
