Max Belyeu Named Baseball America Preseason Second Team All-American

[Blake Munroe]

 

Belyeu was also voted to have the "Best Outfield Arm" by BA.

[.45s]

Interesting about his arm, because I am pretty sure that I read somewhere last season that his arm was average.  Maybe a high school scouting report.  I saw him make several throws and his arm seemed pretty good to me and it made me question those old reviews.  

[jkates]

My son - corner OF and LHH - is excited to watch Max this year. 

[Jerry K]

3 hours ago, .45s said:

Interesting about his arm, because I am pretty sure that I read somewhere last season that his arm was average.  Maybe a high school scouting report.  I saw him make several throws and his arm seemed pretty good to me and it made me question those old reviews.  

He has a cannon. Definitely not average IMO

[CJ Vogel]

This lineup is going to be a lot of fun. Belyeu will be one of the top bats in the conference as well.

[.45s]

Too bad he was sick for the Alumni game.  I wanted to see him hit.  We will be in Arlington for the whole weekend so we should get a look at quite a few bats for the starters and top potential subs.

[CJ Vogel]

23 minutes ago, .45s said:

Too bad he was sick for the Alumni game.  I wanted to see him hit.  We will be in Arlington for the whole weekend so we should get a look at quite a few bats for the starters and top potential subs.

Would love to get your thoughts on the team in person.

[.45s]

17 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

Would love to get your thoughts on the team in person.

Overall I think it looked really good.  Even with a few control struggles, the pitching at this time of year looked better than at this time last year.  They did a good job against the pros, with a few exceptions.  Mercer and Riojas were standouts to me, but others looked pretty good too.  I thought that Volantis has some real potential.  Howard had some good moments, as did Volantis.  I was impressed at the speed of the pitches by some of the new guys.  A lot of mid 90s and some in the high 90s.  Moffett was in the mid to high 90s the whole time and can deliver a somewhat side-armed fastball.  Scary for some right-handed hitters and potentially fooling lefties if it hits the outside corner.  Some of the young guys will probably need some work with Wiener to improve their control.  Rerick is quite a specimen and threw hard, but was not dialed in.  He has a lot of potential too.  I wonder who will be calling the pitches to the catchers this year- Schloss?  We have a lot more better arms than we have had the last couple of year.   Hopefully we have enough to have a good three man rotation for the weekend series and several good relievers out of the bullpen.  It has been a crap shoot the last couple of years.  I really wanted to see Spencer, but he did not play and may have already secured his spot. 

Gasparino seems to have modified his swing a little bit, but I will have to see him a few more times.  He still has good speed in the outfield and tracked down a tough straight shot to center over his head, but missed another at the wall.  I couldn't tell if he should have caught that one or not.  The roster shows that he has gained weight- he needed to- but I don't think it was that apparent and we were sitting pretty close.  Perhaps it is good muscle that he has added.  Chamberlain looks promising and so does Rodriguez.  They both swung the bat well.  Stewart has lost weight, which is probably better for his overall health anyway, and he still swings a good bat. Even in the fall he moved pretty well so he might be even faster and mobile now.  Maybe he will do more splits like he did in the fall.  I was a bit disappointed in some errors by Galvan and Mendoza (I think he was the one that booted the ball at 2nd).  I still see too many balls missed by the catchers.  I didn't see enough of Winfield to develop much of an impression for his fielding or hitting.  He did get gunned down at the plate on a play where he probably should not have been sent.  Service looks very athletic, but I am not sure about his throwing ability.  He seemed to be aiming for the centerfielder a couple of times with his throws to second.  Corba did not look good in the one plate appearance that I recall.  Flores looks like he is ready to pick up where he left off last year.  I think Schuessler will be good again.  I would like to have seen Belyeu, but heard he was sick.  Probably that flu bug that has been going around.   A few other guys were in and out so I don't recall off-hand if any things were memorable regarding them. 

Unless we get several position players in yearlong slumps we should be a pretty good hitting team with some power.  There is the potential for a lot of power.  Our pitching staff should be better this year and we will need both to be competitive in the SEC and to get back to Omaha.  It is pretty expensive but I am saving my Pesos in case we get back. 

We will be in Arlington for the whole weekend series and may start to see what Schloss is thinking as far as the pitching and position player lineups, at least for the early part of the season.

Hook'em.  🤘