kmb717 said:

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2024 College Baseball preview: NC State

NC State’s line up has it all: exciting group of freshmen, established players from the portal, all built around a solid core of returners. Mix in the fact that they’re loaded with talent on the mound, this team will be hard to beat pic.twitter.com/JrjbXiJkND

— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) January 23, 2024

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Very nice breakdown. Thank you.

He is kinda wrong on some stuff but we will see

JCooke93 said:

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He is kinda wrong on some stuff but we will see

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Can you expand on what you think he is wrong about? The more baseball data people share the better!

pantherpack said:

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JCooke93 said:

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He is kinda wrong on some stuff but we will see

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Can you expand on what you think he is wrong about? The more baseball data people share the better!

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the biggest thing, IMO, is I am not sure Van Dam is in our weekend rotation out the gate. It seems like it is trending to Fritton, Willadsen, Highfill. The lineup is pretty set at most spots with the questions being who plays 2nd (Nixon or Heavner), and who is the last OF/DH between Hogue, Nixon, Sosa. Hogue seems to have some positive buzz.

Yup

Thanks. Good to see we at least have a new "potential " starter in Van Dam, whether or not that happens. We at least should have an additional quality arm we can use. The pitching staff seems much deeper this year. Hopefully we see some of this potential get some opportunities.

I am so ready

Is this the deepest pitching staff we've had in years?

SportManagementEngineer said:

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Is this the deepest pitching staff we've had in years?

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Definitely possible. I think, on paper, you could make a case for 15ish kids that could get innings.

Alex Gee said:

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SportManagementEngineer said:

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Is this the deepest pitching staff we've had in years?

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Definitely has the potential to be. What could separate this group is 2-4 guys stepping up out of the bullpen and the freshman arms being the real deal early. Easily the most depth of talent since 2013?

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Definitely the most depth since 2013 with this year being deeper most likely (not sure the pen is as good tho). 2013 had a dearth of starters, IMO, Ogburn was more a Sunday guy than a Saturday guy. Jernigan couldn't throw strikes well enough to take advantage of his stuff and Stone was a FR that looked like it at times. If that team had a Willadsen on it, it wins a natty. The bullpen in '13 was nasty with dudes like Andrew Woeck, Ryan Wilkins, Chris Overman, Grant Sasser, John Easley and situational guys like Orwig and DJ Thomas.

I'm excited to see how we use Whitaker this year. He could fill several roles on this team, IMO.

CLTWolf said:

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Alex Gee said:

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SportManagementEngineer said:

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Is this the deepest pitching staff we've had in years?

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Definitely has the potential to be. What could separate this group is 2-4 guys stepping up out of the bullpen and the freshman arms being the real deal early. Easily the most depth of talent since 2013?

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Definitely the most depth since 2013 with this year being deeper most likely (not sure the pen is as good tho). 2013 had a dearth of starters, IMO, Ogburn was more a Sunday guy than a Saturday guy. Jernigan couldn't throw strikes well enough to take advantage of his stuff and Stone was a FR that looked like it at times. If that team had a Willadsen on it, it wins a natty. The bullpen in '13 was nasty with dudes like Andrew Woeck, Ryan Wilkins, Chris Overman, Grant Sasser, John Easley and situational guys like Orwig and DJ Thomas.

I'm excited to see how we use Whitaker this year. He could fill several roles on this team, IMO.

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2013 was one of my favorite pack teams of all time. Probably biased since I was a senior that year and DJ Thomas is one of my good friends to this day. But that was a fun team to be around.

Good Times

Are they practicing yet?

First official day of NC State Baseball practice

pack2010 said:

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pantherpack said:

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JCooke93 said:

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He is kinda wrong on some stuff but we will see

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Can you expand on what you think he is wrong about? The more baseball data people share the better!

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the biggest thing, IMO, is I am not sure Van Dam is in our weekend rotation out the gate. It seems like it is trending to Fritton, Willadsen, Highfill. The lineup is pretty set at most spots with the questions being who plays 2nd (Nixon or Heavner), and who is the last OF/DH between Hogue, Nixon, Sosa. Hogue seems to have some positive buzz.

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I would be really surprised if Nixon isn't starting at 2B. I think that is pretty settled at this point.

The boys are *officially* back 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5q0UFmgWiA

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) January 26, 2024

Agree

I am so ready

StateFan2001 said:

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pack2010 said:

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pantherpack said:

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JCooke93 said:

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He is kinda wrong on some stuff but we will see

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Can you expand on what you think he is wrong about? The more baseball data people share the better!

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the biggest thing, IMO, is I am not sure Van Dam is in our weekend rotation out the gate. It seems like it is trending to Fritton, Willadsen, Highfill. The lineup is pretty set at most spots with the questions being who plays 2nd (Nixon or Heavner), and who is the last OF/DH between Hogue, Nixon, Sosa. Hogue seems to have some positive buzz.

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I would be really surprised if Nixon isn't starting at 2B. I think that is pretty settled at this point.

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yup, i agree. someone on this site said in the fall it was between falsken and heavner though, and nixon was mostly a SS, so i figured i would leave a little wiggle room. kid is really good

Good Day at The Doak today

I like it

StateFan2001 said:

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pack2010 said:

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https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2024-college-top-25-preview-no-22-nc-state/

Baseball America also predicts Van Dam to the Sunday role with Whitaker and Highfill out of the pen

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I didn't like Sam out of the pen last year. I think Sam has starter stuff more than bullpen stuff. Hopefully he stays in the rotation as long as he is throwing the ball well enough. Have heard he is throwing the ball better.

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I agree. I think Van Dam at the backend of the bullpen could be dominant with his stuff. That said, I think Van Dam is a weekend arm next year too, so maybe they want to see how his stuff holds for 70+ pitches.

Shaffner back on the mound after not pitching this fall due to injury (and playing some OF). Another talented arm to throw into the mix.

He robbed G.Pennington33 of a HR in CF last Sunday

JCooke93 said:

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He robbed G.Pennington33 of a HR in CF last Sunday

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sounds like he has getting a legit chance at being a 2 way kid, nice.

anyone standing out so far?

𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗖𝗖 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗟

📰 https://t.co/SQ05Jsbl1h pic.twitter.com/DOk5rbrONq

— ACC Baseball (@ACCBaseball) February 2, 2024

Alex Gee said:

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In honor of #NationalCatchersDay we're recognizing the Top 5 D1 Baseball Catchers from the 2023 season by Defensive Runs Saved (DRS)

In the top spot is former @UVABaseball Kyle Teel with 17.4 runs saved in 2023🔥 pic.twitter.com/Kcn1yt44hm

— 643 Charts (@643charts) February 2, 2024

Wasn't there conversation last season about Cozart's defense?

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To be fair, I believe it was one poster who was all up in his feels that Peebles was leaving and had a bit of a temper tantrum about Cozart staying instead of us keeping Peebles.

Pretty good scrimmage today

JC can you give any highlights?