BASEBALL: Portal Notebook

NC State has been active in the portal over the past week as expected, let’s check in on what State has lost and added.

Cannon Peebles Exits

There’s going to be a lot of overanalyzing this situation but this really comes down to a very simple deal: you can only play one catcher at a time. Along with quarterback, catcher is the only position in sports where you only play one guy. For as great as Cannon Peebles was this year, Jacob Cozart was better.

Cozart hit .290/.389/.579 in ACC play with 7 home runs and is one of the best defensive catchers in the country, certainly better than Peebles. Yes, there’s a backup catcher but in a 56 game season that’s who they are, a backup. Peebles caught at least parts of 12 games this year. That number could be higher, but even a 50/50 platoon is not going to keep both guys who are MLB prospects happy. I do not think there’s anything State could have done to keep Peebles in Raleigh if he wants to catch, which is a very safe assumption.

Next Up Behind The Plate

Obviously, Cozart is the main piece here for next year. If Cozart isn’t on next year’s team, Peebles probably is. But Cozart only has one more year before he’s off to the pros.

Alex Sosa out of Viera, Florida is the Pack’s 2023 catcher signee. He’s a highly regarded guy who has picked up some draft buzz recently. The good news is high school catcher is not a popular profile in the draft for pro teams.

I do not think it’s likely State would have been able to carry Cozart, Peebles and Sosa next year. Certainly, losing Sosa is still a possibility but it’s an easier sell to him to be the backup catcher, potentially DH or play another position this year before sliding behind the plate for two years, without Peebles on the roster.

Banks, Pennington Commit

State’s first portal addition was Brett Banks, a RHP from UNCW. Banks operated as the Seahawks’ closer this year and threw 38 innings with a 4.23 ERA and collected 44 strikeouts. Stuff+ has become all the rage (it measures fastball shape and velocity) and Banks was 10th nationally with 202 stuff+.

Banks has played 4 seasons of college baseball, so he’s been draft eligible. With his stuff, he’s going to be very attractive to pro teams, my guess would be that he does not make it to campus. If he does make it to Raleigh, he immediately becomes State’s best bullpen arm.

Garrett Pennington was the most recent addition, a first baseman from Wichita State. Pennington hit .307/.372/.560 as a fourth year guy. He doesn’t strike out much, but also doesn’t walk a lot.

He also gives you defensive versatility: he’s played a lot of outfield earlier in his college career before settling in at first base with the Shockers. Pennington will be an every day player who you can plug in to the 6/7 spot in the batting order.