Clemson Tigers
Overall Rank: #13
Conference Rank: #4 ACC
Clemson relied heavily on the long ball last season. It led to a regional host for the Tigers, but they still ranked seventh in the ACC in scoring. And that was with the combined 40 homeruns and 126 RBIs of Seth Beer and Chris Williams. Those two are now gone and Clemson will have to play more situational baseball and generate runs without relying on the Beer and Williams tandem to constantly hit long balls.
2018: 47-16, 22-8
2018 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Monte Lee
Key Departed Players:
Seth Beer, OF/1B, .301 BA, 22 HR, 54 RBI
Chris Williams, IF/C, .281 BA, 18 HR, 72 RBI
Drew Wharton, OF, .255 BA, 7 HR, 41 RBI
Ryan Miller, P, 2.51 ERA, 7-1 W/L, 71.2 IP, 64 SO
Jake Higginbotham, P, 3.47 ERA, 6-1 W/L, 80.1 IP, 63 SO
Key Returning Players:
Kyle Wilkie, C, .324 BA, 5 HR, 40 RBI
Logan Davidson, IF, .292 BA, 15 HR, 46 RBI
Grayson Byrd, IF, .243 BA, 9 HR, 26 RBI
Brooks Crawford, P, 3.24 ERA, 8-2 W/L, 80.2 IP, 58 SO
Jacob Hennessy, P, 3.91 ERA. 4-3 W/L, 71.1 IP, 54 SO
Projection:
Coach Monte Lee does have the players to hit for a higher average. Kyle Wilkie batted .340 last season and Logan Davidson will take over as the new main power threat. He batted .292 with 15 homeruns and 46 RBIs during his sophomore season. Grayson Byrd added nine homeruns and Jordan Greene has some power too, but they do need to be more consistent at the plate. This team also has a lot of speed and they will be able to create scoring opportunities. Brooks Crawford will be the ace of the pitching staff after going 8-2 with a 3.24 ERA. Jacob Hennessy started 14 games last season, posting a 3.91 ERA. Neither Crawford nor Hennessy are going to strike out too many batters, but both will avoid putting too many players on base and that will put Clemson in a position to win some low scoring games. And they will win enough of those games to be a very dangerous team in the tough ACC.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
