‘There’s a lot of transition.’ Jim Schlossnagle breaks down TCU’s baseball team
The TCU baseball team is in transition going into 2020.
Coach Jim Schlossnagle can’t recall a season with this much turnover. The Horned Frogs lost three of their top four pitchers, and five of their top six hitters, to the MLB Draft and graduation from last year’s squad.
Those aren’t easy arms or bats to replace.
After a week of spring practice, the early signs indicate the pitching staff has left more to be desired than the lineup. After all, it’s hard to replace a talent such as Nick Lodolo, the seventh overall pick by the Cincinnati Reds, or a veteran presence such as Jared Janczak, who started 40 games in his college career.
“We’re progressing nicely, but in a little different manner than I thought we would,” Schlossnagle said. “We had some pitchers step up and have really good falls, but to this point they haven’t pitched up to our standard in the spring.
“We’ll find out this weekend how those guys are going to respond to getting punched in the mouth by some of our hitters. I’m a little disappointed in how we’ve started this spring on the mound, but not disheartened at all.”
Schlossnagle said the four rotation spots remain an open competition between eight candidates. TCU is just one week into its spring practices, and has another two weeks to sort out its rotation before the season opener against Kentucky on Feb. 14.
“These guys are still competition,” Schlossnagle said. “This team has pitching depth. It just needs to be quality depth. You don’t want to be the football team that has three quarterbacks and nobody steps to the forefront.
“We’ve had a bunch of guys who have been pretty good, but nobody who has been really good.”
The security blanket for a pitching staff in flux is that TCU has a reliable catching situation.
Zach Humphreys could have gone professional, but returned for his senior season. Freshman Kurtis Byrne was selected in the MLB Draft, too, but opted for the college route.
“Humphreys is playing like a senior should and leading like a senior should,” Schlossnagle said. “Kurtis is very talented offensively and defensively, and should be a big cornerstone of our program moving forward.”
Injury news
TCU has already seen a couple left-handed pitchers go down with season-ending injuries, Schlossnagle said.
Juniors Augie Mihlbauer and Grant Miller are not expected to pitch this season.
As far as position players, Schlossnagle said projected center fielder Hunter Wolfe sustained a shoulder injury diving for a ball last week. He’s in the rehab process and time will tell whether he’s cleared to play on the field, or is limited to designated hitter duties.
If Wolfe is not able to play in center field, Schlossnagle’s top two options are JUCO transfers in Cole Johnson, a Southlake Carroll product who played at Weatherford College last season, and Phillip Sikes, who played at Pima Community College in Arizona.
Sacco time
One newcomer who has made a favorable impression is shortstop Tommy Sacco.
The JUCO transfer from Yavapai College in Arizona is expected to play one of the most pivotal positions and make an immediate impact.
“He’s a really good defender and is going to be a guy who hits near the top of the order,” Schlossnagle said. “We’ve got to keep him healthy, but Sacco is going to be a guy who TCU fans enjoy watching.”
Poll talk
Schlossnagle chuckled when he saw the Big 12 preseason poll. TCU is picked to finish third behind Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Sure, Schlossnagle feels TCU has the pieces to become a contender, but doesn’t see it as the third-best team yet. After all, this is a team that is coming off a season in which 16 players missed 15 games or more with injuries.
The Horned Frogs also went through a stretch last season where they lost eight of nine before a strong finish landed them in the NCAA Tournament. TCU’s dreams of returning to the College World Series ended with a 6-0 loss at Arkansas in the NCAA Regionals.
“I don’t read anything into it,” Schlossnagle said of the preseason poll. “We did play in a regional final, which is a great accomplishment for the season we had, but voting us into the top three is more respect of our program than a projection of this team.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 1:40 PM.
