Despite a 27-27 record and fourth place finish last season, and new coach Erik Bakich’s proclamation that the Terps were going “sneak up on teams” this season, Rivals still picked the Terps to finish last in the Atlantic Division.
Kendall Rogers, who is essentially the website’s only college baseball writer, clearly has a lot of respect for Bakich’s ability as a coach, but he was not-so-high on the first year coach’s chances for success in 2010. The Terps lost three of their top four hitters but return most of their pitching staff and have added one or two newcomers who could make an impact.
The review is far from glowing.
Here is what Rogers had to say about the Terps:
We believe new coach Erik Bakich eventually will get it done, but the Terrapins have an extremely tough road ahead this season.
Then there is this harsh but accurate graf a little lower in the preview:
You know what they way, Rome wasn’t build in a day. That also will be the case with the Terrapins. New Maryland coach Erik Bakich has assembled an impressive coaching staff and certainly is expected to get things turned around. But after finishing last season with a fourth place finish in the Atlantic Division and a 27-27 overall record, the Terps definitely are expected to head back to the cellar with several important holes to fill. The Terps must be patient with Bakich.
And one more just for the heck of it:
The Terrapins made a surprisingly solid hire with the addition of former Vanderbilt recruiting coordinator and assistant Erik Bakich. Bakich is a fiery competitor and fantastic teacher. But even more impressive is the fact Bakich was able to reel in pitching coach Sean Kenny from Pepperdine. That was the most impressive assistant coup of the offseason.
There are obviously some positives to take out of what is said here, but the bottom line is to not expect miracles in the immediate future. The Terps have already taken some body blows from a personnel standpoint as they have said goodbye to former ace Scott Swinson and are now dealing with a season-ending injury to Curtiz Lazar, the projected starter at first base.
To pile on with the injuries, catcher Tyler Bennett, one of the team’s best players at the end of last season, will not be able to catch at all this season. As I reported at the end of Fall practice, Bennett is expected to hit this season and will serve as the team’s primary DH.
That leaves just sophomore Jack Cleary as the team’s lone full-time catcher. Cleary was on the team last year, and Bakich said he has made huge strides during the Fall. But he did not see any action last season behind Bennett, Mike Moss, and Will Greenberg on the depth chart.
Only true college baseball fans and supporters realize that the start of the season is only three weeks away but even as the season begins, with so many different holes to fill I would doubt if there won’t be constant lineup tinkering from Bakich.
Look for key player previews and a full season preview in the coming weeks. The Terps’ season begins Feb. 19 in Miami, Fla. against Florida International and once-potential-Terp coach Turtle Thomas.
Mike Lemaire is the 2010 Terrapin baseball beat writer. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com.
With the amount of talented teams in the Atlantic division, well the whole ACC. It’s going to be a tough time for the Terps to get out of the cellar. I dont expect us to finish last, maybe 4th or 5th but we will still be looking up at FSU, Clemson and BC.
It’s Jack CLEARY, not Jack “Clearly”. Please— at least spell
the player’s names correctly!
Lets see how the coach does when he gets to recruit his own kids. I mean theres a freshamna from Baltimore on the team that should be playing JUCO ball instead of Divisoin 1. I know coach feels stuck with some of these kids.