Posted by BillL on 11/6/2009, 7:49 am, in reply to "Rivals - Five keys: Long Beach State aiming for regional return"
76.170.43.137
Good artical, thanks for posting.
Hopefully the Dirtbags can get back to being the Dirtbags. Getting Buckley back is huge.
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: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/baseball/blog/ncaabb_experts/post/Five-keys-Long-Beach-State-aiming-for-regional-;_ylt=AkwfqEq4jHvFtOaaUZ1qAlIMwLYF?urn=ncaabb,200221
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: Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:08 pm EST
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: Five keys: Long Beach State aiming for
: regional return
: By Kendall Rogers
:
: Long Beach State hopes the spring will bring
: a return to normalcy.
:
: The Dirtbags are a perennial regional
: contender. But last season, the program took
: a small step back by finishing 25-29 with an
: unimpressive 11-13 mark in the Big West.
:
: Most important, though, is the fact they
: failed to make an NCAA regional.
:
: The Beach hopes the regional hiatus is short
: lived. It should be.
:
: The Dirtbags welcome back six hitters that
: finished last season with batting averages
: better than .300. They also welcome back a
: pair of weekend starting pitchers in Jake
: Thompson and Andrew Gagnon. The bullpen,
: though, is a concern.
:
: In addition to the player personnel the
: Beach welcomes back in the spring, the
: return of pitching coach Troy Buckley also
: is a much needed boost. Buckley, of course,
: was very instrumental to the Dirbags'
: success earlier this decade.
:
: It's time to dissect the Dirtbags.
:
: Long Beach State's five keys
:
: 1. Forget about last season -- Long Beach
: State is a perennial regional contender and
: shouldn't get deterred by what transpired
: last season. As coach Mike Weathers told me
: during the offseason, what occurred last
: season is not typical of his program. Last
: season was last season and I fully expect
: the Dirtbags to turn the page sooner rather
: than later. With a plethora of key cogs back
: at the plate in the spring, the Dirtbags
: will have the leadership and experience
: needed to make some noise. The Big West,
: though, will be incredibly difficult with UC
: Irvine, Fullerton and Cal Poly all expected
: to be solid.
:
: 2. Show more progress at the plate -- The
: Dirtbags welcome back seven hitters that
: earned significant playing time last season.
: They're most excited about the return of
: Steve Tinoco, TJ Mittelstaedt, Jordan Casas,
: Devin Lohman, Derek Legg and Jonathan Jones,
: which all finished last season with batting
: averages better than .300. It also will be
: interesting to see what Kellen Hoime and
: freshman Juan Avila bring to the table. The
: Dirtbags also will usher in the Joey
: Terdoslavich era at Long Beach State.
: Terdoslavich was a highly touted player at
: Miami a few seasons ago, but sat out last
: season because of the new transfer rule. He
: could provide a huge boost to the LBSU
: lineup. There's no reason for this unit not
: to best last season's .289 batting average.
:
: 3. Starting pitching must improve -- There's
: no question that Long Beach State's starting
: pitching must improve between now and the
: spring. The Dirtbags had a solid ace pitcher
: in Adam Wilk last season. Wilk, however, has
: since signed a professional contract. He
: ended last season with a 2.78 ERA in 94
: innings. The returning starters for LBSU
: include Jake Thompson and Andrew Gagnon.
: Thompson started 14 games last season and
: had a 5.61 ERA in 85 innings. He also struck
: out 42 and walked 13 and opponents hit him
: at a high .302 clip. Gagnon, meanwhile,
: started 13 games and compiled a 6.32 ERA in
: 72 2/3 innings. He struck out 44 and walked
: 23 and teams hit .327 off him. LBSU needs
: Gagnon and Thompson to rise to the occasion.
: If not, others must fill the voids.
:
: 4. Create quality bullpen depth -- The
: Dirtbags have some work to do in the bullpen
: without top relievers David Born, Anthony
: Carrillo, Charlie Ruiz and Dustin Rasco.
: Born finished last season with an ERA under
: three and led the team in appearances.
: Carrillo, Ruiz and Rasco also compiled solid
: numbers. That leaves the Dirtbags with Jason
: Markovitz, David Brown and Josh Corrales as
: their top returnees. Markovitz made 18
: appearances last season and had a 4.12 ERA
: in 19 2/3 innings. He also struck out 15 and
: walked nine and limited opposing teams to a
: .304 batting average. Brown had a 6.30 ERA
: in 20 innings and Corrales had a 6.64 ERA in
: 20 1/3 innings. The Beach will need more
: arms. Perhaps newcomers such as Jordan
: Mejia, Eddie Magallon, Tommy Nance, Cris
: Trout, Troy Watson and Nate Underwood can
: provide a boost. If not, the Dirtbags
: definitely will need the starters to step
: up.
:
: 5. Embrace the return of Troy Buckley -- The
: Dirtbags received a tough blow a few years
: ago when Buckley decided to leave the
: program to take a high-end job with the
: Pittsburgh Pirates. Buckley, though, has
: returned to Long Beach State as pitching
: coach. He will not return to his old post as
: recruiting coordinator. Still, his return is
: huge for a program that missed the
: postseason in '09. Buckley is an excellent
: pitching coach and the Dirtbags should reap
: the benefits of his return. It's time to
: embrace his return to Blair Field. It will
: be particularly interesting to see if the
: pitching staff improves in the coming
: months.
:
:
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