Monday Morning Manager: February 17th, 2014

JACKSONVILLE SERIES REVIEW

- Two steps forward, one step back... That may sound overly negative, but I can't think of any other way to describe this weekend.

- We knew the pitching would be a major plus, and it was this weekend. TCU allowed a total of three runs, outscoring their opponent 10-3 through Sunday. Finny didn't give up a run and struck out 13, Morrison did the same while struggling through some command problems, and Tyler Alexander made his debut for TCU by pitching six innings of two run ball, which TCU would happily take for the rest of the season.

- In some ways, the hitting was much improved. The new "approach" was evident, with guys attacking the middle of the field repeatedly, getting aggressive on the base paths and generally taking their effort to the opponent instead of allowing the opponent to control the action.

- This can be good and bad: The Frogs made several outs on the base paths this weekend, ending a few rallies along the way. But they also put themselves in scoring position and scored by moving around a bunch, so you now have to answer the never ending question: Is it worth it?

- We also had a lot of talk about TCU scoring runs with two outs this weekend... Definitely, I loved the execution with two outs... We got the job done in a number of ways, which is an improvement from 2013 when we never did anything when guys were on base.

- Overall, the Frogs won the series against a team that finished last year with an RPI in the 250 range, an expected outcome. The team looked better, more energized, and we are totally positive the pitching will be amazing this year. If guys like Suiter and Cron can continue to produce, if a healthy Odell (back this week?) can add a positive bat to the lineup, maybe just maybe this team can go from OK to above average before they have to play their first true test in a few weeks.

- Or, maybe not.

- Hey, we did win the series right? I'll take 2-1 over 0-3 any day.

Player	avg	gp-gs	ab	r	h	2b	3b	hr	rbi	tb	slg%	bb	hbp	so	gdp	ob%	sf	sh	sb-att	po	a	e	fld%
Jones, Cody	.417	3-3	12	2	5	1	0	0	0	6	.500	1	0	1	0	.462	0	0	2-2	3	0	0	1.000
White, Boomer	.333	3-3	12	1	4	1	0	0	1	5	.417	1	0	2	0	.385	0	0	0-0	6	0	0	1.000
Crain, Garrett	.333	3-3	9	1	3	0	0	0	1	3	.333	0	1	1	0	.400	0	0	0-0	2	3	1	.833
Fitzgerald, Dylan	.333	3-1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	.333	2	0	0	0	.600	0	0	0-0	3	0	0	1.000
Suiter, Jerrick	.273	3-3	11	2	3	1	0	0	3	4	.364	0	0	1	1	.273	0	0	0-1	3	0	0	1.000
Castellano, Connor	.273	3-3	11	0	3	0	0	0	1	3	.273	1	0	0	1	.333	0	0	1-2	4	7	1	.917
Cron, Kevin	.250	3-3	8	1	2	2	0	0	2	4	.500	2	2	0	2	.500	0	0	0-1	27	3	0	1.000
Fagnan, Jeremie	.167	3-2	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.167	2	1	2	0	.444	0	0	0-0	0	0	0	.000
Bacak, Kyle	.167	2-2	6	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	.167	0	0	1	0	.167	0	0	0-0	20	2	0	1.000
Jones, Keaton	.100	3-3	10	2	1	1	0	0	1	2	.200	1	0	4	0	.182	0	1	0-0	4	12	0	1.000
Delso, Dylan	.000	1-1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	1	0	0	0	.250	0	0	0-1	6	1	0	1.000
Fox, Will	.000	1-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0	0	.000	0	1	0-0	1	2	1	.750
Totals	.264	3-3	91	10	24	6	0	0	10	30	.330	11	4	12	4	.368	0	2	3-7	81	37	3	.975

NEWS

- The Frogs opened the weekend on Valentine's day with a 5-0 shutout win against Jacksonville. Brandon Finnegan was masterful for TCU, recording 13 strikeouts.

- Saturday was also a great day for the Frogs, with Preston Morrison following up Finnegan's performance with a masterful show of his own including eight shutout innings. The Frogs won 5-1.

- TCU was shut out on Sunday, dropping the final game of the series 2-0 to Jacksonville. TCU loaded the bases in the 9th inning but couldn't get a hit to finish the comeback.

- TCU announced the full television schedule for TCU Baseball last Friday. In total, the Frogs will have 22 of their games broadcast, including 14 home games. All broadcasts will be on FSSW, Fox College Sports, or the ESPN/LHN family of networks.

- Brandon Finnegan and Kevin Cron were both named pre-season All Americans by Baseball America.

- The Jim Schlossnagle radio show presented by Texas Motors Ford and Meridian Bank Texas, airing from 6-7 p.m., debuted last Thursday night from The Woodshed.

- TCU was picked to finish second in the Big 12 by Big 12 coaches this preseason, with Kansas State picked to win the conference.

FORMER FROGS

(Name, Team, Separated by highest/final professional level in 2013)

Major Leagues
Jake Arrieta (Cubs)
Scott Atchison (Indians)
Matt Carpenter (Cardinals)
Andrew Cashner (Padres)

Triple AAA
Sam Demel (Dodgers)
Bryan Holaday (Tigers)

Double AA
Matt Curry (Pirates)
Greg Holle (Brewers)

High A
Josh Elander (Braves)
Taylor Featherston (Rockies)
Jerome Pena (Orioles)
Matt Purke (Nationals)

Low A
Kevin Allen (Royals)
Jason Coats (White Sox)
Kyle Von Tungeln (Rockies)
Kyle Winkler (Diamondbacks)

Low A Short Season
Paul Hendrix (Indians)

Rookie League
Stefan Crichton (Orioles)
Nick Frey (Cardinals)
Andrew Mitchell (White Sox)
Trevor Seidenberger (Brewers)
Jantzen Witte (Red Sox)

Independent League
Joseph Weik (Amarillo Sox, American Association League)

German Baseball-Bundesliga
Tyler Lockwood (Heidenheim Heidekoepfe)

Japanese Pacific League
Chad Huffman (Chibba Lotte Marines)

Retired/Released
Erik Miller
Brad Furnish
Kaleb Merck

RECRUITING UPDATE

- A reminder, you can always keep up with TCU Baseball recruiting here... I keep all the recruiting classes as up to date as possible, it is always a good place to check.

2016 TCU Baseball Commitments

Trey Morris
HS Positions: RHP

2015 TCU Baseball Commitments

Luken Baker
HS Positions: RHP, CIF, OF

Braden Comeaux
HS Positions: SS, IF

Ethan Franklin
HS Positions: RHP, 3B, OF

Ryan Johnson
HS Positions: OF, IF

Dillon Meadows
HS Positions: RHP, IF

Devon Roedahl
HS Positions: RHP

Joshua Watson
HS Positions: OF, C

2014 TCU Baseball Commitments

Bradley Barnett (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: MIF, CIF, DH

Francisco DeJesus (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: 1B, OF, LHP

Drew Gooch (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: LHP, 1B

Preston Guillory (JUCO) (SIGNED LOI)
JUCO Positions: RHP

Jared Janczak (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: OF, RHP, IF

Tyler Kolek (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: RHP, IF

Matt Myers (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: RHP, OF, C

Connor Reich
HS Positions: RHP, OF, IF

Evan Skoug (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: C, IF, OF

Justin Twine (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: MIF, OF, RHP

Kenneth Cullen Vaught
HS Positions: IF, RHP, C

Austen Wade (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: OF, LHP

Connor Wanhanen (SIGNED LOI)
HS Positions: OF, IF