Monday Morning Manager: February 24th, 2014

WEEK IN REVIEW

- First, let's start with the obvious: Congratulations to Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle on his 500th career victory. As I said on Twitter last night, I don't know if he will be a Frog for life, but I am sure I want him to be.

- TCU took on Northern Colorado Tuesday night, looking to get back on track... And they did. Jordan Kipper looked impressive in his debut, the righty mixes velocities and changes eye-levels effortlessly. I am fairly certain he will be taken this summer in the first 10 rounds, so enjoy him while he is here.

- Next, TCU headed to Corpus Christi (home of the Hooks!) to take on BYU, TXAM-CC and UTSA. The Frogs swept the weekend in relatively uneventful fashion, except for a few moments of concern Saturday night. The Frogs let TXAM-CC hang around and tie the game in the eighth inning, but TCU came back to score three in the ninth, negating any need for extra innings.

- Brandon Finnegan was his usual dominant self on Friday night, shutting out the Cougars in a 10-0 win. Preston Morrison was once again ONLY amazing, not unbeatable, on Saturday night (but the defense played a role). Sunday was once again Tyler Alexander's day, with the freshman phenom putting up six solid innings before giving way to embattled veteran Trey Teakell who shut down UTSA the remaining three frames.

- The lineup had a productive week, scoring a total of 32 runs in four games, an average of 8 runs a game (I'll take that), but more importantly the Frogs continue to do the right thing with men on base. Moving runners over, scoring guys from third with one out, it is clear that this team has two philosophies: Attack the middle of the field and find your pitch (at the plate), and be aggressive on the base paths, push the envelope, BE the attack. A far cry from 2013, when the philosophy was........

- Last week, I still had some reservations. Those are gone. I feel confident in a few things right now:

1. This is easily the best coaching staff TCU has put together, ever.

2. This is one of the best collections of talent TCU has put together in years, the main difference being that a lot of today's talent is younger than other stellar years.

3. This team is built to make a run, so long as the position players get/stay healthy.

- Now, you could make the obvious argument: We haven't played anybody. True, UTSA was probably our strongest test yet. Next weekend in Houston, against a strong SHSU, UH and Rice will be a better measuring stick.

BUT, that doesn't take away from the individual performances we have seen this far. Brandon Finnegan IS that good, Kevin Cron IS laying off breaking balls down and away, Derek Odell seems to have something to prove and a collection of 15 other guys have brought their A game this year.

That all means something, that all counts for something. Sure, we have been playing inferior competition, but it takes effort to win, and I have seem plenty of that so far. Are we good enough to win a complete team game? The kind that we will need all weekend in Houston? Mark that down as TBD, but I feel good about our prospects. For now, we'll focus on UT-Arlington (not your father's UTA, BTW) and hopefully win #501 for Jim Schlossnagle.

MMM MVP of the Week: Boomer White... After a stellar opening weekend, TCU's new #3 hitter had a great week and is now batting close to the .400 range with an OPS in the 1000s... No sophomore slump here!

MMM CY of the Week: Brandon Finnegan... Another start, another shutout. Add nine strikeouts to the total too. This kid is amazing. Who the f**k cares that he is short!?

MMM Because I Can of the Week: Trey Teakell... Trey could have become forgettable this year, being the guy who once again provided tons of promise in the preseason but did nothing during the season. Not so fast... Teak has shown tremendous growth thus far as TCU's go-to reliever, on most other teams he would have a starting role. TCU is lucky to have him. Love this kid.

NEWS & NOTES

- Brandon Finnegan was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week last week after his dominating opening performance against Jacksonville.

- TCU took on Northern Colorado on Tuesday and won easily, 10-3, with JUCO transfer Jordan Kipper making his debut for the Frogs.

- TCU opened the weekend against BYU in Corpus Christi, taking down the fighting mormons 10-0. Dylan Fitzgerald announced his presence for the first time in 2014 with three RBIs.

- On Saturday, TCU ralied in the ninth inning to beat TAMU-CC 7-4. Second baseman Connor Castellano came through with the big hit for TCU in the ninth.

- Sunday, TCU scored early and often, taking down UTSA 5-1. Tyler Alexander and Trey Teakell pitched extremely well yet again as TCU swept the weekend.

FORMER FROGS

- No real news out of major league camps yet... Within the next few weeks we should start to hear more!

(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

- Two new 2015 commits this week, Austin Boyles and Durbin Feltman. You can read more about them on the TCU Baseball recruiting page.

- 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

Austin Boyles
HS Positions: RHP

Braden Comeaux
HS Positions: SS, IF

Durbin Feltman
HS Positions: RHP, C

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