2017 player Jon Malmin (Sr) drafted #925 signs for $3,000 - completely predictable since he had no eligibility remaining. 2017 player Nick Kennedy drafted #346 signs for $343,100 - highly predictable 2018 recruit Blake Pflughaupt JUCO is drafted #799 and signs for $100K - somewhat predictable. Now we have NO LHP for next year. This may not be the grievous sin Shaka Smart committed last year playing without a point guard, but it means we don't even have a spot LHP to come in and face their left-handed batter in a critical situation. Most teams try and have a LHP starter and at least one LHP to come out of the bullpen. TCU's roster for this year had 1 LHP starter and 3 LHP in bullpen. I don't understand how Pierce and company failed so badly in recruiting LHPs. They acknowledged the need, but only signed Pflughaupt, who they knew was draft eligible and good enough to get drafted. He got drafted late: 27th round, but signed for $100K which was on the high end of 27th round signees. This one could have gone either way, but I'm amazed Pierce had no back-up plan. My count on the roster for next year is 32 total players. That means that unless there are additional transfers, we have little roster room and probably no scholarship money to induce even a marginal LHP. This Fall's signing class has been decimated by the MLB draft exactly as many of Tommy Harmon's draft classes were. In hindsight it seems obvious that Tristen Lutz and Landon Leach were never going to arrive on campus. Pierce and company saw this immediately after the draft and immediately signed Bryce Elder (RHP), Duke Ellis (CF) , DJ Petrinsky (C). Why they didn't have a LHP waiting in the wings I just cannot understand. Unless the expected happens and Pierce finds a decent JUCO LHP willing to come without a scholarship, I predict we will rue this day.
I look at the roster and see Josh Sawyer is back, but it is unknown how much of a factor he will be considering his injury history. I also see we signed JUCO LHP Brandon Ivey from Navarro Junior College. Last year there he was 2-5 with 3 saves in 17 appearances (2 starts)…compiled a 3.99 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched. He’s probably the best we could do late in the recruiting game when Blake Pflughaupt signed unexpectedly. I also see Jonny Petsch LHP from Atascocita, but I Googled him with finding much information.
I guess not having a LHP is about equal to having a true So. and true Fr. as QB's in football. So what could go wrong?
The Texassports web site (under baseball roster) says this about Petsch : "went 8-3 in his senior season and 10-2 as a junior…named first-team All-District pitcher in both years…pitched up honorable mention All-Houston pitcher in his senior season and second team All-Houston as a junior…" Therefore, Petsch is a freshman with good credentials in high school. He may contribute but is only a freshman coming up. I saw both Ivey and Sawyer pitch in game 2 in the Fall Orange-White series. Sawyer started the game and went 2.2 innings. In the first, he went 3 and out with 2 K's. However, he lost his control after that and had 3 HBP's and 4 walks while giving up 4 runs in that 3rd inning. Thus, he lost his control early after that first inning. The UT site also said about Ivey: "Earned second-team All-Conference honors following his freshman campaign…made 21 appearances, striking out 32 in 32.1 innings while going 3-for-3 in save opportunities" at Navarro. In the 2nd fall game he pitched 2 scoreless innings. He had 2 K's, 1 walk, and 2 hits. He has a little height and looks confident on the mound with a good demeanor when pressured. Therefore, we will get maybe 2 years out of each of these three LHP's. Pierce's "Plan B" for left handers does not look that bad after that MLB draft loss. Time will tell, but Sawyer is back, and any one of these three pitchers might contribute for us in the spring.
In the class just signed to play year after this next season, there were 16 HS players. Of these, I count 9 RHPs and only one LHP. The lefty and one RHP can also play as position players. It will be interesting to see this summer how many are drafted and do not make it to campus. This is the result of the coaching staff's first full season of recruiting. I take these numbers to mean that Pierce is not worried about the LHP pitching problem that potentially faces him. This bodes well for the three LHPs that potentially can play this coming season. He must like what he has for the next two seasons.
There was a reason Pierce was content with only one LHP in the 16 HS players in the class to play in 2019. He just signed another LHP, a juco transfer (by way of A&M). That makes 2 LHPs in that class. See this link.
Just for grins I checked the signees for next year and there is only one LHP: Thomas Burbank | LHP/INF | L/L | 6-2 | 200 | Monsignor Kelly Catholic HS | Beaumont, Texas Personal: Son of Tom and Kim Burbank…has two sisters, Paige and Annalise, and a brother, William. High school: Plays under Monsignor Kelly head coach Mark Petkovsek, who played at Texas from 1985-87 and nine seasons in the big leagues…Thomas lettered in all three seasons so far at Monsignor…named Team USA World Cup Best Relief Pitcher in 2014…earned All-District honorable mention in 2015…part of the USA Baseball NTDP in 2016…also earned second team All-District honors that year…earned first team All-District and first team All-State honors in 2017…also a three-year letterman in soccer as a goalkeeper. I chose Texas because: "…The University of Texas is a school that represents tradition and loyalty. It demands respect and embraces diversity. Most importantly, it stands for academic excellence and outstanding athletic success—all of the things that I can't wait to be a part of." Allen on Burbank: "Thomas is a great competitor that helped his team reach the State Finals last year. He is very driven and a hard worker." Pierce on Burbank: "Thomas has a chance to hit and pitch for the Longhorns. He can create hitting issues as a left-handed pitcher and has some pop in his left-handed swing." In review of this years I see: Josh Sawyer has been generally effective in relief 20 appearances, 24.1 IP 3.70 ERA, .226 BAA Brandon Ivey has hardy appeared: 2 appearances 1.2 IP 16.20 ERA, .375 BAA
