2/14/2020 baseball Edit

Michigan Wolverines Baseball 2020 Season Preview

Clayton Sayfie • Maize&BlueReview

Staff Writer

In 2019, U-M baseball made its first College World Series since 1984, and was one win shy of winning the program’s third-ever national title and first since 1962. With that magical run last season, the Wolverines are back on the college baseball map.

“I think fans are appreciative of the excitement that centered around just Michigan in general last summer, when that’s typically a time where there’s not a whole lot going on,” head coach Erik Bakich, who is in his eighth season in charge of the program, said. “It kept Michigan athletics in the spotlight a little bit longer, and it was fun for them to get behind a team that hadn’t done it and been there in 35 years. Michigan baseball is on more people’s radar now.”

Michigan Wolverines baseball is looking to sustain the success from 2019. (USA Today Sports Images)

Last year’s success, though, doesn’t guarantee any in 2020, and Bakich is the first to admit it.

“The easiest thing that any young player could do is make the connection that since we won last year, we’re going to win this year, or that we got to Omaha last year, we’ll get to Omaha this year,” Bakich told The Wolverine. “While last year was great, we weren’t the last team standing. We were one win away from being on top, and so let’s reduce that down to, ‘We need to be one more better.’ In that case, it was one more win, but let’s take that one more thought and make it one training session, one repetition, one meeting, one breath, one drill. We just need to be one percent more, one percent better.”

That “one more better” attitude has been the driving force behind the team’s off-season focus heading into a year where the goal is now to get back to the level that it fought so hard to attain last year.

“For us to sustain a high level of success, we must never forget all the little things that go into driving that success, and all the little things that we did last year and the hyper focus on the details of just continued growth and improvement on a daily basis,” Bakich said.

The Wolverines lost several significant pieces from a year ago, including pitchers Tommy Henry (3.27 ERA in 2019) and Karl Kauffmann (3.03 ERA in 2019), and outfielder Jordan Brewer, third baseman Blake Nelson, second baseman Ako Thomas and first baseman Jimmy Kerr. Brewer is the most significant loss in terms of hitters, as he was the 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year, and batted .329, drove in 59 runs and hit 12 home runs.

“I think the question marks are going to be the emergence of the rest of our rotation,” Bakich said. “I’m excited to see who can attempt to shoulder some of the load that’s left behind from the great performances we had all season long from Karl Kauffmann and Tommy Henry."

The Wolverines start their season tonight [Friday, Feb. 14, 7 PM on MLB Network] in Scottsdale, Arizona in the MLB4 Tournament against Vanderbilt. That will be the fifth-straight game against the Commodores, including the three games in the World Series finals last June and a November exhibition matchup, a game in which U-M won, 3-2. Vanderbilt is the kind of program that Bakich, who was an assistant coach there from 2003-2009, wants to measure up against.

“I think there may be some added excitement because we played them in the fall and we played them for the national title,” Bakich admitted. “That’s exactly what we want because they’ve had the best program of the previous decade, and so that’s the type of success that we want to build and sustain here like they have.”

Bakich says it’s going to take the emergence of several more key pieces to reach the goals of winning the national championship and Big Ten championship this year.

"I would say a week before the season last year is exactly how I feel a week before the season this year,” he said. “On paper, we have guys with a résumé, guys that have done it before, guys that have had success and have earned accolades in our program. Yet, at the same time, there are question marks and guys you hope make that jump and take that next step. I would have never been able to tell you that Jordan Brewer was going to be the Big Ten Player of the Year, Jimmy Kerr was going to lead our team in home runs and RBIs and be a draft pick and regional MVP. Those types of things.

“I do think while we do have some key pieces in place in some really important areas, I also think our staff is really excited to see who are going to be the emerging factors on the team this year like we had quite a few of those guys last year.”

Pitching Staff

The top returning pitcher is junior right-handed pitcher Jeff Criswell, a first team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore, who finished last season with a 2.72 earned run average and a 7-1 record. He stuck out 116 batters through 106 innings. He is a third-team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game/Rawlings, and a first-team Preseason All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, and will serve as the team’s ace in the weekend rotation.

“The return of a guy like Jeff Criswell is awesome, because he’s a tone-setter,” Bakich said. “He’s pitched in the most meaningful of games and he’s just got a lot of confidence. He not only led our team to the College World Series last year, but pitched for Team USA this summer, the first Michigan player to do so since Jim Abbott (1985-1988). A guy like that [pitching] on Fridays, you just feel good about that, because you know you’re going to be in a good position to set a tone with the outcome of the game every Friday.”

Also headlining what should be a solid group of pitchers, is redshirt sophomore right-hander Isaiah Paige, who totaled 52.1 innings and posted a 2.75 earned run average with 33 strikeouts last season, and redshirt sophomore left-hander Ben Dragani, who did not play in 2019 due to injury. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection as a freshman in 2018, after posting a 6-2 record and a team-low 2.76 ERA.

Another who missed last season is Steven Hajjar, a redshirt freshman left-handed pitcher who suffered a season-ending injury just before the 2019 campaign.

The team’s closer is slated to be sophomore right-hander Willie Weiss, who was a freshman All-Big Ten performer and a freshman All-American pick, by Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, a year ago. He had a 2.97 ERA and 50 strikeouts with nine saves, a mark that ranks third in U-M’s all-time records for saves in a single season. He is a third-team selection as a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Preseason All-American. Weiss is predicted to miss the first couple weeks of the season with an injury.

Michigan Wolverines baseball's pitching staff is led by junior Jeff Criswell. (USA Today Sports Images)

Infield

U-M returns junior catcher Joe Donovan, who batted .234, drove in 37 runs and hit 12 home runs in 209 at-bats a year ago. Junior shortstop Jack Blomgren also returns. He had a batting average of .314, with three home runs, 47 RBI and seven stolen bases in 242 at-bats in 2019.

At second base will be sophomore Riley Bertram, who batted .385 in 26 at-bats with four runs, four doubles and seven RBI last season.

Freshman Ted Burton and junior Logan Pollack, who is back with U-M after playing last season for Santa Barbara City College last season, will both compete for the job at third base.

Replacing Kerr at first base will be freshman power hitter Jimmy Obertop and redshirt senior Matthew Schmidt. Schmidt has a career .158 batting average, and has 5 RBI in 28 career at-bats.

Michigan Wolverines baseball returns shortstop Jack Blomgren. (USA Today Sports Images)

Outfield

Center field will be manned by junior Jesse Franklin, who posted a .262 batting average last season, drove in 55 runs and hit 13 home runs in 260 at-bats. Left field will likely be occupied by Perfect Game/Rawlings and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper third-team Preseason All-American Jordan Nwogu. In 246 at-bats a year ago, he hit .321, drove in 46 runs, hit 12 home runs and stole 16 bases.

A candidate to start in right field is senior Christian Bullock, who batted .263, with 14 RBI, two home runs and 14 stolen bases last season.

Senior Dom Clementi is back this year after nagging injuries plagued him last season. Clementi was first-team All-Big Ten first team and hit .368 in 2018, but batted just .195 last season in 87 at-bats.

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Bakich is pleased with what he has returning in the field.

“I really like the positions that are really defensive-centered,” Bakich said, noting his key returners in both the infield and outfield. “Returning starters up the middle of the field with Joe Donovan and Jack Blomgren and Jesse Franklin, and to have some big-time sluggers back like Jordan Nwogu is great.”