The schedule is out. It seems a little softer than last year from a quick glance, and most of the tough ACC series are in Durham. If there is a year where we could have the raw W-L record to host, this is it, but I'm not expecting it. Note that the February games in Minneapolis are not at Target Field.
https://goduke.com/news/2019/9/19/ba...-schedule.aspx
https://goduke.com/documents/2019/9/...l_Schedule.pdf
Matt Mervis poised for big senior season?
https://goduke.com/news/2019/9/6/bas...?path=baseball
In February, where does one play baseball in Minneapolis?
It's the same venue as the Final 4 last year.
Well, Duke did begin last season ranked in all the polls and did end the season one loss shy of the CWS after handing Vanderbilt one of their two post-season losses.
I would expect Duke to be nationally ranked, probably mid-teens.
Omaha remains the goal. Duke is very strong at catcher, infield and bullpen and is building quality depth. They did lose their top recruit to MLB and have question marks in the outfield and the rotation. I think Pollard has the program at a point where it's going to be competitive every year. Duke has been able to advance to the Super Regional round the last two years despite opening on the road. Not the ideal long-term strategy. Duke needs to get one of those top-16 regional host gigs and go from there.
how's the pitching? Gotta have some arms or our don't go anywhere...of course pitchers get hurt all the time (weren't some of ours injured last year?), maybe there's no way of knowing who's going to be well and who isn't...
Fall practice started yesterday.
https://www.wralsportsfan.com/blue-d...fall/18686112/“It's our first official day of fall practice after about a six-week individual period where we’ve been brining guys up to the field in small groups,” said Pollard. “This will be the second year in a row that we’ve started our fall later than probably most of our triangle counterparts. We’ve got a lot of expectations with this club based on things I’ve seen in our small group work. The really neat thing right now is even though we have a lot of freshmen that are pushing upperclassmen like crazy.”
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Thanks for posting this. I am very excited about this year's team. I think we have the best coach in the ACC.
To answer Budworm's question above, we have Bryce Jarvis coming back as our ace. Bryce had a fabulous NCAA tournament last year. No pitchers transferred into the program this year.
"This is the best of all possible worlds."
Dr. Pangloss - Candide
Some baseball notes
Outfielder Chase Cheek is still rehabbing from knee surgery and will miss fall ball. Fingers crossed on spring.
Combined with the graduation of Kennie Taylor and Kyle Gallagher, outfield is a position of concern.
Therefore Duke moved Joey Loperfido to center field. You may recall that he played first base for two seasons and second base last year. Pollard says CF is Loperfido's pro position. Cheek, R.J. Schreck, Bucknell grad-student transfer Luke Hampton, Kyle Salley, Steve Mann, perhaps a freshman or two, are all in the mix.
Duke might look at seeing if 1B/DH Chris Crabtree can play corner OF. A lot depends on how Duke uses Matt Mervis.
Mervis had a great summer at the Cape. He came to Duke as a pitcher/position player, Duke's Brandan McKay. But he's had arm problems and didn't pitch much last season. But he did pitch some this summer, pitched well, no pain. If Mervis is in the rotation, then he likely DHs to save wear and tear. Or he could move back to 1B, where he excelled last season.
Lots of competition for the vacant 2B job. Look for a true freshman to start next spring, perhaps Grant Norris or Thomas Keehn.
Bryce Jarvis will be the Friday starter. Cooper Stinson and Bill Chilliari are the default second and third starters but Duke has more good arms than any time in its history and Jack Carey, Oliver McCarthy, Aaron Beasley and others will get a long look. Pollard is really high on true freshman RHP Henry Williams. A sleeper.
Matt Dockman and Thomas Girard have the back end of the bullpen locked down.
Duke was set to add LHP Josh Simpson as a grad-transfer from Columbia. But the Marlins drafted him in the 32nd round and he signed.
Lots of freshmen pushing the vets for PT, even the returning starters.
Pollard says he's so excited about this team that his assistant coaches are worried about him.
Fantastic update! I’m trying to temper expectations after the team really overachieved in the postseason the last two seasons, but it is hard not to think about World Series potential this season...