BC baseball: What’s left to say? With Brian Foley of CB Daily
By Joe Micik
That sizzling sound you hear is the smoldering wreckage that is the 2011 Boston College baseball season. I felt we needed to get some perspective on what we’re seeing from a non-BC fan, so to help us do that, I’m calling in frequent STG contributor Brian Foley, editor of College Baseball Daily, one of the premier college baseball resources on the web.
STG: When the season began, BC’s bats were cold but their pitching did well. Then their pitching faded but they got hits. Now both the pitching and hitting have failed. What is going on with this team?
BF: First of all, BC’s offense coming into the year had absolutely no power in it. Who did they expect to have any homers? Watson? He hasn’t been getting it done actually at the plate this season after a strong summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League. The major surprise in the offense is Garrett Smith who is hitting .325.
STG: Has the Mike Dennhardt injury been a significant factor in BC’s nosedive, or are there too many other problems to take into account?
BF: I wouldn’t exactly say that is the reason as every team in the ACC has injuries so a team in the ACC should be able to handle a starting pitcher going down sometime during the season. The main problem is the fact they have no other starting pitchers that have a chance of giving them a quality outing as is shown by them going pitcher by committee on the weekends in two games every week.
I believe a lot of the pitching issues go back to Aoki’s poor recruiting the last couple of years as many of the arms going out there right now are borderline ACC caliber pitchers.
STG: This year, the Eagles have lost to Holy Cross, Northeastern, Rhode Island, and Dartmouth. I’ve been some bad BC baseball teams, but they didn’t get creamed by the other local teams like this. I’m almost afraid to ask, but where does BC stand compared to the other New England programs?
BF: I think it is clear again that UConn is the best team in New England as they have started to roll in the Big East after a slow start to the season. They also have the best two prospects in the New England area and will be selected in the top 15 overall selections of the upcoming MLB Draft. It is really a treat to watch both Matt Barnes (touches 97) and George Springer play.
STG: As of today, Boston College’s record is 13-20 (6-11). In a recent article, I projected them to finish 19-34 (9-20) and to be left out of the ACC Tournament. How close do you think I’ll end up being?
BF: I don’t know about that though. They already have six wins in the conference this season. Yes, they will not probably win an ACC game the next two weekends at Georgia Tech this upcoming weekend and the number 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers visiting Chestnut Hill the weekend after. Besides that, they still have a series with Wake Forest and NC State in which they should be able to win four games at least. So about 10 wins is what I would expect.
STG: The 2009 NCAA Tournament season seems like a distant memory. They got there with some good players (like the erstwhile Tony Sanchez, Mike Belfiore, and Mickey Wiswall). Is this program years away from sniffing the field of 64 again?
BF: Years away might be pushing it. The aura around Mike Gambino throughout the country is that he is a monster on the recruiting trail and will be bringing in some great talent like he did at Virginia Tech. He was able to identify both Austin Wates and Jesse Hahn out of high school and if he did that at BC again, they would be immediate contenders.
STG: On that, we need some good news. Are there any recruits on the horizon for the 2012 season?
BF: [Former Eagles player] Barry Butera’s little brother is one of the recruits and if he is anything like his brother then BC will be fine. Andrew Chin and Devin Perry aren’t the “ELITE” arms in Massachusetts according to scouts but are expected to make an immediate impact in the rotation.
Here is the full class from PerfectGame:
Blake Butera SS 5-9 170 R-R Mandeville Madisonville LA Boston College
Andrew Chin LHP 6-1 180 L-L Buckingham, Browne & Nichols Newton MA Boston College
John Gorman 3B 6-2 215 R-R Catholic Memorial Norwood MA Boston College
Tyler Hinchliffe LHP 5-10 180 L-L Highland Erial NJ Boston College
Geoffrey Murphy C 6-2 185 R-R McIntosh Peachtree City GA Boston College
Devin Perry RHP 6-3 195 R-R Buckingham Browne and Nichols Newtonville MA Boston College
Eric Stone OF 5-10 160 R-R West Haven West Haven CT Boston College