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Photo by: Joshua Thurston
2016 Troy Baseball Preview: The Pitchers
2/14/2016 2:27:00 PM | Baseball
With the 2016 baseball season opening on Friday, TroyTrojans.com will take a position-by-position look at this year's team over the next four days.
STARTERS
The Troy pitching staff has one of the top 1,2 combos of starting pitchers in the Sun Belt returning for the 2016 season.
Seniors Grant Bennett and Lucas Brown return as the Friday night and Saturday night starters respectively. Bennett posted a 3.12 ERA and a 9-4 record in 2015. The Hazel Green, Ala., native led the team with 106.2 innings pitched and 84 strikeouts, including a team-high 14 against Georgia Southern. Brown led the team with a 2.85 ERA and finished second on the team with six wins and 60 strikeouts, including nine against Alabama A&M. Both pitchers ranked in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in ERA, innings pitched and wins for the 2015 season.
Newcomers Evan Hebert and Zack Lightsey could be potential candidates to close out the starting rotation. Hebert, a junior college transfer, posted a 2-0 record and a 4.99 ERA over 30.2 innings of work for Northwest Florida State CC. He pitched at Arizona for the 2014 season and pitched eight innings and had a 2.25 ERA. Lightsey, a freshman from Childersburg, Ala., posted an 11-2 record with a 2.40 ERA his junior year. Both have thrown well at times and have earned the opportunity to compete for the final spot in the rotation.
Austin Crook, who is out due to an injury, could be another potential starter. Crook heated up late last year starting five of the last six games. The Fort Deposit, Ala., native went 4-0 in 2015 with 30 strikeouts.
BULLPEN
The bullpen will feature a couple of solid pitchers anchoring it from the back end to begin the 2016 season.
Junior pitcher Marc Skinner had a phenomenal freshman campaign and was named Louisville Slugger All-American and NCBWA Freshman All-American, along with Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. Skinner finished his sophomore season with 21 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched and only allowed two hits in his last 10 innings pitched.
Sophomore pitcher Corey Childress was Troy's first freshman opening night starter, when he toed the rubber against Northwestern State. However the decision has been made for Childress to come out of the bullpen to begin the 2016 season. The Fairhope, Ala., native came out of the bullpen for the latter part of the season in 2015.
Robert Harris is another pitcher that would contribute entering the game in relief. Harris had minimal work in 2015 made 13 relief appearances last season and struck out nine.
Perez Knowles, Cory Gill, Scott Stough and Trey Johns are all players that might drift into the starting pitching conversation, but will contribute coming out of the bullpen. Knowles pitches 14 innings all out of the bullpen with 11 strikeouts last season. Gill and Stough are two incoming freshman who can contribute and Johns, a junior college transfer, will be added into the mix.
Primary outfielder Reid Long will get more of an opportunity to pitch this year. He was signed here to pitch, but didn't get much of a chance to last year. He pitched 1.1 innings against Samford.
Local product, Houston Mabray, is going through some injuries right now but he is someone who will factor into the bullpen when healthy.
Two guys on the disabled list are Jesse Nelson, who is still recovering from surgery and newcomer Andrew Crane who is out for the season.
Smartt's Thoughts: On the mound, we're very fortunate to have two returning starters who have had success. They are two guys we will build around. We expect them to go out and pitch well and they have proven they can do that. We'll develop the third and fourth starters as we go. There will be some different opportunities early and we'll find that right combination. In the bullpen, both Childress and Skinner will give us a good start toward the end of the game. We have to figure out who fits those roles in the middle of the game. That will be the telltale sign of the staff over the first part of the season.
Smartt's Overall Team Thoughts: There is depth at every position of the field. There are also guys that can play multiple positions. Overall, this is a very athletic team in areas that we might not have been as athletic in, in the past. This team will cover more ground defensively and make more plays defensively. The main concern is the youth of the team and the lack of Division I experience. Until the newcomers get in the Division I concept and understand the intensity, those are the main issues.
STARTERS
The Troy pitching staff has one of the top 1,2 combos of starting pitchers in the Sun Belt returning for the 2016 season.
Seniors Grant Bennett and Lucas Brown return as the Friday night and Saturday night starters respectively. Bennett posted a 3.12 ERA and a 9-4 record in 2015. The Hazel Green, Ala., native led the team with 106.2 innings pitched and 84 strikeouts, including a team-high 14 against Georgia Southern. Brown led the team with a 2.85 ERA and finished second on the team with six wins and 60 strikeouts, including nine against Alabama A&M. Both pitchers ranked in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in ERA, innings pitched and wins for the 2015 season.
Newcomers Evan Hebert and Zack Lightsey could be potential candidates to close out the starting rotation. Hebert, a junior college transfer, posted a 2-0 record and a 4.99 ERA over 30.2 innings of work for Northwest Florida State CC. He pitched at Arizona for the 2014 season and pitched eight innings and had a 2.25 ERA. Lightsey, a freshman from Childersburg, Ala., posted an 11-2 record with a 2.40 ERA his junior year. Both have thrown well at times and have earned the opportunity to compete for the final spot in the rotation.
Austin Crook, who is out due to an injury, could be another potential starter. Crook heated up late last year starting five of the last six games. The Fort Deposit, Ala., native went 4-0 in 2015 with 30 strikeouts.
BULLPEN
The bullpen will feature a couple of solid pitchers anchoring it from the back end to begin the 2016 season.
Junior pitcher Marc Skinner had a phenomenal freshman campaign and was named Louisville Slugger All-American and NCBWA Freshman All-American, along with Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. Skinner finished his sophomore season with 21 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched and only allowed two hits in his last 10 innings pitched.
Sophomore pitcher Corey Childress was Troy's first freshman opening night starter, when he toed the rubber against Northwestern State. However the decision has been made for Childress to come out of the bullpen to begin the 2016 season. The Fairhope, Ala., native came out of the bullpen for the latter part of the season in 2015.
Robert Harris is another pitcher that would contribute entering the game in relief. Harris had minimal work in 2015 made 13 relief appearances last season and struck out nine.
Perez Knowles, Cory Gill, Scott Stough and Trey Johns are all players that might drift into the starting pitching conversation, but will contribute coming out of the bullpen. Knowles pitches 14 innings all out of the bullpen with 11 strikeouts last season. Gill and Stough are two incoming freshman who can contribute and Johns, a junior college transfer, will be added into the mix.
Primary outfielder Reid Long will get more of an opportunity to pitch this year. He was signed here to pitch, but didn't get much of a chance to last year. He pitched 1.1 innings against Samford.
Local product, Houston Mabray, is going through some injuries right now but he is someone who will factor into the bullpen when healthy.
Two guys on the disabled list are Jesse Nelson, who is still recovering from surgery and newcomer Andrew Crane who is out for the season.
Smartt's Thoughts: On the mound, we're very fortunate to have two returning starters who have had success. They are two guys we will build around. We expect them to go out and pitch well and they have proven they can do that. We'll develop the third and fourth starters as we go. There will be some different opportunities early and we'll find that right combination. In the bullpen, both Childress and Skinner will give us a good start toward the end of the game. We have to figure out who fits those roles in the middle of the game. That will be the telltale sign of the staff over the first part of the season.
Smartt's Overall Team Thoughts: There is depth at every position of the field. There are also guys that can play multiple positions. Overall, this is a very athletic team in areas that we might not have been as athletic in, in the past. This team will cover more ground defensively and make more plays defensively. The main concern is the youth of the team and the lack of Division I experience. Until the newcomers get in the Division I concept and understand the intensity, those are the main issues.
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