2018 Illinois Baseball

#127      

touper

T
'burbs
touper
That’s awesome. Does that mean he goes pro? No clue how any of that works for baseball players??
 
#129      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
illinifaninwi said:
Yes and was hitting 95, 96 mph on the gun in the preseason. The issue has always been throwing strikes consistently. His curveball is nasty as well. He could be a great piece when he returns in the next 2-3 weeks.
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Odd interview with Hartleb today on Saturday Morning Sportsline. Tate asked him about pitching for next year and then specifically about Shilling. Hartleb hesitated then mentioned the lack of strikes when he was healthy. He went on to say that he thinks Shilling may be drafted but isn't likely to be with Illinois in the future either way.
 
#130      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
Next year's roster. Someone posted that a team can carry no more than 35 players on the roster. By my count, we have 30 non seniors on the current squad. A couple are likely to be drafted - Spillane and Gerber, which would leave 28 to possibly return.
http://fightingillini.com/roster.aspx?path=baseball
We have signed 10 players for next year: http://fightingillini.com/news/2017/11/7/nine-sign-nlis-to-illini-baseball.aspx?path=baseball Again, there could be one or two of those drafted. Regardless, it seems like some folks will need to move on in order for the roster to be under the cap. Likely that Shilling will be one of those.
 
#131      

618MattD

618MattD
618MattD
BRucks said:
Next year's roster. Someone posted that a team can carry no more than 35 players on the roster. By my count, we have 30 non seniors on the current squad. A couple are likely to be drafted - Spillane and Gerber, which would leave 28 to possibly return.
http://fightingillini.com/roster.aspx?path=baseball
We have signed 10 players for next year: http://fightingillini.com/news/2017/11/7/nine-sign-nlis-to-illini-baseball.aspx?path=baseball Again, there could be one or two of those drafted. Regardless, it seems like some folks will need to move on in order for the roster to be under the cap. Likely that Shilling will be one of those.
Click to expand...

Transfers happen every year in college baseball. Some freshmen will think that they should get more time and leave/go to a juco to develop and play more. Some will realize college baseball is more intense that they thought it would be and quit. Some upperclass transfer if they haven't seen the field yet. No need to worry about the roster being too big
 
#135      

illinifaninwi

I
DeForest, Wisconsin
illinifaninwi
Good news for the Illini is that their top two recruits, especially catcher Jacob Campbell, were not drafted in the top 10 rounds, which means both indicated to scouts that they are going to school.
 
#136      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
illinifaninwi said:
Good news for the Illini is that their top two recruits, especially catcher Jacob Campbell, were not drafted in the top 10 rounds, which means both indicated to scouts that they are going to school.
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We need a catcher, badly. All 3 of our guys were either juniors or seniors this year and none of them performed well. Korte did come on strong at the end of the season to raise his batting average to .262. In fairness to him this was his first season with the club after playing two years at a directional school in Florida. Craan is a career .132 hitter with .138 this year as his best. Skonieczny has hit .176 for his career and dropped off to .061 in limited action this year.
 
#137      

ilphotog

ilphotog
The camera never lies
Champaign
ilphotog
Got back from shooting the Illinois Baseball teams 14 inning game (Fall Ball) against EIU. My only focus was really on the Freshman and transfers. I'll just give a general review since I didn't know any of the new guys. The biggest take away, the ARMS! They have a lot of hard throwers now, most guys hit the low 90's and one freshman topped out at 96mph. Time well tell of course in true game action when it counts, but first impressions were really positive. Hitting wise a couple of the freshmen show some nice pop off the bat and most made decent contact. Defensively was hard to judge as guys moved around to different positions. Like I said this was just a first impression type review, and overall it was really positive.