After a 14-3 start to the 2020 season, the NC State baseball team’s year was cut short due to COVID-19, leaving behind questions of what could have been. Now, the team will prepare to compete in 2021, returning a decent amount of its talent. Let’s take a look at which returning players and newcomers will make impacts in the spring.
Pitching staff
In the offseason, the Pack lost its star pitcher Nick Swiney to the MLB draft after he was selected in the second round by the San Francisco Giants. A lot of work will have to be done to figure out how to replace the production that Swiney brought to the table, as he posted a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings pitched along with a 4-0 record.
There are several other capable pitchers who will help fill out the rotation. Junior David Harrison and freshman Sam Highfill posted a combined 5-2 record in 2020, while freshmen Chris Villaman and Austin Pace played well in their first seasons. Juniors Reid Johnston, Canaan Silver and Evan Justice, the latter of whom was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 2019 season, will fill out the rotation.
In his press conference on Wednesday, Avent said the Friday, Saturday and Sunday starters will be Justice, Highfill and Villaman, respectively.
Two who will see a lot of action out of the pen this year are senior Kent Klyman and redshirt junior Dalton Feeney. Klyman put up a 1.42 ERA in just over six innings pitched in the 2020 season, and in the 2019 season, Klyman posted a 5-2 record in 21 appearances. Meanwhile, Feeney posted a 1.86 ERA in 2019 across 29 innings and a 2.35 ERA in 2020 in 7.2 innings.
In the offseason, the team added some intriguing freshman options, including John Miralia and Garrett Payne, two 6-foot-7, highly-touted pitching recruits, but the one who might see the most action is freshman Cooper King, a pitcher/infielder Avent said was looking really good in practice.
Infielders
The infielders lost a significant amount of talent with catcher Patrick Bailey going in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, also to the Giants. However, the Wolfpack will still return a significant amount of talent that will more than offset that loss.
Junior Devonte Brown had a ridiculous 2020 season, as he finished second on the team in several categories, including his five home runs, 22 hits and 19 RBIs. Brown also finished third on the team in batting average, swinging at .338. Brown finished the year with a whopping .692 slugging percentage.
Juniors second baseman J.T. Jarrett and first baseman Austin Murr will look to build upon their 2020 campaigns, with both having incredible outings. Murr started in all 17 games for the Pack and did not commit a single error in his time, joining sophomore center fielder Tyler McDonough as the only two players to accomplish such a feat. Jarrett finished his 2020 season with a .333 batting average, 15 hits, 15 RBIs and two home runs.
Freshman shortstop Jose Torres and sophomore catcher Luca Tresh are the other players to look out for, with each finishing their 2020 seasons with three home runs apiece. Tresh led the team in batting average among starters, posting a .405 mark, albeit in limited at-bats as he was coming back from injury. Tresh also finished the season with no errors in his 11 games played.
“[Having a stacked lineup] is a lot of fun,” Brown said at media day Wednesday, Feb. 17. “Because the way we think about it is, if one person is not hitting that day, we know we have two, three, four people behind him to back him up, to bring those runs in or to get those doubles that we need. We can always rely on somebody behind us to hit.”
Outfielders
As for the outfield, the Pack will look to its returning players to take another step forward, with each showing promise in the 2020 season.
McDonough, junior Jonny Butler and freshman Noah Soles are the top returners in the outfield for NC State. Butler and McDonugh both started in all 17 games last year. Butler led the team in stolen bases with nine and ended the year strong with a 13-game on-base streak, and McDonough finished second on the team in batting average at .354. Both will look to continue their hot streaks in the 2021 season as leaders in the outfield.
Meanwhile, Soles showed promise last season, posting nine hits and five RBIs in 15 at-bats. If Soles’s .600 batting average in limited time is of any indication, he could wrap up that last starting outfield job in no time.
Junior Terrell Tatum will look to build upon his strong 2020 outing, with no errors in 12 games, and he tied for second on the team in stolen bases with seven.
The NC State baseball team will return to Doak Field Friday, Feb. 19, when it kicks off a three-game home series against VMI.
