WF Baseball Off-season Thread

[IAppreciateIt]

for better or worse, this season is gonna be a whole different ballgame. there is too much hype and the expectations are too lofty. i predict the donks will be out in full force.

 

[vtwhat etc]

First championship odds are out:
https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaa-...world-series-longshot-picks-clemson-iowa-2024

Hoo, boy.

I knew we'd be #1 in most pre-season rankings, but seeing Vegas buy the hype is great.

Also, I just looked through a handful of historical pre-season odds... & +600 is the heaviest betting favorite I found.


... which was TCU at +700 in 2017. Interesting to note that Coastal, who made (& won) their first CWS in 2016, was posted at +2900 following year.

2017 College Baseball World Series Odds | Sports Insights

The 2017 NCAA Division 1 baseball season began back February and will conclude on June 27 with the College World Series championship in Omaha, Nebraska.

www.sportsinsights.com

 

[WindyCityDeac]

Did I just not care because we were winning all the time or did the baseball thread only have 1 or 2 idiots? They did not even post much. It was a high quality thread, in my opinion. (I mostly read so not patting myself on the back here)

You just didn’t care because wake was winning. There were plenty of idiots…

 

[Vegas Jethro]

What are the odds that the ACC moves the Saturday (March 9th) game against Duke at 4pm up an hour 2? Because the basketball game is at 6 against Clemson.

 

[Mt. Olive]

Naw. Most of the season was pleasant. That’s when I started on the boards. We had a guy that kept saying there was never any hope (sorry Windy) but most folks knew it was a thing. Dumbass stuff didn’t start until they got to the tourney. There is one or 2 80 Deacs that will bitch when Hartle throws a 1 hitter on 89 pitches but I just ignore them.

 

[Dkin]

Naw. Most of the season was pleasant. That’s when I started on the boards. We had a guy that kept saying there was never any hope (sorry Windy) but most folks knew it was a thing. Dumbass stuff didn’t start until they got to the tourney. There is one or 2 80 Deacs that will bitch when Hartle throws a 1 hitter on 89 pitches but I just ignore them.

Boards had some serious coach hate about a year ago. It was pretty bad

 

[Mt. Olive]

Boards had some serious coach hate about a year ago. It was pretty bad

That is going to happen on these boards. We could get Saban next year and the football coach thread would be 900 pages long…none of it positive.

 

[Mt. Olive]

Boards had some serious coach hate about a year ago. It was pretty bad

Also, part of that is folks bitching the first time they bunt. I can’t wait for that.

 

[deacdixieboy]

Boards had some serious coach hate about a year ago. It was pretty bad

That was primarily from the folks who have followed this program for years and were used to preseason rankings with little actual success.

 

[DeacsOrDie]

Nice coverage of Wake baseball on ACC PM prior to the State game starting.

The state game that ended in violence and misery. Hope that’s not a sign for baseball.

 

[DeacsOrDie]

Hopefully it's not until March (or never!), but the thread is going to be something to behold when Wake loses it's first game in some weird game where both teams commit 6 errors. I'm imagining the Coastal game from last year but instead of 10 people posting in the game thread there are 50 lol

If we win that Coastal last year then we would have won the national championship. IMO

 

[DeacsOrDie]

Boards had some serious coach hate about a year ago. It was pretty bad

It was pretty justified if you followed Wake baseball. Walter was full of hyping his team with little results.

 

[Deacsfan27]

After we lost to Maryland to end the season two years ago, I was like 95% Walter Out (and pretty sure I said so on here). I was obviously wrong, but still feel justified in why I came to my conclusion based on watching a lot of Wake baseball the last 15 years.

I am more than happy to have been proven wrong.

 

[Deacfreak07]

It was pretty justified if you followed Wake baseball. Walter was full of hyping his team with little results.

Weird that hyping a team is viewed as a bad thing. Wtf do you expect for the coach to do?

 

[IamThunderbolt]

Weird that hyping a team is viewed as a bad thing. Wtf do you expect for the coach to do?

The problem wasn’t with hyping the team, but consistently falling short of the hype (often far short).

Because of the hype, the narrative became that we were constantly and drastically underperforming based on our talent, which would fall on the staff. This then led to being hyper aware of coaching decisions and foibles, reinforcing the “we are being held back by the coach” narrative.

 

[WindyCityDeac]

i will 100% lose my shit at the first sacrifice bunt

 

[Deaconblue]

i will 100% lose my shit at the first sacrifice bunt

Do that. Then maybe you won't be so full of it later.

 

[TheIshThatSaved WakeForest]

Why we gotta talk about old shit? We’ve got the best talent in the country. Let’s talk about that. Maybe the projected splits at catcher and RF. Or how much people are going to be pleasantly surprised by Tellier at 3B. Or another Hawke who is an absolute vacuum at 2B. Or Marek breaking out as lead off and turning into a top 2025 draft prospect.

 

[WindyCityDeac]

Do that. Then maybe you won't be so full of it later.

well played sir. well played

 

[IAppreciateIt]

Why we gotta talk about old shit? We’ve got the best talent in the country. Let’s talk about that. Maybe the projected splits at catcher and RF. Or how much people are going to be pleasantly surprised by Tellier at 3B. Or another Hawke who is an absolute vacuum at 2B. Or Marek breaking out as lead off and turning into a top 2025 draft prospect.

I think we'll do a decent amount of platooning and lineup swaps. D1 baseball projects Winnay in LF and Ballestero at DH.

Hawke's defense is getting rave reviews and someone mentioned on a podcast he might not make an error all season. Definitely surprised me because he made a whole buncha errors playing 2B in summer ball (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=hawke-000aus) but also possible the stats are wrong.

If the hype is right, our infield defense is gonna be amazingly good. On top of that, Gill is supposed to be strong behind the plate.