Pop in the lineup, pitching depth stand out as Mountaineers begin season
MORGANTOWN — It was the type of prediction from WVU baseball manager Randy Mazey that seemingly came out of left field, which was odd only in that J.J. Wetherholt is a second baseman.
“J.J. has a chance to be the best hitter I’ve ever coached in 35 years,” Mazey said. “He’s been that good so far this spring. I think a lot of it is a health thing. He was battling some injuries literally the entire season last year.
“He’s running as good as he’s ever run and swinging as good as he’s ever swung the bat. So, this has a chance to be a pretty good year for him if we can keep him healthy.”
Playing mostly at third base last season, Wetherholt developed into an all-Big 12 freshman after hitting .308 with five home runs, 39 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.
A year later, Mazey said the right move was made to get Wetherholt back to his more-natural position at second base, and he’ll likely be in the No. 2 spot in the Mountaineers’ batting order when they open the season Friday in a three-game series against Georgia Southern, who was one of 16 regional hosts in the 2022 NCAA tournament.
“If you run the numbers, the guys who hit in the first two spots in the order will get 10 or 12 more at-bats than the guys hitting fourth or fifth,” Mazey said. “You got a guy like J.J., you want him at the top of the lineup. You’d hate for a game to end with J.J. standing on deck.
“He’s capable of hitting in the middle and driving in runs, but I think having him at the top will create some more at-bats for him.”
Mazey’s high praise of Wetherholt apparently hasn’t reached the rest of the Big 12, as the sophomore didn’t make the preseason first team.
To that end, no WVU player earned preseason all-Big 12 honors, despite the Mountaineers winning a school-record 14 league games last season, while returning five starters and their top starting pitcher.
WVU was picked to finish sixth out of nine teams in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll.
So, as a new season is about to unfold, we bat around the lineup with the top five things you need to know about WVU baseball:
1. Pop over speed
Under Mazey, WVU has traditionally been among the Big 12’s top speed teams. WVU led the conference with 156 stolen bases last season.
With developing hitters like Wetherholt and fellow sophomore Grant Hussey (11 home runs as a freshman), WVU has the potential to score runs this season with power rather than speed.
“I think we’ll hit some more home runs this year and not steal as many bases,” Mazey said. “We’re still going to run some, but if the guy at the plate is capable of hitting a homer, the last thing you want to do is make an out on the bases ahead of him. It’ll be a little different feel.”
Outfielder Braden Barry returns after hitting six home runs and catcher Dayne Leonard returns after leading WVU with a .331 batting average last season.
Also keep an eye on junior college recruit Caleb McNeely, who hit 25 home runs last season at Walters State (Tenn.) Community College.
2. Starting pitching depth
Ben Hampton finished 8-5 last season at WVU and then had a stellar summer in the Cape Cod League.
“Ben having a pretty good summer is completely overstating the obvious,” Mazey said. “He led Cape Cod in strikeouts, and that’s against a pretty elite list of people.”
WVU sophomore Aidan Major went 3-0 over five starts and pitched six no-hit innings in a game against Pitt last season.
Carlson Reed has the velocity to be a conference-game starter, but his control was shaky last season.
Chris Sleeper was also an all-Big 12 freshman pick last season after finishing 3-4 with a 3.63 ERA.
3. Talented newcomers
Incoming freshman pitcher Gavin Van Kempen was a 20th-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2022 draft, but opted to go to college.
Outfielder Tre Keels was ranked No. 96 in the nation among prep players, according to Perfect Game, making him one of the highest-ranked recruits signed by WVU.
McNeely was a junior college All-American last season.
Overall, WVU’s 2022 recruiting class was ranked No. 34 overall by Perfect Game.
4. The portal takes and gives
WVU’s returning lineup could have been more lethal, but lead-off hitter Austin Davis transferred to TCU and McGwire Holbrook transferred to Florida State.
The Mountaineers did sign three pitchers and a position player from the transfer portal. Junior outfielder Landon Wallace hit .313 with five home runs and 34 RBIs at Nevada last season. The top pitcher may be sophomore Grant Siegel, who went 7-1 with a 3.02 ERA as a freshman at Tulane.
5. The schedule
Of the 55 games scheduled, WVU will play 31 on the road and 24 at Monongalia County Ballpark.
The opening three-game series at Georgia Southern is the first of 27 games WVU will play against teams that played in the 2022 NCAA tournament.
That list also includes Arizona, Maryland, VCU, Canisius, UNC Greensboro, as well as Big 12 foes Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, TCU and Texas Tech.
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