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Clemson Baseball: Pitching Rotation, Projected Lineup, Expectations, More

By Andrew Boardwine

Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: The Florida Gators take batting practice prior to game one of the College World Series Championship Series against the LSU Tigers on June 26, 2017 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: The Florida Gators take batting practice prior to game one of the College World Series Championship Series against the LSU Tigers on June 26, 2017 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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The Clemson baseball team will open its 2018 season with a weekend series against William & Mary today. Here’s the weekend rotation and projected lineup.

The Clemson baseball team will open the 2018 campaign with a weekend series against a very solid William & Mary team.

The Tigers will have a lot of guys stepping into new positions as they look to replace all three starters from their weekend rotation and several guys out in the field.

Here’s our preview for the 2018 Clemson baseball team.

Weekend Rotation:

  • Jacob Hennessy (So.), LHP
  • Brooks Crawford (Sr.), RHP
  • Jake Higginbotham (*So.), LHP

Monte Lee announced that these three guys would be on the bump for the first weekend of the season. While all three guys have experience coming out of the bullpen, it will be a whole different level being relied upon to be weekend starters.

Jacob Hennessy was a highly-touted freshman last season and now he will step into the role of being the ace of this staff.

There are also several young arms and experienced guys to keep your eye on:

  • Ryley Gilliam (Closer)
  • Alex Schnell
  • Bryce Bowen
  • Owen Griffith
  • Holt Jones
  • Mitchell Miller
  • Ryan Miller
  • Spencer Strider
  • Sam Weatherly

I’m particularly excited to see Spencer Strider, who could hold down a mid-week starter role or even transition to a weekend rotation role later on in the season.

Projected Lineup:

2B- Jordan Greene

SS- Logan Davidson

RF- Seth Beer

DH- Chris Williams

C- Kyle Wilkie

LF- Robert Jolly

1B- Patrick Cromwell

CF- Drew Wharton

3B- Grayson Byrd

Freshman center fielder Kier Meredith will most likely be the starter when he returns from an injury.

I could see Meredith actually being the lead-off guy. It will be interesting to see how Monte Lee puts these guys. Logan Davidson is a guy that can hit anywhere from lead-off to fifth. Seth Beer will either be your No. 3 or cleanup hitter.

2018 Outlook:

Offensively, this looks like a team that will take step forward in 2018. Right now, the big question has to do with the pitching.

Who will be those guys to step up in the bullpen? Will the weekend rotation pitchers be able to handle the pressure?

Next: What does the FSU loss mean for Clemson basketball?

Right now, I would say that this looks like a team that could host a regional and may even make it to a super regional. I would hold off on Omaha presently, but I think we’ll have a better idea of what this team truly is here in a few weeks when they get into the series with South Carolina and into conference play.

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