Clemson’s baseball team has some experience returning from last season, but the Tigers also have some personnel losses they will have to effectively replace if they’re going to have the turnaround they’re hoping for this spring.
That’s where newcomers could make the biggest impact for Clemson coach Monte Lee, who’s tasked with getting Clemson back on track in his sixth season at the helm after the Tigers suffered their first losing season since 1957 last spring.
Clemson has some key pieces back in the fold headlined by right-hander Mack Anglin, power-hitting first baseman Caden Grice and third baseman Bryar Hawkins, but All-ACC shortstop James Parker and outfielder Kier Meredith have moved on to the professional ranks. Veteran second baseman Sam Hall opted to use his final season of eligibility at North Carolina State as a graduate transfer, and there are also weekend rotation spots behind Anglin that have to be shored up ahead of the Tigers’ Feb. 18 season opener against Indiana.
Younger holdovers who haven’t seen much playing time to this point may contend for more significant roles, but Lee will also be relying on his most recent crop of signees to help, including a couple of transfers primed to be inserted into the starting lineup immediately.
“We have a number of guys that I think are going to make a big impact,” Lee said.
Tyler Corbitt and Ben Blackwell could be the Tigers’ next middle infield tandem after starting their careers at other schools. Corbitt transferred to Clemson from The Citadel, where he was an all-Southern Conference second baseman. He hit .376 last season as a third-year sophomore for the Bulldogs with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 23 games.
“He’s a tough kid,” Lee said of Corbitt, who hit .333 or better in all three of his seasons as a starter for the Bulldogs. “Knows how to play the game. Can hit with two strikes. A good situational hitter.”
Meanwhile, Blackwell joins the Tigers this season after beginning his collegiate career at Dayton, where he hit .349 as the Flyers’ everyday shortstop a season ago. He has arguably the biggest shoes to fill.
Parker was Clemson’s leading hitter (.324) while starting all 52 games last season before being taken by the Seattle Mariners in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. But Lee feels like Blackwell’s game is well-rounded enough to handle it.
Blackwell posted a .913 fielding percentage with the Flyers last season, which was comparable to Parker’s .929 clip.
“A really good defensive player,” Lee said. “I feel like he is an above-average defensive shortstop. He’s going to be a really good player for us.”
Freshman Billy Amick has impressed enough with his bat that he could get early playing time as the Tigers’ designated hitter. The Batesburg native could also play a corner infield position, Lee said, though Amick didn’t participate in fall ball because of an arm injury he sustained in high school.
How Amick progresses with that injury will dictate whether or not he could play in the field, but Lee said Amick has the kind of power he’d like to get in the lineup sooner rather than later.
“He’s going to an impact hitter,” Lee said. “He’s going to be a middle-of-the-order type of hitter in my opinion in the future and could be this year depending on how he progresses once he starts getting live at-bats.”
Another DH candidate is fellow freshman David Lewis, who got Lee’s vote as the team’s Most Valuable Player of the Orange & Purple scrimmages that concluded fall practices. A prep standout at Blue Ridge High in Greer, Lewis went 6 of 11 in the three scrimmages with two home runs, a triple and six RBIs for the Purple team.
“He’s got some power, can use the whole field and is a good hitter,” Lee said.
Will Taylor is another freshman worth monitoring as he works his way back from the knee injury he suffered with the Clemson football team in the fall. Taylor, a receiver and punt returner in football, sustained a torn ACL in early October. Barring any setbacks in his recovery from surgery, Taylor, who’s started running again, could log some innings in the outfield as early as March, though Taylor’s exact timetable for a return won’t be known until that month gets closer.
On the mound, Lee mentioned Jay Dill, Casey Tallent, Rocco Reid and Billy Barlow as freshmen pitchers who impressed him in the fall and could compete immediately for innings out of the bullpen. In Barlow’s case, Lee said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound right-hander from Myrtle Beach has the makeup to potentially be a starter at the back end of the weekend rotation or in a midweek role.
“(Barlow) has got a really good sinker, and his fastball, this is a guy that’s been up at 95, 96 (miles per hour) as well,” Lee said. “He’s a little bit of a different look from the other guys because the ball moves so much. And he’s an ultra, ultra competitive young man.
“We feel like he’s going to be a guy that pitches a lot for us.”
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