Clemson sets pitching rotation for opening weekend

Clemson baseball coach Monte Lee has settled on his pitching rotation for the Tigers’ opening series against Indiana this weekend. As expected, sophomore right-hander Mack Anglin will get the ball in Clemson’s season opener Friday. Lee said fellow …

Clemson baseball coach Monte Lee has settled on his pitching rotation for the Tigers’ opening series against Indiana this weekend.

As expected, sophomore right-hander Mack Anglin will get the ball in Clemson’s season opener Friday. Lee said fellow sophomores Nick Clayton and Nick Hoffman will start the final two games of the series Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Anglin and Hoffman each threw more than 49 innings last season, the most among Clemson’s returning pitchers. Clayton, who primarily threw in relief a season ago, pitched 37 ⅔ innings as a freshman. Their experience is a big reason for being part of the rotation, which has to replace New York Mets draft pick Keyshawn Askew.

“We feel like, going into Week 1, we wanted guys with stripes on their sleeves to go out there and start for us,” Lee said Tuesday. “Feel like those are the best three guys for those spots.”

Anglin is entering his third and possibly final season with the Tigers as the presumed ace of the weekend rotation. He posted a 3.99 earned run average a season ago while making the second-most starts on the team (8), allowing 48 hits while striking out 75 and walking 33 in 13 total appearances.

Clayton is vying for a permanent spot in the rotation after making all but one of his 18 appearances out of the bullpen last season. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder recorded 40 strikeouts and walked 12 last season. Clayton posted a 4.30 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .241 against him, but Lee said the tall right-hander has been Clemson’s most consistent starter leading up to the season.

“He’s been very, very good in all of his starts in the preseason,” Lee said.

Hoffman recorded the lowest ERA of the trio (3.83) in 49 ⅓ innings last season, third-most among the pitching staff. The 6-2 right-hander did most of his work as one of Clemson’s most effective relievers (just four starts in 17 appearances), but Lee said Hoffman has earned the right to be the Tigers’ Sunday starter going into this season, particularly given how strong his command has been.

With 40 punchouts and just five walks issued, Hoffman posted a team-best 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio last season. One of his starts went the distance in a win over Boston College, making for the first complete game by a Clemson pitcher since 2017.

“Just look at his numbers,” Lee said. “He’s one of the best pure strike throwers in the league. His command is exceptional. He doesn’t walk anybody, and that’s a pretty calming presence to be able to run out there as a Sunday starter. You know he’s going to fill up the strike zone and pitch to contact and has the ability to get you deep into the game.”

Geoffrey Gilbert (2.23 ERA in 44 ⅓ innings) is another option to start at some point this season, but Lee said he wants to keep the sophomore left-hander coming out of the bullpen for now to give teams a different look. Gilbert allowed 43 hits and struck out 52 in a team-high 28 appearances last season, all in relief.

“We’ve developed Geoffrey as a starter with the mindset that Geoff could go out there and throw three to four innings out of the bullpen if needed,” Lee said. “So we’ve built him as a long reliever, sort of a piggyback option behind one of those starters, or to be able to use him multiple times over a weekend. That’s our plan.”

Friday’s opener is set for a 4 p.m. start at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. First pitch for Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. while Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1 p.m.

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After putting pro baseball on hold, Anglin out to become Clemson’s efficient ace

Mack Anglin had a decision to make over the summer. To hear him tell it, though, it wasn’t much of one. A draft-eligible freshman, Anglin was selected in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Washington …

Mack Anglin had a decision to make over the summer. To hear him tell it, though, it wasn’t much of one.

A draft-eligible freshman, Anglin was selected in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Washington Nationals, who took the Clemson right-hander with the 383rd overall pick. Anglin prayed about his decision, but “deep down I knew I wanted to come back,” he said.

So while last year’s draft claimed some other key Clemson underclassmen – shortstop James Parker signed with the Seattle Mariners while left-hander Keyshawn Askew inked with the New York Mets after being selected in the first 10 rounds – the team held on to the arm it’s counting on to anchor its weekend rotation this season, which Clemson is set to begin with a three-game home series against Indiana beginning Feb. 18.

“It was honestly the second-best decision of my life with the first one being coming here,” Anglin said. “Just being able to spend another year with these guys. This is one of the closest teams I’ve ever had. It’s been a blast, and we’re ready to get going.”

That was part of the reason why returning for a third season in college was such an easy decision for Anglin. But the 6-foot-4, 220-pound sophomore also wants to further boost his stock for a future that seems destined for professional baseball.

Anglin began his career at Clemson primarily as a weekday starter during a 2020 season that was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic. He moved into the weekend rotation for the first time last spring as a redshirt freshman, proving to be one of the more steady arms on the roster during a season in which injuries and inconsistency plagued the Tigers’ pitching staff.

Eight of Anglin’s 13 appearances were starts, and he finished the season with just a 2-6 record. But his 3.99 earned run average was tops among anyone who made at least five starts for Clemson last season. He limited opposing hitters to a .227 average and racked up 75 strikeouts.

As he prepares to be Clemson’s full-time Friday night starter, though, Anglin said he’s focused on improving his command, which was an issue at times a season ago. Anglin issued 33 walks in 56 ⅓ innings. To put that in perspective, Askew, who tossed a team-high 57 innings, walked just 11 batters.

Anglin also allowed 12 extra-base hits, including six home runs. As a result, Anglin said he’s worked on honing the feel for his fastball so that he can throw it more often and work ahead in the count. Not only would that help keep hitters guessing later in the at-bat, but fewer pitches would also allow Anglin to work deeper into games.

“Really it was the idea that the fastball is your tool pitch,” Anglin said. “That’s the way you can get ahead in the count, and if you can get ahead in the count with just your fastball, then you have the whole arsenal left to go. Whether that’s the curveball, changeup or slider, it was kind of just the idea of working more efficiently, which would lead to working deeper into games.”

The strategy worked over the summer in the Cape Cod League, where Anglin was the Wareham Gatemen’s top pitcher in limited action. He threw 12 ⅔ innings in three starts for the team without allowing an earned run. Anglin recorded 16 strikeouts while walking just three.

“Me and the coaching staff, that’s kind of the plan we laid, and we felt like we executed it pretty well,” Anglin said.

Now Anglin is turning his attention toward a season he enters as one of the Tigers’ undisputed leaders on and off the mound. Clemson coach Monte Lee said Anglin, Geoffrey Gilbert and Jackson Linley were voted to the team’s leadership council among the pitchers, who collectively posted a 5.00 ERA last season.

That played into Clemson’s 25-27 showing last spring, the Tigers’ first losing season in more than six decades. Anglin said he and his teammates are putting it on themselves to get things turned around in what could be his final season in a Clemson uniform.

“On the pitching side of things, it’s holding all your guys to a standard, which luckily we have a great group of guys,” Anglin said. “There hasn’t been a whole ton of policing. It’s all of us holding each other accountable, and we set a standard among each other.”

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5 positions still up for grabs for Clemson baseball

The start of the college baseball season is quickly approaching. Friday marked three weeks until Clemson opens an important season in the Monte Lee era against Indiana on Feb. 18 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers are trying to bounce back from …

The start of the college baseball season is quickly approaching.

Friday marked three weeks until Clemson opens an important season in the Monte Lee era against Indiana on Feb. 18 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Tigers are trying to bounce back from the program’s first losing season in more than six decades, which brought their streak of 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (not counting the COVID-impacted season of 2020) to an end.

The Tigers know what they have at some spots, including the pitching staff’s projected ace, Mack Anglin, and power-hitting first baseman Caden Grice. But there’s still plenty of evaluating for Lee to do before he fills out Clemson’s lineup card on Opening Day.

Here are five positions where the competition for starting jobs is still ongoing:

Catcher

Clemson platooned Adam Hackenberg and Jonathan French last season, but Hackenberg decided to get his professional career started early after being drafted by the Chicago White Sox over the summer.

That leaves the natural assumption that this is French’s job to lose, and it might be after he started 25 games behind the dish last season. But Lee recently said sophomore Cooper Ingle is making a push primarily because of his bat. Ingle was limited to 10 games last season primarily because of who was in front of him and injuries, but Lee referred to him as the best hitter on the roster based on how Ingle has performed the last two falls.

Lee also didn’t rule out another platoon situation if he feels like both deserve playing time.

Second base

The leader in the clubhouse here may be Tyler Corbitt, a transfer from The Citadel, but Blake Wright is making things interesting enough that Lee isn’t ready to declare a winner.

A three-year starter for the Bulldogs, Corbitt is known more for his offense. He hit at least .333 in all three of those seasons, including a .376 clip last season on his way to all-Southern Conference honors.

Meanwhile, Wright played in 12 games as a true freshman last season, including 10 starts at third base. But most of his playing time this season is likely to come at second.

“(Corbitt) can hit, and he’s tough as nails,” Lee said. “And he can do a whole lot of things to beat you. Blake Wright is a very good player, and he’s also tough as nails. So that battle is real and going to be a good one.”

Whoever wins this job will form Clemson’s middle infield tandem along with shortstop Ben Blackwell, a Dayton transfer.

Third base

Bryar Hawkins started 20 games at the hot corner a season ago. Max Wagner started 22 there.

Hawkins hit .315 with six doubles and 11 RBIs in 37 games last season and was even better in ACC play. He led the Tigers with a .343 average and posted a .425 on-base percentage in conference games.

Known more for his defense, Wagner hit .214 in 35 games as a true freshman and was frequently used as a defensive replacement late in games. His 13 appearances off the bench were the most on the team.

Center field

Clemson lost multiple starting outfielders off last year’s team, including arguably its best defensive one, Bryce Teodosio.

Lee mentioned J.D. Brock and Dylan Brewer as the primary candidates to replace Teodosio in center. Brock, a former two-way player, played in just 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman, hitting .182 with a .308 on-base percentage in those games.

Brewer was the Tigers’ everyday starter in right field last season but could make the move over. He hit just .207 last season but was one of the team’s top power threats. His 10 home runs were second only to Grice (15).

Sophomore speedster Spencer Rich and Chad Fairey, who hit six home runs in the fall, are also in the mix to start at a corner outfield spot if not in center, Lee said.

Designated hitter

This is a position that could see its share of shakeups throughout the season. But someone has to start the first game here, and Lee hasn’t yet decided who that will be with Grice set to take over at first base full-time.

Grice will likely still get some at-bats in this role when Lee wants to give him an off day in the field. Lee also didn’t rule out French or Ingle starting here depending on who wins the catcher’s job.

A couple of freshmen are also DH candidates. Billy Amick didn’t practice in the fall because of an injury, but Lee envisions Amick being a middle-of-the-order type of hitter at some point in his collegiate career. David Lewis earned MVP honors from Lee for his performance in the team’s Orange & Purple scrimmages in the fall.

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Lee, Tigers moving on from ‘absolute hell’

Monte Lee is getting tired of talking about it, and he’s not the only one within Clemson’s baseball program. The Tigers held their first team practice Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in preparation for the 2022 season. Once it starts, Clemson will …

Monte Lee is getting tired of talking about it, and he’s not the only one within Clemson’s baseball program.

The Tigers held their first team practice Friday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in preparation for the 2022 season. Once it starts, Clemson will begin working on what it hopes is a turnaround from the kind of season that’s rarely been a part of the Tigers’ tradition-rich history.

Clemson’s 25-27 overall record was far from the norm for Lee and certainly his predecessor. It was the first losing season for Lee in his 13 years as a head coach dating back to his seven-year stint at the College of Charleston. Before Lee took over as Clemson’s coach in 2016, Hall of Famer Jack Leggett won 955 games in 22 seasons at the helm, which included 21 NCAA Tournament berths, 11 Super Regional appearances and six trips to the College World Series.

Last season’s losing record was the program’s first since 1957, and Clemson missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008. The Tigers’ 16-20 record in conference play dropped them to fifth in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, their lowest finish since the league split its baseball teams into two divisions in 2006.

“Last year was absolute hell,” Lee said. “That’s just the truth, and we all know that. But I’ve moved on from last year, and hopefully I’ve learned from last year.”

Almost nothing went right a season ago for Clemson, which had the second-lowest batting average in the ACC and the highest earned run average among its pitching staff (5.00) of Lee’s tenure. Attrition was as big a reason for the dropoff as any for the Tigers, who had eight different pitchers make multiple starts and also dealt with some injuries to position players.

“To be honest, last year is the last thing we want to think about,” sophomore first baseman Caden Grice said. “We’re always looking ahead and just trying to play our best baseball each day. Trying to get 1% better every day we come out.”

But Lee and his players know nothing will talk louder than Clemson’s on-field performance this season. The Tigers have some key pieces back, including right-hander Mack Anglin and Grice, who led the team in home runs (15) and RBIs (53) a season ago. But there are still some positions that need to be solidified over the next three weeks and into the season.

That includes ongoing competition for starting jobs at catcher (Jonathan French and Cooper Ingle), third base (Bryar Hawkins and Max Wagner), second base (Blake Wright and transfer Tyler Corbitt) and center field (J.D. Brock and Dylan Brewer). Clemson also needs to find a third starter to join Anglin and Nick Hoffmann in the weekend rotation as well as a midweek starter and reliable bullpen arms.

As much as the Tigers want to forget about last season, it’s also a source of motivation as they go about their business this spring.

“It’s kind of closing that chapter I guess, but it’s always something I think that’s in the back of our mind that kind of fuels you as you go,” Anglin said.

Staying healthy would be a good place to start. Outside of freshman outfielder Will Taylor, who should be available to play at some point this season following reconstructive ACL surgery back in October, Lee said his team is in pretty good shape from an injury standpoint.

The past is where Clemson wants to leave everything about last season.

“Last year was not good. I know that,” Lee said. “I’ve taken responsibility for that. I didn’t make any excuses about it. I’m accountable for it. But now it’s time to move on and get this team ready. And that’s my focus right now is every day making sure I’m doing my job of making sure that as a coaching staff I’m leading our coaches and leading our players and getting them better and putting ourselves in position to be successful.”

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Clemson seeking consistency on the mound following subpar season

Given Clemson’s pitching staff posted the highest earned run average of Monte Lee’s tenure as head coach, it’s not hard to see where things went wrong for the Tigers a year ago. The end result was Clemson’s first losing season since the Dwight D. …

Given Clemson’s pitching staff posted the highest earned run average of Monte Lee’s tenure as head coach, it’s not hard to see where things went wrong for the Tigers a year ago.

The end result was Clemson’s first losing season since the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. As the Tigers embark on the 2022 season, establishing consistency within the pitching staff is Clemson’s chief objective.

“I think being able to have a weekend rotation that’s consistent and solidified throughout the whole course of the year is pretty dang important,” said Lee, who will officially begin his seventh season at the helm when Clemson hosts Indiana in a three-game series beginning Feb. 18.

Right-handers Mack Anglin and Nick Hoffman are likely to make up two-thirds of the weekend rotation, but the Tigers may use all of their team practices leading up to the opener to figure out who will join them. The same goes for a midweek starter as well as the bullpen, which needs solidifying, too.

Safe to say Clemson’s pitching staff needs to improve on its collective 5.00 ERA from last season if the Tigers are going to give themselves a realistic chance to get back to the NCAA Tournament, something they missed out on for the first time since 2008. More importantly, the Tigers need their arms to be available to perform.

Staying healthy was as big an issue as any Clemson had on the mound a season ago. Keyshawn Askew (11), now in the New York Mets’ farm system, was the only pitcher to make more than nine starts last season. Anglin, who also dealt with injuries, made just eight starts while no other player made more than six.

In all, 12 pitchers started at least one game last season. Eight made multiple starts, making continuity virtually impossible to come by for the pitching staff.

“Davis Sharpe had injuries last year. Keyshawn Askew had injuries last year. Anglin was injured for a portion of last year, so we had to adjust,” Lee said. “We had a revolving door of starting pitchers all year last year, and I think that’s the No. 1 thing that hurt us last year is we were really never able to establish consistency on that side of the ball.”

Not coincidentally, continuity on the mound has led to two of the most successful seasons of Lee’s tenure to this point. In 2017, Clemson consistently trotted out Charlie Barnes, Pat Krall, Alex Eubanks and Tyler Jackson at the beginning of games. That group paced a staff that posted a 3.59 ERA on a 42-21 team. The next year, Clemson went 47-16 on the strength of starters Brooks Crawford, Jake Higginbotham and Jacob Hennessy, who each posted a 3.91 ERA or lower.

Each of those teams finished third or higher in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, but Clemson hasn’t finished that high in the division standings since. Lee admitted there’s a certain degree of luck that has to be involved for pitchers to get through a lengthy season with a clean bill of health intact, but attrition popping up is also why he said he’s been working for months to build depth within the Tigers’ pitching staff.

“That’s something obviously from Day 1 in the fall we focused a lot of our attention on is trying to develop starters to build pitch counts and build the starter mentality in every one of our pitchers,” Lee said. “That’s going to be a focus for this year.”

That includes taking a hard look at some freshmen who could get innings this season, too. Like all teams, Clemson would ideally like to be strong on the mound at the start and the finish, but Lee said there are multiple ways to get it done like in that ‘18 season. That’s when the Tigers got a major boost from top relievers like Ryan Miller (2.51 ERA), Ryley Gilliam (1.41) and Carson Spiers (2.08) to supplement their starting pitching.

“I think that’s a big factor,” Lee said. “We have to be able to identify early on how we’re going to move that pitching staff. Is it going to be starter dominant or is it going to be bullpen dominant?”

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Clemson begins 2022 spring practice

The Tigers begin their 125th season of baseball with their first full-squad practice this weekend before they open the season with a three-game series against Indiana at Doug Kingsmore Stadium from Feb. 18-20. “Our players and coaches worked …

“Our players and coaches worked extremely hard in the offseason to improve in every aspect, and we believe we have a strong group of returning and new players that will get us back on track,” said Head Coach Monte Lee, who brought in the No. 11 recruiting class in the nation according to Perfect Game. “We were able to develop and evaluate most of our newcomers in the fall. I’m excited to see the competition between those new players and our returning players for many positions in the spring.”

Among the returnees is sophomore Caden Grice, who was the team’s top offensive player last year. In 2021, he batted .317 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs in 51 games on his way to earning first-team freshman All-America and Second-Team All-ACC honors.

Sophomore Mack Anglin returns after being drafted in the 13th round by the Nationals in 2021. The righthander was an All-ACC Freshman selection in 2021 who had a 3.99 ERA and team-high 75 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched over 13 appearances (eight starts).

Fellow sophomore righty Nick Hoffmann was one of the team’s most valuable pitchers in 2021 as a long reliever and starter. He is 6-2 with four saves and a 3.43 ERA in 60.1 innings pitched over 24 appearances (four starts) in his career.

The 2022 schedule features 33 home games and 25 games against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. The Tigers play Michigan State and USC Upstate at Fluor Field in Greenville, and they face South Carolina and College of Charleston at Segra Park in Columbia. The ACC Tournament returns to Charlotte, N.C. for the second year in a row as well.

–Courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications

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Lee pinpoints where improvement has to start for Clemson baseball

The 2021 college baseball season wasn’t exactly one to remember for Clemson. The Tigers took a significant dip in the ACC last season, finishing 25-27 overall and just 16-20 in league play in Monte Lee’s sixth season at the helm. It was the …

The 2021 college baseball season wasn’t exactly one to remember for Clemson.

The Tigers took a significant dip in the ACC last season, finishing 25-27 overall and just 16-20 in league play in Monte Lee’s sixth season at the helm. It was the program’s first losing season in more than six decades (1957).

Ask Lee to pinpoint why Clemson struggled so much a season ago, and he doesn’t hesitate.

“When you look at the teams that, at least that I’ve coached, have been successful, successful teams are consistent,” Lee said. “And consistency starts on the pitching side.”

The Tigers weren’t exactly an offensive juggernaut either, tying Pittsburgh for the second-lowest team batting average in the conference. But Clemson rarely gave itself a chance on the mound, where a mixture of injuries and ineffectiveness led to eight different pitchers making multiple starts a season ago.

Clemson posted a 5.00 earned run average as a team, easily the highest it’s been since Lee took over the program in 2016. The Tigers allowed at least eight runs in 31% of their games (16 of 52).

“We had a lot of games where we scored six or seven runs in the game and lost,” Lee said. “I’ve never had that happen.”

The most consistency came from right-hander Mack Anglin, who posted a 3.99 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings. But injuries limited him to just 13 appearances and eight starts.

Anglin, who put his professional career on hold to return to Clemson for a third season, enters this season as the favorite to be the Tigers’ Friday night starter. Lee has a handful of other pitchers he’s evaluating between now and Clemson’s opener against Indiana on Feb. 18 to fill out the weekend rotation.

And there’s one area in particular where the pitching staff needs to improve collectively in order to prevent so many crooked numbers: Home runs. Clemson gave up 73 long balls last season, another first for the Tigers under Lee. The most they had allowed in the previous five seasons was 51 in 2019 when Clemson finished .500 in ACC play.

“The two things you can’t defend, we have to minimize,” said Lee, referencing home runs and walks. “I think that’s the biggest thing we have to do on the pitching side to be successful. We’ve got to play good defense. We’ve got to throw strikes. But we’ve got to keep the ball in the ballpark. That’s what killed us last year.”

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Clemson working to solidify weekend rotation ahead of season

Clemson’s baseball team is less than a month from playing its first game of the 2022 season, and the Tigers are still looking for an answer to their most pressing question heading into the new campaign. Who will make up the weekend rotation? That’s …

Who will make up the weekend rotation?

That’s what Clemson coach Monte Lee and his staff will be working to nail down once the Tigers begin team practices Friday in preparation for their season opener Feb. 18 against Indiana at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Lee said he’s still evaluating six primary candidates for those three weekend spots, though a familiar name is leading the pack.

Right-hander Mack Anglin is once again in line to be the Tigers’ Friday night starter after taking over that role last season as a redshirt freshman. Despite his 2-6 record, Anglin was solid in his first season as a weekend starter, posting a 3.99 earned run average while allowing 48 hits and striking out 75 in 56 ⅓ innings. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder limited opponents to a .227 average.

It was good enough for Anglin to be taken by the Washington Nationals in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft over the summer, but Anglin decided to return to school in an effort to improve his stock. Anglin went on to have three strong starts in the Cape Cod League for the Wareham Gatemen, hurling 12 ⅔ innings without allowing an earned run while striking out 16 and walking just three.

“Mack has dominant stuff,” Lee said. “Has a chance to be a top 3 round draft pick type of guy, but he needs to have that Sam Weatherly type of junior year, that transition from bullpen guy to being a dominant Game 1 guy. That’s kind of what we envision with Mack. Mack has a chance to be that guy, but we need him to take that next step in terms of consistency. So Mack definitely, I would say right now, would be the frontrunner to be our No. 1 starter.”

While things get a little more fluid after that, Lee said he feels “pretty confident” that another third-year sophomore, Nick Hoffman, will join Anglin in the weekend rotation. Hoffman went back and forth as a starter (four appearances) and reliever (13) a season ago, recording a 3.83 ERA in 49 ⅓ innings. The right-hander pounded the strike zone with an 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Perhaps the stiffest competition will be for the third and final spot. Lee mentioned fellow sophomores Geoffrey Gilbert, Ricky Williams and Nick Clayton and junior Jackson Lindley as the other pitchers vying for their place in the rotation.

Should one of them earn it, it would be a shift in roles. Gilbert, Williams and Lindley were primarily relievers last season. Of the trio’s 52 combined appearances, only two were starts (one apiece for Clayton and Williams).

“We need Nick Clayton to be a guy that can be in the mix on the weekends,” Lee said.

As for Lindley, Lee said the 6-4 right-hander is “much, much improved” after yielding 12 earned runs in a small sample size last season (4 ⅓ innings). Lee is also high on the potential of Williams, who was limited to just seven innings in six appearances last season.

“Ricky’s got electric stuff,” Lee said. “He was up to 95 (miles per hour) in the fall. Really good breaking ball. Ricky is going to be in the mix as a weekend guy.”

True freshman Billy Barlow is someone else who could compete to be a midweek starter if not Clemson’s Sunday starter, Lee said. Regardless who ultimately wins those jobs, the group will try to help the Tigers rebound from a subpar season on the mound. Clemson’s pitching staff finished last season with a collective 5.00 ERA.

“When you look at the teams that, at least that I’ve coached, have been successful, successful teams are consistent. And consistency starts on the pitching side,” Lee said. “I think being able to have a weekend rotation that’s consistent and solidified throughout the course of the year is pretty dang important.”

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Clemson looking to veteran leadership with young team

Fall practice is officially underway for Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, but the field will look a lot different this time around. With key pieces of last season’s roster, including Davis Sharpe, Bryce Teodosio, Adam Hackenberg, James Parker, …

Fall practice is officially underway for Clemson at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, but the field will look a lot different this time around.

With key pieces of last season’s roster, including Davis Sharpe, Bryce Teodosio, Adam Hackenberg, James Parker, Kier Meredith, and many others having all since moved on from Clemson after last season, the Tigers have some big shoes to fill, but head coach Monte Lee is not worried. In fact, Lee has been pleased with what he has seen so far from this year’s young squad.

“We feel very good with where we’re at,” Lee told the media on Friday. “It’s a very selfless group and I just like the fact, quite honestly, it’s a very low maintenance group right now. It’s a very quiet group, methodical group. They just kinda go about their business and work and you kind of expect that.”

“We lost a lot of older guys that had a lot of personality on the team from last year, so these guys are kind of quietly going about their business and working really hard. It’s been a great pre-fall practice few weeks just with the individual skill work that we’ve been doing. It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of good quality sessions with the players.”

The Tigers are welcoming 19 newcomers this fall and with that comes a need for veteran leadership. With a lot of last year’s team moving onto their next chapters, Clemson will be looking to its veteran group to step up and lead right where they left off.

“Yeah, it’s going to be different,” freshman All-American Caden Grice said. “I’m more of a leader by example, but I’m looking forward to taking on that role as a vocal leader and try to push some of these guys so we can have the greatest season we can.”

Righthander Mack Anglin is also looking forward to taking on a new leadership role in his third season with the Tigers. The redshirt sophomore, who chose to return to Clemson after being drafted in the 13^th round of the MLB draft earlier this summer, is excited to take on his new leadership role this season alongside a very talented top-25 incoming recruiting class.

“I’m really glad that it’s finally my time to lead being a junior now,” Anglin said. This young class and even the freshmen from last year, they’re all extremely talented, so it’s been a lot of fun just being back together and taking some younger guys under my wing, kind of showing them the ropes and working to get better every single day.”

Lee not surprised by Taylor’s early success on the gridiron

Over the first two weeks of the football season, Clemson fans saw flashes of the moxie two-sport standout Will Taylor brings to the gridiron. For Clemson head baseball coach Monte Lee, seeing Taylor in action for the Tigers has been exciting but …

Over the first two weeks of the football season, Clemson fans saw flashes of the moxie two-sport standout Will Taylor brings to the gridiron.

For Clemson head baseball coach Monte Lee, seeing Taylor in action for the Tigers has been exciting but also anxiety inducing as he watches his top recruit take some hits.

“On that first punt return where he got smoked out of bounds, I was like, ‘C’mon now.’ I had to get up and walk around the couch to see if he was OK,” Lee joked before the start of fall practice on Friday. “I wanted to try and reach out to somebody on the sidelines, but I figured they don’t have their cell phones on the sidelines.”

Taylor turned down a potential slot in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft to enroll at Clemson as a two-sport athlete in football and baseball.

The freshman athlete showed off his speed this past Saturday with that 51-yard punt return against South Carolina State and did not shy away from contact in the game either. Taylor earned special teams player of the game honors against the Bulldogs and also ran the ball five times for 20 yards.

Taylor’s baseball teammates enjoy seeing one of their own run down the hill on Saturdays.

“I’m sitting there cheering on the Tigers, and then I see my teammate walk out on the field with them,” Caden Grice said. “And he goes out there and is tearing it up. It’s awesome and I love it.”

Redshirt sophomore Mack Anglin also relishes the opportunity to see his teammate on the football field. And Anglin is excited to see Taylor get more work on the diamond this spring.

“It’s been fun watching him over on the football field. He’s a freak athlete, and we are really excited to get him and see what he can do,” Anglin said.

Taylor said he wants to try and pop over to Doug Kingsmore Stadium and participate in fall practice when his football and school schedules allow. But Lee wants to give Taylor space to grow as a football player and student as well as an opportunity to refine his baseball skills.

As for Taylor’s success on the football field so far, Lee is not surprised at all and is excited to see the freshman’s impact in the outfield this spring.

“He is going to show you what he can do. He’s not a big talker,” Lee said. “He’s going to show you what he can do on the football field and baseball field. His early success with the football program does not surprise me one bit. This may develop some arguments among the Clemson fans, but he is an even better baseball prospect.”

Football season has finally arrived. Time to represent your Tigers and show your stripes!