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Knudson: Frogs Rearming

By Mark Knudson, The Mtn. Insider
February 27, 2012

If memory serves, the sentence was first uttered in reference to the Oklahoma football team sometime back in the 80s. A beaten down opponent said of the Sooners, “They don’t rebuild, they reload.”

In recent years, opponents could have said the very same thing about the TCU baseball team. The Horned Frogs have been a perennial top ten team, regardless of who came and who left the program. Coach Jim Schlossnagle has built a powerhouse program that more resembles a well-run professional organization than some professional organizations.

In short, the Horned Frogs of recent years haven’t been rebuilding, they’ve simply been re-loading.

2011 was all set to be a very special year for TCU baseball. They were coming off a College World Series appearance and were returning three All-America pitchers in Matt Purke, Kyle Winkler and Steven Maxwell. They were the preseason number one team going into the season.

Injuries and inconsistency derailed that team, and the Horned Frogs were upset in the Mountain West tournament and in the first round of the NCAA regionals they hosted. They finished the season ranked No. 15. Maxwell graduated, and Purke and Winkler turned pro. They also lost stalwart Trent Appleby. Suddenly TCU was short of pitchers - at least on paper.

Now comes 2012, and TCU doesn’t need to reload as much as they need to rearm. A glance at this year’s roster and TCU fans saw exactly four pitchers on the team that had pitched in a Division I college baseball game. Four.

So if there were ever going to be a rebuilding year at TCU, this would figure to be it, right?

Maybe. Maybe not. Those who watch college baseball closely don’t necessarily see it that way. How many programs around the country have gained enough respect to be a pre-season top ten team after losing all those arms? Certainly Andrew Mitchell, Stefan Crichton, Nick Frey and Kaleb Merck form a very solid nucleus. But only Mitchell was a regular starter last season, and Merck is coming off major elbow surgery. That seems like a lot of question marks on the hill.

Certainly thus far, Schlossnagle has been searching for answers. After just six games, the Frogs sit at 2-4. The offense has been productive and should be with six returning starters among position players. Defensively, they’ve been spotty, but that figures to improve as the season moves forward. So it’s on the mound that TCU has gone into experimental mode, rolling out the newbies much more than leaning on the returnees.

So far, only Mitchell is in double digits in innings pitched with 11 in two winless starts. Meanwhile, freshman Preston Morrison has picked up both of the Frogs victories on the mound and was the Conference Pitcher of the Week after a stellar middle relief outing. Morrison is one of seven rookies to make their first Division I appearance during the first two weeks of the new season.  Clearly, Schlossnagle is using the early part of the season to find out which of the newcomers are up to the task and can be counted on to contribute in a big way this season.

The staff committee approach has not led to many wins in two very tough series to open the season, but it will. The Frogs have played Ole Miss, Baylor and Cal State Fullerton – three very strong programs – to open the season. Expect this trial by fire approach to shaping his pitching staff to play big dividends for Schlossnagle down the road.
See all of Mark Knudson's blog entries HERE.