Is there a breakout guy? What if first baseman Ryan Miller has a double digit home run year, 40 RBIs and slugs near .500? Eh? (Press Pros Feature Photos)
All the written words – the speculations – are in the rear view mirror. Now it’s time to see face to face what the 2025 Buckeyes can do. And here’s what I expect to see.
Phoenix, AZ – Someone at the Schott recently asked me what I expect from the Buckeyes baseball team this year.
Will the pitching be better?
Will it be ‘small ball’?
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Will it be Earl Weaver-style baseball…get a couple of guys on and hit a three-run homer?
Will it be interesting?
“How can they replace all those players they lost?” that same person asked.
I want to have some fun with this as some of you are reading from here in Phoenix, while others read at home with snow blowing outside, and nose blowing, inside.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine..
But the above questions about what will characterize this year’s Buckeyes gives rise to baseball reality. You don’t know ’til you see.
It could turn out to be classic – one door closes while another door opens. What they call…college baseball.
Someone once asked Casey Stengel in spring training what kind of team the Yankees would be.
“I’ll tell you once we see the elephant,” Stengel mused, meaning games that mattered in the standings. “Because I know the other teams play better once they see the elephant.”
And so it is for questions concerning the Buckeyes.
Will it be about pitching? When is it not?
But I wouldn’t expect there to be a set three-man rotation over the course of the first month. There will be some trial and error because the primary candidates are hardly seasoned. Are there good arms? Yes, but you have to have pitched and a lot of them haven’t…not at this level!
And we’ve barely talked about the bullpen over the course of the off-season. Paraphrasing, pitching coach Tyler Robinson has only gone so far as to say there’ll be plenty of opportunity. Whosoever will may come, it says in Revelations. And I hope he does.
Bottom line: If you’re on this team, healthy, and can throw strikes…you’re going to get a pretty good look, just like with the other 300 Division I baseball teams.
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Will it be ‘small ball’, which is a euphemism for making the most of getting on base – get him on, get him over, and get him in? It could easily be that. This team has better team speed than it’s had in years, it’s athletic enough to get on and get into scoring position, and there’s enough returning slug to drive in those runs.
How they play defense is a fair concern. There was marked improvement last year, but the Buckeyes were still in the middle of the pack in terms of Big Ten ranking. And experience does matter. I can be optimistic about Pettorini, Marc Stephens and Lee Ellis as infield anchors…until I can’t be.
And yes, I do expect one of the freshmen to emerge and say, “You can’t ignore me. I’m playing pretty good.”
And what is, exactly, Earl Weaver baseball?
When Weaver managed those good teams in Baltimore he was famous for playing for the big inning. “This game is about good pitching and the three-run homer,” he’d say.
Ironically, the time that Justin Haire and Campbell came to Bill Davis Stadium in 2022 it did look like Earl Weaver. Haire did not, but the Camels did a lot of getting men on base and scoring them with shots over the right field wall.
Will it be interesting? To a person like me who’s as intrigued with watching developmental baseball as I am with the finished product…yes, I expect it to be interesting.
I think the young ones on this team will impress, and some sooner, of course. Not a prediction, but I remember Alex Koelling as an impact player when he was at Mason High School, and the impression he made during last year’s state tournament. I think he’s the same player, just a year older and stronger.
I saw Maddix Simpson do some things in fall ball that hinted of good things to come.
And while Sal Mineo jumped out at me because of his name (the original Sal Mineo was a different kind of player), I saw enough to make me believe he could play baseball in the Big Ten.
Being an ex-pitcher, I’d like to believe that at least two of the new arms, like Tanis Lange, Luke Carrell, Nik Copenhaver, Sahil Patel, and a couple of significant of sophs, Herrell and Michalak, will find their footing.
And of course, how will Blaine Wynk adapt to being a potential starter on Friday nights?
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I’m eager to see the next level of catcher Mason Eckelman. That’s intriguing.
Is there a breakout guy?
What if first baseman Ryan Miller has a double-digit home run year, 40 RBIs, and slugs .500? Eh? I think it’s there. Just how does it emerge?
Freshman Alex Koelling was instant impact for last year’s Division I champions at Mason. Same player…just older and stronger.
Will their bench perform? If someone’s hungry for time and attention it should. Trust it, 56 games is a long time to watch someone else.
Here’s two things you won’t read in D1 Baseball.
One, someone’s going to emerge from the recruiting class to make an impact, become a foundation piece – one of the pitchers and one of the position players. Why? Because when opportunity and talent come together the percentages favor it happening.
Two, this team is athletic and good enough at the plate to where they’re going to score enough to win more than expected. Why? Because there’ll be too many holes in Big Ten pitching this season. There is no Brett Sears (Nebraska), and there aren’t enough Joe Dzierwas (Michigan State).
Are they going to make the Big Ten Tournament? See me in a six weeks and tell me if they don’t look a lot like ten of the others who might. The tournament has been expanded to twelve teams with conference expansion.
Who are the other contending teams?
I’ve written about Indiana as a team groomed to have a great year in 2025. They have to pitch as good as I think they might, but so does everyone.
The West Coast teams, especially Oregon (rated #12, nationally), are going to make their impact, but they’ll find out soon enough that Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, and Illinois can defend themselves. I go with what I know.
Team on the rise? Gotta be Penn State with what Mike Gambino did last year after coming over from Boston College. They lost some thump, but Gambino is aggressive with his recruiting, player development, and complementing picks from the portal.
Look for junior Matt Graveline to produce at the plate, and head the list of the Big Ten’s best catchers.
In conclusion, there’s enough offense for the Buckeyes to be a better than a .500 club. And frankly, they’ve got to be better at Bill Davis Stadium, where they get the last at bat!
There’s a good veteran core with Matt Graveline, Tyler Pettorini, Trey Lipsey, Nick Giamarusti, and Ryan Miller – the ones you know. And what’s to say the young guys won’t get the message once they see the elephant?
Prediction? They will be interesting!
Earl Weaver? It remains to be seen if Justin Haire can pull that off. But I hope he can. It would be fun to write.
Enough said. Let’s play!
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