The lineup is talented. The capacity for scoring runs is deep, as usual, and perhaps even more so this spring. Georgia Tech takes aim at the ACC with an offense that could be as potent as any Yellow Jackets lineup in recent memory.
“Do I think we have a good offense?” coach Danny Hall asked. “I do. But we’re going to find out day in and day out just how good that offense is.”
The two-time defending champions of the ACC’s Coastal Division were picked to win it again by the league’s coaches and are a consensus preseason Top 25 pick nationally. The Perfect Game scouting service placed nine Jackets players in the ACC’s top 50 draft prospects, the most of any team in the conference. It starts with preseason All-American catcher Kevin Parada (No. 2) and includes four more in the top 25 (outfielder Tres Gonzalez at No. 10, pitcher Zach Maxwell at No. 12, middle infielder Chandler Simpson at No. 22 and pitcher Marquis Grissom Jr. at No. 24).
“(I) feel like we have a good team in place,” Hall said. “We definitely have an older group of position players, but we have quite a few pitchers returning, and we feel like we have a lot of depth on our pitching staff.”
Parada, touted as a potential first overall pick in this year’s draft, was a freshman All-American last season after finishing in the top 20 in the ACC in batting average, runs, RBIs and doubles. Gonzalez ranked third last summer in batting average (.331) in the Cape Cod League and fourth in on-base percentage (.418) and was voted a captain as a sophomore along with outfielder Colin Hall (Danny Hall’s son), now in his super-senior season, and pitcher Chance Huff, a junior.
“I think if we can just build upon (last year), I think we're trying to break some GT offensive records. I know it's a big task, but I think we're trying to chase something great. Just trying to go off, as they say."
Simpson, a transfer from Alabama-Birmingham, is an intriguing addition. Simpson led Conference USA in stolen bases per game (0.44) and, in the words of Hall, “is one of the fastest players I’ve ever seen in our league. I tell everybody this. The only other guy I’ve seen that could run like him was (MLB All-Star shortstop) Trea Turner (who played at N.C. State), and I think he’s turned out all right.”
Hall said Simpson will play shortstop, replacing four-year starter Luke Waddell.
Huff said that in practice, Simpson and Gonzalez have been the most difficult to retire.
“You get into five-, six-, seven-pitch AB’s with them, and you’re bound to make a mistake on one of them,” Huff said. “They’re generally pretty good at hitting that mistake.”
Huff is one of the more improved pitchers on the staff. A transfer from Vanderbilt who had a 9.99 ERA with a .320 opponents batting average last season, Huff will be the opening-day starter against Wright State, followed by Maxwell on Saturday and freshman Aeden Finateri on Sunday. (Grissom, a starter in the second half of last season, will begin the season in the bullpen.)
Maxwell, Hall said, is “light years” ahead of his 2021 form, when he buzzed through hitters with a fastball in the high 90s (15.8 strikeouts per nine innings) but also wrestled with his control (11.5 walks per nine innings).
“He’s shown every sign that he’s ready to have a breakout year for us,” Hall said.
Huff said he has particularly improved in throwing first-pitch strikes, an area that pitching coach Danny Borrell’s staff as a whole has focused on. Huff said that, during pitchers’ off days this preseason, rather than throwing in the bullpen with no one at the plate, Borrell had them pitch at 80% effort against live hitting and work on accuracy over power.
“If I can beat some of our hitters being 87, 89 (mph), then that just gave me more confidence on the mound to be able to be like, OK, I know that if I can beat them at 87, 89, I can for sure beat them at 93, 95,” Huff said.
Tech’s staff does need answers as Borrell goes into his third season (including the COVID-shortened 2020 season) after being hired away from the Yankees as their minor-league pitching coordinator. Last season, Tech ranked 13th in the ACC in ERA (5.73) and opponents batting average (.267) and last in walks allowed per game (5.2).
Finateri has impressed Hall and Borrell in the preseason to earn a spot in the initial rotation, showing the ability to throw his fastball, slider and change-up for strikes.
“He’s not afraid of anybody, and he throws a lot of strikes,” Hall said. “That’s what we like about him.”
Tech faces again its annual question – can the Jackets make it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament? Last year’s elimination in the regional round to eventual College World Series runner-up Vanderbilt marked the 10th consecutive tournament appearance (in 15 years) that the Jackets failed to make it to a super regional.
There’ve been plenty of successes for Hall and the Jackets, most recently the back-to-back Coastal titles, but not the postseason success that Hall and Tech fans desire.
Having the sort of offense that Tech players envision would go a long way to making it happen.
“I think if we can just build upon (last year), I think we’re trying to break some GT offensive records,” said Colin Hall, back healthy after missing most of last season with an injury. “I know it’s a big task, but I think we’re trying to chase something great. Just trying to go off, as they say.”
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