2019 Preseason Top 25 Preview: No. 14 Clemson

Image credit: Logan Davidson (Photo by Tony Farlow)

Last Year: 47-16 (22-8 ACC); reached regional final.
Final Ranking: No. 19.
Head Coach (record at school): Monte Lee (133-57, three years).
Top 100 Draft Prospects: SS Logan Davidson (No. 38).

The Good News: A starting rotation of sophomore righthander Spencer Strider, senior righthander Brooks Crawford and junior lefthander Jacob Hennessy has a very high ceiling. Strider’s freshman season was a bit up and down, but he has the raw stuff to be one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s best Friday night starters. Crawford and Hennessy were both weekend starters a year ago. Neither were dominant, but both had sub-4.00 ERAs, threw a ton of quality innings and, most importantly, showed a propensity for pounding the strike zone relentlessly. The duo combined to walk just 32 batters in 152 innings.

The Bad News: Junior shortstop Logan Davidson lost a lot of his lineup protection with the departures of Seth Beer and Chris Williams, a pair of sluggers that combined to hit 40 home runs last season. Returners like first baseman Grayson Byrd, who hit nine home runs last year, and catcher Kyle Wilkie, who led the team with a .324 batting average last year, will be among those looking to help make up for some of that lost power production.

Player To Know: Logan Davidson, SS.

Davidson will now be the clear focal point of the Clemson offense. The Tigers likely won’t be an offense that sits around waiting for three-run home runs, but Davidson is a player that will still hit his fair share of three-run homers. On top of that, he’s also a solid defender at shortstop and a sneaky-good athlete, in general. That combination of talent makes him the straw that stirs Clemson’s drink and a potential first-round pick in June.

Path To Omaha: It’s important that Clemson finds an offensive identity early. With their offensive departures, it’s pretty clear that they aren’t going to be able to outslug teams like they have in the past. However, with speedsters projected all throughout the lineup, including sophomore outfielders Kier Meredith and Bryce Teodosio, as well as senior second baseman Jordan Greene, the Tigers have the personnel to be more of an action-oriented offense in 2019. If Clemson is able to get the production that their projected rotation suggests, and their offense proves adept at causing chaos on the base paths, this will be a team right back in the mix to break into the CWS.

2019 Lineup

 

Pos.	Name	Year	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	AB
C	Kyle Wilkie	Sr.	.342	.422	.440	5	40	216
1B	Grayson Byrd	Sr.	.243	.309	.439	9	26	148
2B	Jordan Greene	Sr.	.250	.398	.404	5	21	136
3B	Sam Hall	So.	.239	.341	.380	2	7	71
SS	Logan Davidson	Jr.	.292	.408	.544	15	46	250
LF	Kier Meredith	So.	.195	.411	.341	1	5	41
CF	Bryce Teodosio	So.	.165	.283	.367	4	9	79
RF	Michael Green	So. (Transfer — Florence-Darlington Tech (S.C.) JC)
DH	Justin Hawkins	Sr.	.200	.365	.425	2	8	40
	PITCHING	Year	W	L	ERA	IP	SO	SV
RHP	Spencer Strider	So.	5	2	4.76	51	70	1
RHP	Brooks Crawford	Sr.	8	2	3.24	80.2	58	0
LHP	Jacob Hennessy	Jr.	4	3	3.91	71.1	54	0
LHP	Mat Clark	So.	4	0	1.69	21.1	23	0
RP	Carson Spiers	Jr.	2	2	2.08	43.1	39	4
RP	Luke Sommerfield	Sr. (Transfer — Saint Louis)