Jack Leggett's young team sits at 5 and 2 right now and already some have thrown out the life preservers. I am always amazed how so many experts can judge a team after only 7 games in a 56 game regular season. Yes it stings to lose to your in-state rival by scores of 10-1 and 5-1, but remember they are the 3rd ranked team in the country and they have an awful lot of talent. Which begs the question by some, just how much talent do the Tigers have? I think quite a bit.
One thing we found out from the weekend series with the Gamecocks is that freshman play like freshman. It wasn't fun watching Kyle Parker and Chris Epps struggle in the field, but it always brings me back to what Tyler Colvin was like in left field his first season and I think it is safe to say things turned out fairly well there. I think both Kyle and Chris are going to be exceptional talents. If Kyle had not signed a football scholarship and had been playing baseball for his high school team this season, I am not sure that he would have ever set foot on a college campus. Come to a game early sometime and watch him take batting practice. He has great offensive skills. Good enough to go in somewhere in the first five rounds of the June baseball draft. Chris Epps has the type of athletic body and tough mental mindset that any baseball player would kill for. By the time he is a junior this kid is going to be something special! By the time April rolls around he will have had enough at bats against top quality college pitching to have figured things out. The same thing can be said about Jeff Schaus. That kind of left handed swing is bound to be productive before the season is out.
Injuries have plague the Tigers also this season. We have yet to see Addison Johnson. First because of a hamstring and now because of a wrist injury. The hope is we will see him against Wake Forest this weekend. John Hinson has been down with a back injury. The plan was to start him this past Saturday in Columbia, but the back just wouldn't let him go. Mike Freeman is lost for the next couple of weeks with a knee injury, but J.D. Burgess has stepped in just like last season to fill the void.
Keep the faith Tiger fans. You can count on one hand the number of teams that will win 50 games during the regular season. Heck, you can probably count the number that will win 45.
This is a Tiger team that has the talent to be really good, the question is do you have the patience to see it through?
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