Tarheels projected lineup

First--- Mangum is returning to his natural position. He sacrificed for the team by moving to ss last year (it hurt his draft potential). Now, he will become the best 2nd B in the ACC.

Fronk and Horton are sure starters...Chad may play, but he must beat out Ellington at 1st...however if Chad hits college pitching as well as projected, then they will find a place for him to hit.

Corrado had a great summer and fall, so he will continue to battle at ss and 2nd for playing time....but his opportunity came around last year and he was not ready for it. It will be tough for him to beat out Horton or Mangum this year. I hope he remains patient for his opportunities.

IMO, the one thing Coach Fox does not need this year is....patience. If a player is not hitting, he will not hesitate to give another player an opportunity..and that's the key for the Tar Heel's success this year...hitting, hitting and more hitting.

 

Agreed. Corrado hit a buck fifty seven last year. That ain't gonna get it.
SS is wide open and it should be a major factor in this team's success.
Personally, I hope they spread the PT around early and give everyone a shot before they hit the meat of the season, but that's tough to do with such a large roster. This team desperately need some power in the middle of the order.

 

Adjustments

Teams need to find out who's getting the job done early in the season before they start conference play. I think that's what happened last year with the Heels shortstop. He was a freshman and it was taking a little longer for him to to adjust so they made a change and moved Mangum to short and put Steed in at second.

 

Who's On First???

Baseball America lists freshman Matt Spencer starting at 1b for the Tarheels, with Chad Flack as backup. Ellington is listed as the DH. Where did Spencer come from? I don't think his name has been mentioned in previous posts as even a possible starter. :huh:

 

Matt Spencer is no slouch ... he was drafted in the 24th round by the Boston Red Sox. I'd say that he's probably a very solid ball player.

 

Spencer is indeed a highly touted freshman...at 6'4" and 215..the kid has a ML body and a stroke to go with it. He was the highest ranked HS player out of Tennessee.

With the 50+ pitchers that UNC has and 49 of them are heralded there is one pitcher that will surprise you...Andrew Carignan. This Connecticut freshman fireballer is the real deal. He will remind you of Adam Warren

and the return of both Adam Kalkoff amd Matt Danforth to the pitching rotation after injuries ain't going to hurt.

 

Spencer and Mangum

Wow, Spencer's 6'-4" and 215 now with the potential to put on another 15-20 pounds in the next year. He must have some power. Braves, do you really think Mangum would have been taken in the draft if he'd stayed at second last year, or do you think teams maybe wanted another year to look at him? He's a heck of a player.

 

Yep...I do. Mangum makes plays like no other and has a decent enough bat. The kid is a terrific athlete ( a great basketball player ) and has hands of a three card monte dealer. He's a perfect 2nd baseman

 

Coach Fox could run out a very strong line-up with left-hand hitters at every spot except for catcher. Spencer-1b,Magnum-2b,Horton-ss,Fronk-3b,Cox-lf,Younts-cf,Daniel-rf,Ellington-dh. Since he has good right-handed depth at all those positions, we could see lots of platooning.

The player that no one has mentioned is freshman Seth Williams from North Henderson. He is definitely in the RF mix and could see some action out of the bullpen as well.

 

Season Opening line-up

2/16/05 vs ASU (lefthanded pitching)
*Magnum-2b
Webb-c
*Cox-rf
Flack-1b
Cook-dh
*Daniel-lf
Corrado-ss
*Fronk-3b
Younts-cf
Miller-p

*bats left

UNC wins 5-0 on Ross Cook's 3 run homer but are outhit by ASU 7-5.
Looks like a possible platoon situation at 1b,ss,dh.
1b-Flack/Spencer
ss-Corrado/Horton
dh-Ross/Ellington
Fronk gets base hit and scores in first collegiate at bat.