Why the 2019 Clemson baseball team could be Monte Lee’s best yet
The 2019 Clemson baseball team will look a good bit different from last year’s squad that slugged its way to a 47-16 record and hosted a regional. But a new look could lead to more success for Monte Lee’s group this season.
The Tigers ranked third in the country in home runs a season ago with 98, but their two home run leaders, Seth Beer (22) and Chris Williams (18), are now playing professional baseball.
This year’s team still has sky high expectations, but it will rely more on putting the ball in play and utilizing its speed on the base paths rather than swinging for the fences.
“What we do have in terms of personnel on the field is a group of guys who are a little more dynamic, who are a little bit faster, little more athletic,” Lee said Friday. “I think it gives us the opportunity to do more things. I think you always want an offense that can score when the wind’s blowing in and when the conditions aren’t very good for offense that day. You wanna feel like as a coach that you’ve got a lineup that can still score runs. I think we’ve got a better chance to do that based on the skill set of some of our guys.”
Senior infielder Jordan Greene, who hit .250 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 2018, took it a step farther.
Greene feels that the Tigers swung for the fences too much at times a year ago and it kept the offense from reaching its potential.
“We’re gonna be faster. Obviously we lose Seth and Chris, but our team’s faster. I think it’s more complete,” Greene said. “One through nine we’re going to be able to run. We’re more solid defensively, and if we don’t hit a home run we’ll be able to win games this year. I think that’ll be a big change… We’ll be able to create offense without the long ball.”
While Clemson isn’t going to rely on the long ball as much, it does still return some pop in its lineup, led by junior shortstop Logan Davidson.
Davidson is a likely first-round pick in the 2019 draft. He hit 15 home runs a season ago. Clemson also has some newcomers that can hit for power, including freshman Davis Sharpe.
“I don’t know if we’re not going to be a team that’s going to hit for power. We don’t know yet. And I think that’s probably the most fair way to put it,” Lee said. “We’re going to lose players and that’s with any program. It seems like the biggest theme has been what are you going to do to replace Williams and Beer? But we have to move on and I think our guys understand that. We’ve got some guys we have recruited who can do a lot of really good things.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2019 at 10:22 AM.