In this week's episode of the KillerFrogs Bullpen, JD Andress and Carson Wersal preview TCU's first opponent of the series in Florida Gulf Coast and discuss if the Horned Frogs have a target on their back this season.
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00:00 All right.
00:07 Hello and welcome into the killer frogs bullpen.
00:09 This is our third episode.
00:11 I'm once again joined by Carson Wurzel this time.
00:14 Carson, it's an exciting day.
00:16 It's our first preview of the season.
00:17 TCU is kicking off the season this weekend at home.
00:21 Let's get into it.
00:23 Are you excited?
00:24 How are you feeling?
00:25 I'm feeling ecstatic, but that's mostly just because baseball season is back.
00:31 Yeah.
00:32 Both college and MLB.
00:34 I keep seeing all the tweets about the Texas Rangers being, you know, going to defend their
00:40 world championship.
00:41 And then I also keep seeing even more tweets about TCU baseball and what's expected of
00:46 them.
00:46 And I'm just, I'm ecstatic.
00:49 Like that's the simplest way I can put it.
00:52 Yeah, I mean, it's an exciting time all around.
00:54 Weather's been a cool 60 degrees here all week.
00:58 And it's that time of the year.
01:00 Carson, I think before we get into it, you wanted to clarify something from last week's
01:05 episode.
01:05 Yeah, I just, I got to clarify last week.
01:09 I was talking about TCU Super Regional last year.
01:13 I said Memphis State.
01:15 I'm sure Memphis State's a good baseball program.
01:18 I'm at Indiana State.
01:20 I'm just going to have to eat that one.
01:22 That's on me.
01:22 Yeah, you know, first episode, I couldn't remember the four new schools added to the
01:29 conference.
01:29 So we've all been there.
01:31 Yeah, before we get into the preview, TCU did announce their starting rotation this
01:39 week.
01:39 Friday's going to be Peyton Tolley.
01:41 Saturday is Cole Klecker.
01:43 And Sunday, Zach Morris with the midweek starter being Ben Hampton, the West Virginia
01:47 transfer.
01:48 What are your thoughts on how the rotation is shaped up and thoughts on it?
01:52 Yeah, so I mean, I texted you kind of saying that's surprising that they went with Peyton
01:58 Tolley the first day.
01:59 But when you really think about it, it makes sense.
02:01 You have Peyton Tolley for your first game, and then you've got Cole Klecker to kind of
02:08 simmer things down.
02:10 Like, say you drop game one, you have your ace on Saturday, kind of get back into the
02:14 rhythm of things.
02:16 I think with Peyton Tolle pitching the first real game of the season, like that's I think
02:23 that shows how much confidence they have in him already.
02:26 And he hasn't even taken the mound yet.
02:28 Yeah, Kirk Carlos, he was providing reasoning for behind it.
02:34 And basically, like, he's not going to be able to go as long as the distance is Cole
02:38 Klecker again on Saturday.
02:40 Right.
02:40 So you want your bullpens fresh for both Friday and Sunday and then hopefully not need them
02:45 as much on Saturday.
02:46 And another good reasoning with it is Tolley is a lefty and Zach Morris is also a lefty,
02:50 so it helps put him up in the order a little bit.
02:53 And I do think, you know, Kirk Carlos was talking about how much praise he has for Tolley
02:58 as a player and, you know, even more so as a person, how he is and how he's been become
03:04 this veteran presence already on the team.
03:05 And I think that him being the Friday starter shows, you know, reflects that.
03:09 Oh, yeah, I think I think him being labeled a leader already.
03:14 I think that spells really good for that TCU baseball team as a whole.
03:19 Yeah, he's he's definitely a Golden Spikes candidate for the year.
03:23 But let's get into it.
03:25 TCU plays Florida Gulf Coast this weekend.
03:27 Florida Gulf Coast actually starts their season with the Fort Worth regional matchup.
03:32 Basically, last year, they play at TCU this weekend in their midweek games at Indiana
03:37 State, and their coach even was asked about it and was like, you know, that's a pretty
03:41 tough matchup to start the season.
03:43 He goes, it's all about RPI.
03:45 And we were talking before we started recording about how at March 29th, Florida Gulf Coast
03:51 was ranked number 16 team in the country last year and then managed to miss the entire regional
03:56 tournament baseball last season, something that is incredibly hard to do.
04:00 And it was not because of why they dropped some games here and there.
04:03 It wasn't because of lack of production.
04:05 They were setting school records, national records, basically for their performance last
04:09 season and to miss it as a whole.
04:11 It's shocking, but it proves to you know, goes to prove that Florida Gulf Coast is a
04:17 very, very good program.
04:18 And they're not a team you could take lightly, especially to start the season.
04:21 Yeah, absolutely.
04:23 I mean, when so when I first looked at the TCU schedule, I saw Florida Gulf Coast and
04:29 didn't think anything of it.
04:30 But these past couple of days, when you actually take a deep dive on their program, what they
04:36 did last year was amazing.
04:38 I mean, one of the series that we talked about before this, I mean, the Florida State series
04:44 where they won two games in a row, then unfortunately dropped the third.
04:48 They still won the series against then a number 16 team in the nation.
04:52 Like that's.
04:54 That's really, really good.
04:57 I mean, so yeah, for the for the fact of them to make that or to miss the tournament like
05:02 that, that doesn't happen often.
05:06 Yeah, it's a.
05:07 Now, now we're talking about this year's team, and we will say last year's team, they
05:13 lost seven of their nine starters from the previous season, the 2023 season, and a lot
05:18 of their weekend rotation will be reshaped this year.
05:20 So going into it this weekend.
05:21 It's kind of a similar sense on the lineup part for TCU while TCU is not missing as many
05:27 pieces this season.
05:28 There's still a lot of unknown for the pieces that will be filled in.
05:35 You know, you jokingly mentioned, maybe not jokingly, that TCU might be on upset alert.
05:39 What do you know?
05:40 Give me just give me your thoughts on the series as a whole for, you know, what fans
05:44 can expect.
05:45 I mean, I feel like I feel like it's going to be a slow start for both teams offensively,
05:51 at least because I think TCU is still trying to figure out who to place where in their
05:56 lineup and then Florida Gulf Coast is looking to most likely fill their lineup out.
06:03 I mean, the most likely they only have two or three returners, maybe in that starting
06:09 nine.
06:09 So, I mean, or two or three that were on the team, at least.
06:15 Yeah, that took it.
06:16 That's last year.
06:17 So, I mean, I don't expect fireworks the first day, but I expect both offenses to get better
06:23 throughout the weekend for sure.
06:24 Yeah, and I mean, I want to highlight two Florida Gulf Coast players real quick.
06:30 Their first baseman Dalton Robinson, who's actually he's been quoted as saying he's the
06:35 best runner on the team, the best speed and still threat as a whole.
06:40 But he has some sneaky pop to go with it.
06:41 And, you know, Lofton's not the most hitter friendly park in the country by any means,
06:47 but they're going to have first base covered with Dalton Robinson and their center fielder
06:51 is Harrison Fogey, who has probably the best glove in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the
06:57 conference they're in, and he's a sneaky threat to hit 2025 plus home runs this season.
07:03 He's a legit five tool outfielder.
07:05 And, you know, he's going to play a big role this weekend series.
07:09 Oh, yeah, I'm sure.
07:10 Um, let's, you know, let's talk about our expectations for TCU this year.
07:17 What do you expect the Horned Frogs to come out of this series with?
07:20 You know, what do you think the walk away with the record?
07:23 What do you think the team does as a whole?
07:25 I think I think TCU walks out of it with a two in one record.
07:29 I do think that Florida Gulf Coast is aiming to develop their program every year, as are all
07:37 baseball programs in the country.
07:39 But I think Florida Gulf Coast, from what they showed last year and how they got snubbed out
07:46 of the tournament, I think that they're going to be kind of on a warpath for the entirety of the
07:52 twenty twenty four season. So I expect them to take one game. I don't know which one it'll be.
07:56 Yeah, I'm feeling the same sentiment.
08:00 I want to pencil TCU to win Friday and Saturday with totally clicker on the mound and Sundays,
08:08 not as much a toss up to me just because of it's Zach Morris on the mound.
08:13 It's a toss up because what Zach Morris are we getting?
08:16 Are we getting the early 2023 Zach Morris for the late later in the season of the struggles?
08:21 And I think that'll play a big role into how the series as a whole goes overall.
08:25 I think.
08:29 Even if TCU was to be upset and lose a series one and two, I think it's a good weekend to
08:36 kind of figure out what the lineup's looking like, how Zach Morris and Tole are pitching.
08:41 You know, TCU's got to while they have no SEC teams on this year's schedule,
08:49 they have a very, very tough opening schedule this year.
08:52 Do you have a you know, let's kind of get into the nitty gritty of it. What about
09:01 do you have a pitching MVP for the weekend? Pitching MVP is Peyton Tole. I think I think
09:08 him being labeled as the starter for the very first game of the season. I think obviously,
09:14 like I said, that shows that he has that the coaching staff has a lot of confidence in him.
09:20 And I also think that he's got he has responsibility for being touted as one of the
09:26 one of the best transfers in the nation, like a top five transfer. I think that he feels as though
09:33 that he needs to perform. And so honestly, I could expect really big things from him on Friday.
09:40 I really could, because I think that he he wants to win, obviously, as much as the rest of this
09:46 TCU team does. Yeah, I mean, that's that's a great pick. And I have no reason to doubt that
09:54 he might be, but I'm going to have to go with the Naval. I mean, if if all three of these games,
10:00 I you know, I think they should be close, but not too close. What he provides in the back end of the
10:06 bullpen is unparalleled with almost any other team, the conference besides Kansas State is, you know,
10:14 how much he's performed last year and going into this year as well. I think I think we,
10:20 you know, especially with it being this early in the season, pitchers aren't going to be
10:24 stretched out yet. They're still going to be held to a pseudo pitch count, not an official one.
10:30 And I think that bullpen is going to play a bigger role in this weekend series as we move on to the
10:35 rest of the season. Yeah, I agree. I think the bullpen is going to be kind of one of the key
10:43 components for this weekend, for sure. I think it's going to be the same for FGCU.
10:47 So, yeah, that'll be that'll definitely be something to watch.
10:51 Yeah, it's a lot of the series is a lot of filling out. You know, getting a feel for how your team is
10:59 on both sides, you know, the dugouts, Florida Gulf Coast is basically, you know, replacing
11:04 everyone like we talked about. And but they're all transfers. The same with TCUs is a lot of
11:10 TCUs key pieces this season are transfers that, you know, you kind of expect them to come in and
11:17 slot in the same role. But who knows? What about, you know, hitting MVP? You have an
11:23 MVP of the series hitting once. I could definitely go the cop out answer and just say paid totally,
11:30 but I'm probably going to stick with my the guy that I chose last week, and I think it's going
11:39 to be Anthony Silva. I think there is a certain stigma with shortstops where they are labeled as
11:46 leaders of the team pretty quick, mostly because they're just involved in every every play on the
11:53 diamond. And I think that he has already been labeled a leader, even though he's a true sophomore.
11:59 And obviously, the hitting speaks for itself. Very, very talented hitter can even put it,
12:06 get it out of the yard if he really needs to. Yeah. I do think it'll be interesting to see
12:13 his power numbers and if they increase the season. Do you know who I'm going to pick?
12:18 I think I have an idea. Actually, not Carson Bowers. Luke Boyers. No. Yeah. Luke Boyers.
12:27 This is last ride. He's been here before. He's done it all. It's another opening home weekend
12:32 series. And. You know, the feel around the club as a whole is that. With how close they got last
12:40 year, they're really being less than three feet away from playing the game against Florida. This
12:44 team's hungry. They really want to win. And Luke Boyers has been here. It's just another weekend
12:49 for him. And I think he's going to have a great weekend. This great series this weekend. And I
12:55 think it's going to translate to the rest of the season and kind of help propel him because,
13:01 you know, we've seen a lot with Luke Boyers in previous seasons where he goes on these hot
13:04 streaks. But the cold streaks are just not good at all. Yeah. And I think this is the year he kind
13:13 of strings them together. Do you have anything else you want to talk about with the Florida
13:18 Gulf Coast TCU series before we dive into some other stuff? I think I've said all I need to say.
13:25 I think it'll be it'll be a slow start, I think, for both teams. But I think that offenses will
13:32 get better as the weekend goes. I think bullpens will settle down as the weekend goes. But that's
13:37 kind of I mean, that's kind of any series around the country right now. I mean, every every team
13:43 is trying to fill out their roster, trying to fill out who's going to be the starting guys,
13:47 who's going to be the guys that the head coach turns to when things get rough.
13:53 Yeah, I mean, like you said, it's a story around the country. I do have a question real quick.
13:58 Do you wish TCU was playing in a tournament to start the season?
14:01 Or do you prefer the three game homestand?
14:03 So that's difficult because I love I loved the Big 12 slash SEC tournament that they did every year.
14:14 And I wish that we were playing in that again, just because I think it's really fun competing
14:20 against top teams like LSU, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, I love doing that. But I do kind of think that
14:28 this is a nice change of pace because I mean, like we've already said, TCU fills their roster
14:35 with transfers after having a lot of guys leave for the draft. I think that this is kind of being
14:41 used as a series to kind of settle the team down in a sense. And just kind of make sure that
14:49 everybody's got their head on straight before we actually get into Big 12 baseball.
14:53 Yeah, I, you know, I agree with the same thing that I think it's a good learning weekend for
15:03 TCU. And but I do think you touched on probably the most important part is not playing SEC
15:08 competition. Well, it's good for maybe, you know, RPI and record sake, it you'd like to see them
15:15 get out there and get that, you know, tough because we're no non conference games. And
15:20 we talked about in our preview for the conference as a whole is that it's very top heavy conference.
15:25 So you might not get challenged as much as you would had you opened the season playing some SEC
15:30 teams. Right. Oh, you know, one more thing we want to talk about is you brought it up earlier.
15:38 Is there a target on TCU's back this season? Yeah, yeah, there is. Most definitely. I think
15:46 every single Big 12 team is going to give you their absolute best. Because I think TCU has
15:53 finally been recognized as a team that is in the College World Series every other year.
15:59 Not a lot of people before last year, recognize that, like I found that a shock. Last year,
16:08 when people on Twitter, Instagram were like, wait, TCU is going to the College World Series again.
16:14 And I think that now that's finally settled in, I think both your non conference games
16:21 and your conference games are going to be the hardest every other week, you know? Yeah.
16:27 It's the same parallel with what we're saying with everyone getting your best as it is college
16:34 basketball is, you know, you're basically RPI basically treats it as you have quad one games
16:40 quad two, quad three. And TCU is always going to be an opportunity this season to be a quad one
16:46 opponent. Oh, yeah. If you're a bubble team, especially like in the conference with Kansas
16:51 or West Virginia, those games become really important, no matter at what point they come
16:57 during the season. And it's to speak even more is TCU is a lot of their non conference games will be
17:04 there. Well, it's a midweek starter. You're going to be getting your all from the opposing team.
17:10 They might not be resting a player for who had a big weekend like I, you know, we're not sure
17:15 with how Payton Tolley's workload is going to be, but there's a chance he might sit out midweek games
17:20 just because he's going to be pitching on Friday and then we assume de-aging the rest of the weekend.
17:24 Yeah, absolutely. I can I can definitely expect it. Yeah, I I don't think TCU's target on their
17:33 back is a conference one. I like I think it's it's a larger target at the national level,
17:39 especially from the likes of like Arkansas, who's got embarrassed by TCU in the regional last year.
17:48 TCU has kind of become the SEC kryptonite. And I think. You're going to see it more play out that
17:55 way this year is a lot of the SEC teams have slowly started to turn their head the other
18:00 way whenever TCU's come. Yeah, yeah. TCU is definitely a team where it's like.
18:05 I feel like come come tournament time, it's just it's another year where TCU is the last team that
18:15 people want to see, you know? Yeah, it's it's the little school from Fort Worth who's developed a
18:22 kind of a powerhouse baseball program. Yes, that'll pretty much be it for today. I do want
18:29 to touch on some things we won't have a preview or post recap of the weekend series and the
18:37 midweek game until we start conference play and then we'll go to two episodes a week.
18:43 So whenever we meet next Wednesday, we'll go over the weekend series, the midweek game,
18:51 and a preview on the weekend series. So but thank you guys for joining us. Carson,
18:57 it was a pleasure as usual and let's get ready for some TCU baseball this weekend. Let's do it.
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