Though it’s still freezing here in Central Illinois, we have to remind ourselves that opening day IS less than two weeks. Let’s find out about the University of Illinois baseball by the numbers.
There are 34 players listed according to the roster. I’ve sorted, filtered, and broken it down to get a sense of exactly what kind of team we have. Some of the info is important… some of it is frankly, trivial. Hopefully, it is ALL interesting.
Year in School
| Seniors | 5 |
| Juniors | 9 |
| Sophomores | 8 |
| Freshman | 11 |
A good sign… we have a young team.
Where they’re from
| Illinois | 29 |
| Out of State | 4 |
| Out of USA | 1 |
Catcher Aaron Johnson is born in Sussex County, New Brunswick, Canada.
The Righties and Lefties
| Bats Right | 30 |
| Bats Left | 7 |
| Throws Right | 30 |
| Throws Left | 3 |
Among pitchers only
| Throws Right | 13 |
| Throws Left | 1 |
Corey Kimes is the lone lefty on the pitching staff.
How they measure up
| Average height | 6’1 |
| Tallest player | Kevin Manson at 6’7 |
| Shortest player | Casey McMurray at 5’8 |
Casey Mac lost his two 5’8 partners to the draft. Both former Illini Joe Bonadonna and Brandon Wikoff were also 5’8.
| Average Weight | 194.1 lbs |
| Heaviest player | Corey Kimes at 245 (all muscle, I’m told) |
| Lightest player | John Anderson at 165 |
…and just for kicks
| First player listed alphabetically | John Anderson |
| Last player listed alphabetically | of course, Lee Zerrusen |
(Edit 2/12) I’ve made a few corrections. It seems the roster on fightingillini.com was incorrect. After noticing the differences in my post, the corrections were made on the official roster. They are now correct above.
It seems Josh Parr grew an inch and put on 5 pounds (I thought he bulked up a bit). Also, a there are three players (John Anderson, Billy Barrett and Wes Braun) who are classified as redshirt juniors not seniors. Also, for the record, there are also three redshirt freshmen (Thomas Shelton, Doug Schumacher and Bill Charvat).