2013 Illinois Baseball by the numbers

Brandon Hohl and Davis Hendrickson:  Two of only five Illinois seniors

Only a month and a half from now, the Illinois baseball team will begin their new season against Tennessee Tech.  No time like the present to start to get to know our players of 2013.  Before I get into any deep analysis, I thought I’d just break down the 2013 roster data to help get us started.   Let’s start with their year in school…

 

Class
Freshmen (and RS Freshmen)	16
Sophomores (and RS Sophomores)	12
Juniors (and RS Juniors)	5
Seniors and (RS Seniors)	5

Right off the bat, we can tell that we’re looking at a young (and talented) Illini baseball squad.  Of the 38 players on the team, 28 of them are underclassmen.

Another good sign for the future… of the pitchers, only two are seniors (Bryan Roberts and Kevin Johnson).

It’s worth noting that among the freshmen, catcher Steve Nelson and pitcher Andrew Mamlic joined the team as walk-ons.

 

Hometown
from Illinois	34
outside Illinois	4

Not surprisingly, a good majority of the players are homegrown.  Only four are from outside the state of Illinois.  Catcher Kelly Norris-Jones (right) wins the prize for being from the furthest hometown.  He’s from Victoria, British Columbia.  If my geography is correct, Michael Hurwitz’s hometown is the closest.  He hails from Springfield, Illinois.

Chillicothe, Illinois has provided the Illini with three players, Justin and Jordan Parr and Drasen Johnson.  Tyler Jay and Josh Ferry are both from Lemont.  Alex Lincoln and Nick Blackburn came to us from Naperville (Nequa Valley).  Park Ridge (Maine South) provided both Ronnie Muck and Will Krug.  Freshman Jeremy Scheck and Steve Nelson are from Vernon Hills.

 

Positions
C	4
IF	11
OF	3
LHP	7
RHP	13

Before anyone starts panicking about the outfield situation, note that three players (Justin Parr, Jordan Parr and Ryan Nagle) are officially listed on the Illini roster as IF/OF.  I have no doubt that a Parr brother will be seeing some action in the garden.

Time was a few years ago that a lefty on the Illini pitching staff was a rare commodity.  It’s nice to see that’s been taken care of.  They now have seven.

Finally, both Josh Ferry (RHP/1B) and Reid Roper (left, IF/RHP) are listed as being able to play a position and pitch.

 

Height
Average	6′ 1″
Tallest
J.D. Nielsen	6′ 8″
Shortest
Michael Hurwitz	5′ 8″
Will Krug	5′ 8″

Illinois continues with its tradition of packing its talent in small packages.  A few years ago, we had the trio of 5’8” Casey McMurray, Brandon Wikoff and Joe Bonadonna, all who were big talents.

Now, we have Michael Hurwitz and Will Krug at the same height and ready to play key roles.

 

Weight
Average	190.3
Lightest
Will Krug	155
Heaviest
Bryan Roberts	215
John Kravetz	215

If my memory serves, it’s a relatively lean squad this coming season.

 

Batting
Righty	11
Lefty	5
Switch	3

These numbers only figure in the non-pitchers.  The switch hitters are:  Michael Hurwitz, David Kerian, and Josh Ferry.

That’s it for breaking down the roster.  In the future weeks, I’ll be doing some previews in anticipation of the the upcoming 2013 season.

Happy New Year, Illini Fans!