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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!
Superficially the OF, as you mentioned may appear weak by the numbers, but it should be a strength.
Hartleb told me, Jordan is going to LF, Davis to CF with Justin at RF.
That’s plenty of pop. Some defense may be surrendered with that alignment, but Davis in center should be able to cheat towards LF to help Jordan and Justin should have enough range to be OK in RF.
Now, after that it’s going to be extremely young. All three of those guys will be moving on, leaving Nagel as the guy for ’14 with possibly a pair of freshman joining him.
We’ll miss Argo’s glove, to be sure.
That said, I have no doubt Hendrickson will make the transition to CF fine.
I am a little surprised though because I heard somewhere (and for the life of me, I can’t remember where) that Jordan was a natural CF.
That could be faulty info, though.