The Michigan Baseball season is right around the corner. After finishing the season second in the Big Ten standings, head coach Erik Bakich can’t wait to see what his team looks like in 2018. “I’m excited about what we have this year,” Bakich said. “Opening day is going to be very special when that day comes. It is always exciting,” Bakich continued.
The pitching staff is still not set in stone yet, but there are some pitching returners coming back for the Wolverines. Junior William Tribucher looks to possibly be coming out of the bullpen and possibly get into the rotation. Senior Alec Rennard made his Michigan debut last year. He had 6 wins and ended with a 4.43 ERA last year. Senior Jayce Vancena also returns for the Wolverines. He made 5 starts last year for Michigan last season and had a 3.00 earned run average as a junior. Sophomore Tommy Henry led all freshman pitchers with 21 appearances out of the bullpen. Henry was also an all Big Ten freshman team selection last season. Sophomore Karl Kauffmann finished the year with a 2.03 earned run average through 13.1 innings pitched last season.
The infield will be filled with experience for the Wolverines and it will be led by junior Ako Thomas who was a all Big Ten first team selection as a sophomore. Expect to see Thomas playing either second or shortstop this season. Junior Jimmy Kerr will likely get his opportunity on the field as well. Kerr finished last season with a .412 slugging percentage and a .330 on base percentage. If there is anyone looking for a comeback season it is fifth year senior Hector Gutierrez, who was medically redshirted last season. Freshman Logan Pollack could be a name you might see in the infield for Michigan as well. The catcher’s position is still up for grabs and still a four man race. A name to watch would be freshman Joe Donovan who comes in as a talented freshman from Westmont High School.
The outfield will have some experience coming back as well in Miles Lewis and Jonathan Engelmann. Miles Lewis started every game in left field and led the team with 14 doubles last season. Jonathan Engelmann also returns to the outfield. The 2015 draft pick of the Minnesota Twins stole 11 bases on the season and knocked in 30 runs for the Wolverines. Engelmann played right field last season but could go to centerfield to replace Johnny Slater. Another candidate also to go to the outfield this year could be sophomore Christian Bullock. He appeared 17 times last year as a freshman for Michigan.
With not a lot of players coming back, Bakich likes what he has on his team. “I’m interested to see how we respond to adversity,” Bakich remarked. “I’m interested to see how the roles play out. I want to see how the new players respond. We are going to take some punches along the way as all teams will. We just have to see how we can battle back from those tough situations. I do like this group. I do like how tough they are and I think we can get hot in the end because of the training that they go through the entire offseason,” Bakich continued.
The Michigan Baseball team will start their season February 16th against Army. Their first home game will be March 16th against Bowling Green.