2020 transfer class: Jack Pineda (2022 MLB Draft), Antonio Valdez (UTSA).Zac Childers, Ty Fontenot, Drew Leach, Ryan Patterson, Luke Thompson, Joey Schott, Ben Kesler. Alex Gonzales (Texas State), JD Gregson (Texas A&M), Jacob Schoenvogel (Houston), Tre Richardson (TCU). 2020 freshman class: Cam Caley (Baylor), Grant Golomb (Baylor), Adam Muirhead (Baylor), Cole Stasio (Baylor).2019 transfer class: Esteban Cardoza-Oquendo (Out of Eligibility) and Jonathan Pierce (Out of Eligibility).Nicolas Balsano, Cade Currington, Evan Godwin, Jack Hatrup, Caleb Hollis, Nolan Rodriguez, Kyle Storemski.
Ben Greer (Abilene Christian), Rance Rosas (Angelo State). Jared McKenzie (2022 MLB Draft) and Kyle Nevin (2022 MLB Draft).
2019 freshman class: Hambleton Oliver (Baylor) and Will Rigney (Baylor).In retrospect, I feel pretty strongly that the top-end talent of Jared McKenzie, Kyle Nevin, Jack Pineda and Tre Richardson, and a combination of above-average starters in Tyler Thomas and Will Rigney, masked the lack of depth and deep roster flaws Rodriguez faced in his final season.įor reference, the combination of McKenzie, Nevin, Pineda and Richardson at the top of the lineup combined for 53% of Baylor’s total hits, 57% of total runs and 59% of total bases last season.Īnd to Rodriguez’s credit, he brought those players in.īut this begs the question: “How did Thompson inherit such a mess?” I’ll discuss Rodriguez’s last three recruiting classes and talk about where Thompson and his staff can go from here. Steve Rodriguez signed 38 freshmen and 13 transfers from 2019-2021.
Thompson inherited a mess and not to throw a shot at former head coach Steve Rodriguez, but from a talent perspective, the program wasn’t where it should be.Īrguably, Baylor has fallen to the seventh-best baseball program in the state behind Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas Tech, DBU and Texas State in recent years. Unfortunately, that has just not been the case. However, deep down, I had a small belief that Thompson, because of his gravitas and deep ties to Baylor, as well as what appeared to be an easy schedule on paper, would be able to have Tang-esque success in Year 1. Heading into 2023, I knew this Baylor team would not be great and that an NCAA Tournament appearance was likely a long shot. Tang had to replace all but two players on the roster after taking the job last spring. So to have his KSU squad as a three-seed entering the NCAA Tournament is a miracle in and of itself. In the era of the transfer portal, it’s easy to look through green and gold glasses at former Baylor men’s basketball lead assistant Jerome Tang and see the miracles he’s working in his first year at Kansas State.Īfter being picked preseason last in the conference, Tang led the Wildcats to a 23-9 record and finished tied for third in the Big 12. The cold reality of the situation is rebuilds take time, whether people like that answer or not. The difference between Baylor and the next closest team is significant, to say the least. The Bears are 5-11 and are currently the worst team in the Big 12 and are making a case as the worst Power Five team in the country.Īs of March 11, Baylor is last in the Big 12 in team batting average (.232), runs scored (80), slugging percentage (.367) and earned run average (7.36). And first in the conference in runs allowed (144) and hits allowed (169).įor comparison, Texas has the next-lowest batting average (.260), and Kansas State has the next-highest earned run average (4.77). However, 16 games into the Thompson era, things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. Whether the program is up and running by Year 2 or Year 4 comes down to a multitude of factors that can’t be answered at this current moment. Rebuilds take time and unequivocally, Mitch Thompson was the right hire as the next Baylor head baseball coach. Sixteen games into Mitch Thompson’s first year as head coach, the Bears have a disappointing record of 5-11.
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