Texas A&M Baseball: Evaluating the Lineup Before the Start of SEC Play

2016 Stats

Walker Pennignton didn’t see regular playing time last year until a tremendous run in the SEC tournament. He made 13 starts and had 62 at bats. He finished the year with 8 walks, 17 strikeouts and a .258/.347/.532 slash line. Pennington hit 5 doubles, 4 home runs and tallied 16 RBI. All three of his stolen base attempts were successful.

2017 Stats

Pennington has had 57 at bats and started 16 games for the Aggies this year. He has 12 walks and 16 strikeouts and a .193/.347/.316 slash line. Pennington has notched 4 doubles, 1 home run, and 13 RBI. On the base paths he is 3-for-3 with his steals.

How He Fits

Unlike some of the other upperclassmen with sub .300 batting averages, Pennington has looked dialed in at the plate this year. He continues to make hard contact and drive the ball. Unfortunately for him, his blasts have fallen short of the fence and his line drives have smoked infielders in the chest.

He’s made a few big plays in the field, but some of his miscues have been costly. A two run gaffe against TCU helped open the door for a painful collapse to the Horned Frogs. He’s got to adjust his path on line drives quicker. If he does that he’ll shore up some of those defensive issues.

I’m not worried about Walker. The balls will start to fall sooner or later. With plenty of high OBP guys in front of him a power bat in the middle of the lineup should be just enough umph to get the job done.