Gig Em Gazette
Fansided

Texas A&M Baseball: Aggies Ready for Another SEC Test Against Auburn

By Matthew McNairy

Jul 20, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; A baseball rests on top of the mound before a game between the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox at Safeco Field. Seattle defeated Chicago, 6-5, in eleven innings. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 20, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; A baseball rests on top of the mound before a game between the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox at Safeco Field. Seattle defeated Chicago, 6-5, in eleven innings. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next

On the Mound

More from Gig Em Gazette

Speaking of X factors, Corbin Martin is the biggest X factor on the mound for the maroon and white this weekend. He’s had Jekyll and Hyde type results on the mound throughout his Aggie career. While he has great raw talent, he can also lose command and throw far too many balls. He has allowed more walks than any other A&M pitcher, but recently he has started to perform better and has gained a spot in the starting rotation.

In his past two games against Vanderbilt and LSU, Martin allowed only 7 hits in 12 innings and surrendered only 3 earned runs. All that while striking out 13 (with the only downside being that he walked 6 men in those 12 innings). The key for him will be minimizing hits if he continues to give so many free passes.

Trust Your Ace

Brigham Hill is the ace of our staff with a 2.60 ERA and a .205 avg against. I was encouraged to see him bounce back from a rough stretch and only allow 3 hits over 8 scoreless innings versus LSU. I project he will maintain this momentum into Friday’s start and would not read much more into his prior struggles other than it is a long season and players will inevitably have ups and downs.

Next: Evaluating the Aggie Lineup Before Conference Play

Stephen Kolek will need to fix his struggles in order to give us a chance to win more of his starts. SEC batters are batting .350 against him and he has a WHIP near 2.00 in SEC play while allowing more than a run an inning. The most troubling aspect are that his poor numbers are not just limited to SEC play, he has a .294 batting avg against and a 5.15 ERA/1.46 WHIP on the season. Our batting and bullpen will likely need to compensate.

***Stats from AuburnTigers.com and 12th Man.com***