Assessing Texas A&M Baseball at the Midway Point of SEC Play

At the midpoint of SEC play the Texas A&M Baseball team is starting to pick up steam and finds themselves right in the middle of the hunt for the SEC title.

Texas A&M baseball began conference play 0-4. Then they dropped a Saturday contest to Vanderbilt 17-3. At 0-5 the team was left for dead by a lot of pundits and fans.

Despite an exceedingly rough start, the Aggies are now 8-7 in the SEC. They have won three consecutive SEC series against No. 7 LSU, No. 11 Auburn, and Alabama. In the span of a few weeks the Aggies have moved up from dead last to fifth place in the SEC West. They have five conference series remaining and are just three wins behind the first place Arkansas.

First Half Offensive MVP

Braden Shewmake

When Shewmake stepped into the batters box against Bowling Green in February there were already high expectations on his shoulders. After two months of baseball it’s safe to say he’s shattered those expectations. Shewmake leads the team in hits, doubles, home runs, and RBI. If the Aggies are going to put up a crooked number it’s a safe bet that Shewmake is going to be a part of it in some form or fashion.

First Half Pitching MVP

Brigham Hill

Hill has had some down right spectacular performances on the mound this season. He shut down Texas Tech, LSU, and Auburn – all three of which have spent time in the top 10 this season. When his fastball is locked in he is able to work in his off-speed pitches that have a way of fooling even the most potent batters. He has the best ERA of any Aggie starting pitcher (3.29) and leads the rotation with a 5-3 record. In 54.2 innings pitched he has 65 strikeouts.

SEC Offensive MVP

George Janca

When conference play began it looked like Janca had played himself out of a starting job for the second year in a row. The junior third baseman was hitting below .240 and was not playing as well defensively as he was capable of. When the games began to matter just a little bit more he flipped a switch. Janca is hitting .328 in conference play with four home runs in five weekend series. He owns a .897 OPS and has driven in a team leading 13 RBI.

SEC Pitching MVP

Kaylor Chafin

The bullpen wasn’t sharp in the first potion of the season. That was highlighted by a pair of painful late inning losses to TCU and Baylor. Since those games, they’ve turned the page and started to produce. That improvement starts with Chafin who has a 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched in conference play. Chafin leads the pen with a .179 battering average against and has allowed just give extra base hits and six earned runs.

Next: Breaking the File on A&M QBs in the Spring Game

What’s Next?

The second half slate favors the Aggies. Arguably the three toughest conference series are out of the way and the maroon and white still have series against Tennessee (April 21-23), Missouri (April 28-30), and Ole Miss (May 12-14) all of which are below .500 in SEC play. Texas A&M hosts Arkansas in the final weekend of the regular season. If the Aggies can take care of business that series could very well decide the winner of the SEC West.

***Stats from Aggie Athletics***