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Texas A&M Baseball: Aggies Head to Show Me State for Series with Missouri

By Matthew McNairy

Apr 15, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a baseball on the field prior to a game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a baseball on the field prior to a game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /
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Missouri Pitching

Mizzou’s arms are the strength of the team. Even though they have had to reshuffle the rotation due to recent struggles by Andy Toelken and Michael Plassmeyer, this is still a stacked rotation. The “worst” ERA Aggie batters will see is a 3.06 sported by Bryce Montes De Oca.

The rotation will be led by Cole Bartlett (2.39 ERA) on Friday, followed by Tanner Houck (2.98) on Saturday and closed out by Montes De Oca on Sunday.  The great starting pitching has allowed the bullpen arms to rest as Bartlett and Houck threw complete games in last weekend’s series against Ole Miss.

Even though Cole Bartlett has the best ERA of the trio, he has the highest batting average against of the three (.264 compared to .212 and .174 for Houck and Montes De Oca respectively) and has a much lower strikeout ratio (34 in 52.2 innings) compared to the other two that throw a strikeout an inning.

Bullpen

Bullpen arm TJ Sikkema is an arm that the Aggies do not want to see in the 9th inning while trailing. He has not had the prototypical closer’s role, being asked to throw multiple innings several times this year, but the coaches feel comfortable giving him the ball in the 9th inning for good reason. He owns a .161 batting average against, a 1.49 ERA/0.83 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 48 inning. Sikkema leads the Tigers in saves.