Clemson Baseball: 2024 Team Preview

One of our loyal listeners, Tiger Chuck, knocked last season's preview out of the park-- he's back to deliver again for Clemson fans with another great breakdown of Erik Bakich's 2024 squad. Take a look at his thoughts on the revamped Tiger lineup as Erik Bakich enters his second season as head coach.

Projected Lineup

• C Jimmy Obertop GR Transfer Michigan 
• 1B Cooper Blauser RS FR/Alden Mathes Transfer from Richmond
• 2B Blake Wright SR .250
• 3B Nolan Nawrocki RS FR
• SS Jacob Hinderleider GR Transfer from Davidson 
• LF Will Taylor JR .362
• CF Cam Canarella SO .388
• RF Jack Crighton SO .239/Nate Hall SO .243
• DH Alden Mathes/Cooper Blauser 

Infield depth

• C Jacob Jarrell
• Andrew Ciufo Transfer from Richmond (3 yrs elig.) 
• Jarren Purify FR
• Devin Parks FR
• Jay Dillard RS FR
• Tryston Mcladdie FR

Outfield Depth

• Nathan Hall SO or Jack Crighton SO
• Tristan Bissetta RS SO
• Lleyton Lackey SO
• Devin Parks FR
• Tryston Mcladdie FR

Newcomers to Know 

• Jimmy Obertop GR transfer Michigan
  • Great power, elite defense behind the plate, and elite arm strength. Career .266 hitter with 29 HR.
  • Got hurt for the year last season after only 60 at-bats. In 2022 he hit .278 with 15 HR and 54 RBIs
  • Going to be a big RBI producer in the middle of the order 

• Alden Mathes 1B/OF (also pitched for Richmond)
  • A versatile 2-way player that will see time at 1B/DH and RF if needed.
  • Primarily a CF for Richmond, but due to outfield experience and depth, he was moved to 1B.
  • He has good speed. Great pull hitter. On base machine .434 OBP against a .296 AVG last season to go with 9HR and 41 RBIs.
  • Hit .344 with 10 HR and 59 RBIs in 2022.

• Jacob Hinderleider SS GR Transfer from Davidson 
  • A big strong kid with a great build. Good power.
  • Hit .282 with 7HR 43 RBIs last season.
  • Hit .337 with 12 HR  56 RBIs in 2022.
  • Like Mathes, hopefully, his bat can return to form from 2022. Defense is average.
  • With the transfer Andrew Ciufo right on his tail he won’t have a long leash with icky defense.
  • Can make spectacular plays but needs to make all the routine plays. Needs to cut down on his strikeouts. 1/4 at-bats.
  • Very excited to see how he performs at this level 

• Andrew Ciufo SS Transfer from Georgetown (3 yrs elig.)
  • He has good pop in his bat. Injured for the season in 2023.
  • In 2022 he hit .297 with 9HR. Really good speed. He will provide valuable depth to the infield. A 56-game schedule will give players sore days, and he’s a great piece to have in your pocket.

Freshmen Newcomers to Watch

• Jarren Purify 
  • A very strong, fast, electric player. Will get playing time, especially if some of the new starters don’t perform. Coach Bakich is extremely high on this young man. Can play either middle infield position. His defense is developing but the ceiling is very high. Has a chance to be a star.

• Devin Parks
  • Like Purify he’s also a five tool type of player: Speed, contact, power, fielding and arm strength.
  • He will also compete for playing time in the infield.
  • His future is likely in the outfield.
  • Another potential star for the Tigers down the road. 

A lot of new faces to the lineup, but I like the pieces that are in place, especially with the improvements expected from the pitching staff. This team is more likely to win games 5-3 than 7-5 this season.

The development of players like Jack Crighton, Nate Hall, Cooper Blauser, and Nolan Nawrocki will be huge. The better defender will start at 1B between Blauser and Mathes, but the other will DH. Both those bats are too good to keep out of the lineup.

When Jimmy Obertop needs a day off from catching, he can also play 1B but will be more likely to DH. Jacob Jarrell is the backup catcher. If Mathes is the better defender in RF than Crighton, you could also see Crighton compete for time at 1B or DH, as he has taken a lot of reps at 1B in the off-season.

The Tigers have one of the best 1-2 punches in the nation with Cam Canarella and Will Taylor. I would like to see Taylor cut down on his strikeouts (1/4 ABs). He’s too fast not to get the ball in play and put pressure on the defense. He already got on base at an astounding .489 clip last year.

I expect Blake Wright to return to his 2022 form. I attribute some of last year’s issues to missing the preseason due to a wrist injury. He never really got going. He needs to hit the ball to the opposite field much better this season. During his career, he tends to pull off the ball too much.

This 2024 Clemson team is going to be fast on the bases and very aggressive. Canarella, Taylor, Wright and Crighton combined for 46-57 SB-ATT. Mathes was 11-12 last year. Hinderleider was 5-7. That’s 62-76 for the runners in the lineup. When you add in Nawrocki’s really good speed, along with two true freshmen who can fly in Purify and Parks-- it’s only going to get better.

The defense is still a work- in progress. The outfield is just fine, but you have a new 1B who will not be a natural first baseman. Blake Wright is now back at second, where he does have experience. Hinderleider at SS is a step down defensively from Blackwell. You have a freshman at third base who is at his natural position and does have a canon for an arm but is still inexperienced.

Iron sharpens iron, and the position battles have pushed the redshirts, transfers, and incoming freshmen to work relentlessly. Only four players in the lineup have earned their right to struggle through slumps. Cam, Willy T, Wright, and Obertop. The other players will all be pushed by the electric true freshmen Purify, Parks, and transfer Ciufo if they don’t perform well out of the gate.

I think the coaches did a good job replacing so much lost talent in one year. Grice, Amick, Ingle, Blackwell, Bertram etc.

Pitching

Projected Weekend Rotation 

• Friday- RHP Austin Gordon JR 
• Saturday- LHP Rocco Reid JR
• Sunday- RHP Billy Barlow RS SO

Other possible starters 

• RHP Joe Allen SO
• LHP Tristan Smith SO
• LHP Ethan Darden SO
• RHP Matthew Marchal GR transfer Wofford 

Long Relievers

• RHP Nick Clayton SR
• RHP Lucas Mahlstedt JR Transfer from Wofford (submariner)
• RHP Ty Olenchuk SR
• RHP Aidan Knaak FR

Setup Men/Situational 

• RHP Drew Titsworth FR
• LHP Justin Leguernic FR
• LHP BJ Bailey SR
• RHP Luke Brown FR

Closers

• RHP Reed Garris
• RHP Rob Hughes 

Transfers

• RHP Mathew Marchal GR transfer from Wofford
  • Led the country with 19 starts last year. 11-4 record with a .458 era. Strike throwing machine. It's not overpowering at all. Tops out at 90. Control pitcher that must execute his location. He has 4 pitches he can throw in any count. 

• RHP Lucas Mahlstedt JR transfer Wofford 
  • Submarine pitcher with great run on his pitches. In 2023, he made 27 relief appearances, combing for 83.2 innings and a stellar 2.69 ERA. Struck out 68 batters to just 18 walks. He's a control pitcher relies on location and gets ground ball outs similar to Nick Clayton. 

Freshmen to know (coaches are very high on all three) 

• RHP Aidan Knaak
  • Can control and execute four pitches. Not overpowering. Low 90s fastball. Elite change-up. As the season progresses, I could compete for a starting midweek spot and weekend-long reliever. 

• RHP Drew Titsworth
  • An immediate impact setup man. I think he’s already your 8th-inning guy. Fastball mid-90s with great movement and an elite slider.

• LHP Justin LeGuernic
  • Another long freshmen that will compete for big innings as the season progresses. Low to mid 90’s fastball 

Pencil in Austin Gordon on Friday, but do not hold me to the Saturday or Sunday starters here. Those two are a complete guess and, personally, what I would like to see based on what I’ve seen.

The coaches are very high on Tristan Smith, but in all three off-season appearances that I saw him, he was bombed, including the Friday scrimmage two weeks ago. Hopefully, that’s the hitters seeing him over and over, which is always an advantage to the hitter.

Joe Allen has great stuff, and I could really see him being a starter as well. Ethan Darden has a lot of starting experience from last year. The Wofford transfer Matthew Marchal is an experienced strike-throwing machine. He has as much experiences as about any pitcher in the country. He’s also a candidate to start Sundays, but personally, I like him starting midweek games against competition he’s already been very successful against minus teams like Georgia and Coastal Carolina. I think he could be that Tyler Jackson of 2017, who manned down the midweek starts from start to finish that year.

The bullpen has good depth, along with great incoming freshmen. Nick Clayton, Lucas Mahlstedt, and three FRs, Drew Titsworth, Aidan Knaak, and Justin Leguernic, will be the five relievers used this year. You also have BJ Bailey, a situation left-handed pitcher. If guys like Joe Allen, Tristan Smith, or Rocco Reid don’t earn starts, you could see them in the bullpen as well, where they all had some success last season.

Two closers also return in Reed Garris and Rob Hughes, who are very similar pitchers. Both hope to improve on their offspeed pitches. They were pretty successful throwing a ton of fastballs last year, and commanding three or even a second pitch will be huge for the backend. 

Casey Tallent is currently hurt, and I don’t know how long for. Georgia Tech transfer LHP Noah Samol is out for the year. He can throw in the high 90s. He will help us in 2025. 

The success in year one, combined with a bitter ending, has fueled the team. They are confident, and the belief from the coaching staff and the players is there.

Last year‘s team was one of the smarter teams I can remember. That’s a testament to Coach Bakich and the baseball IQ he instills into players.

I would caution fans to have patience with the bats as we have a lot of new faces, and the weather is cold. I expect the pitching staff to start strong and carry this team until many of our new faces get their feet wet. After last year‘s turnaround, the return of two future 1st round picks, and the improvement of the pitching staff, there’s no reason to believe this team won’t be a regional host or a national seed by year's end.