Michigan baseball coach Tracy Smith oversaw a 2023 squad that was not his own, inheriting a talented group from prior coach Erik Bakich.
This led to an inconsistent season with several highs and lows in the batter’s box.
However, Smith has assembled his own team, which includes multiple veteran transfers who should provide the Wolverines stability at the plate following a busy summer filled with departures.
Their lack of offensive output proved costly as they ended the season as a.500 team. And with the departure of four of the five starts who batted.275 or better, most of their meager output is gone.But with freshmen strewn all over the batting order, Michigan has given a lineup in dire need of steady hitting much-needed depth and experience.
According to Smith on Tuesday, “I feel like last year we got over a certain point in our hitting order and it was kind of hard to wait till we got back to the top again.” This lineup has considerable depth, which I like. Some really talented players are positioned near the bottom of the lineup.
Enough infield talent is brought in by the Wolverines to completely change the diamond’s appearance. Newcomers hoping to make an instant impression are occupying the remaining infield slots as sophomore Mitch Voit moves to first base.
Junior third baseman Cole Caruso is the first of those faces. Caruso, stepping in for Voit, will be tasked with holding down the hot corner. But Caruso batted.319 in his final season at South Carolina Upstate. Last season, the contact hitter would have posted the second-highest average among Michigan’s players, offering much-needed stability.
Two graduate transfers, shortstop Kyle Dernedde and second baseman Mack Timbrook, who both contributed significantly to two successful programs, will round out the middle infield.
Timbrook, who spent four years at Kent State, comes to the Wolverines after finishing his senior year with a.301 batting average and six home runs. Michigan gains further consistency from the bat of the second-team all-MAC honoree.
Dernedde, who spent four seasons as a starting player for Oregon State, a perennial challenger, will be playing alongside Timbrook. His stellar senior season, during which he walked 27 times and finished with a.377 on-base percentage, marked the pinnacle of his Beaver career. The Wolverines, who had trouble drawing walks in the previous season, greatly depend on his ability to reach base without hitting the ball.
“Last year, we were taking a chance because the entire changeover cost us our shortstop, Smith stated.
We lacked depth in that particular position. It was nerve-wracking because we didn’t have a shortstop heading into the season, recruiting cycle, or portal cycle. But Kyle was the player who was a member of a team that was ranked nationally. Playing there indicates that you are doing something correctly.
For a squad that includes a lot of freshmen, these three newcomers have a combined 337 field starts under their belts.
With a youthful team and, of course, one that has some seasoned transfers, I believe it’s special, Dernedde remarked. “Setting those personal standards is easy, but our shared goal is to win games together.
The new additions strengthen a squad desperate for offensive firepower, supporting Michigan’s returning star in Voit. All things considered, the Wolverines’ reconstructed infield has given themselves a depth of hitters to back up its pitching staff.
Michigan’s floor will be considerably boosted if the group can continue to reach base on a regular basis. This will anchor a recurrent issue that brought down a promising team the previous season.
