The Skinny On The Crimson Tide
Alabama has lived up to its preseason Top 25 billing so far, racing out to a 9-0 start by largely dominating a favorable schedule. The Crimson Tide has outscored opponents by an aggregate score of 95-22, out-hit opponents .363 to .192, and out-homered opponents 19-2. Of course, it must be noted that Bama’s two weekend series have come against Manhattan and Valparaiso, and the competition will take a dramatic jump-starting this weekend. But nonetheless, first-year head coach Rob Vaughn has led his club to a flawless start, notwithstanding the disappointing loss of fireballer Riley Quick to a season-ending injury.Star Power: Ben Hess
A highly regarded recruit out of Illinois, Hess has always performed well when he’s been healthy, but a freak injury limited him to 33.2 innings as a freshman, and elbow soreness caused him to miss the second half of his sophomore campaign, which ended after 36.1 innings. But he’s healthy again and off to a great start as a junior, going 2-0, 2.25 with 14 strikeouts against three walks in eight innings. Hess has always possessed legit Friday night stuff, with a true four-pitch arsenal that includes a fastball that has averaged 94.4 mph and touched 97 this spring, along with a mid-80s slider that has generated a 55% whiff rate and a mid-70s curve that has resulted in a 50% whiff rate through two stats, per Synergy. He has seldom used his changeup so far, but he’s got that pitch in his back pocket. And of course, he has always smothered the strike zone. He checks all the boxes of a bona fide star, and he entered the year as a third-team preseason All-American.Alabama ace Ben Hess (Alabama Athletics)
Who’s Hot Right Now?
Vaughn couldn’t stop raving about freshman shortstop Justin Lebron in the fall, and he has backed up the hype by hitting .500/.647/.818 with two homers and six RBIs in his first six career collegiate games. “Everybody sees the actions and the arm, and it’s like, ‘This is awesome.’ But his IQ for the game is just at a really high level,” Vaughn said in the fall. “He’s made some plays this fall that you’re just looking at it like, ‘Man, why is he there? What happened there?’ His IQ is just different, and that’s when you take the skill set away. I mean the guy is 170 pounds soaking wet right now and got some power in his bat. And just the maturity. As smooth and pretty as it is, he is competitive as it gets. That guy, I think, has a chance to make a lot of money playing baseball.”Fellow newcomers Gage Miller (.457/.525/.943, 5 HR, 16 RBI) and TJ McCants (.400/.476/1.057, 6 HR, 19 HR) have also gotten off to torrid starts, helping to fill the power vacuum created by a slew of departures from last year’s super regional team. The Crimson Tide knew heading into the year that it needed juco transfer Miller plus Ole Miss transfer McCants, Rutgers transfer Evan Sleight (.364/.462/.545) and Maryland transfer Ian Petrutz (.324/.410/.500) to step right in and serve as pillars of the overhauled lineup, and the early returns have been smashing.
