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Bulldogs Fairly Strong in Pitching and Hitting for 2016

But not especially outstanding in either area. They will be long on experience in the rotation which is a plus. They have only one .300 hitter returning but they have some pop in the lineup and Kevin Viers and Austin Guibor should be the leaders. Guibor, in fact, will probably be drafted when all is said and done in June.

By Don Starks
Austin Guibor could be one of the best offensive threats in the MWC
Austin Guibor could be one of the best offensive threats in the MWC
Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos

Fresno State's Possible Lineup for 2016

The Bulldogs opened up the season with a bang last year but never really lived up to the hopes that those victories over UC Irvine inspired. They certainly are able to garner the talent as their recruits are always pretty good.

Both hitting and pitching from last year were a little better than ok but the top guys from the staff and the starting lineup are gone. Coach has a lot of work to do to come up with a starting lineup by the time the season starts. The pitching should fare a little better as some pretty good arms with experience come back to bolster the rotation. I'm posting this before even looking at the starting rotation for this week's games.

My guess:

C - ?
1B - Kevin Viers (SR) - .257 and 7
2B - Ryan Dobson (JR) - .245
SS - Jesse Medrano (JR) - .229
3B - ?
OF - Austin Guibor (JR) - .339 and 5
OF - Brody Russell (SR) - .233 and 2
OF - Zach Ashford (FR) - Second team AA by MaxPreps
DH - RJ Cordeiro (FR) - hit 9 home runs his senior year

SP - Jimmy Lambert (JR) - 4-2 and 4.66
SP - Tim Borst (SR) - 4-4 and 4.65
SP - Anthony Arias (SO) - 2-3 and 5.40
SP - Ricky Thomas (SO) - 4-3 and 3.92
RP - ?

As my guesses at pitching indicate the rotation looks in pretty good shape. They lost the top two guys from last year but return a lot of experience (read that as starts). The closer remains in doubt.

Guibor and Viers are the two top hitters that return so a lot has been lost from the offense. Some vets will have to step up or newbies have to produce some surprising smiles from the coaching staff. Two good freshman recruits looked good enough on paper for me to plug them into the starting lineup.

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