Fresno State Possible Baseball Lineup for 2017

The Bulldogs had eight players on the All-MWC team last season, which was more than any other team, and four return to the wars for this coming season.That's some firepower. A word about the lefty Thomas. He could be one of the best that the MWC has seen in a long time. He garnered a few awards this past summer and I got this from Coach Batesole. He was the POY for Team USA and won the gold medal game against Cuba. That’s high praise and a lot of confidence in his arm. If he continues on this trek, he could be one of the best in the US and certainly in the west. If you have a chance to see him pitch - GO.

Bozar’s Best Guess:

C - Nick Warren (JR) - .229 and 0

1B - Aaron Arruda (JR) - .320 and 11 in 194 ABs (first team All-MWC)

2B - Scott Silva (SR) - .357 and 4 (2nd team All-MWC)

SS - Korby Batesole (JR) - .243 and 0

3B - Jesse Medrano (SR) - .326 and 0

OF - Austin Guibor (SR) - .293 and 7 in 208 ABs

OF - Jake Stone (SR) - .312 and 3 in 218 ABs (second team All-MWC)

OF - Ryan Dobson (SR) - .364 and 0

DH - Zach Ashford (SO) - .316 and 0

SP - Edgar Gonzalez (SO) - 2-3 and 3.97

SP - Ricky Tyler Thomas (JR) - 9-4 and 2.16 with 108 SO in 104 IP. (first team All-MWC and possible POY for 2017)

SP - Kenny Varnell (SO) - 1-1 and 8.24

SP - Mark Reece (SR) - 1-3 and 2.96

RP - Ricky Ramirez (JR) - 4-1 and 4.54 with 42 SO in 39 IP and 4 saves

Coach’s Comments:

I’ll keep it short. He said close enough and sung the praises of Thomas.

It looks to me that the Bulldogs have plenty of quality in position players as three returning all-league players are coming back. I don't see much in the way of holes. Pitching lost a lot but two of the top starters from last season return in Gonzalez and Thomas. Thomas looks to be in a contract year. Uh, what I mean is, I believe he'll be drafted if he has a season that compares to last. He should be the team's top arm this year. So, two good starters in the rotation and three all-conference position players. I'd say that's pretty good shape for 2017 and I expect them to push for the regular season title. Could this be the year?