By The Numbers: Frisco Classic underlines Texas A&M's current rebuild

Man, what a difference in the feeling when you go even 2-1 vs. 1-2.

The margin between winning a series (or a tournament in the case of this past weekend) can be so incredibly slim.

In each of the last two weekends, the Aggies went into the late innings on Sunday with a nice, comfortable lead, and it appeared as though they were on their way to a two-win weekend, only to watch the bullpen come unhinged down the stretch and suffer come-from-ahead losses that leave you scratching your head and in search of answers.

It’s quite clear that this team is in the middle of a significant rebuild. There are some darn good players on this roster, but there aren’t enough of them. When your leadoff man is hitting .175, your best two-hole option is hitting .222 and four key bullpen arms have ERAs over 6.00, you have problems.

The starting rotation is quite nice, and a couple of the young bullpen arms (namely freshmen Chris Cortez and Robert Hogan) have come out of the chute firing at an impressive level thus far.

Offensively, you have to love what you’re getting from middle-order West Coast transfers Jack Moss (.378/.457/.405) and Troy Claunch (.33 /.366/.472). But A&M’s most gifted and dynamic offensive player, Trevor Werner, got banged up one week into the season and has played in one game in the last two weeks, and nobody else in this lineup outside of Moss and Claunch is giving you much of anything right now.

Quite frankly, it’s a mess.

Nobody expected Jim Schlossnagle to come in here and work a miracle overnight.

Last year, A&M had its least talented roster since year one under Rob Childress in 2006, and that isn’t something you can flip the switch and quickly overcome. Still, this coaching staff did a great job of grinding through the portal to add as much talent to this team as possible. The best players on the 2022 A&M squad, in any order, are Werner, Claunch, Moss, Micah Dallas, Nathan Dettmer, Ryan Prager, Cortez and Hogan, and everyone other than Werner and Dettmer is new this season.

It takes time, but Schlossnagle is a master of finding ways to get his teams to play better and better as the season progresses. No doubt, the current product is difficult to stomach, but hang in there with this team. Let’s see what changes this coaching staff continues to make and which buttons they push in an effort to get the best nine guys in the lineup in the right order and the best 6-7 arms on display on any given weekend.

It’s rocky. It’s difficult to watch at times, but it’s year one. Just stay alongside for the ride, and let’s see what happens the rest of the way.

Here’s a statistical look at another mundane 2-2 week for the Aggies and a disappointing 1-2 showing over the weekend at the Frisco Classic:

.111 - Combined batting average for positions 7-9 in the A&M lineup last week. That’s a paltry 3-for-27 vs. HBU and the three opponents in Frisco.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Through four games, Trevor Werner has raked in six hits, six RBIs and one homer while hitting .429.

.174 - A&M’s average as a lineup last week with runners in scoring position. That’s one week after producing at a meager .195 clip against Penn. Let’s add a layer to that with the next stat below...

.226 - A&M’s team average in four games last week with runners on base (14-for-62). That’s the exact team average with runners on in the Penn series. Not good enough and an ongoing concern that dates back to the Shewmake era at A&M, to give you a sense of how long this has been an issue. You have a tough time beating bad teams with numbers like this, much less handling the gauntlet in the SEC.

.392 - Combined batting average for Troy Claunch and Jack Moss in four games last week. Claunch went 5-for-13 (.385) with three doubles and two RBIs, while Moss enjoyed a 6-for-15 week at the plate (.400) with a double and five RBIs. Moss leads the Aggies in average (.378), hits (14) and stolen bases (4-of-4). Claunch is right behind him at .333.

2 - Total walks from A&M’s three weekend starters in Frisco. Nathan Dettmer, Micah Dallas and Ryan Prager combined to toss just 12.1 innings total, and Dettmer allowed five earned runs in only 3.1 frames, but Dettmer and Prager (0 runs in four innings) walked just one batter apiece, and Dallas (2 ER in 5.0 IP) did not issue a free pass while striking out seven. All told, the Aggie starters fanned 18 on the weekend with just two walks.

4 - Stolen bases for the Aggies last week, after racking up 14 steals in the first seven games. A&M was 4-of-6 in stolen base attempts in four games and is now 18-of-23 in that category. Moss (4-4) and Dylan Rock (4-6) lead the way so far.

5 - A&M pitchers that have tossed at least five innings with an opponent's average under .205. In order from lowest to highest among that group is Hogan (.111 opp. average in 5.0 IP), Cortez (.138 opp. average in 8.1 IP), Prager (.152 opp. average in 14.0 IP), Khristian Curtis (.156 opp. average in 9.0 IP) and Dallas (.203 opp. average in 19.1 IP).

5 - Errors last week defensively. A&M entered the HBU game last Tuesday having made just two errors through the first sevn games. Four of the seven errors so far have been issued to infielder Kole Kaler, and two more have been failed pickoff attempts on the pitcher. The only fielding error by an Aggie this season other than Kaler has been one against Kalae Harrison at shortstop, and that’s it. Defense has been a real bright spot for A&M through 11 games, as the team is fielding .983 overall.

Frisco Classic

A&M’s relievers failed to hold onto a lead built behind a solid start from Ryan Prager.

5.72 - Combined bullpen ERA in 2022. That’s 25 runs in 39.1 innings of work. A total of 12 relief arms have combined to allow just 38 hits so far (not bad as a staff in 39.1 frames) and has 41 strikeouts with just 16 walks. It’s not that this group is allowing a lot of free passes and hits. It is when those walks, hit batsmen and big hits are coming within the game. Many have been of the late-game, back-breaking variety.

6 - Homers as a team in 355 at-bats through the first three weeks. Brett Minnich (2) and Ryan Targac (2) are the only two Aggies with multiple dingers in 2022. Interestingly, all six home runs are owned by returning players from last year’s roster. Not a single A&M hitter has reached double figures in runs batted in.

6.46 - Combined ERA of the returning arms off of last year’s roster. Jonathan Childress has an ERA of 0.00, but he has also recorded just one out thus far. Will Johnston’s ERA sits at 3.38, but he has made only one appearance — a 2.2-inning stint in Friday’s loss to Washington State. Dettmer is at 3.52 in 15.1 innings. Joseph Menefee has given up seven earned runs in 4.0 innings for a 15.75 ERA. And Alex Magers is at 20.25 in 1.1 frames.

11 - Earned runs allowed by the A&M bullpen in three games this weekend in Frisco. Xavier Lovett gave up four earned runs without recording an out on Friday night, allowing one hit but walking two and hitting a man. Will Johnston and Robert Hogan gave up a run in their outings. Brad Rudis allowed two earned runs on four hits in 2.0 innings on Sunday. Menefee gave up three earned runs in just 1.0 inning of work vs. Wichita State, blowing the lead in the seventh in an eventual 6-5 loss.

13.75-1 - Strikeout-to-walk ratio so far in 2022 among the Aggies’ weekend rotation. Dallas leads the way at 22 strikeouts and one walk in 19.1 IP (10.2 Ks per 9 IP). Dettmer is at 15 strikeouts and one walk in 15.1 IP (8.8 Ks per 9 IP). Prager has fanned 18 and walked two in 14.0 IP (11.6 Ks per 9 IP). That’s 55 Ks and four walks in 48.2 innings on the mound for the trio (10.2 Ks per 9 IP).

In week one’s BTN story, I asked the following questions looking back on opening weekend. Have fun seeing how many of these you feel you have a firm answer to at this point. Here goes...

• Who will grab the leadoff spot long-term?

• Who hits in the two-hole?

• Can Werner and Minnich keep it rolling?

• How great can Jack Moss be for the middle of this lineup?

• Will Harrison continue to reach base at a high clip, and if he does, could he be an option for the top of the lineup?

• Where do you hit Logan Britt if he continues producing like he did in Week 1?

• Who challenges the Dettmer-Dallas-Prager trio and vies for a weekend rotation spot if anyone slips up between now and conference play?

• Who comes out of this crowded group of bullpen arms to establish themselves as “go-to” guys late in games and in critical, high-leverage spots?

• Who’s the closer?

• Will Trevor Werner pitch at all?

• What about holdover arms like Will Johnston and Jonathan Childress? Surely they’ll get a shot in the early going to see if they can carve out a role ... but what will that look like?

There are still many questions that still don’t have answers to, and it’s now three weeks into this thing. We still don’t truly know if this team has an effective leadoff man or two-hole hitter. Not sure at all if Werner will be healthy and if Minnich can maintain consistency. We know Moss is a very good hitter and will be a mainstay in the middle of the lineup or maybe even the two-hole out of necessity. Harrison and Britt are both really struggling offensively. It looks like the Detmer-Dallas-Prager trio is set in stone entering SEC play, and nobody looks to challenge them for a weekend rotation spot. I think we’ve seen that Hogan and Cortez are A&M’s most reliable bullpen arms, but they are only freshmen and will have their ups and downs maneuvering through their first SEC campaign.

I have no earthly idea who the closer will be, but I’d be shocked if it weren’t either Hogan or Cortez. Werner likely won’t pitch this year, and I just hope he plays, period. And frankly, I’d love to see more of Johnston and Childress. They are gifted lefties who have been around a good while and have to be hungry to prove their worth to their new head coach and pitching coach.

Certainly more questions than answers with just one more non-conference series remaining before SEC play begins a week from Friday at LSU. It’s Tarleton on Wednesday at Olsen and then three with Santa Clara at home this week. We’ll see you at the ballyard!