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BSB: 2019 Outfielders And Infielders

Previewing Washington Baseball's Talent In The Outfield And Infield

By Washington Huskies

February 11^th, 2019

Team OVerview

Washington's 10th-year coach, Lindsay Meggs, previewed his team before the Huskies take the field for the first time on Friday, Feb. 15 at UC Irvine.

Q: What are your expectations for the team this season?

Lindsay Meggs: "I like our balance. I think that’s going to be a key for us. Hopefully because of that, on days that we don’t pitch well, we’ll score some runs. On the days that we don’t score some runs, hopefully we can keep the scoring down. I think we’re going to play good defense. We’ve proven that over the last five season that year in and year out, we’re among the leaders in the conference in fielding percentage. My hope is that we can win one-run games, we can win high-scoring games, we can win low-scoring games. You can’t do that if you don’t have balance and I think we have that."

Q: Do you pay much attention to the preseason predictions?

Meggs: "I don’t put a lot of stock about what anybody has to say about us unless they’re in this building. We preach to our players all the time to try and tune out the noise. We want them to focus on the task at hand – not the draft or the preseason predictions or in-season postseason predictions. We work so hard to talk about what we’re doing today and staying in the moment. We try not to get caught up in that stuff. It’s just a waste of our energy."

Q: Last year, the team bond was so important to the College World Series run. Is that something that is preached or does it grow from within the locker room?

Meggs: "We’re always trying to continue and improve upon on our culture, which we think is built on positive relationships, being team-oriented and being unselfish. We were fortunate to have really good player-driven leadership like we did last year, then sometimes that stuff takes on a life of its own. I think that’s what you saw last year. We had some older guys – Levi Jordan, KJ Brady, Alex Hardy – those guys had been through some great times and some tough times. I think they did a good job of passing things down to the younger guys, who felt really included and really valued. Those three along with the other veterans really made that locker room a home away from home for everybody. Our guys really benefited from that and it’s kind of an X-factor. When it’s Sunday and it’s one game apiece and it’s 2-2 in the seventh inning, that makes a huge difference. It showed last year, especially down the stretch during the postseason."

Q: Where is the program as you head into your 10th year?

Meggs: "We really feel good about where we are. I think in any athletic department, in any program, in any business, you kind of hope your group or your program is built to last. I think the way people evaluate that is typically in five-year blocks to really give yourself a good indication of where you are and the type of consistency you have. Five years ago, that coincides with the opening of Husky Ballpark. I think everything before that, is everything before that. Since when the ballpark opened, I think we have got a true indication of where we are. We have the second-best winning percentage in the conference in the last five years. It’s Oregon State and us, and then it’s everybody else. It’s a pretty impressive statement, so I feel pretty good about where we’re at. Some others are not very quick to acknowledge that, but as I tell our guys, I think that we’re better at what we do than a lot of the other people are at what they do, so do we care what they think? Let’s just concentrate on what we do and the personalities in the building. From that perspective, we like where we are. We’re excited about what we did last year, but we still think our best days are ahead of us. We’re really pleased."

The OUtfield

Starters Returning (3) - Mason Cerrillo (Sr.): .341/.395/.404, 76 hits, 34 runs, 14 doubles, 21 RBI; Braiden Ward (So.): .304/.401/.370, 55 hits, 37 runs, 19-24 stolen bases; Christian Jones (Jr.): .264/.337/.380, 43 hits, 3 triples, 7 doubles, 2 HR.

Key Losses - KJ Brady: 41 games/18 starts.

Coach Meggs on the outfield: I think we’re in a good spot in the outfield. Mason Cerrillo comes back and will be the same guy he was last year in left field, which is consistent.

Braiden Ward comes back and while he’ll see time on the infield here and there, he’s primarily a centerfielder and that’s where he belongs in this group.

Right now, you’ve got Kaiser Weiss that can also play centerfield and is probably our best defensive outfielder and really good off the bench. Is he an everyday player in this league yet? I don’t know, but he can certainly be a quality fourth outfielder and make some starts for you.

Christian Jones is still on the shelf and won’t start rehabbing and swinging a bat for a couple of weeks. We expect to get him back the first weekend of Pac-12 play if everything goes right. I think he’s capable of having a breakout season. The injury is going to slow him down, so that might slow down his start. But if he drive in runs the kind of way we think he can, then he’s going to be a formidable middle-of-the-order guy and likely hold down that right field position.

Connor Blair comes in as the National ABCA Junior College Player of the Year last year. He’s just started to settle in – like a lot a lot of JC guys, it takes a while. He’s another guy that can compete in left or right field. He’s another hitter with power.

Rollie Nichols, a left-handed hitter from Cerritos College, has been really coming on of late and gives us another bat off the bench or in a spot start. He’s really taken some great swings since we’ve gotten back in January. We feel comfortable with the depth in the outfield and like we’ll be able to match up and have some balance.

Mason Cerrillo

2018: Honorable Mention All-Pac-12, team-high 76 hits, made 55 starts

Coach Meggs: "Mason Cerrillo is a .300 hitter in this league, a senior and an experienced guy. He’s somebody that can hit at the top of the order, in the middle and at the bottom. He’s gives us some great versatility. He could play centerfield if we needed and even first base."

Braiden Ward

2018: Pac-12 leading 19 stolen bases, named to NCAA Conway Regional All-Tourney Team.

Coach Meggs: "He led the Pac-12 in stolen bases last season and I think he’s the best runner in the conference. I think now he’s an even better baserunner. He stole 35 bases last summer in the Northwoods League, so we expect him to have the green light and hopefully run like crazy and put pressure on everyone."

Christian Jones

2018: Played in 54 games/52 starts, hit .264 with 7 doubles, 3 triples and 2 home runs.

Coach Meggs: "C.J.’s strength is that he has some plus power. He’s a guy that is still trying to figure out some of the timing issues with his swing, but when he’s right, he can hit the ball out of the ballpark to all fields. Potentially he’s a 40 to 50 RBI guy. C.J. played first base all summer, so he gives us some depth and versatility there."

THe Rest Of The OUtField

Coach Meggs on Kaiser Weiss: "Kaiser can play all three outfield positions. He’s a plus defender and a really good base runner. He got some really big hits for us last year and we just haven’t seen him play every day yet, so we don’t know how he’ll handle that. But he’ll get an opportunity to start some games and prove to us what his value is. He’s just a baseball player. He handles all the situational stuff really well."

Coach Meggs on Connor Blair: "Connor is a physical player. He hit 21 home runs last year as a junior college hitter. We’d like to put him in the middle of the batting order and maybe he can be somebody that can hit behind Joe Wainhouse and give him some protection. He’s going to have his share of strikeouts – a lot of home run hitters do – but he can hit the ball out of the ballpark to all fields. If he can get off to a good start, that will really give us some good depth in the middle of the batting order. He’s somebody that if you make a mistake to, he can hurt you."

Coach Meggs on Rollie Nichols: "Rollie is more of a doubles-type of hitter. Really for us, selfishly, we’re in a great situation if he’s coming off the bench as a left-handed bat late in the game. He’s taken at bats in the inter-squads lately that make us think we should consider him somewhere out there against a right-handed pitcher. He’s another guy that really prides himself on being a good baseball player. He runs the bases well and understands some situational stuff while he’s at the plate, yet he’s got some juice. He comes from a really good junior college program and is really well coached. I don’t think he’s afraid of the big stage. He’ll be a plus for us."

Coach Meggs on Blake Burton: "Blake’s a great teammate. He is somebody who can come off the bench and get a hit for us. He could get a spot start here and there. He’s a great kid and great Husky."

The Infield/DH

Starters Returning (2) - Jonathan Schiffer (So.): .242/.318/.287, 51 games/42 starts, 38 hits, HR, 20 RBI; Joe Wainhouse (Sr.): .306/.352/.603, 58 games/57 starts at DH, 19 HR, 9 doubles, 61 RBI.

Key Losses - Levi Jordan: 2018 All-Pac-12, 60 starts, .305 average, 8 HR, 43 RBI; AJ Graffanino: .364 avg, 29 games; Willie MacIver: 41 games/40 starts, .232 avg, 3 HR, 24 RBI.

Coach Meggs on the infield: Our biggest question mark from those on the outside is the middle of the infield. How are we going to fill some of the holes left by some of the guys who have left us because of the draft? Graf (AJ Graffanino) and Levi (Jordan) were so good for us. They both played shortstop. They both played second. They both had their moments offensively, but it was the defensive part that was extraordinary for us.

We’ve seen some really interesting and competitive battles in the middle. Noah Hsue, who is a returner and a really cerebral guy that might not be in some circumstances as athletic as Levi was last year at second base, he has been very consistent and taken some really good at bats. He’ll start for us at second base.

The shortstop position is another position where we have felt blessed for the last couple of years. We had AJ Graffanino there for the last couple of years and he could take your breath away. Ramon Bramasco is different from AJ in that way. He’s not flashy. He’s not as athletic. He won’t run as well. But, he makes every play. He’s more of a version of Levi at short than AJ, because he’s just going to make things look easy.

I think we’re going to be good in the middle. It might be a little bit different and we might be slow out of the blocks, because these guys haven’t played much together, but I think once they get comfortable they’ll be fine.

Jonathan Schiffer will be the guy at first base. He’s won that position and we’ll roll him out there against UC Irvine. You might see Joe Wainhouse there in the midweek. We could give Nick Kahle a day off at catcher, have Michael Petrie fill in there and DH Nick, throw Joe at first, possibly put Schiff at third – however we want to match up in the game. Obviously, we want Joe in the middle of the batting order in one way shape or form. He’s more than capable of handling first base.

Ramon Bramasco

2018: Transfer from Cerritos College ... was Second-Team Pacific Association All-America in 2018 after he hit .322/.404/.477 with 3 HR, 12 doubles, 3 triples and 32 RBI.

Coach Meggs: "He had an outstanding fall. He was probably our most impressive newcomer and certainly our best infielder. He gets about as good of a jump on a ball off the bat as maybe anyone I’ve had in the middle. We’re excited about him. He’s a baseball player. He’s a hard-nosed guy. He’s somebody that can find a gap and hit some doubles and the occasional home run."

Ben Baird

2018: Played in 33 games, making 31 starts, before a wrist injury shut him down for the season.

Coach Meggs: "It’s been an interesting battle at third. Benny’s been coming back after half a season trying to find his rhythm and find his way back offensively. Defensively, he’s been as good as he’s ever been. Offensively, he’s coming off a wrist injury and trying to find his comfort zone in the box."

Noah Hsue

2018: Played in 36 games, making 26 starts at second base as a freshman ... hit .202 with 9 RBI.

Coach Meggs: "He understands everything that we’re trying to do and is actually further ahead than where I thought he’d be as a sophomore, so we’re really anxious to see him in game situations."

Jonathan Schiffer

2018: Played in 51 games, making 42 starts as a freshman ... hit .242 with a HR, 4 doubles and 20 RBI.

Coach Meggs: "We expect him to be the same guy, maybe a better version with competitive at bats with runners in scoring position and understanding all the situational stuff. On the defensive side, he’s a plus first baseman. He’s really a third baseman that we moved over there and we think he can be one of the better defenders at that position in the Pac-12. He’s gotten stronger and he’s hit some balls out of the ballpark in the fall. He’s getting some of that man-strength that you see sometimes in that second season. He’s just another baseball player with a really positive makeup. You really want him up there when the game is on the line because he can handle that moment very well."

Joe Wainhouse

2018: All-Pac-12, MVP of Conway Regional ... .306 average, 19 HR, 61 RBI ... Preseason NCBWA Second-Team All-American.

Coach Meggs: "Joe’s strength is that he can hit the ball out of the ballpark to all fields. He can hit one just inside the left-field foul pole or he can hit one 500-feet to right-center. With him, like any plus-plus power guy, you’re going to get some strikeouts. You’re going to have some streaky moments. But he’s a guy that hit left-handed pitching at a .300 clip last year, right-handers at a .300 clip and .300 overall. He hit 19 home runs and had 61 RBI. We’re lucky to have him back. It will be interesting to see how people pitch him. Last year, they pitched him ever different way and shifted him hard, and he still had success. A lot of that’s going to depend on how we’re doing in the spot behind him and is he going to get pitches to hit. We hope he does and hope he has enough patience like he did last year to let people pitch around him if they choose to do that."

The Rest Of The Infield

Coach Meggs on Nick Roberts: "Nick Roberts is probably our most improved player and really impressed our coaching staff with the at bats he has taken. He has shortened his swing. He’s a better runner. He’s in the best shape in his life. He’s really done a nice job physically showing up in great shape and stronger than he’s ever been and he can play all four spots in the infield. That makes him really valuable and he’s going to push Ben to the limit and it gives us some depth over there. He’s a really valuable piece because we can use him so many different ways throughout the course of a game."

Coach Meggs on Brandon Leitgeb: "Brandon is much improved from last year. He can play first or third base. He’s much better at first base. I think he can give us some at bats off the bench. He has more power this year and is in much better shape. He’s stronger and the swing is better with more bat speed. I think he’s somebody that can help us off the bench."

Coach Meggs on Vince Flores: "Vince Flores can play both middle infield positions, but he’s not ready to play every day. Right now, he can come in and play defense for us if we needed somebody."