The source for Rice sports news

Rice Baseball 2024: Names to Know — Pitching

By

Entering Year 3 under head coach Jose Cruz Jr the Rice baseball roster is starting to take shape. Here are a few names to know on the mound.

Rice baseball has a frontline ace and lots of unproven potential on the mound entering the 2024 season. In their second season under pitching coach Parker Bangs, the entire pitching staff will look to take a step forward. Here are the key pieces the Owls will have to work with on the mound this season.

Moving On

Rice lost arguably its two most talented bullpen arms to the MLB Draft this past offseason as Matthew Linskey and Justin Long moved on to test the professional ranks. Also departing are veterans Garret Zaskoda and Krishna Raj.

Coming Back

The best news for the Rice baseball pitching staff should be the starting rotation. The Owls bring back staff ace Parker Smith, who dazzled on Friday nights last year and should do so again. Behind him, JD McCracken should be the frontrunner for Saturdays with Sunday less certain at this point. Tyler Hamilton is thought to be a strong contender for that spot right now.

More: Potential the word for Rice Baseball in Year 3 under Cruz

The bullpen is where things get tricky. Jack Ben-Shoshan is probably the most trustworthy known quantity there, but another year of development should be promising for players like Garrett Stratton and Ryland Urbancyzk.

Micah Davis should make his return at some point, recovering from an injury that forced him to miss last season. Mauricio Rodriguez, Reed Gallant and Tom Vincent will provide some veteran depth as some of the younger players come along throughout the season.

Added to the Mix

The back end of the bullpen likely offers the most opportunity for new faces to make a name for themselves in the early goings of the season. Given the lack of established horses, a newcomer who compiles a couple of solid outings could warrant a longer runway for evaluation. Davion Hickson is one such name to monitor.

Hickson joins Rice from Florida State, although he only pitched one inning for the Seminoles before transferring to South Main. He was a name singled out by veteran catcher Manny Garza before spring workouts began, along with freshman righty Jake Melvin.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Potential is the Word for Rice Baseball in Year 3 under Jose Cruz Jr.

By

After years of building, Rice baseball head coach Jose Cruz Jr and his team believes this is the year to take that next step forward.

It’s been a slow grind for Rice baseball and head coach Jose Cruz Jr. since he took the helm of the program before the 2022 season. When he arrived he was quick to moderate expectations. “I’m not going to promise the moon right now,” he said before entering debut season. That was two years ago. Since Cruz and his staff have worked tirelessly to revamp a roster that was in need of talent at several key spots

Cruz had done his best to balance high school signees with Transfer Portal additions, endeavoring to build a roster with the right mix of ability and understanding. Culture, often as nebulous of a word in sports as any other, has been a work in progress and he would be one of the first to admit it. Slowly but surely, those labors appear to be bearing their first fruits.

“I’ve been saying it the whole year. It’s taken me three falls to create the environment that I wanted to create. It’s fertile ground for development and for guys to keep pushing themselves and get better,” Cruz said. “It’s here, the time is now. Our team is pretty dynamic. Now we just have to show it on the field.”

Rice has retained Parker Smith, whom Cruz accurately referred to as a “bonafide ace”. They’ve added key transfers like Treyton Rank from Florida State and Kye McDonald from Wichita State. There’s been buzz all offseason about the velocity of the arms Rice will be able to bring out of the bullpen. Optimism abounds. Hope is in the air. This is a team with potential. Cruz believes they have the drive to go with it.

“The beauty of what we have right now with our team is there’s a lot of guys that have a lot of whys. They have a purpose. They have a mission of why they are here,” Cruz explained. “Some people are trying to get themselves into a position to get in the lineup. Some people are trying to go professional. Some people want to develop.”

More: Parker Smith’s journey to Rice Baseball ace

Organizing all of those whys into one collective mission has been the challenge for this program in recent years. It all comes back to culture, something veteran leaders have agreed is much improved. “Compared to teams in the past, we definitely have a better locker room culture and just culture overall,” Smith said. “It’s a game failure. Baseball is a game of failure. You’re bound to fail and you’re going to have to rely on your teammates to back you up and pick you up.”

The odds suggest Smith is right. Rice baseball will get knocked down more than a few times this year. They’ll suffer some painful losses and things won’t always go according to plan. How they deal with those hardships will determine how far they’ll eventually be able to go.

That “potential” piece isn’t new. Rice baseball has had potential for eons. How else could they have assembled a National Championship team in the modern era? That team took ahold of its potential and translated into production. That’s the task for Cruz and for his players. National championship ceiling or not, this is a team that, on paper, looks better than it ever has under his direction. That potential needs to translate into wins.

The Owls’ first crack comes in a few days against Notre Dame. Opening Day at Reckling Park against a national, premier brand. You can’t have much more of a bigger potential opportunity than that.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Grab Bag: What’s going on around Rice Athletics? Jan 2024 Q&A

By

Rather than drill down on one topic, subscribers had a variety of questions this month touching all areas of Rice Athletics. We hit on them all.

A lot is going on around Rice Athletics right as the new year begins. This mailbag touches on a host of topics ranging from Scott Pera’s coaching tenure and basketball facilities, football recruiting, baseball and more.

Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

Q: Did Rice really just land the best recruit in program history? How? What?

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball 2023: MLB Owls End of Season Update

By

The 2023 MLB season is done and Rice baseball played their parts across the league. Here’s how the season went for each of the MLB Owls.

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois was the only Rice baseball alum to make a postseason appearance this year. He pitched 0.2 innings in the Marlins’ second game of the Wild Card Round, allowing one hit and no runs. In the regular season, he notched a 3.61 ERA in 42.1 innings. His 0.6 home runs allowed per nine innings rate was his lowest mark in that metric since his debut season in 2016.

Tyler Duffey – Chicago Cubs

Duffey spent almost the entirety of the season with the Cubs’ AAA affiliate, making 36 minor league appearances with a 3.70 ERA before getting the call from the big league team on the final day of the 2023 season. In game 162, Duffey tossed two innings, allowing a solo home run, but otherwise fairing well. He struck out three batters.

Tristan Gray – Tampa Bay Rays

Gray wasn’t given a long time with the big league club, but he made every moment of his MLB debut count. Gray failed to reach base in his lone plate appearance in his debut game (Sep. 16 against the Orioles) but delivered a massive go-ahead home run the next day, his only career start thus far before being sent back down to AAA after the game.

Lucas Luetge – Atlanta Braves

Luetge signed with the Atlanta Braves this offseason after spending the last two years with the New York Giants. Although he started the year with the big league club, he would be optioned to AAA early in the summer, making a few spot appearances with the Braces in July and mid-September. On the whole, he totaled 12 big league outings this season with a 1-0 record and a 7.24 ERA.

Dane Myers – Miami Marlins

Myers had a tremendous debut in the big leagues this season. On July 4, his first-ever MLB game, he went 2-for-3 with an RBI, the start of a terrific 10-game explosion. In his first 10 appearances, Myers slashed .444/.460/.583 with eight RBI and three extra-base hits. His offensive explosion would come down to earth later on, but he still finished the year with a potent .269 average through 22 games played.

Glenn Otto – Texas Rangers / San Diego Padres

Otto spent the first few months of the regular season working to return from injury, finally making his 2023 debut on June 30 against the Astros, the first of three separate appearances against Houston in his six outings with Texas this season. Following a two-inning relief appearance on September 4, Otto was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the San Deigo Padres.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

On July 4, Rendon fouled a ball off his shin. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, that would end his season. Rendon’s unfortunate injury luck limited him to just 43 games this season. Rendon had some productive outings when healthy, but finished the season with a .236 average and 22 RBI, hindered by his limited playing time.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball 2023: MLB Owls Update – Sep 26

By

The 2023 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls.

Stay tuned for a full update of all the Owls’ who made an appearance in the major leagues this season following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season. Chargois’ Marlins are in the midst of a battle for a playoff spot and we’ll know whether or the fish are postseason bound at that point as well.

J.T. Chargois – Miami Marlins

Chargois saw action in two games this week. He appeared last Wednesday against the Mets and tossing a scoreless frame and two days later on Friday against the Brewers, registered 0.2 innings pitched with two walks and no runs allowed.

Through September 26, Chargois has a 3.59 ERA with a 1.210 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Injured List

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

With just days remaining in the 2023 regular season, Angels’ manager Phil Nevin announced this week Rendon was not expected to return this season, mentioning Rendon has been able to do some baseball activities, but wouldn’t be ready before the end of the season.

Through September 26, Rendon is hitting .236 with eight extra-base hits, 25 walks and 27 strikeouts. His OPS is .678 and he’s collected 22 RBI.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts