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Rice Baseball: 2021 Summer Ball end of season roundup

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players participated in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here are the highlights from the summer.

Hitters

Austin Bulman stole the show in the Valley Baseball League this summer. He led the league in doubles, finished second in hits and RBI and was top five in runs and homers on his way to an all-star game nod. There’s not much more he could have done this summer to build momentum as he returns to Rice.

Nathan Becker was contending with Bulman for the batting title in the VBL early on in the summer, finishing the season with a more than respectable .291 clip. Guy Garibay flashed in limited action, driving six of his 10 hits for extra bases.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, in a very positive way, was catcher Cullen Hannigan. Owner of eight collegiate at bats at Rice, Hannigan exploded in his return to the Expedition League. A year removed from slashing .183/.385/.256 last summer, Hannigan elevated his play across the board, slashing .340/.401/.450 this time around.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

Matthew Linskey only appeared in four games but had the most encouraging final line. His 0.96 ERA would have led the league had he pitched enough innings to qualify. Nevertheless, his 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings with only one earned run allowed served as a subtle reinforcement that his brief flashes during the 2021 season weren’t aberrations.

Micah Davis and Dalton Wood each had a couple of off outings that marred otherwise promising summer seasons. Both saw plenty of action with Davis leading all Owls this summer with 20 punchouts.

Pitching Stats

Final Thoughts

Summer ball isn’t the end all be all, but with Jose Cruz Jr. doing all he can to restock the talent pool at South Main, seeing so many encouraging performances is a positive sign. The depth that has been lacking in previous years might be on its way, and everyone is going to have to fight for their spot in the lineup.

Younger players like Linskey and Becker are continuing to develop and this summer served as an added reminder they’re got more to give Rice baseball in the coming years.

*All stats as of August 2 taken from league and team websites.
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Rice Baseball: 2021 Summer Ball – Mid-July update

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players are participating in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here’s the latest on those Owls.

First a quick note on rosters. I’ve tracked down all players that I could find with listed statistics, but I know there are others playing ball this summer. If you come across information on anyone else associated with Rice baseball playing summer ball, please send it my way. You can leave it in the comments or send it to me some other way. Thanks!

Hitters

Last week’s update came right around the All-Star break for both the major leagues and most summer leagues. Since the time off, a few leagues have gotten back underway and several Owls have gotten more opportunities.

At the plate, Austin Bulman, Cullen Hannigan and Hal Hughes were the first three hitters to make their return in the second halves of their respective seasons. Bulman added another home run and four RBI to his season-long total in four additional games. He’s now driven in 40 in 30 games this summer.

Hannigan added five walks and two runs scored in four more games, pushing his on-base percentage up to a summer-best .409. Hughes also added a couple runs scored to his totals.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

Two pitchers saw an additional opportunity apiece on the mound this week. Dalton Wood earned his second win of the season, but was tagged with four hits and two runs in an inning of work to get that result. Christian Cienfuegos pithed a scoreless frame with three strikeouts.

Pitching Stats

*All stats as of July 23 taken from league and team websites.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 Summer Ball – All-Star Break Update

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players are participating in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here’s the latest on those Owls.

First a quick note on rosters. I’ve tracked down all players that I could find with listed statistics, but I know there are others playing ball this summer. If you come across information on anyone else associated with Rice baseball playing summer ball, please send it my way. You can leave it in the comments or send it to me some other way. Thanks!

Hitters

Everyone has seemingly gotten in on the fun at the plate this summer. Four different Owls enter mid-July with a batting average better than .290. That includes Austin Bulman, Nathan Becker and Cullen Hannigan, each of which earned All-Star recognition in their respective leagues for their tremendous performances to this point in the season.

Those four have done the bulk of the damage for the Rice bats. Hal Hughes picked up his first home run of the summer. He, Justin Long and William Burbank all notched their first extra base hits of the season over the past two weeks as well.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

Micah Davis, Matthew Linskey and Dalton Wood each had outings since the last update with Davis settling into form. He struck out eight batters over 4.2 innings across two separate outings, upping his summer K count from two to double-digits in a short window. Linskey did allow his first earned run of the summer, but has maintained a microscopic 0.96 ERA.

Pitching Stats

*All stats as of July 23 taken from league and team websites.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 Summer Ball – June update

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players are participating in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here’s the latest on those Owls.

First a quick note on rosters. I’ve tracked down all players that I could find with listed statistics, but I know there are others playing ball this summer. If you come across information on anyone else associated with Rice baseball playing summer ball, please send it my way. You can leave it in the comments or send it to me some other way. Thanks!

Hitters

There’s been no slowing down the pair of Owls currently laying the wood in the Valley Baseball League. Austin Bulman is third in the league with a .386 average across 17 games, only one spot above his teammate, Nathan Becker, who is fourth with a .368 average.

Bulman’s done his damage with the long ball while Becker has churned out more singles (17) than games played (16). Guy Garibay isn’t far behind them in the California League, keeping his average near the .300 mark in the early portions of the season.

Four of the seven Rice hitters have an average of .294 or better through 10+ games. That’s an encouraging development from where things stood last summer when it was essential just Garibay and Becker showing any sort of consistency at the plate.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

We saw flashes from freshman Matthew Linskey in limited innings with the Owls this spring. He’s kept that going into the summer, coming out of the gates with three impressive showings for the Walnut Creek Crawdads of the California League. He’s allowed one hit over 8.1 innings, a staggering line.

Dalton Wood and Jared Planks also had positive debuts. Apart from Linskey, nobody has worked that many innings in the young season, so there’s plenty of time for each to progress as the season marches on.

Pitching Stats

*All stats as of July 23 taken from league and team websites.

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Rice Baseball: 2020 Summer Ball end of season roundup

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players played in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here’s what we learned this summer.

Summer seasons are finished. Rice baseball players across the country are headed back home after varied results over the past several months. Here are three takeaways from the summer with the final stats in the books.

1. The incoming hitters are going to fight for at bats soon

Rice baseball hit .260 in their truncated 2019 season, 10th best in Conference USA. With Trei Cruz off to the MLB, finding players ready and able to produce at the plate was an essential task this offseason. Head coach Matt Bragga did his part, bringing in some important transfers as well as promising young freshmen.

Nathan Becker and Guy Garibay, both members of the incoming 2020 Rice baseball recruiting class, led the way for the Owls at the plate this summer.

Becker finished with a final slash line of .404 / .448 / .635 and an OPS of 1.083. He had 21 hits in 19 games, seven of which went for extra bases. And he did all that while only striking out nine times in 58 plate appearances. He has power and good plate discipline.

Garibay’s numbers dipped a bit at the end of the season, but his impressive final line gives a pretty good indication of just how good he was. He ended the summer slashing .318 / .444 / .614 with a 1.058 OPS.

Of the other Owls we did get final numbers for, none posted an OPS above .650. A cursory look at the current abbreviated major league season reminds us not to overreact to 20 game samples. But it’s worth noting. If either Becker or Garibary can be anywhere near that consistent at the collegiate level, the Rice offense is going to tick upward during their tenure.

2. Quiet summers from fringe bats

Assuming Rice is able to bring back the majority of their upperclassmen-laden lineup and combine it with those young hitters, at bats could come at a premium in 2020. Veterans like Austin Bulman, Cade Edwards and Braden Comeaux don’t have much to worry about. Others like Dominic Cox, Aaron Beaulaurier and Justin Dunlap will have some added pressure this offseason.

Cox, along with infielder Brayden Combs and catchers Cullen Hanigan and Eric Benitez will be among the players competing for those at bats outside the top half of the order. A slow summer won’t doom them, but it’s worth noting that each played at least 10 games and none hit better than .200.

Fall camp and the offseason training program will play much larger roles in determining where all four of those guys fit in the fight for playing time, so it’s important not to read too much into a rather chaotic summer. But the missed opportunities are worth paying attention to, especially with others maximizing their chances.

3. Cautiously optimistic about returning arms

Rice is expected to lose Ben Content as a transfer this offseason. His dazzling 0.00 ERA was clear evidence he’s recovered and is ready to pitch at a high level.

Of the arms Rice will get back next season, several had promising outings this summer. Brand Deskins and AC Plum pitched particularly well. Deskin finished with a 1.08 ERA in 8.1 innings, averaging 21.1 strikeouts per nine innings. He was absolutely phenomenal.

Plum didn’t finish with a remarkable stat line, but pitched well prior to his final outing of the summer. Through his first eight appearances, Plum had a 2.31 ERA with 17 strikeouts and only six hits allowed in 11.2 innings. His 13 walks across that span is a bit concerning, and it caught up to him when he walked seven in two-thirds of an inning to end his summer on a low note. The total body of work, though, was largely positive.

Garrett Zaskoda and Mitchell Holcomb each posted ERAs of 2.70.

Hitting Stats

Pitching Stats

*All stats as of Aug 23 taken from league and team websites. Not all players listed have complete stats and some have no official stats listed at all.

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