Huskers must replace lost arms
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By CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
The going-going-gone process involving his Nebraska baseball team’s pitching staff is well under way. But if you really want to see Mike Anderson bristle, suggest to him that having his staff decimated by last week’s Major League Baseball Draft means the Huskers will have a bunch of launching pads on the mound next season.
“What you do is keep hitting it hard and understand that this is college baseball, and this is the way it works,” the NU coach said after seven of NU’s nine draft-eligible underclassman pitchers were drafted.
By Wednesday, the first five who were picked - Drew Bowman, Matt Foust, Tony Watson, Luke Wertz and Steve Edlefsen - had already signed contracts.
And even Charlie Shirek, who’s leaning toward returning for his junior season, could go out and put up some big numbers this summer and get an offer that’s too good to turn down. The Chicago White Sox drafted him in the 23rd round.
“But I’ll tell you this,” Anderson said, “I don’t accept the fact that all of a sudden we lost all these guys, so now you have to immediately be bad. That’s not true.
“What we’ve done is develop a program that kids can get drafted and move on. The reverse of it is nobody’s getting drafted and we’re not any good. You know?”
In regard to being drafted, Shirek said, “Hopefully, that’s what everyone’s major goal is. … For me, it’d be a win-win situation for both choices, but (right now I feel like) I have so much more to learn about the game that I can do here.”
As it stands, senior right-hander Johnny Dorn will lead the Huskers’ revamped staff in 2008. Dorn, 31-9 in his career, and Tim Radmacher, who’s made just seven appearances in two seasons, were the only eligible underclassmen not drafted.
After Dorn, the right-handed Shirek (6-9 with a 4.56 earned-run average in 31 appearances) and left-handed junior Dan Jennings (who in 2007 made 13 of his 20 career appearances and only start while compiling a 1-0 record and 3.00 ERA) would be the best bets to be weekend starters.
NU’s top returning relievers would be right-handed senior Thad Weber (a 35th-round pick who made 21 appearances in 2007), and juniors Erik Bird (a right-hander who has a 2.43 earned-run average in 41 outings) and Zach Herr (a lefty with a 3.41 ERA in 46 games).
The only two other pitchers on Nebraska’s postseason roster were redshirt freshmen: left-hander Tim Scott (who faced one batter) and right-hander Mike Nihsen (who made three appearances). Thus, there should be plenty of opportunities for next year’s newcomers.
The Huskers have signed five pitchers - four freshmen and a junior college transfer - and will add to that list. Three of the recruits - Elkhorn’s Matt Freeman, Lincoln Southwest’s Sean Yost and Millard South’s Casey Hauptman - were first-team Super-State honorees. The other two - Jacob Diekman of Wymore and Cloud County (Kan.) Community College, and David Stewart from St. Louis - were 30th- and 31st-round picks, respectively, last week.
“There’s three starters, and now you start to work on developing the whole staff,” Anderson said. “The development process can get to be short term, because guys are signing. but we feel good about some of the guys that are coming in.
“Casey Hauptman and Matt Freeman and Sean Yost - if I’m those guys, I’m very excited. If somebody’s telling you in September ‘Hey, we’re going to need freshmen to contribute,’ I guarantee you put your ‘A’ game on right away. We need those guys to put their ‘A’ game on.”
Anderson reiterated his stance that the draft would leave the Huskers with one of their biggest transitions in his 13 seasons, but talked confidently of finding suitable replacements that will help them remain one of the nation’s top programs.
Over the last nine seasons, NU has played in eight NCAA regionals, advanced to four super regionals and made three trips to the College World Series.
“We’re not the only program that goes through this,” Anderson said of having to adjust because of the draft. “Obviously, there’s guys that we’ve considered throughout this year. Most teams do that. It’s not uncommon for a coach to say, ‘We’ve got to wait to see what happens in the draft.’ It changes the dynamics of what we’re doing with some guys, but (we) go from there.”
Briefly
* In addition to the pitchers who’ve signed pro deals, Nebraska has lost recruit Cameron Robulack, a first baseman from Toronto, to the Milwaukee Brewers organization. According to Baseball America, Robulack agreed to a $75,000 bonus about 90 minutes after being drafted in the 20th round Friday.
* Junior infielder Jake Mort had surgery to repair some damage in his right shoulder and will have a limited summer schedule.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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