The Creighton baseball team begins their 2019 season this afternoon with a three-game series at Arkansas-Little Rock. Led by junior outfielder Will Robertson, a preseason All-American coming off of a 59 RBI season last year, the Bluejays are an experienced team hungry to take the next step. Prior to first pitch, WBR sat down with head coach Ed Servais to give us a player-by-player scouting report on his roster. Our roster preview begins with Mitch Ragan, who will toe the rubber on Opening Day.
Starting Pitching
#22 Mitch Ragan, Sr., 6-3, 210, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Mitch did a really, really good job in the second half of the year last season — capped off with a nine-inning performance against Villanova, with double digit strikeouts. He went out and pitched a little bit during the summer. We pulled him back because he threw a lot in the spring — we’re trying to keep him healthy. He looked very sharp again this fall … he’s got a better breaking ball than he did at this time last year when he was predominantly a fastball/changeup guy. Now he’s got a breaking ball that he can get some swings and misses on, and he’s just carrying himself a lot differently now after having been through what he went through last year. I think he’s ready to take on that Friday situation, which is a big position on every baseball team.”
#10 Denson Hull, Sr., 6-1, 220, LHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Denson showed a lot of bright spots in the second half of the season last year. He went out and pitched a little bit more this summer than Mitch did, and did some really good things this summer. He’s pitched very, very well in the fall and early part of this semester … he’s now a three-pitch guy. He’s got a better feel for his breaking ball, a better feel for his changeup, and his velocity is in that 90-93 MPH range. And his composure is much better now. He was a little bit wired last year, which is not uncommon for guys that come into the program for the first year. You can tell he’s more comfortable with everything from teammates to coaches to the role he’s going to be in. We expect a lot of good things out of him.”
#17 Evan Johnson, Sr., 5-11, 190, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Evan was kind of a guy that very few people had heard about last year. He only threw 13 or 14 innings or something like that. He went out this summer and we thought he would be a relief pitcher for his summer team, but after a couple of weeks they made him a starter, and I think he was probably as good of a starter in the Northwoods League as there was. He got stretched out, he was throwing more strikes, he was throwing three pitches for strikes, and in many of his games he was getting double digit strikeouts. We were really, really pleased with him when he came back. He had a very good fall. His mound presence is much different. His velocity now is in that 91-92 MPH range. He’s always had a plus breaking ball — it’s what I would call a power breaking ball. It’s 82-83 MPH. He’s worked incredibly hard. He’s really made a big, big jump. We see that with one or two players almost on a yearly basis, and Evan would probably be the leader of that this year coming from where he was last year to where he is now. It kind of reminds me of Ryan Tapani and his evolution from a middle relief guy his junior to being a Friday guy and just embracing it, and really being as good of a Friday guy as we’ve had in a long time.”
#23 Ben Dotzler, Jr., 6-1, 210, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “He pitched a lot at Iowa Western, and they have a tremendous junior college program over there.”
#27 Paul Bergstrom, Fr., 6-0, 190, LHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “He’s a mid-80’s guy, but he’s a three-pitch guy. He has a lot of poise, a lot of presence. He looks like he’s going to throw a lot of strikes and be a guy that pitches to contact.”
#14 Dylan Tebrake, Fr., 6-2, 215, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Dylan was a little injured last spring and did not pitch much in the summer, so we didn’t throw him much this fall. We were kind of just rehabbing him and making sure he was getting healthy. He threw last Sunday in our scrimmage and again this Sunday against live hitters. He looks like he’s close to being where he was before the injury. He did not have surgery, so it wasn’t anything like that, but he fits the bill of a prototypical pitcher. He throw downhill, has a firm fastball, and pretty good bite to his breaking ball. He’s a very hard-working, committed young man. He’s got a bright, bright future.”
#19 Ryan Windham, Fr., 6-1, 175, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Ryan is out of Colorado. He’s got a quick, quick arm. He’ll throw 88-90 MPH with a good breaking ball. The ball jumps on you because his arm is so quick. He got off to a little bit of a slow start this fall, but he’s really come on recently. I think he has a high ceiling. Those guys with quick arms, they develop into pretty good pitchers.”
Bullpen
#32 Bobby Kametas, Sr., 6-0, 205, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Bobby is a fastball/slider guy. He looks a little stronger than he was at this time last year. He missed about a month or so last year with mono, but his arm is healthy, and he’s got a lot of experience coming off of last year.”
#41 Jonah Smith, Jr., 6-2, 200, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “He pitched a lot for us in kind of a dual role last year. He was a 7th/8th inning guy, but sometimes he closed games. He’s improved a little bit. We’ve seen a spike in his fastball — it’s probably into the 87-88 MPH range now. He had a tremendous summer pitching in the Northwoods League. He’s always had a good breaking ball, and he still does, but he’s a little stronger now and his velocity has spiked. Having a year under his belt in that scenario he’s much more confident than he was as we got ready to start last year.”
#35 John Sakowski, Jr., 6-2, 195, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “He’s a guy who has made some nice improvements. We haven’t counted on John a ton the last couple of years, but he looks like he’s ready to take on a little bit more of a role in some high leverage situations. He’s throwing from different arm slots. He’s developed a situation where he can throw from two or three different slots to create angles, so it looks like his breaking ball is a little different obviously from those slots. He’s just a hard-working, competitive guy that I think is ready to take on a little bit more of a role.”
#37 Mitch Boyer, Jr., 6-4, 185, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Mitch is low three-quarters guy. He had some success last year, and I anticipate him having more success this year the more comfortable he gets. We didn’t drop him down to that slot last year until about November, so he’s really only been doing it for a little more than a year. We’ve had a lot of luck with those guys who throw from that low slot, and I think Mitch will be the next in a long line of guys that have had success here.”
#30 Nate Shoemaker, So., 6-3, 215, RHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Nate only pitched an inning or two last year. He’s a sophomore out of the Minnesota area, and we’ve dropped Nate down, too, to be similar to Mitch Boyer. He seems to be more comfortable down there. He seems to be throwing more strikes, and he looked really, really good on Sunday when he threw to live hitters. He’s kind of jumped into the fray a little bit, and we’ll see how he handles game situations when he gets a chance.”
#26 Justin Wick, Jr., 6-2, 185, LHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Justin wasn’t healthy at this time last year. We got him in about the middle of the season, and he had some good moments and some rough moments. He went out and pitched much better this summer. I believe now he’s truly healthy. He’s getting more comfortable. He’s kind of a low slot left-hand guy, and we hope to create a lot of left-on-left match-ups with him. I think he has a big advantage if we can get left on left with him. At this time last year he wasn’t traveling, he wasn’t doing anything. Having a full year this year will benefit him.”
#31 Thomas Swafford, So., 5-11, 205, LHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Thomas is a transfer. He was in the program last year, but had a slight injury and was not able to play. He’s got a good breaking ball, so we’d like to match him up in cases where we can go left on left.”
#33 Ryan Connolly, Jr., 6-4, 215, LHP
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Ryan is an interesting one, because he was in our rotation for a couple weeks last year. He got injured this summer, but he did not have surgery which is great. We were slow to bring him along this fall, but he looked really good in one inning of work in our scrimmage about eight days ago, and he looked pretty good against live hitters on Sunday. He’s got a swing and miss breaking ball — it’s tight, it’s firm. He’s back to throwing at the velocity I believe he should coming off his injury. We didn’t know what we were going to get with him coming back from it, but I’m really excited with what I’ve seen so far. It’ll be different when we get between the white lines in a game situation, but he’s got a lot of talent.”
Catcher
#20 Garrett Gilbert, So., 6-1, 200
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Garrett did not play much last year behind Mike Emodi, but he was patient last year. He came back this fall and really separated himself from the other two catchers. Even in this second semester in our early work here the first two weeks he’s done a lot of good things. He understands the importance of catching in our program. We’ve been blessed to have a ton of good catchers throughout the years, and we look forward to him being the next guy. He’s quickened everything up, and that’s what high school players find when they come to college is that the game is just much quicker. They have to quicken themselves up to be competitive, and Garrett has done that. His arm looks better, it’s quicker, the ball is coming out quicker. And with his bat he’s got potential to be a good offensive player.”
#21 David Vilches, So., 5-10, 210
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Dave came from a junior college last year, and he’s got three year of eligibility. He’s got a plus-plus arm. He’s got pretty good feet. He’s got a lot of power, he’s a strong guy. He’s just got to adjust to this kind of level. That’s not uncommon for a junior college guy to take a little while to adjust — the game is a little different.”
#36 Owen Richter, Fr., 6-0, 185
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Owen comes from Creighton Prep. He was a tremendous high school player. He did some good things early in the fall, but like a lot of freshman he kind of hit the wall so to speak. He got off to a little bit of a slow start in the second semester, but he’s played well the last two or three days. He’s starting to just take a deep breath and relax a little bit. He’s got a chance to be a good catch and throw guy. He’s got pretty good arm strength. He’s got good feet. He gets rid of the ball quickly. And actually his bat is probably right now outperforming his defense, which is a little surprising. He’s got a chance to be an everyday catcher some day.”
First Base
#15 Jason Allbery, Jr., 6-4, 215
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Jason has got more comfortable playing first. That’s a position that is still new to him. He didn’t play it in high school at all, but now he’s been with us for two years and you can tell he’s getting more comfortable with it every day. He’s got big upside. He’s got a lot of ability, and I hope that this year is kind of a breakout year for him. He’s shown a lot of glimpses.”
#16 Evan Spry, So., 6-1, 195
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Evan came on at the end of last year. He’s got a good, solid swing. He’s getting more comfortable playing first — he played a lot more third in high school than he did first. We never saw him hit a home run in batting practice and then he hits one out against Cal. We had never even seen him hit the ball off the fence, but he’s got more power this year, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him hit a few more home runs this year.”
Second Base
#1 Isaac Collins, Jr., 5-9, 185
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Isaac had a good summer in the Cape, and you can tell he learned a lot while he was out there. He’s always been a real productive offensive player, and I think he’s going to be a better offensive player this year. One thing that Isaac wanted to work was to cut his strikeouts down a little bit, and I think he’s going to do that. He’s going to be our leadoff hitter, so I think he’s going to be very active on the basepaths for us. He’s probably made the most improvement defensively, too. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles everything, because there will be a lot of people that are going to come to watch him play, so I hope he can just handle that situation.”
#3 Andrew Meggs, R-Fr., 6-0, 165
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Andrew Meggs is one of our more improved players. He really wasn’t close to playing last year, but he’s right there now. He’ll get some opportunities. I’m not sure when and where, but he’s had a really good fall and a really good start to the second semester. He’s got a good feel for the game of baseball. His uncle is Lindsay Meggs, the head coach at Washington. He’s just been around the game a lot and has really good instincts. He’s a baseball player.”
Shortstop
#2 Jack Strunc, Sr., 6-0, 190
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Jack had a really good summer in the Coastal Plains League. He’s much stronger, more confident. I thought he had a great defensive year for us last year, and I thought he came up with some big hits for us. I think you are going to see his bat be more consistent. He’s probably going to provide a little more power this year because he’s stronger. I think he’s set himself up to have a big year … he’s as good of a player as we’ve had on a routine ground ball. He just makes the routine look like it’s routine, and that’s what you want your infielders to do — don’t make the routine play look like it’s spectacular, because then you’re not going to make any other plays. He is really, really sound that way, and his arm is very, very accurate. We’re lucky to have good shortstop play again with him out there.”
Third Base
#5 Jordan Hovey, Sr., 6-1, 190
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Jordan played a little bit last year at third and in left field, but he’s now just a third baseman. Jordan has had a very good fall and a very good start to the second semester. Left-hand hitter, he’s stronger, more confident. He’s a former shortstop, so it took him a while to adjust to the ball off the bat playing third because the angles are different. He is just in a better place right now. He just seems to be a more confident, happy guy right now, and that makes a big difference. He’s got a lot of ability. He checks a lot of boxes on that skill set — speed, arm strength, he can beat a couple different ways. He’s also going to pitch a bit for us, too, because he’s got a big arm.”
#29 Jake Holton, Jr., 6-1, 215
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “He’s a transfer who will likely be our designated hitter. Right-hand hitter, got a little power. He could play third. He’s sure handed and has a very, very accurate arm. I would give Jordan the edge right now, but Jake will be in our lineup no matter what.”
Left Field
#8 Ryan Mantle, Sr., 5-10, 210
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Ryan had a good second half of the season last year. We put him out in left a little bit toward the end of last year and I thought he did a remarkable job for us. We were very, very pleased with how he adjusted. It’s not easy to play outfield at TD Ameritrade, especially when you don’t get a lot of reps. We stuck him out there and it looked like he had played there for four or five years. He’s a very calm player. He’s a confident guy, but he doesn’t get to geeked up, so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.”
Center Field
#6 Parker Upton, Jr., 6-0, 190
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “You talk about good play at short and good play behind the plate, we’ve also had good center fielders. Parker is a tremendous athlete. Just off the charts in every way that you measure athleticism. He struggled a little bit last year coming off of a freshman year where he did pretty well. He just couldn’t ever find his way, and he was a little hard on himself at times. He’s in a much better place now. He had a really good second half of the fall, and he’s picked it up since then and has gotten off to a great start this semester. We need Parker to play well for us. He can be an outstanding baserunner — not only with stolen bases, but the ability to go first to third on a ball to the outfield, the ability to score from first base on an extra base hit that might not get to the fence. He’s just going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the defense. I’m happy for him, because we just don’t see these athletes get into our program all the time, and when they do we’ve got to find a way to get them on the field because they can beat you in so many ways. I’m really anxious to see how Parker’s season unfolds for him … I just can’t say enough about his athleticism.”
Right Field
#24 Will Robertson, Jr., 6-2, 210
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “With Will, everybody talks about his offense — and they should — but he’s a better defender than a lot of people give him credit for. He’s got a really good arm, and it’s now more accurate than it was when he first got here. He’s always had a good arm, we just didn’t always know how to control it. He really gets good jumps, good reads on the ball out there. He makes plays that aren’t that easy look easy, and that’s the sign of a good player. His Cape experience was a great thing for him. He surrounded himself with a lot of players that you see and hear about, and I think he came away knowing that he can play with all of them, and maybe better than most of them. That’s what you want when the guys go out to those leagues is for them to come back more confident than they were when they left. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. It’ll be interesting to see how people pitch to him and if he does get much to hit. He’s going to have to be patient, he’s going to have to really control the strike zone. He can’t be afraid to walk. There are going to some situations where he wants to hit, but they are not going to give him an opportunity. And there may be a couple cases where he’s going to have to expand the strike zone a little bit, because he’s our best guy, and you want your best guy to be able to go a couple inches off the dish but still take a good hack at it since he gives you your best chance. The good thing about Will is he’s a very grounded guy. He’s very team-oriented. He understands this isn’t about him. He knows that he’s going to have an opportunity to play at the next level, but he’s going to enjoy the college experience. I think he enjoys his teammates and the college experience, and he’s just going to soak this thing up for as many days as he has left.”
Reserve Outfielders
#7 Will Hanafan, So., 6-2, 195
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Another Creighton Prep kid. He transferred in as a sophomore. Very, very athletic. Defensively he’s ready to go right now. We’ve got to get his bat up to speed a little bit, but he’s worked very hard. He’s put on about 15 pounds since the fall. I think right now he’s going to be a late-inning replacement type of guy. He’s going to get some playing time, and who knows how that will evolve. He’s the kind of player we like to recruit, because he’s very, very athletic.”
#4 Jared Wagner, Fr., 6-0, 200
Ed Servais Scouting Report: “Jared is from Kearney, Nebraska. A powerful young guy. You don’t see freshmen like this very often. Most of the time your freshmen are a little under-developed, but Jared’s not. He’s strong, has very good speed. Right handed hitter. He’s going to be a really good player whether it’s this year or down the road. He’s got to fight for some playing time right now, because we’ve got some guys ahead of him.”
Projected Weekend Rotation
Friday: RHP Mitch Ragan
Saturday: LHP Denson Hull
Sunday: RHP Evan Johnson
Projected Starting Lineup
1. Isaac Collins 2B
2. Jack Strunc SS
3. Will Robertson RF
4. Ryan Mantle LF
5. Jake Holton DH
6. Parker Upton CF
7. Jordan Hovey 3B
8. Jason Allbery 1B
9. Garrett Gilbert C
