2016 Clemson Baseball Season Review: Outfielders

Yesterday we kicked off our position review of Clemson baseball by looking at the infielders. Today we look at the outfielders. Led by freshman Seth Beer, the outfield provided plenty of exciting moments at the plate. They also gave fans more than a few exciting moments on defense, just for the wrong the reasons.

Seth Beer- Freshman, RF

It didn't take long for Clemson fans to embrace Beer Time. Freshman Seth beer was a huge reason Clemson performed above expectations this year. The early enrollee stepped into the lineup and made an amazing impression. Beer hit .369 on the season in 62 games for an OBP of .535. He slugged an even .700 with a team high 18 home runs. He managed to hit in 70 RBIS and score 57 runs himself.  The one downside is probably Beer's fielding. Several times he looked a little lost in the outfield and that will be one area he should improve on with some more experience. He will also need to become more efficient with his hitting. The departure of Chris Okey means Beer is likely going to lose some of his protection in the lineup in 2017. Beer is expected to be the Tigers' first baseman next season.

Chase Pinder -€”  Sophomore,CF

Chase had a pretty good season for Clemson as the third best hitter in the lineup. He hit for  a .294 average and got on base .412 percent of the time. Though he had the third highest slugging percentage at .471, it was a noticeable dropoff from Chris Okey at .611. Pinder also hit the long ball well with 11 home runs this year. The big difference was his lack of RBIs. Pinder only had 46, a good number, but not the elite power we may need next year. That said expecting elite power out of Pinder may not be realistic. Slightly improved production from Pinder would be fantastic though. In the field  Pinder did well with 4 errors for a .976 fielding percentage.

Reed Rohlman -€” Redshirt Sophomore, OF/1B

Rohlman put together a solid if unspectacular season for Clemson this year. Guys like Okey and Beer got a lot of the headlines, but Rohlman as key part of this team playing in 64 games. He hit .274 this year with a .374 OBP. He also slugged .383. The redshirt sophomore also knocked in 43 RBIs while scoring 40 times himself. He was definitely not a power hitter with only 2 home runs, but Reed did have a team leading 21 doubles this year. His fielding was also excellent with only 2 errors all season, good for a .981 fielding percentage.

Mike Triller -€” Redshirt Graduate, OF/DH

"Triller Time" became a popular saying during post season play, and Mike Triller absolutely was the ACC Tournament MVP for his timely hits. But before his late season heroics we didn't see much of Triller. He only started 8 games but appeared in 28. He hit .269 for the team with a .350 OBP. He had an excellent .654 slugging percentage with 5 home runs and 14 RBIs on 52 at-bats. Triller also had some excellent fielding, he committed 0 errors which is always nice to see.

K.J. Bryant -€” Redshirt Freshman, OF

K.J. Bryant had some great moments to punctuate a decent season. He hit .257 across 45 games with a .337 OBP. He slugged .351 and only drove in 8 RBIs this year. Bryant did score 18 runs from his 19 hits and 8 walks this year. Though he had a low fielding percentage a .917, he only had 3 errors which says just how little he was asked to play the ball in the field. As a redshirt freshman this is about the expected production and hopefully he can take the next step in 2017. Look for K.J. to get more playing time next year and possibly be the starter in right field as Monte Lee plans to move Seth Beer to first base.

Robert Jolly -€” Sophomore, C/DH

Jolly got a decent number of appearances despite being penciled in as the backup to Chris Okey at the start of the season. He appeared in 51 games, 20 as a starter. Unfortunately he only hit .217 all year but was able to supplement that with a .339 OBP. He was definitely not much of a slugger with no home runs and only 12 RBIs in 95 plate appearances.

Maleeke Gibson -€” Redshirt Junior, OF

Gibson had fairly limited action this year with only 19 appearances. He hit .167 to patch his slugging percentage of .167. He did manage to have a larger than expected OBP of .375 to match it though. I guess it helps when you have 3 hits to go with your 6 walks. Gibson's long and tumultuous run with the Tigers ended early this season as he left the team to take a job after graduating.

Drew Wharton -€” Sophomore, OF/1B

Wharton was another rarely used guy, appearing in 26 games with only 6 starts. He hit .154 on the season with a slugging percentage the exact same. He did drive in 6 runs but didn't hit any home runs or have any extra base hits. His OBP was .324 given his 4 hits and 7 walks across 26 at bats. Even with the limited playing time he got this year, Wharton provides a lot of upside at the plate and we could see him get more AB's next season.