IOWA CITY – It would have been easy for Cole McDonald to give up.

The Hawkeye senior right-hander has had a circuitous journey throughout his baseball career. But when Iowa opens the 2019 season on February 15 against George Mason in Kissimmee, Fla., the first Hawkeye to take the mound for head coach Rick Heller’s club will be McDonald.

“[McDonald] epitomizes Hawkeye baseball,” said Heller at Iowa’s media day on Tuesday. “Development, on and off the field, being a winner, he’s all of those things.”

A number of circumstances arose that seemed like they would have made it hard for McDonald to even play baseball in college, let alone start on Friday nights in the Big Ten. He hails from New Hampton, Iowa, a town of 3,500 that sits 40 miles north of Waterloo. The state of Iowa’s summer baseball schedule already makes it increasingly difficult for players to be scouted and recruited, especially those in small, rural towns.

To make matters worse, McDonald blew out his elbow as a high school junior and necessitated Tommy John surgery, wiping out his entire senior season. The best time for him to get college coaches interested was, just like that, gone.

But McDonald was not going to give up. “When I was younger, my dad would give me articles, and say, ‘Hey, this could be you,” remembered the senior. Without much college interest, he went with his father to camps at Creighton and Iowa. It was at the camp in Iowa City in which the Hawkeyes got interested and gave McDonald a chance.

“Who knows if I would have been here if I didn’t go to any camps,” McDonald said. “The opportunity just kind of fell into my lap.”

That opportunity was a spot on the pitching staff, and a chance as a freshman to pitch immediately – McDonald made 8 midweek starts in 2016, his return to the mound from his injury, and posted a 3.33 ERA. Things were looking up.

Then, he endured a sophomore slump.

Moved into the weekend rotation on Iowa’s NCAA regional team in 2017, McDonald struggled, to the tune of a 6.96 ERA in 11 starts. He struggled mentally, as well, and could have fallen into a hole that many pitchers can’t get themselves back out of.

The fact that he didn’t is one of the many reasons that McDonald heads into his senior season as a team captain with a potential professional career to look forward to when the year is done.

“He brings leadership,” said first-year Iowa pitching coach and 12-year Major League veteran Tom Gorzelanny. “He has the mentality, the work ethic … he’s one of those guys you know that you can rely on every weekend.”

McDonald’s leadership qualities, work ethic, and mental fortitude helped him bounce back and put together a strong junior season in the weekend rotation in 2018.

He started off the year in the fall by throwing a no-hitter against the Czech Republic at the World University Games in Taiwan, Iowa’s first nine-inning no-hitter since 1965. In the spring, splitting the season between starting on Saturdays and Sundays, he had a 3.23 ERA in over 55 innings, while striking out 52.

After a late-season scare with his elbow that caused him to miss 2 starts, McDonald returned late in the year to his old self, including tossing his fastball up to 94 miles per hour, a mark that has professional scouts noticing. D1Baseball.com ranked McDonald the 13th-best draft prospect in the Big Ten conference this year.

Not bad for a kid from New Hampton, Iowa, who didn’t pitch an important portion of his high school career.

“The University of Iowa, being on this team, has given me so much, and it’s only right that I try and give back,” McDonald said. “Giving back for me is helping the team win.”

It’s that attitude that will help McDonald be the vocal leader of a new-look pitching staff for the Hawkeyes. McDonald is the only returner of Iowa’s top 4 leaders in innings pitched from last season, a group that does not include bullpen stalwart Nick Nelsen, who graduated.

Iowa may have some questions marks towards the end of its rotation, and throughout its brand-new bullpen, but every Friday night, there will be the same workhorse taking the mound, attacking the zone, and giving Iowa a chance to win.

“I want to show everyone out there all the work we’ve put in,” said McDonald.

“I just hope that kids who might read this, or see me out on the mound, know that it doesn’t really matter where you’re from … as long as you’re willing to work and improve, it is possible.”

The post Cole McDonald’s Long Journey to Iowa’s Friday Night Starter appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The “sabermetric revolution”, or the application of using objective methodology to determine and understand player performances, is swirling all around Major League Baseball. Statistics such as  On-Base Plus Slugging Plus(OPS+) for hitters and Fielding Independent Pitching Minus(FIP-) with pitchers, among many more sabermetrics. All these unique stats determining player performance are great ways to understand the game of baseball from a unique perspective. The MLB and everyone working with it/alongside it make these stats easily available. I thought to myself, why not do some digging and research to have these metrics present in NCAA Baseball, specifically the Big Ten and the Iowa Hawkeyes? I am proud to introduce OPS+ and FIP- to the Big Ten Conference, but before I do that I must talk about the metric that is involved with all of the other metrics, the park factor.

A park factor is a measure of how much a given ballpark contributes to the production of a player or team. The formula indicates the difference between runs scored in a team’s home and road games. It goes such as this: (Runs Scored by the Home Team+ Runs Allowed by the Home Team)/(Runs Scored by same team in away games+ Runs Allowed in away games)*100. An average park is scaled to 100. A park below 100 is a pitcher-friendly park. A park above 100 is a hitter-friendly park. I’ve done the park factors for each team through the past weekend in the Big Ten. So, a team like Iowa has a pitcher-friendly park. They scored 90 runs and allowed 56 runs in 15 games at Duane Banks field, while scoring 138 runs and allowing 135 runs in 23 games on the road. Multiply that by 100 and those numbers come up with a park factor of 83.

Alright, on to the fun stuff.

On Base Plus Slugging Plus(OPS+): OPS+, according to MLB.com, is on-base percentage(OBP)(how many times a player gets on base) plus slugging percentage(SLG)(total bases by a given player divided by their at-bats) and normalizes the number across the entire league, while accounting for ballpark factors. It adjusts to a score of 100, which is considered league-average. An OPS+ over 100 is above league average, while below 100 is below league average. The formula goes as follows: 100 * ( OBP/lgOBP + SLG/lgSLG – 1)/Park Factor. The lgOBP and lgSLG is the league average On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage for qualified hitters. A qualified hitter is a player who averages at least 3 Plate Appearances per team game played. The lgOBP for the Big Ten(through April 23) is .365 and the lgSLG(through April 23) is .417. Here are the results for the Top 5 hitters in the Big Ten based upon OPS+:

Take Iowa’s Jake Adams who currently has posted a 216 OPS+, which is 116% better than league average. Yes, that is possible. Matt Lloyd is the league-leader because he hits well in a pitcher-friendly environment, as Indiana’s park factor, as previously mentioned, is 76 to go with a .434 on base percentage and a .655 slugging percentage.

Fielding Independent Pitching Minus(FIP-): Fielding Independent Pitching is similar to ERA, but it focuses on a pitcher’s three true outcomes: strikeouts, walks/hit by pitches, and home runs. The formula for FIP: ((13*HR)+(3*(BB+HBP))-(2*K))/IP + constant. The constant came out to be 3.73, but is subject to change until the season concludes. Then we take FIP and put it in another formula to determine how well a pitcher does compared to his league, adjusting for park. The formula goes as follows: 100*((FIP+(FIP-FIP(Park Factor/100))/lgFIP, where the lgFIP is the league average FIP based upon qualified pitchers who have thrown at least 1 inning per team game played. The league average FIP is 4.52. Unlike OPS+, FIP- is designed to have a lower score, so the lower the number is, the better a pitcher is compared to league average. A number above 100 is considered below league average. Here are the top 5 pitchers according to FIP-: 

According to the data, Nebraska’s Matt Waldron is the best pitcher in the Big Ten according to FIP-, 44% better than league average. The reasoning behind his success is his high strikeout-to-walk ratio. So far, he has 33 strikeouts and has only walked 8 batters, hit 4 batters, and gave up 3 home runs in a hitter-friendly park, with a park factor of 136.

There will be a full update on these statistics once the season concludes.

The post Introducing OPS+ and FIP- in the Big Ten appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Hawkeyes have found themselves with a 20-11 overall record but just 3-3 in Big Ten play which puts them tied for 7^th in the conference with Michigan State. Coming up this weekend is a vital three game series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers who currently sit at number two in the Big Ten standings with a 4-1-1 record and a similar 20-11-1 overall record.

Iowa took a big blow to their starting pitching rotation early in the year when it was announced that junior pitcher, C.J Eldred, would miss the season with a right elbow injury that would require surgery. But none-the-less the season continued on and while in the pre-season Eldred claimed that himself and fellow starting pitcher, sophomore, Nick Gallagher,

could be “the nation’s best 1-2 punch in a weekend rotation” Gallagher had to take that job on his own. Half way through the season Gallagher hoists a very respectable 2.15 ERA with a 4-1 record in 7 game appearances (all in which he started). While Gallagher has been productive in his all of his starts, another sophomore pitcher, Zach Daniels, has made the most out of his opportunities. While Daniels has struggled at times, he has given up a tied team high 3 home runs; he currently sits tied at 3^rd in the nation among all D-1 baseball players with 6 victories. While Daniels comes in during relief innings, his wins come in large part thanks to the Hawkeye bats.

Leading the way for the Hawkeye hitters is Junior First Baseman, Jake Adams.

Adam’s currently is ranked 4^th nationally with his team high 13 home runs. Adam’s is also ranked 8^th in the nation in runs batted in (RBI) with 43 but those runs wouldn’t be possible without hitters like Mason McCoy batting in front of him. McCoy another Hawkeye Senior, currently sits at 34^th in the nation with only 9 strikeouts in 121 plate appearances. McCoy who is currently batting .347 (second on the team) and not only is McCoy getting the job done at the plate, he’s also excelling in the field. McCoy is currently helping the Hawkeyes defense, which is ranked 17^th in fielding percentage, by upholding a .983 fielding percentage himself. This might not be a team that will get into a “run-fest” with you, but they will make the plays they need to and will wait for you to make the mistake for them to take advantage of.

Going into this weekend’s contest against Nebraska, the Hawkeyes need to be ready to swing the bats as the Cornhuskers are currently allowing over 8 hits a game but have the Big Ten’s second lowest earned run average with just over 3 which places them in the top 25 in the nation. First pitch is scheduled for Friday April 14^th at 6:35 in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The post Baseball Mid-Season Report appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Recap of last weekend:

The Hawkeyes’ bats last weekend were again hot, as they swept UNLV at home after a 3-0 win on Friday, and two late scoring rallies on Saturday 6-5,and 7-6. They tallied up 16 runs total outscoring the Rebels 16-11 for the weekend. Pitching for Iowa still struggled, although they had a highlight as Friday’s win was the first time this season that they allowed no runs in a game.

Although the struggling bullpen has given up runs, it has mainly been the bats leading them to a 6-game win streak so far after going 2-1 against Purdue the weekend before and a win over Grand View (6-5) on March 28th. Riding high, Iowa was going into this week looking to make that 7.

Recap of this week:

Iowa was victorious, once again, over South Dakota St. on Tuesday with a final of 4-3 as their bats were the deciding force. The Hawkeyes found themselves down 3-2 after their first five innings, going into the seventh. However, that quickly changed after Mitchell Boe walked followed by a double by Mason McCoy that allowed for Jake Adams to tie the game off of a fielder’s choice ground out. Robert Neustrom then doubled to make it 4-3 which ended up being the final.

As mentioned previously Iowa’s pitching hasn’t been the best and that continued on Tuesday allowing for 5 hits and 3 runs. Meanwhile, the bullpen ended up saving the game by controlling the game with excellent relief pitching from Zach Daniels and Kyle Shimp.

“Zach Daniels and Kyle did a great job of settling the game down in the fifth,” Manager Rick Heller said about the relief pitchers. Thankfully, that wasn’t the only thing Heller was happy about. “We played hard, played good defense, and our focus was better than it was this past weekend.” For a team coming off of a series sweep, this is great news and something to look forward to.

Preview of this weekend:

The Hawkeyes will try to expand their win streak to 8+, as they take on Northwestern in Evanston this weekend, to continue Big Ten play. First game will be Friday April 7th at 3:30 P.M.

The post Iowa Baseball Builds Off A Great Weekend appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Going into the week, Iowa was (1-2) hoping to recover from last weekend’s disappointing series with University of South Florida. The Hawkeyes did just that with a powerful win over Loras College on Wednesday, with an even better chance to improve at the Hoover Classic.

The Hawkeyes’ bats were once again alive after outscoring their opponents 26-13, with 31 hits and 3 home runs over the three games. Although the defense had only been strong in a couple of games, it was definitely the offense that played the key role in the Hawkeyes’ victories.

The entire week, manager Rick Heller had focused with the team on trying to battle at the plate and get better overall plate appearances. It appears that it has finally worked out for the Hawkeyes. They got on base 9 times from walks while only striking out one time in the final game of the weekend against Morehead State.

Mason McCoy, again, looked to be in mid-season form, collecting 5 RBI’s over the weekend with 6 hits. Simultaneously, Jake Adams batted in 4 runs, two of them being a rocket of a home run. Chris Whelan had a promising debut in the leadoff spot of the lineup going 3-4 on Sunday.

Iowa will look to further improve in the following week where they will take on Cornell College on Tuesday at Home. (Update: This game was canceled due to Weather) After that they head out to Minneapolis for the Dairy Queen Classic over the weekend and will face Hawaii on Friday, then a one-loss Oral Roberts on Saturday, and Minnesota to end the weekend on Sunday.

DQ Classic Preview:

Hawaii is coming off of a (2-2) series tie with University of San Francisco, and is currently (3-4) overall for their season. However, the Rainbow Warriors will most likely be jet lagged from the insane travel.

Oral Roberts will be one of the better teams that Iowa has faced yet this season. Oral Roberts is (7-1) and going into the weekend high off of a 3 game sweep of Alabama last weekend and a thrashing of Kansas on Tuesday. Although the record is intimidating, Oral Roberts has had some troubles with pitching. In the three games against Alabama, Oral Roberts gave up 28 hits. This is intriguing for Iowa hitters, especially if they’re still hot throughout the week.

The hosts, Minnesota, are coming back from a sweep of Seattle University and a 3-1 loss to NDSU, which featured some not so great early pitching from the Golden Gophers, but this team is (4-2) and was tied with Iowa at 6 in the Big Ten preseason poll. So this match up will most likely be a good preview for Big Ten play coming up in a couple weeks. This game will also be available to watch on Big Ten Network plus, which is free if you’re on campus.

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