BASEBALL PREVIEW | FIRST BASE: McHugh projects as a big time power source, while Ossenfort looks prove himself

We’re going to be previewing this year’s NC State baseball team by introducing you to the players, position by position. There a lot of newcomers, so we’ll do our best to project where we might see guys and how they’ll fit into the lineup.

Past Previews
CATCHER PREVIEW: Alex Sosa, Drew Lanphere, Preston Bonn

FIRST BASE PREVIEW

Gone is Garrett Pennington, who manned 1B for NC State last season and finished with a pretty elite stat line. He hit .350 with a .435 OBP (On-base Percentage) thanks to his 31 walks. He hit 18 homers and had 61 RBIs. Pennington was signed by the Detroit Tigers last summer and will play with their Single-A team this year.

So how do you fill those shoes? Well, NC State is going to try to do that with two transfers. One that has big projected power grades and another that is still a little more unproven, but has shown nice flashes. Both will be sophomores this season for the Pack.

PROJECTED STARTER @ 1B
Chris McHugh | 6’3, 215lbs | Sophomore
McHugh is a big righty who is transferring in after a successful true freshman season at VCU. He started 53 games for the Rams last season, batting .253 with 6 homers, 33 RBIs and 33 runs.

Those stats aren’t anywhere close to Pennington’s from last year, but there is a lot of hope that McHugh makes a massive jump this coming season, especially in the power department.

What is the basis for that hope? Well, he’s already registering some pretty advanced metrics. Note that 95-100 is a pretty good exit velocity off-the-bat for a college player. McHugh is already above that, showing off an exit velo of 104 in this clip (which was a 400+ foot homer).

Want even more proof that McHugh can mash? He competed in the MLB Home Run Derby X at the Durham Bulls park this past summer, competing alongside MLB greats Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones and Nick Swisher.

McHugh didn’t disappoint, helping his team to victory with this massive round …

I think the question for McHugh will be about batting average. He hit .253 last year, which isn’t amazing, but again, that was as a true freshman. He’s got a pretty big leg kick, but keeps his hand compact and has a nice high finish. His swing reminds me of MLB first baseman Christian Walker (now with the Astros) who is also about a .250 hitter, but hits 25-35 HRs per year. Even with the power McHugh is showering, he looks to have room in that swing for more power if he can start creating a little more stretch.

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OTHER 1B OPTIONS
Matt Ossenfort | 6’3, 217lbs | Sophomore
Ossenfort is transferring in from Vanderbilt where he spent his freshman seasons mostly sitting on the bench. He only played in 6 games and hit .182 with a homer. That sample size means nothing, so we really don’t know what we have with Ossenfort, other than the fact that he’s a lefty with a little Chase Utley to his swing (Utley’s swing). He has had success in the summer leagues where he hit .376 with 8HRs as an incoming freshman and .264 with 4 HRs last summer. Due to the fact that McHugh has more college experience, I’m guessing we see him start out of the gate, but Ossenfort will get his chances, and could push for a platoon split based on whether NC State wants more righties or lefties in the lineup on a given night.