Three questions for Memphis baseball as it enters the offseason

After back-to-back losses on Friday, Memphis wrapped up its baseball season with a 24-34 record, including a 13-14 conference record. The 13 wins in conference are the most conference wins by a Tigers baseball team since the 2013 season, marking improvements in Matt Riser’s third season with the program.

After a slow start in non-conference and conference play, the Tigers found success late in the season and won two games in the conference tournament. 

With the season officially over, there is a lot of unknown about where the program will go from here, especially on the roster front. Here are three questions for Memphis baseball as it enters the offseason.

Who returns?

Memphis’ lineup featured six seniors, but several key position players have eligibility remaining. Brady McAbee, Trae Cassidy, Marcus Smith, Webb Watson and Jack Little are some interesting names that could return to next season’s roster. 

McAbee and Cassidy both hit better than .250 on the season, and McAbee, Smith, Watson and Pitts all had three or more home runs on the season. If the Tigers can return those players and some of the other young bats, while adding players from the transfer portal, the offense could look similar to how it did late in the season.

On the pitching side, Memphis has the potential to return some major weapons on the mound. Will Howell, who was the Tigers’ Friday starter, and closer Carson Fair both have eligibility remaining and could be key veterans for Riser’s pitching department.

Seth Impson, who threw 42 innings out of the bullpen, also has two years of eligibility remaining.

Can you build off the momentum from the end of the season?

This question goes hand in hand with the previous one. Memphis won three of its final five series and won 14 of its last 25 games of the season, including the conference tournament.

Can the Tigers use the way they finished the season to entice players to return to the roster and sell transfer portal prospects on the future? It’s unclear right now, but appears it could be a good selling point. 

Riser has shown he can sell the program to players, and it feels like players will buy into what he wants to build going into next year.

The skipper said before the season that the goal was to make the conference tournament, and his team was able to do that and win a pair of games, despite the slow start. It will be interesting to see if that positive momentum carries into next season.

Can the Tigers improve the pitching staff?

Memphis’ pitching staff was a weakness on the roster. The Tigers found themselves in many games where they couldn’t slow down opposing offenses.

Riser’s team allowed eight or more runs in 24 games this season, including 11 games where they gave up 12 or more runs. In the 10-team conference, Memphis finished last in earned runs, ninth in ERA, ninth in hits allowed and ninth in home runs allowed.

The Tigers must address the pitching issue over the offseason, and they will have multiple spots to fill. Similar to position players, the Tigers are losing multiple starters and relief pitchers from this year’s team.

Pitching must be a priority in the transfer portal.