The city-state of Troy was always believed to be a Greek settlement according to Homer and other Greek mythology pieces so I’ve always liked the Trojans. The Trojans might have fallen in the 13th century, but the baseball team in 2023 won 11 straight before their first defeat and took their season all the way to an elimination game in the Tuscaloosa Regional. In 2024, they can challenge those benchmarks and have eyes set on a Sun Belt Regular title.
The 2024 Trojans are reloading and an exciting team to watch in the Fun Belt. Troy returns 4 MAJOR pieces from that gauntlet of a lineup in 2023. Fun Belt Player of the Year, Shane Lewis, returns to the gates of Troy for his 2nd year. Lewis hit 27 HRs last year to go with his .705 slugging %. Dude smashes. Along with him, they return Ethan Kavanaugh, who won’t be bopping balls all over the yard, but will find lots of ways to get on base (.425 OBP). A Billy Beane favorite. A personal favorite from this squad, Tremayne Cobb Jr., is back and should improve immensely this year, his 2nd year at Troy. He hit exactly .300 last year with 9 HRs and a .484 slugging. Would like to see more doubles and HRs from him this year to really get this lineup going. Kole Myers (.297 13 HR .538 SLG) is another returner that will play a large role in this lineup in 2024.
That lineup should scare staffs in the Sun Belt. They lose about 30% of their 108 HRs from a year ago, but I think they should blow past that # this upcoming season. There is nothing to hide inside that Greek Trojan horse, this lineup has been put on notice.
On the mound, they return a huge chunk of innings. From a quick glance, they lose less than 150 innings of their 500+ total innings. Massive. Their workhorse Grayson Stewart (91 innings, 94 Ks, 3.65 era) will be manning the Friday Night Guy role. He has shown huge improvements over the last 2 years and should slide right in perfectly. Closer is back in Noah Manning with 11 saves last year. Tons of middle relief and long inning guys are back. Some questions on who will tote the rock on Saturdays and Sundays, but there won’t be any lack of experience. Brady Fuller should win a rotation job in my opinion. If you are just stat checking, he had a 7+ ERA last year, but a 3.68 FIP. Luck should be more on his side in 2024. If the majority of these guys can improve their walks, this staff will be well suited for a Sun Belt title run.
Troy’s 2024 schedule starts off soft with SIUE, Harvard, Kent State and Northwestern State before they travel to Bloomington to face Indiana right before Sun Belt play. They get Southern Miss, Coastal, Texas State all on the road this year. Pretty brutal.
But all in all, I love this team, and they will be near the top of the Sun Belt come May. A full challenge lies ahead to knock off Coastal Carolina, Southern Miss and Louisiana. Shit, Georgia Southern and Texas State should improve from their 2023 seasons. Fun Belt is GAUNTLET.
The city-state of Troy was always believed to be a Greek settlement according to Homer and other Greek mythology pieces so I’ve always liked the Trojans. The Trojans might have fallen in the 13th century, but the baseball team in 2023 won 11 straight before their first defeat and took their season all the way to an elimination game in the Tuscaloosa Regional. In 2024, they can challenge those benchmarks and have eyes set on a Sun Belt Regular title.
The 2024 Trojans are reloading and an exciting team to watch in the Fun Belt. Troy returns 4 MAJOR pieces from that gauntlet of a lineup in 2023. Fun Belt Player of the Year, Shane Lewis, returns to the gates of Troy for his 2nd year. Lewis hit 27 HRs last year to go with his .705 slugging %. Dude smashes. Along with him, they return Ethan Kavanaugh, who won’t be bopping balls all over the yard, but will find lots of ways to get on base (.425 OBP). A Billy Beane favorite. A personal favorite from this squad, Tremayne Cobb Jr., is back and should improve immensely this year, his 2nd year at Troy. He hit exactly .300 last year with 9 HRs and a .484 slugging. Would like to see more doubles and HRs from him this year to really get this lineup going. Kole Myers (.297 13 HR .538 SLG) is another returner that will play a large role in this lineup in 2024.
That lineup should scare staffs in the Sun Belt. They lose about 30% of their 108 HRs from a year ago, but I think they should blow past that # this upcoming season. There is nothing to hide inside that Greek Trojan horse, this lineup has been put on notice.
On the mound, they return a huge chunk of innings. From a quick glance, they lose less than 150 innings of their 500+ total innings. Massive. Their workhorse Grayson Stewart (91 innings, 94 Ks, 3.65 era) will be manning the Friday Night Guy role. He has shown huge improvements over the last 2 years and should slide right in perfectly. Closer is back in Noah Manning with 11 saves last year. Tons of middle relief and long inning guys are back. Some questions on who will tote the rock on Saturdays and Sundays, but there won’t be any lack of experience. Brady Fuller should win a rotation job in my opinion. If you are just stat checking, he had a 7+ ERA last year, but a 3.68 FIP. Luck should be more on his side in 2024. If the majority of these guys can improve their walks, this staff will be well suited for a Sun Belt title run.
Troy’s 2024 schedule starts off soft with SIUE, Harvard, Kent State and Northwestern State before they travel to Bloomington to face Indiana right before Sun Belt play. They get Southern Miss, Coastal, Texas State all on the road this year. Pretty brutal.
But all in all, I love this team, and they will be near the top of the Sun Belt come May. A full challenge lies ahead to knock off Coastal Carolina, Southern Miss and Louisiana. Shit, Georgia Southern and Texas State should improve from their 2023 seasons. Fun Belt is GAUNTLET.
