MN_ExPat

Yeah, I don't doubt it. With his mounting injuries at this point, I just pray for him that he recovers enough to have a healthy life after he is done with the game.

Given media and social media coverage, one can certainly see that perspective. However, I would say that were seeing your typical spring. Throughout HS and now into college, my son and all his teammates and friends were/are a walking litany of strains, bruises, bumps and if they were lucky... just aches. We just don't hear about it really to often because they (players and teams) don't say anything about it. Guys are going to get banged up... it's baseball.

I understand the angst, but... DeSclafani is only 33 (almost 34). That's a good bit away from 40.

Doug Simons enters his 17th year as head baseball coach at Covenant in 2023. Simons is the second longest-tenured head coach at Covenant behind 29-year women's soccer head coach Mark Duble. A former Major League Baseball player with the New York Mets (1991) and Montreal Expos (1992), Simons came to Covenant with 18 years of professional baseball experience as a player, coach, and scout. FAST FACTS • Years at Covenant (head coach): 16 (2007-present) • Overall record: 287-345 (.454) • Conference record: 112-156 (.418) • National Tournament appearances: 2 (NCCAA - 2013; NCAA - 2014) • Conference regular season titles: 1 (USA South - 2014) PROGRAM ACCOLADES • 6 All-America selections • 1 CoSIDA Academic All-American • 19 All-USA South honorees (7 first team selections) • 7 All-USA Southwest Division honorees • 9 All-Region choices in NCAA era (7 ABCA All-South Region; 2 D3baseball.com All-South Region) • 10 USA South Player of the Week selections • 118 USA South All-Academic honorees (through 2021-22) • 154 overall conference all-academic selections (through 2021-22) • 5 USA South Team Sportsmanship Awards • PROGRAM NOTES • 5 consecutive 20-plus win seasons from 2010-2014 • 1st win in modern era: Feb. 17, 2007 (W, 9-1 at Johnson Bible) • 100th win in modern era: Feb. 9, 2013 (W, 4-3 vs. Berea) • 200th win in modern era: March 24, 2017 (W, 3-2 at William Peace) QUOTABLE "We are a Christ-centered program," Simons said about his program. "We want to give the young men in our program the opportunity to grow in Christ, get a great education and develop into players who could play at the next level." SEASON HIGHLIGHTS In 2014, Simons led his program to its first-ever conference title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Scots claimed the USA South regular season title on the final day of the season and earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament where they were seeded sixth in the South Regional. Eight players from that team were selected to an All-USA South team, including five first team selections. In his 11th year at the helm of the program in 2017, Simons recorded his 200th career coaching victory when the Scots defeated William Peace 3-2 on March 24. Covenant had three All-USA South selections in 2017, led by two first team choices. In 2007, Simons' program had its first varsity season since the 1980s. The Scots produced just six wins in each of the first two years and 15 wins the third year. Since 2010, Covenant has finished at or above .500 nine times with a modern era record 28 wins in 2013. The 2013 team was selected to its first NCCAA World Series appearance. PLAYING CAREER Simons is a 1988 graduate of Pepperdine University, in his native California. During his three years at Pepperdine, Simons accumulated 28 wins, 18 complete games, five shutouts and, at one point, pitched 30.2 consecutive scoreless innings (still an all-time Pepperdine record). Drafted twice (1987 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and 1988 with the Minnesota Twins), Simons started his professional career after getting his bachelor's degree in education. BEFORE COVENANT Simons came on staff in 2005 to restart the intercollegiate baseball program which had been dormant since the 1980s. Simons came to Covenant after spending 18 years in professional baseball. He played in the major leagues with the New York Mets (1991) and the Montreal Expos (1992). Most of his professional career was spent in the minor leagues where he accumulated 72 wins, 20 complete games, and made three all-star teams (1989 California League, 1990 Southern League, and 1995 Texas League). Simons played in the minor league organizations of the Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, and Houston Astros. He also played professionally overseas in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Italy. After his playing days ended in 1997, Simons spent four years as a pitching coach in the New York Mets organization and then four years as a full-time area scout with the Texas Rangers. FAMILY He and his wife, Julie, have four children: Brian (Covenant '13), KC (Covenant '15), Kirsten (Ricketts) and Paige (Pettit) (Covenant '21). The family lives on Lookout Mountain, Ga. YEAR-BY-YEAR • 2007: 6-34 (2-16 AAC) • 2008: 6-37 (2-16 AAC) • 2009: 15-35 (8-16 AAC) • 2010: 21-21 (13-14 AAC) • 2011: 27-16 • 2012: 24-20 (5-7 GSAC) • 2013: 28-19 • 2014: 26-15 (19-8 USA South) • 2015: 15-23 (11-16 USA South) • 2016: 23-17 (9-8 USA South) • 2017: 14-24 (6-12 USA South) • 2018: 13-25 (7-11 USA South) • 2019: 17-22 (9-13 USA South) • 2020: 11-4 (6-0 USA South) • 2021: 19-14 (5-8 USA South) • 2022: 22-19 (10-8 USA South) View full player

I'm not clamoring to see any particular prospect, I just think it's a really cool way for the league and teams to get a lot of well regarded players together in one place. Almost has a AFL vibe to it with bigger hype players 🙂.

From what I remember reading/hearing last season He still has (for at least a little bit longer) an obligation, he just made Captain during last season I believe they are both in the Guard/Reserve Can't remember her job series though

Thanks JD. That's pretty much my thought on the topic as well. Miracle... you have point, and I love ERA as much as any lifelong baseball junkie, but... it's not the be all end all (especially for relievers). Yes it can point to, in a limited fashion, how dominant a pitcher has been, but one bad outing can "destroy" an ERA for the season. Case in point, last season my son became the closer/primary bullpen guy as a Freshman for his college. He had one nightmare inning against another team and it took all season just to get his ERA back to an "ugly" level (which didn't tell the story of just what he meant to his team). Relievers just don't get the innings to level out what happens to every pitcher in the league (an inning that proves that they are human 🙂).

😳🤢🤢🤮 stuff

That’s your rebuttal? How disappointing.

And your point is???

Former Twins prospect Doug Simons (my son's coach) just started his 18th year as Head Coach of the Covenant Scots Baseball program.

Have to say, I like this kid 😊. Reminds me a lot of my son when he talks about baseball and pitching. Sounds like he has a pretty good head on his shoulders as well. Godspeed young man. Welcome to the Twins!

100% concur, the crucible of baseball will either temper him or break him, we shall see. Although just to play devil's advocate a little... there's nothing to say he won't be able to accomplish that. As a father to a son pitching in college, I'm always more than a little willing to try and find positives in the best athletes on the field 😉, however, time will tell.

Quick hands, smooth swing, super athletic. Dude is a little bit of a freak... in a good way 🙂. One possible weakness? Like a lot of players with huge power potential, can he be at least competitive against the breaking stuff, especially the "filth". Time will tell, but he looks like a baseball "dude" who is a super hard worker. Skol Brandon! Godspeed and blessings upon you.

I usually try to be very pragmatic about these things and try to find at least something positive about it, but... on this one, I just can't. I'll be honest, I've never been a big fan of Santana even though in his prime he was a pretty decent player, and I'm always for the team finding creative ways to get even just a little bit better... However, this idea doesn't seem like it would be the best fit. That being said, I would still pull for him as a player and team if they did bring him in (it's just what you do), but I truly think there are just as good options out there or internally that could also fit the bill.

Not necessarily disagreeing, but the Twins wouldn't have to pay him more than the league minimum (Yankees are on the hook for the remainder of his salary through 2025). The team could always bring him in on an almost no cost flyer and cut bait if he doesn't look like he fit. Doesn't hurt to look.

But... not wrong, or out of the realm of possibilities. If anything, I'm more likely to view both of them in equal light (potential wise).

I would just love to have him sit down with my son and see if it was in any way possible to pass any of that knuckleball mojo on to him (with his arm slot and pitch mix... that could be filthy 🤢). But on a more realistic front... CL is a horse. Going to be very exciting to watch him continue to develop. I think I shall name him Hoss... and there will be much rejoicing!

Is it Rice or a specific coach that's "ruining" these pitchers? Also, what time frame are speaking of? I've heard the same/similar anecdotal stories about Rice, but to be honest nothing ever truly specific. 100-110 pitches is actually very common these days (even in HS). My son would routinely hit 90-95 pitches in a complete game in HS. The more troubling stories tend to be the ones where kids are throwing 30-40+ pitches in an inning, especially in multiple frames. Generally speaking, good coaches try to be very careful with their guys, especially in college as there are no reinforcements once everyone enrolls in school and practice starts. But if a kid is throwing 15-20 pitches an inning (not an insurmountable number), after 6 he's hit 100+. Also, stories about programs like Rice don't really take into account what the pitchers history is before they get to college. I have seen firsthand, multiple instances of young men's arms all but falling off because of extreme overuse in competitive travel ball and showcase circuits (due to bad "coaches", general hyper competitiveness of the young men and, even worse, clueless parents). Then, on top of that, sometimes... an arm or ligament will simply "give up" and say no mas. So in conclusion (finally 😉), I don't think you're wrong in stating or thinking that... I would just add that there is often way more to the story than simply saying "Rice has a history of ruining pitchers arms."

Here's his 2023 Batting Splits. Think your pretty on point.

I totally get and respect that 😆. My son has switched his major from Engineering to Biology so that he too can pursue Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy. He wasn't a big fan of all the extra math.