Kyle Wilkie as starter – Allison Daniel // Sports Editor 

With the departure of All-American catcher Chris Okey after the 2016 season, Clemson baseball was in need of a new athletic catcher to fill his shoes. The obvious choice was Chris Williams, who played in relief of Okey. 

Unfortunately, Williams suffered two injuries during the 2017 season: one that prevented him from starting the first several games, and one that stopped him from playing a large role in postseason play. With Williams unable to catch for a large chunk of the season, freshman Kyle Wilkie was able to get experience. 

Wilkie started 18 games over the course of the year, 11 in the regular season and 7 in the postseason. The young catcher struggled offensively for the large majority of the regular season, especially in conference play. Against ACC pitchers in the regular season, Wilkie batted .133 over the course of 15 at-bats. In the postseason, Wilkie began to find more rhythm with the bat. He ended the season with a .235 average, but batted a .385 over 13 at-bats in the NCAA Tournament. 

Defensively, Wilkie had three passed balls all year, but he struggled handling wild pitches and low breaking balls, a pitch Clemson relied on heavily. That fact cost the Tigers more than once, especially near the end of conference play. In a tied game against NC State, the Tigers had a chance to send the game into extra innings and get a much-needed win, but Wilkie was unable to corral a wild pitch from Owen Griffith. The pitch was strike three as Wil Wilson swung, and would have been the final out of the ninth inning. However, when the ball slid past Wilkie, Wilson raced to first base and Joe Dunard, the Wolfpack runner at third, made it home to score the winning run. 

The young catcher showed signs of improvement after that crucial error. He had no passed balls in the postseason and performed better with pitches in the dirt. The improvement with the bat and behind the plate has earned him a chance to be Clemson’s starting catcher this season. 

With Williams still recovering from his shoulder injury, Head Coach Monte Lee has said “Williams and Wilkie will split time behind the plate, especially early in the season.”  

Wilkie starting at catcher doesn’t only help Williams get healthy, it can also help fill other holes in Clemson’s lineup. With first baseman Andrew Cox graduating last year, the Tigers need a consistent presence at the position. During the 2015 season, Williams spent a lot of time playing first base and proved to be competent. While Seth Beer is likely to get a lot of playing time at first, he has not proven himself there yet. If Beer struggles, Williams is an excellent option to help solidify the Clemson infield. 

Regardless of Williams’ health, putting Wilkie behind the plate is important for the future of Clemson baseball. Williams, who passed on the MLB draft since his status dropped with his injury, will graduate after this year. Giving Wilkie quality reps at catcher is only going to help the Tigers next year. Catchers need to be familiar with their pitching staff, and with loads of young talent on the mound, Clemson has an opportunity to build this relationship and carry it into

next season. 

With his improvement over the course of last season and his future role as the most experienced catcher on Clemson’s roster, Wilkie is the best choice for the Tigers behind the plate.

Chris Williams as starter-Colin Halm // Asst. Sports Editor

The Tiger’s baseball team is facing problems due to a fluctuating roster. These problems could be solved if one thing changes. With the loss of former first baseman Andrew Cox, there is a glaring hole. This could be easily fixed by moving Seth Beer to first base full time. However, manager Monte Lee has decided it’s in everyone’s best interest to move Beer into left field.

What should be done is this: move Chris Williams to start at catcher, have Beer play first base and have youngster Kyle Wilkie relieve either one of them ­— more likely the former because of injury. Beer and Williams are both important cogs in the daily lineup, so it wouldn’t make much sense to have either of them missing regularly. Wilkie, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired at the plate. 

A .235 batting average can mean many things, but in this case when paired with his .765 OPS (on-base plus slugging), Wilkie just doesn’t measure up to Williams’ slightly better batting average and overwhelmingly better OPS (.260 and .895 respectively). For context, in Major League Baseball, a .900 OPS is elite whereas .765 is considered perfectly average. 

Batting stats are important, but the real question is why not just put Wilkie behind the plate, Williams at first and leave Beer in the outfield? That would solve all of the fielding holes. Playing the outfield requires what’s called range, and Beer doesn’t have it. 

Beer, to put it simply, is a liability in the outfield. This isn’t to say he is great at first base. But if he focused fully on trying to play the position, he could at least compensate for his deficiency in the field with his prowess at the plate. With this issue, a solution would be to actually put Wilkie in left field. That sounds like blasphemy, but quite a few catchers in the major leagues have also played the outfield, and the reason they can do it is because of their range. 

Wilkie possesses an interesting fielding skill-set. He has very good reaction speed, and he jumps well. By that I mean he times his jumps well. More than a few times, he’s saved pitches from hitting the backstop. Those skills are good for a catcher, but are even better as an outfielder.

Wilkie does not possess the same speed as the average outfielder; that can be easily fixed if Lee and his coaches help him select his placements in the field carefully. Combined with some specific agility exercises, this could be the key to keeping all three in the lineup.

That’s a very unconventional way to do it, especially at the collegiate level, but I believe it could work. Managers do not like to take risks with young players, as it could impede their development in other areas, not just the ones being affected. But Lee doesn’t recruit non-team players. 

This is the best way to help the team, and Wilkie should be on board for it.