Top questions and storylines for Iowa Baseball entering fall practice

After seeing the 2024 season fall well short of expectations, there is no doubt that Rick Heller and the Hawkeyes are entering the fall looking to turn the page towards the 2025 season. The ball club will have a bit of a new look to them, as they return just six of 13 players that started 10+ games last season and must replace two of three weekend starters on the mound. The fall season will be our first look at the team and there is certainly plenty to watch. The Hawkeyes will play three exhibition games, before wrapping things up with the annual Black & Gold World Series.

Sept 19: Scout Day (2:00pm)

Sept 27: vs Mississauga Tigers (3:30pm)

Oct 4: vs Nebraska-Omaha (3:00pm)

Oct 11: vs Iowa Western (3:00pm)

Oct 16-18: Black & Gold World Series

We take a look at the biggest questions and storylines surrounding Rick Heller’s squad as they turn their focus to the fall baseball season.

QUESTION: Who are the top challengers for the weekend starting rotation? Does an unexpected name emerge?

A big reason for the Hawkeyes struggles last season was the inconsistency with the pitching staff. They ranked 123rd in the country in ERA, 134th in WHIP, and 267th in walks per nine innings. Those numbers have to see quite a bit of improvement if Iowa wants to make 2025 a bounce back season.

The Friday night ace, by all indications, will be filled by left-hander Cade Obermueller after he opted to return to Iowa for his junior season. Obermueller showed signs of improvement in his second year with the Hawkeyes, posting a 3.92 ERA over 59.2 innings. He still has to make strides in some areas, but he’s the odds on favorite for the #1 spot going into the fall.

Rounding out the rest of the starting staff is going to be one of the bigger discussion points as the fall season gets going. Junior right-handers Aaron Savary and Anthony Watts figure to be the frontrunners heading into the fall, but that is far from set in stone. The two have plenty of college experience built up, combining for 65 appearances over two seasons. There is reason to believe that Savary could be a candidate to have a breakout year after having an outstanding summer in the Cape Cod League with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. He had a 1.42 ERA over 25.1 innings and earned the start for the West squad in the CCL All-Star Game.

Houston transfer left-hander Bryson Walker comes over with pitching coach Sean Kenny after putting together a record-breaking summer for Brazos Valley in the Texas Collegiate League. He won TCL Pitcher of the Year, with a 0.63 ERA over 56.1 innings, including a league record 81 strikeouts. It remains to be seen if he can translate that to success at Iowa, but there should be some optimism surrounding him.

A darkhorse name to keep an eye on is true freshman right-hander Tyler Guerin out of Shoreview, Minnesota. The younger brother of Blake Guerin, Tyler was named Prep Baseball Minnesota Player of the Year as a senior and garned some late MLB Draft buzz. It’s more likely that Guerin carves out a bullpen role, but it will be interesting to see how he competes on the mound this fall.

STORYLINE: Sean Kenny enters year one as pitching coach for the Hawkeyes

Coach Rick Heller and Sean McGrath came together after the season concluded last season and decided the match between the two parties was not perfect. McGrath left the program after two seasons as pitching coach and has since taken a job at Lamar University.

Heller brought in Houston pitching coach Sean Kenny, who has built up over 25 years of coaching experience, including stops at Maryland, Michigan and Georgia. It will be interesting to talk with Coach Kenny this fall to see how he plans to work with the Iowa pitching staff.

QUESTION: Who’s going to be the next star for the Hawkeyes?

Keaton Anthony, Brennen Dorighi, Brody Brecht, Sam Petersen, Raider Tello. Those are some of the players that have been critical pieces for the Hawkeyes over the last couple of seasons. Unfortunately, all of them (and several others) have moved on from their Iowa careers, which brings us to the big question: Who will be the next standout(s) for the Hawkeyes?

On the pitching side, Cade Obermueller is a legit early round draft prospect and would be the favorite on the staff to live up to the ‘star’ billing next season. On the offensive side of things, the Hawkeyes lose nearly 60% of their hits and RBI’s, while just over 50% of their home runs depart as well.

The guy that I think is destined to be a star next season is redshirt sophomore catcher Reese Moore . He spent most of his starts at DH last year, but batted .287, with 49 hits, 15 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBI’s. I expect to see Reese continue to improve as a hitter in year two. Another guy to watch is fifth year senior utility man Andy Nelson . After missing nearly all of the previous two years with injuries, Nelson broke out with 55 hits, nine home runs and 44 RBI’s, while he still missed 11 games due to injury. Those two returning starters are the ones that I expect to step into the ‘star’ role.

One final name to keep an eye on is Missouri transfer Jackson Beaman. He hit six home runs in just 25 starts last season for the Tigers and feels like a guy that could have a breakout year now that he is on a team that will give him consistent starts and at-bats.

STORYLINE: Hawkeyes bring in 22 newcomers, including 11 players from the transfer portal

This isn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence for the Hawkeyes. While 22 newcomers is a lot, they brought in 17 newcomers in ’23 and 18 this past season, so some new faces is not a shock. The difference this year is that the group of newcomers joins a team that has more holes to fill than the previous couple of seasons.

After returning 60.2% of their starts last season, the Hawkeyes are set to return just 45.3% of their starts this season. That means that this years class of newcomers, both transfer and freshman, will have a clearer path to playing time. It will be interesting to see if this fall gives us a guage on which transfers and/or freshman will have the best chance to make an immediate impact.

QUESTION: What position battles have the most intrigue?

You could make a compelling argument that the only thing we know for certain about the non-catcher position players is that Gable Mitchell will start in the middle infield and that Andy Nelson will be a starter somewhere. That’s not to say that the pieces aren’t there, it just means that the fall is going to be critical for every player fighting for playing time.

Centerfield- The expectation is that this will be a battle between Kirkwood transfer Miles Risley and DMACC transfer Jaylen Ziegler.

First Base- If Blake Guerin can hit his full potential, this spot is likely his, but Loras College transfer Daniel Rogers broke tons of records in his four years with the Duhawks and could win the job here. Both could also be DH candidates.

Third Base- My guess is that Northern Kentucky transfer and former Hawkeye Mitch Wood will start the fall as the favorite here, after earning All-Horizon League honors last season for the Norse. However, Wake Tech transfer Andrew Holub was an NJCAA All-American and will make a run at the job too. Both could play corner outfield, and of course, could also be DH candidates.

Corner Outfield- Decisions, decisions, decisions. Unless Andy Nelson moves back to the infield, he will take up a corner outfield spot. That leaves one spot for Missouri transfer Jackson Beaman, Ben Wilmes, Connor Hennings and potentially one of those third baseman to fight for.

STORYLINE: A new era for Big Ten Baseball is here

Welcome to a new era of Big Ten Baseball. The conference is set to take a big step forward with the newcomers, UCLA, Oregon, Washington and USC, combining for 15 NCAA Tournament appearances over the last decade. Three of those teams have advanced to a Super Regional during that time span, with Washington advancing to the 2018 College World Series. The conference was due for a boost in respect from a national standpoint and the addition of these four storied Pac 12 programs will force people to take the Big Ten seriously. It will be exciting to watch some of the new matchups that await the conference.

The post Top questions and storylines for Iowa Baseball entering fall practice appeared first on On3 .