Defense
The improvement from 2023 to 2024 defensively was night and day. FSU went from a .966 fielding percentage in 2023 to .978 in 2024, and that's with 348 more fielding chances!
That's crazy!
It's possible those fielding chances will decrease with this pitching staff and the amount of strikeouts they'll produce. The pitching staff had 694 K's and 304 walks in 584.1 innings pitched.
It wouldn't surprise me to see the strikeouts increase and the walks potentially decrease(if the pitching staff reaches its potential).
Alex Lodise and Drew Faurot were an upgrade last year and should have even better chemistry up the middle this year.
The outfield has much more speed than last year, which means there should be fewer extra-base hits allowed compared to a year ago.
FSU pitchers allowed 120 doubles, 77 home runs, and 12 triples. That meant 37 percent of the base hits allowed went for extra bases in 2024.
The FSU defense has the potential to decrease that percentage overall. The biggest questions will be at first and third base. Who will replace Cam Smith and the underrated Daniel Cantu?
FSU baseball will open its 2025 season hosting James Madison on Friday, February 14, at 5 p.m. ET. The game will air on the ACCX channel.