Clemson has a lot to figure out in the next three weeks, as it officially began practice to open up the 2019 campaign on Friday.
It lost a majority of the top offensive production in the 2018 MLB Draft class, in Seth Beer and Chris Williams. The two combined for 40 of the Tigers’ 98 home runs and 126 of the team’s 375 RBIs.
Taking such a big hit to a powerful lineup which loses five starters has a lot of people questioning what they will do to continue Clemson’s legacy of success on the diamond. But, thankfully the Tigers are not completely depleted.
Now, many people have junior Logan Davidson among the top prospects for the 2019 draft and the Tigers are grateful to return a solid bat and possibly the most consistent infielder in college baseball.
Davidson knows what the 14th-ranked Tigers lost after the draft, but he believes a different brand of baseball will propel his team to succeed despite the challenges a change in personnel presents.
“Between those two guys you had 40 home runs last year and the last couple years close to 100,” he said. “We have to rely on our speed and being more aggressive we said that last year but we could rely on Seth and Chris more because they were still here. This year we will actually be putting that into place,” Davidson said.
The switch-hitting shortstop brings a lot to the plate for the Tigers and is a vacuum cleaner in the middle of the infield. He finished last season hitting .292 with 60 runs, 15 homers, 46 RBIs, a .544 slugging percentage, and .408 on-base percentage.
But his most impressive stat is a .971 fielding percentage with just eight errors in 63 games, second among his position group in Clemson history, just behind Jason Stoltz’s 2012 mark of seven.
His metrics paired with his consistent career in a Tiger uniform has major league scouts perking up and paying attention to Davidson. Many service’s list him as a top candidate for the 2019 MLB Draft and Perfect Game lists him as the No. 1 prospect out of the ACC.
Now Davidson is eager to increase his presence on the team as a vocal leader saying, “In the middle of the field you have to be vocal and that’s what I’m looking forward to is being more vocal with my personality, which is not as natural for me.”
Despite the loss of production for the Tiger bats Davidson is not worried and ready to get the new year rolling with fresh faces and increased rolls from younger players like Kier Meredith, Sam Hall and Bryce Teodosio.
“Looking from the outside in people aren’t really sure but from the inside out we can handle ourselves,” Davidson said.
Clemson opens the new season with South Alabama in a three-game series on at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson beginning on Feb. 15th.
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