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Texas Tech baseball: Previewing the 2020 Red Raider season

By Matthew Conner

CORAL GABLES, FL - JUNE 2: Head coach Tim Tadlock #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on as the players warm up prior to the game against the Miami Hurricanes in during the Coral Gables Regional at the NCAA Baseball Tournament on June 2, 2014 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, Florida. Miami defeated Texas Tech 2-1 in ten innings to force a championship game. ((Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
CORAL GABLES, FL - JUNE 2: Head coach Tim Tadlock #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on as the players warm up prior to the game against the Miami Hurricanes in during the Coral Gables Regional at the NCAA Baseball Tournament on June 2, 2014 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field in Coral Gables, Florida. Miami defeated Texas Tech 2-1 in ten innings to force a championship game. ((Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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The pitching staff looks to be the strength of this team

The one reason Tech has been unable to get over the hump in Omaha has been the lack of a truly dominant pitching staff, particularly in terms of the starting rotation.   But the collection of arms Tadlock has at his disposal this year is as deep as any team in the nation.

But in Thursday’s press conference, the Red Raider skipper shocked us all by announcing that last year’s closer, Clayton Beeter, will be starting Friday’s season opener.  Last year, he was limited to being just a one or two-inning guy as he worked his way back from Tommy John’s surgery.

He posted a 3.48 ERA and struck out 40 hitters in 20.2 innings of work.  Now, Tadlock believes he is ready to be a starter and how he adapts to that role will be fascinating to watch in the first month of the season.

Meanwhile, junior Bryce Bonin is back in the rotation after being a starter for the first time in 2019.  Texas Tech went 12-1 in his 13 starts and he posted a 7-1 overall record with a 4.08 ERA while opponents hit just .223 off of him.  He was the Red Raiders’ Saturday starter a year ago after transferring from Arkansas and now, he’s the veteran leader of the 2020 rotation.

Keep an eye on sophomore righty Mason Montgomery, who will start game four this weekend against Northern Colorado.  He’s a bit of a surprise addition to the rotation after going 3-1 but with a 5.14 ERA in 2019.

Montgomery gets the ball because sophomore Micah Dallas, who was Tech’s best starter last year, is not ready to handle a starter’s workload right now according to Tadlock.  That leads us to believe that Dallas is working his way back from injury but Tadlock did not elaborate except to say that Dallas will start in the bullpen.

It seems logical to think that Dallas, who went 7-2 with a 4.03 ERA (which was inflated by some early struggles) as a true freshman, will return to the weekend rotation at some point after being a very good Friday night starter last season.  When he does, Montgomery might become a key member of the mid-week rotation.

Another surprise from Tadlock’s press conference was the fact that senior John McMillon was not mentioned as a starter as many had expected him to be.  The man with the 100-mph fastball was 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 47.2 innings out of the pen last year.  If Beeter remains in the rotation, McMillon would be the most likely option to be this team’s closer (or primary high-leverage situation reliever).

If Bonnin and Dallas eventually form one of the best starting duos in the nation as many think they are capable of this season, Tech may have the type of one-two punch on the mound that could carry them back to Omaha and if they max out their potential, they could carry the Red Raiders to the promised land.

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