The Illinois baseball team will have its work cut out for it next spring if it hopes to have a long and successful season.
With various roster changes and a tough schedule ahead, the Illini will need to depend heavily on reliable pitching to help them contend for a Big Ten title and more.
Recent iterations of the team have seen them lean on a high-flying offense. This past year, Illinois ranked in the top 6 in the conference in runs, home runs, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
A year prior to that in which they won the Big Ten regular season title, the same formula applied. In that season, the Illini again ranked in the top 5 in runs and hits and first in home runs. Although that style of play has worked for them in the past, to truly be a great team this year, they will need to get more help from their arms.
Part of the reason last season was so disappointing is that Illinois could no longer outscore its problems. The Illini pitching core finished 16th out of 17 teams in the Big Ten in total strikeouts and had the 4th highest ERA in the conference.
For the Illini to see greater success next year, they will have to see more production from their pitching rotation. All of this starts with the newest member of the staff, pitching coach Dillon Napoleon.
After dropping the interim tag, following the tragic passing of former pitching coach Mark Allen, Napoleon will now have a full offseason to put his stamp on this staff. With strong returners, there still is some semblance of talent on this roster.
However, more importantly, the Illini need to make moves to have better pitchers overall. Whether that be through the transfer portal or by giving the reins to the young kids, greater talent needs to be had in order for the team to win.
The teams that go on to make deep runs in the postseason have two or three guys they can count on to get them quality innings, something Illinois did not have last year. If the Illini could find pitchers they truly trust, they may end up being a rather surprising team.
While the Illini will have to keep hitting the way they know how to, the biggest factor in how the team will perform this season is undoubtedly the numbers that the pitching staff puts up.