East Carolina baseball will soon mesh 17 returning players with 17 newcomers, configuring daily batting orders and pitching matchups for the season.
Jeff Palumbo, an assistant coach and the team’s recruiting coordinator, innately has an eye on the development of the first-year players because of his role while they were being courted by the Pirates and likely other teams.
With this group, the thing to watch might be speed — especially from some of the freshmen outfielders — that has been lauded by the ECU coaches.
“When you break it down, we try to tell guys that if you have 35 players who are in the locker room together who are committed to their talent, to their academics and to doing the right thing, then those qualities are really just traits of successful people,” said Palumbo, who also coaches infield and baserunning, two areas he will be focused on today when East Carolina officially begins practice.