I have read a few times how Matt Wieters’ season has been somewhat disappointing. While he did start the season relatively slow, I seem to remember him starting his sophomore season rather slow as well, hitting below .300 for the first month or two of the season before exploding once Georgia Tech started their tough conference schedule.

If you look at his numbers this year it’s hard to imagine anyone viewing his production as disappointing, but I’m sure that has everything to do with the fact that this young man set the bar so high so early in his college career.

Wieters should have been an early round pick coming out of high school. He was one of the most dynamic performers at the 2003 WWBA Championship in Jupiter the fall of his senior year, but he made it pretty clear that he would honor his college commitment.

Signability plays a big part on every prospects future, whether or not said prospect is affiliated with one of the more notable agents out there, something I talked about at length during last week’s column.

I’m not writing this week’s column with interest in signability however, as I was amazed by Wieters’ incredibly consistent statistical production through his first three years in college, with a few more weeks to play depending on how the Yellow Jackets fare in the ACC Tournament.

Here are his numbers through the regular season of this year:

2005: .366/.470/.581* in 227 at-bats, 17 doubles, 10 home runs, 2 errors

2006: .355/.480/.606* in 259 at-bats, 20 doubles, 15 home runs, 2 errors

2007: .367/.489/.610* in 210 at-bats, 17 doubles, 10 home runs, 2 errors

*(Batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage)

Plus, he batted .307/.417/.535 in 127 Cape Cod League at-bats, finishing second in batting average, on-base percentage and home runs, and third in slugging percentage on his way to being named the circuit’s top prospect by PG Crosschecker.

Expectations have everything to do with how his season is being perceived, although I think most people are starting to recognize that he is indeed having another fine season. He has only himself to blame for setting the bar so high, so early. In addition to his impressive numbers, he has also walked almost 50 more times than he has struck out during his college career, showing a very disciplined eye at the plate.

His defense is also better than some may initially think just by looking at his listed height (6’5”). I have watched Wieters play approximately a half dozen times this season, albeit all of those times on TV, and I have not seen one single aspect of his defensive game that would lead me to believe that he won’t be playing behind the dish on a regular basis at the professional level. He has a very strong arm, moves extremely well for his size, and shows some of the softest hands I have ever seen. Since he has doubled as a pitcher with Georgia Tech (he hasn’t pitched much at all this season), he knows how to call a game, and handles the staff like a savvy vet.

Comparisons to former Georgia Tech switching hitting catcher Jason Varitek are easy to find, and in my mind it’s only a matter of time before Matt Wieters is the guy younger players are drawing unfair comparisons to.

Nintendo Numbers

When talking about a disappointment I think many people want to see a player like Wieters put up “Nintendo” numbers, meaning numbers that don’t seem humanly possible while dominating the competition. These types of seasons often lead to Golden Spikes awards, with the most famous of occurrences being Pete Incaviglia’s 1985 campaign in which he hit 48 home runs with 143 RBI playing for Oklahoma State, a seemingly impossible feat in only 75 games played, less than half of a 162 game big league season.

This year’s Nintendo numbers come courtesy of Beau Mills of Lewis-Clark State. Heading into the NAIA World Series, Mills has posted these numbers:

.459/.553/1.000 in 222 at-bats, 21 doubles, 33 home runs, 113 RBI

You can scoff all you want about the competition that Mills faces at the NAIA level, but keep in mind that collectively he hit over .300 with 47 doubles and 47 home runs between two seasons at Fresno State , a summer on the Cape and a summer in the Alaskan League. He has put an exclamation mark and has solidified himself as a legitimate first-round pick, and he could go within the top 10 overall selections despite the fact that he’s going to have to move across the diamond to first base at the pro level.

On the subject of big offensive numbers, Kyle Russell of Texas and Matt LaPorta of Florida are two notable names whose production has been discussed at great lengths to those that follow the college game. Two names that aren’t frequently mentioned are Ryan Lavarnway of Yale and Brandon Waring of Wofford. Lavarnway leads the nation in both hitting (.467) and slugging (.873), while Waring is third in the nation in home runs (22) at the D1 level.

Tar Heels, late and close

There are quite a few reasons why North Carolina has been so successful this year, from the stability of senior starter Robert Woodard to the sensational hitting of freshman first baseman Dustin Ackley.

Big name pitchers and hitters alike are usually the most notable players on any successful team at any level, and are usually given the most credit to their team’s success.

But how often do you find such a good team that doesn’t have a very good to great bullpen? North Carolina found out the hard way in last year’s World Series facing the seemingly impenetrable Oregon State bullpen.

The Tar Heels took note, and assembled an impressive bullpen of their own. The team has three players (Andrew Carignan, Rob Wooten, Matt Danford) that have pitched at least 36 innings that have an ERA no higher than 2.57.

Considering the fact that North Carolina has four very reliable starters this season (Woodard, Adam Warren, Luke Putkonen, Alex White) that have collectively gone 30-7 with a 3.31 ERA, it’s no wonder this team lost only 11 games all season, and pitching from top to bottom always carries teams to and through Omaha.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA . Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.