In conjunction with the SBN Houston Astros blog The Crawfish Boxes, I'm doing a brief series on some of our baseball players who may feature in the MLB Draft. Today, we're starting with Matt Price. Price, of course, has been Carolina's closer since the 2010 season, and he's beloved by Gamecocks fans for his dominant performances in Omaha, including a memorable performance in Game One last year against Florida. But how will he fare in the major leagues? Let's take a closer look.

Last Year

Price was drafted last season in the sixth round, which is pretty respectable for an aspiring pro. He returned for his senior season in order to see if he could improve his stock, in part by proving his capabilities as a starter.

Pros

Price is a power pitcher who has notched more Ks than IP the past three years, including an 83-55.2 ratio in 2010. He posted similar numbers in 2011, although they're a bit down this year. Price also throws a fairly effective slider. He's generally shown good control of the ball over the course of his career. At his best, he's shown a repertoire that could get it done in a variety of MLB roles. It's also worth pointing out that Price is a proven clutch performer in the post-season, something any MLB team wants in its closer. He pitched nine scoreless innings over eight outings in last year's CWS.

Cons

After returning for 2012 in order to improve his stock, Price may have actually hurt it. On the one hand, he didn't prove himself in the starting role, although that is as much due to our need for a dominant closer as it is to his own struggles in the starting role. While not dominant in his handful of starts, he wasn't chopped liver, either. Still, one of his goals was to do more work in the starter's role, and that simply didn't happen. On the other hand, his play has dropped off a bit this year. Price has always tended to be a feast or famine pitcher who is either hit hard or notches strike outs, but that's been even more the case this year, as reflected in the fact that he has an unimpressive ERA (3.69) and an extremely impressive OBA (.198). He tends to be especially vulnerable when his velocity is having an off day, which may suggest that he's a limited pitcher in terms of repertoire. Of course, whether these numbers reflect the normal course of things or Price's confused roles over the course of the year is unclear. One other caveat about Price's somewhat lackluster 2012 numbers is that he's generally pitched well when he's had to; for instance, he gave up several runs in a game the Gamecocks had already run away with against Arkansas, which bumped up his ERA but didn't really hurt us too much, while he continues to generally shut opponents down in tight games.

In Sum

Obviously, players who are proven starters are more valuable than closers, and Price's value--whether he is drafted higher than the sixth round--will likely depend on how well he can convince teams that he's capable of playing that role. That said, Price is a pretty sure bet to get a shot in the pros due to his relief abilities; even if starters are more valuable, everyone needs a good closer, and Price has more than proven that he can get it done in that role. That's why I feel he's a solid guy to take a chance on; you're betting on whether he can be a starter at some point, but if he doesn't, you've got a good relief guy in the bargain.

This post continues our unit-by-unit examination of USC football coming out of 2012 spring practice. On offense, we've taken a look at the Quarterbacks and the Offensive Line, while on "D" we've checked out the Defensive Line, Cornerbacks and Spurs and Safeties - plus we've done a wrap-up on the Special Teams. Today, we're staying on the defensive side of the ball by turning our attention to the linebacker corps.

Last Season (and Before)

When Ellis Johnson was named the Gamecock's DC/LB coach in 2008, it seemed like a match made in heaven for the future prospects of USC linebackers. After all, E.J.'s resume boasted two very successful stints at Alabama as the Tide's OLB coach during 1990-1993 (including the '92 National Championship team) and as DC/OLB coach for 1997-2000 (including the '99 SEC Western Division Championship squad). During his tenure at Clemson as DC in '95 and '96, Johnson had helped reel in All-American and future NFL first-rounder LB Anthony Simmons, and also coached NFL 2nd rounder LB Patrick Sapp. Even at Mississippi State, where he served as the DC/LB coach from '04-'07 during the lean Sly Croome years, three Bulldog linebackers (Quinton Culberson, Jamar Chaney and K.J. Wright) would go on to make NFL rosters.

Considering the fact that when he arrived in Columbia Johnson inherited Eric Norwood and Jasper Brinkley the sky was the limit. E.J. proceeded to coach Norwood to consensus first-team All-SEC honors in 'both 08-'09 [and a consensus All-America selection in '09] and Brinkley to second-team All-SEC recognition in '08 after coming off an injury year. Thus, USC fans could be forgiven for believing that we'd begin seeing a steady progression of top-flight LBs enrolling at Carolina. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work out that way. Since Eric Norwood left Carolina, our linebacker play has been competent but mostly overshadowed by the stars on the defensive line and in the secondary. For example, Josh Dickerson was fifth on the team in total tackles in 2010, while Rodney Paulk and Shaq Wilson were third and fourth, respectively, in tackles for 2011. But neither Dickerson nor Paulk received NFL draft consideration, and none of them earned pre-season or post-season All-SEC accolades.

So far, there has been very little pre-sason buzz about USC's linebackers going in 2012, either. Most of the national writers don't even mention them. So what happened? And what can we expect going forward? Read more after the Jump!

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7:56 PM UPDATE: Lamar Scruggs has indicated that Appalachian State is not the school to which he will transfer, but it still appears as though he is transferring. We just don't know to what school. I'm not sure why Spurrier said Appalachian State, if that's not where he's going. But I guess Lamar Scruggs knows better than Steve Spurrier what Lamar Scruggs is doing. I will leave the below story in its original form, however, because I still want an excuse to embed the "Appalachian State University is HOT HOT HOT" video.

In a move that seems best for both parties involved, South Carolina wide receiver Lamar Scruggs has elected to transfer to Appalachain State, according to Scott Hood of Gamecock Central:

The Gamecocks still need to shed 4 players to meet the roster cap. That number takes into account that incoming recruits Joe Harris and Jhaustin Thomas will likely be placed at Fork Union Prep after failing to obtain qualifying test scores. So it's probable that we'll see a number of other players transfer this summer. A couple of weeks ago, Steve Spurrier told the media that Andrew Clifford is being encouraged to explore his options. But, if his Twitter feed is any indication, Clifford seems pretty enthusiastic about participating in summer workouts with his teammates in Columbia, so whether or not he'll actually take Spurrier's advice remains to be seen.

Scruggs is a redshirt junior from Jacksonville Beach, Florida. The only stats he has recorded during his career at Carolina are three catches for 53 yards during the 2010 season. He entered spring practice behind RS Junior DeAngelo Smith on the wide receiver depth chart and might not have even made the two deep for the first game against Vanderbilt, given the influx of wide receiver talent in the 2012 recruiting class.

In any case, I thank Mr. Scruggs for his contribution to the program and wish him the best of luck in Boone, NC, where I hear it is hot, hot, hot:

Today's video game football garners nearly as much excitement as the real thing. Because of the heightened realism factor of the modern virtual football experience, we can indulge in year-round college football action that puts us in the front row, or on the sideline, or under center, or even in the decaying La-Z-Boy in your prized recruit's living room. (It's in a double wide, so technically it's also a dining room, den, kitchen, playroom, and doglair. But, hey, you're giving this kid a chance at a better life! And don't worry, your king sized canopy bed awaits--after slumming it in this hellhole, you'll feel every one of those 1500 threads tonight, coach!)

Uh, so football video games. The gamer/sports nut overlap is sizable, which may seem incongruous but is in fact wholly understandable. For every prized recruit, there are 40 of us who couldn't make the JV cut and instead spent our adolescence carving out a custom loveseat buttgroove in front of our parents' 32" Zenith. But the flame of sports passion dies hard; therefore, our dreams are manifested through annual sports game rollouts. We spill our subconscious into Create-A-Player modes, which are now so advanced that one can customize anklebone roundness and areola hue. Indeed, the virtual 6'1", 230 lb. running back version of me may have a few inches/pounds/innate talent units on the real version, but it's my name on the jersey, damn it. And soon, it will be carved into that Heisman trophy base. And then I'll get a sandwich.

The release of NCAA 2013 is imminent, folks. We're under two months until the drop-date, so I'm happy to provide you all with a completely bogus EXCLUSIVE preview of what the newest version of the celebrated college football game has to offer. It seems the good folks at Electronic Arts took note of the Gamecocks' big season, and spent some time customizing our program's role in the game.

Let's check out the new features, after the jump.

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1. LSU Tigers

The Tigers earned their SEC championships the hard way, with a tight series win in Columbia against the number two team. You can't begrudge them their due at this point.

2. South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gamecocks came up just short of the SEC Championship, but they win the East after a strong second half to the season.

3. Florida Gators

The Gators have a strong case for number two, but I'm giving it to South Carolina due to Carolina's stronger recent play.

4. Kentucky Wildcats

Simply not playing their best baseball of the season heading into the conference tournament. I'm beginning to smell a flame out.

5. Mississippi St. Bulldogs

Unlike Kentucky (who they swept), the Bulldogs are red hot heading into the SECT. After being swept by South Carolina back in early April, the Bulldogs have won every series except for Florida. They capped it off this past weekend with a series-defining sweep against Kentucky.

6. Arkansas Razorbacks

After struggling for a couple of weeks, perhaps a sweep against lowly Tennessee was what the Hogs needed to regain their confidence.

7. Vanderbilt Commodores

Another blistering hot team, the Commodores struggled throughout the early season before finally beginning to play up to their lofty preseason expectations in recent weeks. They swept a solid Ole Miss team over the weekend.

8. Mississippi Rebels

Like Kentucky, the Rebels are limping into the SECT.

9. Georgia Bulldogs

Series loss to Alabama? Me thinks this may be David Perno's last hurrah in Athens.

10. Auburn Tigers

Got rocked in first two games against the Gators, but then did South Carolina a huge favor by winning game three and keeping the Gators from the SEC East Title.

11. Alabama Crimson Tide

Thankfully, the season is over for these guys. At least they ended on a high note.

12. Tennessee Volunteers

These guys can't say the same.

We've seen this story before. The Gamecocks (39-15, 18-11 SEC) needed to perform in the final series of the season in order claim an SEC regular season title outright. Last year the Gamecocks needed to sweep Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Gamecocks dropped game 1 by a score of 2-1 before taking the last two games to share the SEC title with Florida and Vanderbilt -- something of a hollow victory considering USC won both series with the Gators and Commodores earlier in the year. In 2010 the Gamecocks dropped the first two games of a crucial series with the Florida Gators to decide the regular season title, scoring only 4 runs in the process. Now this year, with another SEC championship trophy on the line, the Gamecocks faltered once again, taking only one game from the LSU Tigers (42-14, 19-11 SEC) at home.

Game one of the series was over before it ever got started -- literally. After having the last game of the UGA series and the mid-week tilt against USC Upstate canceled due to weather, Thursday's match was postponed in favor of a double header on Friday. My sources in Columbia report no rain having fallen after 7:00, so the decision to postpone may have proved to be a fatal one. The Gamecocks would go on to drop the first match of the double header by a 5-2 margin. Michael Roth allowed 3 earned runs in 8 innings of work while also taking his first loss of the season. The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. That seemed to be the story of the weekend. In fact, USC pitchers allowed a single run in the first inning of all three games. For their part, the earliest the Gamecocks ever scored was the third inning. Carolina managed only 2 runs off 5 hits en route to the defeat.

The Gamecocks fared better in the evening match of the double header. Once again falling behind early, USC rallied to take the lead in the 6th inning with a four run outburst. They added another in the 7th to seal the victory 5-4. Tyler Webb earned the "W" by pitching 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Forrest Koumas. Evan Beal walked the only two batters he faced in relief of Webb while Matt Price earned the save by pitching the final 3 innings. There was a little drama in the 7th inning when Adam Matthews' 2-run home run was ruled a ground rule double by the umpiring crew. The ball actually ricocheted off the concourse railing above left field -- leaving little doubt to those of us with a pair of two working eyes -- but the call was never corrected. The call was so bad that even LSU fans were making a good deal of commotion about it. Thankfully, the lost run ended up not having any bearing on the outcome of the game.

More after the jump.

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Go 'Cocks!