you had some good observations. A few things I will add. I watched them play Utah in the fall and several scrimmages.
Right or wrong, I am more optimistic than you. I think they will finish 1 or 2 in conference play. The reason they weren't in the conference tournament last year is there wasn't one. If there had been one, they would have been in. They finished 4th in the conference last year and finished strong the last half of conference play.

Pitching: They have several additions, Freshman, RM. They look very good. One of the Freshman is hitting upper 90's. From what I
have observed, the pitching should be strong.

Hitting: I think your observations are right on. The hitting the last part of the conference play gives me hope.

Catching: They have a highly recruited Freshman. He looked really good in the game with Utah and scrimmages I watched. He did
have a back injury, but I hear is he recovering well.

Defense. This will be a very good team defensively.

This team is still young. Of the position players who will probably see most of the action, I think only 3-4 are Seniors out of about 12 players I am thinking of.

Recruiting. A large number of the players were highly recruited, even by out of State schools. So far the results haven't met the
expectations.

These are just observations and not meant to argue with any of your points. Just some thoughts.

I should also note, I have no what someone would call inside information and have never had conversations with the coaches.