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2023 Depth Chart

Zo is signing. Plastiak undecided.

I went ahead and moved Zo of our list on the first page. Haven't added Plastiak back in and haven't taken McGreary off yet. We will see what happens with them before I adjust.

Zo is a tough loss because of catcher depth, especially if we lose McGreary as well. Without those two we will have only Burkes with college experience returning and will have 2 true freshmen catchers after that. Depending on how the staff deals with that, it could limit who we redshirt.
 
I went ahead and moved Zo of our list on the first page. Haven't added Plastiak back in and haven't taken McGreary off yet. We will see what happens with them before I adjust.

Zo is a tough loss because of catcher depth, especially if we lose McGreary as well. Without those two we will have only Burkes with college experience returning and will have 2 true freshmen catchers after that. Depending on how the staff deals with that, it could limit who we redshirt.
He will have to prove it, but I've heard very good things about Austin Fawley from his time in his summer league. He's made strides and has produced a solid summer for a guy who hasn't played above the high school level. But with Zo gone and Durand injured and likely out for the season, I do think he'll have to be ready to go as the backup.

But with Bosma, I really think it's a great returnee. He obviously had some injury issues this year, but if healthy I'm confident he will produce a good season. He was very good at the Cape and left a great impression in Hoover. This is a good development.
 
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I went ahead and moved Zo of our list on the first page. Haven't added Plastiak back in and haven't taken McGreary off yet. We will see what happens with them before I adjust.

Zo is a tough loss because of catcher depth, especially if we lose McGreary as well. Without those two we will have only Burkes with college experience returning and will have 2 true freshmen catchers after that. Depending on how the staff deals with that, it could limit who we redshirt.
McGeary is going to be a Cub.
 
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This should bolster that starting rotation some. He's the closest one, to me, to being able to trust to give pretty consistent outings. Guys like Cotto and Hagenow have some nasty stuff and throw real hard, but some games you get an outing that wows you and some games you get one that leaves you kicking dirt. A lot of time to grow up and become consistent between now and February, but still have to point it out as a concern.
Bosma should be a fixture in the weekend rotation. They have to hope Cotto can be the Pitcher he’s been in the Cape this summer. I would include Travis Smith as a pitcher with weekend rotation ability. He has returned from surgery and has pitched pretty well in his first few outings in the Great Lakes league.
 
Bosma should be a fixture in the weekend rotation. They have to hope Cotto can be the Pitcher he’s been in the Cape this summer. I would include Travis Smith as a pitcher with weekend rotation ability. He has returned from surgery and has pitched pretty well in his first few outings in the Great Lakes league.

There is not a shortage of possibilities. Just a question of who can step up and to what degree.
 
Yeah, think the odds are heavily in favor of Bosma and Cotto being weekend starters to begin the season. Both of those guys earned jobs coming into the 2022 season as well.

Some pretty fierce competition for the other spot, as you all have said. Hagenow, Martin, Lee, Strickland, Moore, Logue, maybe even Travis Smith depending on how his recovery goes. Don't know if he'll be healthy enough to compete for it in the fall but Darren Williams should probably get a mention, though I like him in a bullpen role this year.

I'd like to see Smith or Moore in the midweek role this year. I'd say the odds are pretty high that UK starts three guys on the weekend who won't be back in 2024, so getting one of those two guys quality starts in the midweek will be good.
 
Yeah, think the odds are heavily in favor of Bosma and Cotto being weekend starters to begin the season. Both of those guys earned jobs coming into the 2022 season as well.

Some pretty fierce competition for the other spot, as you all have said. Hagenow, Martin, Lee, Strickland, Moore, Logue, maybe even Travis Smith depending on how his recovery goes. Don't know if he'll be healthy enough to compete for it in the fall but Darren Williams should probably get a mention, though I like him in a bullpen role this year.

I'd like to see Smith or Moore in the midweek role this year. I'd say the odds are pretty high that UK starts three guys on the weekend who won't be back in 2024, so getting one of those two guys quality starts in the midweek will be good.
Do you think there will be any more Portal additions or is the roster pretty much set?
 
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Damn you guys are good. Just got my money worth on one thread.

I am a homer but I got a feeling we will be an NCAA team in 23.
 
Yeah, think the odds are heavily in favor of Bosma and Cotto being weekend starters to begin the season. Both of those guys earned jobs coming into the 2022 season as well.

Some pretty fierce competition for the other spot, as you all have said. Hagenow, Martin, Lee, Strickland, Moore, Logue, maybe even Travis Smith depending on how his recovery goes. Don't know if he'll be healthy enough to compete for it in the fall but Darren Williams should probably get a mention, though I like him in a bullpen role this year.

I'd like to see Smith or Moore in the midweek role this year. I'd say the odds are pretty high that UK starts three guys on the weekend who won't be back in 2024, so getting one of those two guys quality starts in the midweek will be good.

I like the oft used strategy of a freshman pitching in the midweek. Basically easing him into some tougher competition and not just throwing them against league hitting. By the end of the year, if they are good enough, they're often ready to step up to possibly start in an SEC or NCAA tournament game if needed. So, I like guys like Logue and Moore to be bullpen guys due to them already having the experience. Of course, it might also depend on how those guys respond in their roles. Some just do better as starters.
 
I like the oft used strategy of a freshman pitching in the midweek. Basically easing him into some tougher competition and not just throwing them against league hitting. By the end of the year, if they are good enough, they're often ready to step up to possibly start in an SEC or NCAA tournament game if needed. So, I like guys like Logue and Moore to be bullpen guys due to them already having the experience. Of course, it might also depend on how those guys respond in their roles. Some just do better as starters.
I don’t think this team can afford any bad mid week losses like we saw this year. Will be interesting to see how much PT all the freshmen get in those games.
 
I don’t think this team can afford any bad mid week losses like we saw this year. Will be interesting to see how much PT all the freshmen get in those games.

Most those, as I recall, were more about poor hitting than poor pitching. Like only beating Bellarmine 3-2. For me, you take care of business on the weekend and the midweek won't matter as much, if at all.
 
Will be interesting to see if they look for another DH type bat after losing McGeary and Plastiak.
 
I would say Church and then a corner OF will likely compete for the DH spot. I think Ewell is a lock to start in LF or RF and I'd lean Waldschmidt in CF, though he has some position versatility if needed.

McCarthy is going into his third year in the program and has been pretty good this summer, so I'm intrigued to see how things shake out with him. Perhaps McCarthy plays CF and Waldscmidt moves to a corner. But that leaves James McCoy, Jackson Gray and Lukas Schramm as other guys who are competing. Quite a bit of competition out there.
 
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Guys look at what they lost in terms of position players. Pretty much everyone. They lost their weekend starters as well as their closer. Below average transfer portal additions. Lost their best players that were part of the 22 class. They are set up once again to finish at the bottom of the league. I’m all for being optimistic but I’d just as soon be realistic.
 
I'm going to say that I agree with most of what you are saying, except that I think Bosma and Cotto coming back could be 2 of the better weekend starters in the SEC this year. If Bosma can be healthy, we saw what he was capable against TCU, UGA early and obviously LSU in the SEC tourney. Cotto has always shown flashes of brilliance and just hasn't even put it together consistently, but it seems like based on his performance in the cape, he may be there. Bosma and Cotto were weekend starters to start the year last year, and Williams will be back at some point, so I think actually our weekend rotation could be the strength of the team this year.

Most likely there will be some hits and some misses with transfer portal guys, just like there was last year, but generally speaking I would say our portal guys from last year were the life blood of the team and performed pretty well. So if we can get a similar performance and get them to gel earlier in the year we could see them playing to start next year, just like they ended this year. (Here's hoping! :) )
 
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I'm going to say that I agree with most of what you are saying, except that I think Bosma and Cotto coming back could be 2 of the better weekend starters in the SEC this year. If Bosma can be healthy, we saw what he was capable against TCU, UGA early and obviously LSU in the SEC tourney. Cotto has always shown flashes of brilliance and just hasn't even put it together consistently, but it seems like based on his performance in the cape, he may be there. Bosma and Cotto were weekend starters to start the year last year, and Williams will be back at some point, so I think actually our weekend rotation could be the strength of the team this year.

Most likely there will be some hits and some misses with transfer portal guys, just like there was last year, but generally speaking I would say our portal guys from last year were the life blood of the team and performed pretty well. So if we can get a similar performance and get them to gel earlier in the year we could see them playing to start next year, just like they ended this year. (Here's hoping! :) )
Bottom line they do not have a SEC roster. There’s not a single guy on the roster who is a sure fire draft pick. Cotto as you mentioned has been improved in terms of his Summer outings. Hope it Carrie’s over because he couldn’t pitch for South Carolina and he wasn’t good this spring for the Cats. I’m all for them but the overall status of the roster is poor. When your relying on transfers from low D-1 schools, D-2 and D-3 that often doesn’t translate to success in the SEC.
 
Bottom line they do not have a SEC roster. There’s not a single guy on the roster who is a sure fire draft pick. Cotto as you mentioned has been improved in terms of his Summer outings. Hope it Carrie’s over because he couldn’t pitch for South Carolina and he wasn’t good this spring for the Cats. I’m all for them but the overall status of the roster is poor. When your relying on transfers from low D-1 schools, D-2 and D-3 that often doesn’t translate to success in the SEC.
I promise you the scouting community views Mag Cotto as a sure-fire draft pick.
 
The draft took a lot more from us than I expected. Going to be depending on a lot of transfers and players who don’t have SEC experience again. Hope I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t be shocked if we’re a lot like last year.
 
I promise you the scouting community views Mag Cotto as a sure-fire draft pick.
Best learn to throw strikes. Don’t matter what stuff you have if you can’t throw strikes it doesn’t matter. I hope he goes in the first round. He wasn’t even a weekend guy for the Cats this season.
 
I promise you the scouting community views Mag Cotto as a sure-fire draft pick.
For sure he is. And there are others who would have been and could have been drafted this year if they had been willing to sign. Just because guys didn't go out this year doesn't mean they couldn't have. Guys like Bosma and Plastiak had the option of being drafted and signing for less than slot or coming back and improving their stock. If Bosma can have a healthy year there is no doubt he goes top 10 rounds. Cotto could be top 5 rounds if he can harness his potential this year.
 
Best learn to throw strikes. Don’t matter what stuff you have if you can’t throw strikes it doesn’t matter. I hope he goes in the first round. He wasn’t even a weekend guy for the Cats this season.
If you are talking about being a draft pick, he doesn't need to throw strikes at all. Teams will take him because he is a lefty that throws high 90s and they'll work on his control in the minors. Guys like him cam start throwing hard early without being able to control it and over time as they get used to throwing hard they can develop better control. If he does, he's almost unhittable.

Talk to anyone from last years team and ask them about Cotto in the fall. Everyone on the team looked at him as the best pitcher on the team and a future first rounder. It's why he started the year as the Saturday guy. Then he lost his control and couldn't get it together, and they couldn't give him a long enough rope to figure it out mid-season. It seems like he's found it again in the Cape, so I'm hoping he sorts it out next spring and Bosma gets healthy and they will be a powerful 1-2 punch. If Williams can find his way back quickly that is a strong weekend rotation, whichever order they are in.
 
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For sure he is. And there are others who would have been and could have been drafted this year if they had been willing to sign. Just because guys didn't go out this year doesn't mean they couldn't have. Guys like Bosma and Plastiak had the option of being drafted and signing for less than slot or coming back and improving their stock. If Bosma can have a healthy year there is no doubt he goes top 10 rounds. Cotto could be top 5 rounds if he can harness his potential this year.
Thought Plastiak is going the independent league route.
 
If you are talking about being a draft pick, he doesn't need to throw strikes at all. Teams will take him because he is a lefty that throws high 90s and they'll work on his control in the minors. Guys like him cam start throwing hard early without being able to control it and over time as they get used to throwing hard they can develop better control. If he does, he's almost unhittable.

Talk to anyone from last years team and ask them about Cotto in the fall. Everyone on the team looked at him as the best pitcher on the team and a future first rounder. It's why he started the year as the Saturday guy. Then he lost his control and couldn't get it together, and they couldn't give him a long enough rope to figure it out mid-season. It seems like he's found it again in the Cape, so I'm hoping he sorts it out next spring and Bosma gets healthy and they will be a powerful 1-2 punch. If Williams can find his way back quickly that is a strong weekend rotation, whichever order they are in.
He was more 94-96. I’d say he’s 21-22. If he hasn’t figured out how to consistently not only throw strikes but locate he’ll get eaten alive moving forward. Use to 94-96 was rare. Turn on a MLB game now and they are a dime a dozen. But they not only throw hard but they locate. Not just strikes but pin point location.
 
Cotto has stuff. Several guys on the roster have stuff. Still, none have proven they can be consistent weekend SEC starters, much less proven they can be an ace. The concerning thing there is that many of them are experienced collegiate pitchers and they haven't put it all together. Still, it's amazing what a year can do.

I think the hitting is more of a concern. I have some pretty good faith in Roszel to put together a competitive staff. More concerned with hitting. Have to expect a ton of new faces to step up and do as good or better than a year ago. That's a tall order.
 
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Cotto has stuff. Several guys on the roster have stuff. Still, none have proven they can be consistent weekend SEC starters, much less proven they can be an ace. The concerning thing there is that many of them are experienced collegiate pitchers and they haven't put it all together. Still, it's amazing what a year can do.

I think the hitting is more of a concern. I have some pretty good faith in Roszel to put together a competitive staff. More concerned with hitting. Have to expect a ton of new faces to step up and do as good or better than a year ago. That's a tall order.
Bosma and Williams seemed pretty consistent as SEC weekend starters when they were healthy, no?
 
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I think there is a good chance they are adding one more big bat from the transfer portal.
I hope so.

I think that is where we are lacking currently since everyone will be either moving up in conferences or inexperienced.
 
Bosma and Williams seemed pretty consistent as SEC weekend starters when they were healthy, no?

I think that's hard to say. Williams started just 2 games prior to his injury. That's a small sample size, and he'll be coming off an injury so we're not sure if he'll start again or when.

Bosma... not sure what we're calling healthy for him. However, he had 7 SEC starts and he went past the 4th in just 2 of those, and had an ERA above 4.00 in all but those same 2. So, that doesn't strike me as being overly consistent. We also lost 5 of the games he started. Some of which is due to poor hitting, but that doesn't strike me as being overly consistent. He had some great games, no doubt, but things seemed kind of hit or miss with him.

Also the new ukathletics.com website is trash.
 
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I think that's hard to say. Williams started just 2 games prior to his injury. That's a small sample size, and he'll be coming off an injury so we're not sure if he'll start again or when.

Bosma... not sure what we're calling healthy for him. However, he had 7 SEC starts and he went past the 4th in just 2 of those, and had an ERA above 4.00 in all but those same 2. So, that doesn't strike me as being overly consistent. We also lost 5 of the games he started. Some of which is due to poor hitting, but that doesn't strike me as being overly consistent. He had some great games, no doubt, but things seemed kind of hit or miss with him.

Also the new ukathletics.com website is trash.

Williams worked his way into the weekend rotation because he had been so good out of the pen leading up to it. Him pitching well over his 2 starts was just a continuation of what he had already been doing. Who knows if he'll be back and able to start, but I'd hope that sometime into the SEC season he would be.

Bosma was healthy through the UGA game. Great outing against TCU, Early hook against Arky, and great outing against UGA. Then he comes back and pitches out of the pen vs SC and Auburn for probably his first time out of the pen in 3 years. Then started vs LSU, and we knkw what happened there. So, hopefully healthy Boz is TCU, UGA, LSU Boz. I think based on the Draft League last year and cape this year its reasonable to think he is a front line SEC guy.

If Boz can throw like that, DWill can miraculously be back, and Mag can be who he has been in the cape, that's 3 strong weekend guys.

And.. I agree... what are they trying to do with UKathletics.com. Awful.
 
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Williams worked his way into the weekend rotation because he had been so good out of the pen leading up to it. Him pitching well over his 2 starts was just a continuation of what he had already been doing. Who knows if he'll be back and able to start, but I'd hope that sometime into the SEC season he would be.

Bosma was healthy through the UGA game. Great outing against TCU, Early hook against Arky, and great outing against UGA. Then he comes back and pitches out of the pen vs SC and Auburn for probably his first time out of the pen in 3 years. Then started vs LSU, and we knkw what happened there. So, hopefully healthy Boz is TCU, UGA, LSU Boz. I think based on the Draft League last year and cape this year its reasonable to think he is a front line SEC guy.

If Boz can throw like that, DWill can miraculously be back, and Mag can be who he has been in the cape, that's 3 strong weekend guys.

And.. I agree... what are they trying to do with UKathletics.com. Awful.

You asked if they were consistent SEC starters. Williams had just 2 SEC starts. That's a small sample size. Did he do well as a reliever and even in those starts? Sure. But looking at just those starts... it's still a small sample size and we have to see how he recovers and if he can get back to that.

I don't know when Bosma stopped being healthy, but he started against Ole Miss and he went 3.2 and gave up 2 earned and we lost 10-1. He then started against TAMU a week later and we lost 17-3, he gave up 7 runs, 3 earned in 3.2 innings. He then started again at Missouri in a 10-6 loss where he gave up 6 earned in just 2.0 innings. It was at this point that he finally stopped starting, presumably for health reasons. I don't know if he was unhealthy before that, but if he was then it is a huge black mark on the staff for starting him for 3 more weeks while he was hurt.

Again... there is talent there, but it has to be there consistently. Hagenow flashed it. Cotto flashed it. Boz flashed it. Now, can some or all of them put it together for most or all outings?
 
You asked if they were consistent SEC starters. Williams had just 2 SEC starts. That's a small sample size. Did he do well as a reliever and even in those starts? Sure. But looking at just those starts... it's still a small sample size and we have to see how he recovers and if he can get back to that.

I don't know when Bosma stopped being healthy, but he started against Ole Miss and he went 3.2 and gave up 2 earned and we lost 10-1. He then started against TAMU a week later and we lost 17-3, he gave up 7 runs, 3 earned in 3.2 innings. He then started again at Missouri in a 10-6 loss where he gave up 6 earned in just 2.0 innings. It was at this point that he finally stopped starting, presumably for health reasons. I don't know if he was unhealthy before that, but if he was then it is a huge black mark on the staff for starting him for 3 more weeks while he was hurt.

Again... there is talent there, but it has to be there consistently. Hagenow flashed it. Cotto flashed it. Boz flashed it. Now, can some or all of them put it together for most or all outings?
I think offensively they could be pretty good as some of the transfers have been very successful elsewhere but again SEC pitching is a different animal. I think there is also a chance they could add Griffin Merritt 1B/OF from Cincinnati. He was the AAC player of the year this year and I think there is significant interest at least on the UK side.

Pitching wise I completely agree they need some guys to step up. Harney, Guilfol and Harper will be really hard to replace. I think it’s NCAA or bust this year and to reach that goal they will need guys like Cotto, Hagenow, Smith, Strickland, to pitch up to their recruiting and draft rankings.
 
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