By popular demand, I bring to you a breakdown of our first SEC opponent, the Georgia Bulldogs. Kentucky heads to Georgia on Friday where they will face a Bulldog team with a record of 19-1 and an RPI of 14. Their strength of schedule at the moment is 135th while UK's is 216th. Their lone loss was the UNC-Wilmington on Sunday Feb 16. This was their 4th game of the first weekend, which I imagine played a factor there. UK will see a lot of familiar faces in the first weekend of SEC play as former UK coaches Will Coggin and Nick Ammirati are now assistants at UGA and former UK centerfielder Nolan McCarthy is their leadoff hitter.
Georgia is hitting .315 as a team, which is 8th best in the league, but their big threat is the long ball. They have 46 (second most in the SEC) home runs on the year, compared to just 16 for UK. One big thing to note is that this Georgia team is prone to striking out, but they are also pretty good at drawing walks. They have struck out 141 times as a team, but they have also drawn 136 walks. Compare that to UK striking out 83 times and walking 81. They also have taken a book from UK about not moving in the box and have been hit 54 times (UK has been hit 43 times), which leads the SEC. All that being said, it is good to note that UGA has played 20 games while most other teams have played about 17, or in UK's case just 15.
DH/1B Ryland Zaborowski leads them in average at .442 and in home runs with 10. Oddly enough they seem to prefer to hit in closer to the bottom of the lineup rather than in the middle or at the top, so there won't be any breaks in the second half of the lineup this weekend. Zaborowski has been an RBI machine with 36 so far this season. Robbie Burnett will hit towards the top of the lineup and has had a good season in RF, hitting .362 with 9 home runs. Burnett also has some wheels and is a threat to run when he gets on the bases and is the lone Bulldog with double digit steals at 10. I think Burnett is a really scary guy at the plate. While he has struck out 10 times in 58 at bats, he has also drawn 20 walks and been hit by 14 pitches. This has given him an OBP of .598, which is best on the team of anyone with over 5 at bats. UK pitchers really need to keep the ball low against him and fill up the strike zone to keep him off the bases. The previously mentioned Nolan McCarthy has the third best batting average on the team and might leadoff (there are times that he drops to hitting 5th and Ryan Black leads off) and play center. McCarthy has clearly taken a step forward at this point with a .333 batting average compared to just .288 a year ago. Last year he had 8 home runs on the season and has 3 so far this year along with 5 doubles (he had just 12 a year ago). Nolan is one of a handful of Bulldogs that has started every game. Tied with Nolan in batting average is catcher Hunter Henry. Henry will also hit near the bottom of the lineup (unless UGA shakes things up), and isn't a huge threat other than hitting for a solid average with just 2 home runs and 4 doubles. Third baseman Tre Phelps will likely hit in the middle of the lineup and might play some 1B at times as well. He is hitting .329 with 5 home runs and 5 doubles. The all name team gets an addition with Slate Alford. Slate will play 2nd and 3rd and will hit after McCarthy in the lineup. He is hitting .307 with 4 home runs, 5 doubles and 1 triple. He is one of several UGA players to have more walks than Ks, so he is going to be real patient at the plate. Kolby Branch is another that has started every game for UGA. He will hit at or near the bottom of the lineup and play SS. He is hitting just .271 on the season but has 4 doubles in 19 hits. Devin Obee is struggling this season hitting just .231 in the middle of the lineup and playing LF, but he remains a threat with 3 home runs in his 9 hits and he is also 4 of 5 on stolen bases. Ryan Black has played some 2B as well and is hitting .304. He's started a little more than half the games and has 4 home runs. Daniel Jackson is a catcher by trade, but they have put him in the OF at times for UGA and has started 11 games and is hitting .275 with 4 home runs.
Overall, this is a pretty dangerous team at the plate. Only Alabama and Tennessee have scored more runs than this UGA team with 193 and after LSU at 188, there aren't many teams in the league that are particularly close. UK, for instance, has just scored 133 runs. UK pitching has been sharp so far with an ERA of just 1.89 and they will once again need to have a great weekend if they want to keep UGA off the scoreboard and UK in these games. This should be a great test for UK pitching.
Speaking of pitching, this is where UGA struggles. While UK is second in the league in team ERA, UGA is 15th at 4.37. Only Missouri is behind them with an abysmal 6.20. These two are the only SEC teams with ERAs above 4.00. Truth be told, I am not sure who we will face when for UGA. Up until this past weekend Charlie Goldstein was going on Saturday, but against Columbia they switched things up and Goldstein got the Friday start. Despite that, it appears that UGA likes to do a bit more of the Johnny All Staff type of approach rather than having starters with deep outings. Goldstein has started 4 games this year, but has only gone for 7 total innings. His last outing, on last Friday, was 3 innings where he had his worst outing and gave up 3 runs. Despite having a poor outing his overall ERA is 3.86 and opponents are hitting just .045 against him. The lone hit he has given up in the 7 innings seems to have been a 3 run shot. He has struck out 8 and walked 3. The outing prior to that he went 2 innings innings against Florida Gulf Coast before handing the ball over. This was a solid outing for him, striking out 3 and walking just 1 and giving up 0 hits. So, clearly, this is a part of the UGA strategy, where they have either inning or pitch limits. Goldstein is a lefty grad student that stands 6'1. Leighton Finley is a 6'5 righty junior that was seeing time as the Friday starter prior to this weekend, but he's struggled in his starts and has a 6.00 ERA. His longest start has been 5 innings, so he is capable of going a bit longer, but with 15 innings pitched in 5 outings, it is clear that UGA is also not over extending him in many starts either. Zach Harris was the Friday starter to begin the year, but I think he is moving more to a reliever type of role. Harris has 3 starts and 4 appearances on the year, but since the first weekend he has not thrown over 2 innings in the next three appearances. he threw 1 inning yesterday against ETSU, so I doubt we see him starting this weekend. He has a 5.63 ERA. If last weekend is an indicator then we will see Matthew Hoskins on Sunday. He's a 6'2 righty junior. Last Sunday was his lone start in 5 appearances, but he's pitched well with a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings, striking out 15 and walking 6, with opponents hitting .114 against him. DJ Radke is a 6'3 righty junior that UK is likely to see at least once this weekend. He typically throws a couple innings and has appeared in 7 games while throwing 10.1 innings. He has a tiny .87 ERA and has given up just 1 earned run. Not a big strikeout guy with just 7, but seems to limit damage and extra base hits as he's only give up 1 double. Brian Curley is a 5'10 righty junior that has appeared in 6 games and thrown 10 innings with a .90 ERA. He is a strikeout machine and is second on the team with 17 Ks. Jordan Stephens is likely to be the backend guy for UGA. He has appeared in 6 games and has thrown 8.2 innings. He has given up 5 hits, but has yet to give up a run while strking out 12 and walking 3. He is a 6'4 righty sophomore.
All in all, UGA pitching seems to rely on short outings and a whole staff type of approach. They have some really good pitching and the high ERA might be a bit of a misnomer at this point. Some indicators of that are the fact that they have struck out 208 hitters (compared to UK striking out just 143). The big thing for them is that they have given up 17 home runs themselves. So, the ball seems to be leaving the park against them a lot, they lead the league in home runs given up. They also lead the league in most walks given up with 89. This is where I expect UK to thrive. UK hitters should be very patient and make UGA throw those strikes. Then do what we do best and cause chaos on the bases.
Overall, I would say this is a winnable series as I think pitching travels. Still, this is a huge step up in competition for UK and the bats will need to show up in order for the Cats to have the weekend we are hoping for.
Georgia is hitting .315 as a team, which is 8th best in the league, but their big threat is the long ball. They have 46 (second most in the SEC) home runs on the year, compared to just 16 for UK. One big thing to note is that this Georgia team is prone to striking out, but they are also pretty good at drawing walks. They have struck out 141 times as a team, but they have also drawn 136 walks. Compare that to UK striking out 83 times and walking 81. They also have taken a book from UK about not moving in the box and have been hit 54 times (UK has been hit 43 times), which leads the SEC. All that being said, it is good to note that UGA has played 20 games while most other teams have played about 17, or in UK's case just 15.
DH/1B Ryland Zaborowski leads them in average at .442 and in home runs with 10. Oddly enough they seem to prefer to hit in closer to the bottom of the lineup rather than in the middle or at the top, so there won't be any breaks in the second half of the lineup this weekend. Zaborowski has been an RBI machine with 36 so far this season. Robbie Burnett will hit towards the top of the lineup and has had a good season in RF, hitting .362 with 9 home runs. Burnett also has some wheels and is a threat to run when he gets on the bases and is the lone Bulldog with double digit steals at 10. I think Burnett is a really scary guy at the plate. While he has struck out 10 times in 58 at bats, he has also drawn 20 walks and been hit by 14 pitches. This has given him an OBP of .598, which is best on the team of anyone with over 5 at bats. UK pitchers really need to keep the ball low against him and fill up the strike zone to keep him off the bases. The previously mentioned Nolan McCarthy has the third best batting average on the team and might leadoff (there are times that he drops to hitting 5th and Ryan Black leads off) and play center. McCarthy has clearly taken a step forward at this point with a .333 batting average compared to just .288 a year ago. Last year he had 8 home runs on the season and has 3 so far this year along with 5 doubles (he had just 12 a year ago). Nolan is one of a handful of Bulldogs that has started every game. Tied with Nolan in batting average is catcher Hunter Henry. Henry will also hit near the bottom of the lineup (unless UGA shakes things up), and isn't a huge threat other than hitting for a solid average with just 2 home runs and 4 doubles. Third baseman Tre Phelps will likely hit in the middle of the lineup and might play some 1B at times as well. He is hitting .329 with 5 home runs and 5 doubles. The all name team gets an addition with Slate Alford. Slate will play 2nd and 3rd and will hit after McCarthy in the lineup. He is hitting .307 with 4 home runs, 5 doubles and 1 triple. He is one of several UGA players to have more walks than Ks, so he is going to be real patient at the plate. Kolby Branch is another that has started every game for UGA. He will hit at or near the bottom of the lineup and play SS. He is hitting just .271 on the season but has 4 doubles in 19 hits. Devin Obee is struggling this season hitting just .231 in the middle of the lineup and playing LF, but he remains a threat with 3 home runs in his 9 hits and he is also 4 of 5 on stolen bases. Ryan Black has played some 2B as well and is hitting .304. He's started a little more than half the games and has 4 home runs. Daniel Jackson is a catcher by trade, but they have put him in the OF at times for UGA and has started 11 games and is hitting .275 with 4 home runs.
Overall, this is a pretty dangerous team at the plate. Only Alabama and Tennessee have scored more runs than this UGA team with 193 and after LSU at 188, there aren't many teams in the league that are particularly close. UK, for instance, has just scored 133 runs. UK pitching has been sharp so far with an ERA of just 1.89 and they will once again need to have a great weekend if they want to keep UGA off the scoreboard and UK in these games. This should be a great test for UK pitching.
Speaking of pitching, this is where UGA struggles. While UK is second in the league in team ERA, UGA is 15th at 4.37. Only Missouri is behind them with an abysmal 6.20. These two are the only SEC teams with ERAs above 4.00. Truth be told, I am not sure who we will face when for UGA. Up until this past weekend Charlie Goldstein was going on Saturday, but against Columbia they switched things up and Goldstein got the Friday start. Despite that, it appears that UGA likes to do a bit more of the Johnny All Staff type of approach rather than having starters with deep outings. Goldstein has started 4 games this year, but has only gone for 7 total innings. His last outing, on last Friday, was 3 innings where he had his worst outing and gave up 3 runs. Despite having a poor outing his overall ERA is 3.86 and opponents are hitting just .045 against him. The lone hit he has given up in the 7 innings seems to have been a 3 run shot. He has struck out 8 and walked 3. The outing prior to that he went 2 innings innings against Florida Gulf Coast before handing the ball over. This was a solid outing for him, striking out 3 and walking just 1 and giving up 0 hits. So, clearly, this is a part of the UGA strategy, where they have either inning or pitch limits. Goldstein is a lefty grad student that stands 6'1. Leighton Finley is a 6'5 righty junior that was seeing time as the Friday starter prior to this weekend, but he's struggled in his starts and has a 6.00 ERA. His longest start has been 5 innings, so he is capable of going a bit longer, but with 15 innings pitched in 5 outings, it is clear that UGA is also not over extending him in many starts either. Zach Harris was the Friday starter to begin the year, but I think he is moving more to a reliever type of role. Harris has 3 starts and 4 appearances on the year, but since the first weekend he has not thrown over 2 innings in the next three appearances. he threw 1 inning yesterday against ETSU, so I doubt we see him starting this weekend. He has a 5.63 ERA. If last weekend is an indicator then we will see Matthew Hoskins on Sunday. He's a 6'2 righty junior. Last Sunday was his lone start in 5 appearances, but he's pitched well with a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings, striking out 15 and walking 6, with opponents hitting .114 against him. DJ Radke is a 6'3 righty junior that UK is likely to see at least once this weekend. He typically throws a couple innings and has appeared in 7 games while throwing 10.1 innings. He has a tiny .87 ERA and has given up just 1 earned run. Not a big strikeout guy with just 7, but seems to limit damage and extra base hits as he's only give up 1 double. Brian Curley is a 5'10 righty junior that has appeared in 6 games and thrown 10 innings with a .90 ERA. He is a strikeout machine and is second on the team with 17 Ks. Jordan Stephens is likely to be the backend guy for UGA. He has appeared in 6 games and has thrown 8.2 innings. He has given up 5 hits, but has yet to give up a run while strking out 12 and walking 3. He is a 6'4 righty sophomore.
All in all, UGA pitching seems to rely on short outings and a whole staff type of approach. They have some really good pitching and the high ERA might be a bit of a misnomer at this point. Some indicators of that are the fact that they have struck out 208 hitters (compared to UK striking out just 143). The big thing for them is that they have given up 17 home runs themselves. So, the ball seems to be leaving the park against them a lot, they lead the league in home runs given up. They also lead the league in most walks given up with 89. This is where I expect UK to thrive. UK hitters should be very patient and make UGA throw those strikes. Then do what we do best and cause chaos on the bases.
Overall, I would say this is a winnable series as I think pitching travels. Still, this is a huge step up in competition for UK and the bats will need to show up in order for the Cats to have the weekend we are hoping for.
