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Kentucky Baseball 2024

BluegrassBlake said:
I’m not sure UK has the NIL money to get a big time power bat from the portal.
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I think the key will be how quickly and easily Higdon adjusts. Historically a JUCO guy seems to take one year or so to really hit his stride. That isn't always the case, but it seems that a lot of them can do pretty well in the first year but really take a big step forward in the second. So, how quickly will Higdon adjust and what will those numbers look like? If he gives us around the 12 that Gilliam did then it is pretty successful IF others step up too. Similar ask of Paige. He had 17 a year ago. Will those numbers stay similar or will we see a dip? If so, how much? Again, if we see him hit just 12 then our numbers are already a touch better than what we had in 2023, and we just hope that the others can get a few more.
 
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Is there any concern that Trey Page will not end up at UK? He is getting alot of attention on social media. Is there a chance he is drafted and does not come to UK?
 
Really good player. Any draft eligible player is a concern to go pro. A lot of guys in the portal enter it as leverage. Some just want to play pro ball. Hard to know. But someone waves a FA contract (up to $125K) at the urge is always there. Lost two such guys last year (McGeary and Vinyard).
 
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Seamhead_Ninja said:
Really good player. Any draft eligible player is a concern to go pro. A lot of guys in the portal enter it as leverage. Some just want to play pro ball. Hard to know. But someone waves a FA contract (up to $125K) at the urge is always there. Lost two such guys last year (McGeary and Vinyard).
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Glad to see you posting! Hearing anything on the transfer portal? Had heard the staff felt good about adding another pitcher but seems quiet now.
 
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Bullpencat said:
Is there any concern that Trey Page will not end up at UK? He is getting alot of attention on social media. Is there a chance he is drafted and does not come to UK?
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It looks like he’s really struggling this summer. I’m not sure how much weight that will carry because he had a great spring.
 
If you aren't already, keep an eye on the draft today, beginning at 2pm. If a UK player goes off the board today then they are certainly gone. Several are candidates to do so, but have the flexibility to return and exercise more leverage going forward.
 
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Former UK pitcher Wyatt Hudepohl who transferred to Charlotte after last season just went off the board in the 4th round to the Giants, pick 123.
 
dtjr said:
Wow. Didn't know he got that much better at Charlotte.
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Was a weeekend starter for them, which he wasn't going to be projected to be for us. Threw 105.1 innings and had a 4.27 ERA. Struck out an amazing 127 while walking just 27. Opponents hit just .233 against him.
 
Comebakatz3 said:
Through 6 and we're still clean.
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Slot values are down in the 200s now. I think it is decently likely that we are safe with any of the players we would be concerned to lose. I'd be surprised if Strickland, Moore, or others sign for 250 or less.
 
Cotto would be the only one I could see signing. I feel like Burkes, strickland, moore, etc are pretty likely to come back. Especially if they make it through a couple more rounds.
 
Welp... I guess Strickland is gone unfortunately. I was thinking we hadn't seen him yet because his price tag was higher than teams were willing to pay, but sounds like he must have figured it out with the pirates. Guys aren't going to be picked unless they are going to sign, so sounds like he is gone.
 
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CockyCat3 said:
Welp... I guess Strickland is gone unfortunately. I was thinking we hadn't seen him yet because his price tag was higher than teams were willing to pay, but sounds like he must have figured it out with the pirates. Guys aren't going to be picked unless they are going to sign, so sounds like he is gone.
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Ten Rounds down and only 1 Cat picked so far.

If we hold with only losing Strickland that would certainly be a victory towards the roster next season.
 
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Looks like Cotto and Martin are gone too. Kind of Surprised that Martin was willing to go out. I guess maybe he didn't love how he was handled this year? Seems like he could have improved his stock with a healthy season as a weekend starter, but maybe he felt like he wasnt sure he will be a weekend guy next year? I guess he showed the scouts enough that they were willing to take a shot.
 
Cotto went in the 11th and Martin in 12th. I think both of those could have done themselves a world of good by coming back and proving the control and health is there. Cotto has top 3 round stuff at times.
 
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Lee remains the most intriguing to me at this point. He's got some circumstances which would make me believe that he could be ready to play professionally, but it's starting to get late.
 
Comebakatz3 said:
Cotto went in the 11th and Martin in 12th. I think both of those could have done themselves a world of good by coming back and proving the control and health is there. Cotto has top 3 round stuff at times.
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Do they have to go or can they not sign and come back?
 
I think Cotto probably just needs to get in pro ball and see if his stuff can develop. I was a huge fan, but the lack of development with the control over two years just makes me think that he needs another reset.

Will be an interesting decision with Martin. We have no idea what he will be offered, but if he came back and had a healthy year it’s tough to not see him making a huge jump.

Starting to feel really good about Moore and Burkes which is huge for 2024!
 
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ATLCat15 said:
I think Cotto probably just needs to get in pro ball and see if his stuff can develop. I was a huge fan, but the lack of development with the control over two years just makes me think that he needs another reset.

Will be an interesting decision with Martin. We have no idea what he will be offered, but if he came back and had a healthy year it’s tough to not see him making a huge jump.

Starting to feel really good about Moore and Burkes which is huge for 2024!
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If Moore and Burkes are back our lineup and weekend rotation are both much more impressive
 
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Comebakatz3 said:
They can both return.
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They're gone. Teams are not going to draft somebody unless they've talked to them beforehand and have an agreement on what they will sign for. Only way they come back is if there is something medical that shows up on a physical or something similar.
 
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CockyCat3 said:
They're gone. Teams are not going to draft somebody unless they've talked to them beforehand and have an agreement on what they will sign for. Only way they come back is if there is something medical that shows up on a physical or something similar.
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When it was 40 rounds teams would take some chances without knowing for sure but when it got reduced to 20 rounds that just doesn't really happen anymore.
 
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briarcreek said:
Overall I think it went about as well as UK could have hoped
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I agree. Was hoping Strickland might have held out for more money so he wouldn't go, but seems like he must have been ready to make the jump. I'm assuming he and Martin might have even taken deals to go out when they did because they both went to the Pirates, and I'm sure they were deal hunting after knowing they spent a TON of money in the first round. Not surprised at all by Cotto, and actually thought there was a chance that Martin and Strickland would push for a lot of money, so they might get passed over. I'm assuming that's what happened with guys like Burkes and Moore.
 
parrott said:
Think Paige hurts because the cats need another power bat.
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Possibly just don't know if coming from Delaware State would transfer power to the SEC.
He did not do well in the MLB draft league.

But we definitely need another bat and possibly 3B if Church sticks at DH.
 
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dtjr said:
Possibly just don't know if coming from Delaware State would transfer power to the SEC.
He did not do well in the MLB draft league.

But we definitely need another bat and possibly 3B if Church sticks at DH.
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Higdon could also still be the guy at DH. I think the interesting part of the third base mix is Daly. I am not entirely sure why we brought him in. I am not mad about it by any means, but I just don't see where he really fits in? It seems that without a doubt we've locked down SS and 2B with Smith and Pitre. Daly would have an uphill battle to unseat one of those two. So, if he plans to start in 2024, where does he go? Outfield? 3rd? He seems like a great team leader and a great defensive player, so he has a lot of value, but just didn't seem to be a major position of need for us. If we stick him at third, a position that is often a power hitter spot, then we're not likely getting that from Daly. So, if that is the route we take then I'd expect us to continue to have lower power numbers and continue that 'chaos,' theme from 2023.
 
What’s a reasonable number of home runs that fans would be satisfied with in 2024? Playing at KPP is always going to make it impossible to reach UT or Florida power numbers, but I agree that 54 for a season isn’t enough. To me, 70 would probably be considered a reasonable number, and I think that’s very possible next year with what you’re returning/adding.
 
ATLCat15 said:
What’s a reasonable number of home runs that fans would be satisfied with in 2024? Playing at KPP is always going to make it impossible to reach UT or Florida power numbers, but I agree that 54 for a season isn’t enough. To me, 70 would probably be considered a reasonable number, and I think that’s very possible next year with what you’re returning/adding.
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I think the issue isn't necessarily number of home runs but of timliness of them, which can help add to RBI numbers. Miss State and Ole Miss had 91 and 83 home runs respectively in 2023. Yet they had 2 of the lowest three RBI numbers. Which would make one believe that while they hit a good chunk, they didn't do it often with men on. UK finished 10th in the league in RBIs and 9th in runs. This despite being tied for 3rd best average. So, more than anything, IMO, UK needs to be able to capitalize on damage opportunities more often.

The concern for me is really more about whether we can continue to hit at such a high average. We lost 3 of our top 4 hitters average wise. If we can't hit for that high average and the number of doubles drops then the runs will also likely take a dip, especially if power numbers don't go up. That makes games much harder to win.
 
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Believe today is the deadline to enter the transfer portal. Will be interesting to see if Kentucky has any last minute entries off their roster.
 
dtjr said:
This is a decent pick up

Made 17 appearances and eight starts
4-2 record and a 5.54 ERA
Struck out 40 across 37 innings

Campbell is a nice program won 43 games this year and had 4 pitchers drafted in this years draft.
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LSU coach Johnson, talking head/eval during draft coverage, mentioned Campbell as a really strong mid-major up and coming program.
 
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