Lineup Predictions

[Comebakatz3]

All right, I am bored and we are under a month to go before opening day. So, give me your lineup predictions. Literally no position is safe on this team, so it should be fun to see where everyone thinks the guys will lineup and where they will play in the field.

 

[Black Diamond Cat]

Don't really know much about this year's team. Rotation should be Z Thompson, D Harper, and either M Hazelwood or J Ramsey, could be decent rotation, barring any injuries.
As far as in the field, only Cam Hill, R Johnson, R Shinn, Tj Collett, maybe A Rod, D Reed, Z Lewis.... who knows !
Will be glad to see it get going, hopefully we can usher in KPP with another regional hosting, but honestly, that may be a long shot.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Well, I think I will start with some guesses about the positions:

SS - A-Rod.
He seems to have nailed this spot down.

2B - Grant Mac
I think he will be here when not pitching. When pitching I will give the nod to Schultz.

1B - Dalton Reed
Big bat and he will be hard to unseat here. Could DH.

3B - Breydon Daniel
He is versatile and might move around, but I think he goes here.

C - Kessler
I think this might be a bit by committee with Marshall spelling him some, but Kessler will get the lead.

Here is where it gets super hard:

CF - Rook Ellington
This kind of hurts to say because I think Hill would be best here, but I think the coaches really like Rook, and he'll be slated here.

LF - Cam Hill
He will fit in anywhere the OF, and should do fine over in left.

RF - Jaren Shelby
This is a wild guess. I would put Shinny here as he is tearing it up, but I feel that Shelby has to have a role.

DH - Ryan Shinn
I think Shinn and Shelby rotate some. Unfortunately, I fear that Collette may still not be healthy. I don't know this for sure, and don't really have any insider information, but that is just a fear of mine.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Okay... going to take a crack at order. This is going to be way off.

1. Rook Ellington
2. Cam Hill
3. Ryan Shinn
4. Dalton Reed
5. Breydon Daniel
6. Colton Kessler
7. Jaren Shelby
8. Grant Macciocchi
9. Alex Rodriguez

 

[dswan17]

Well, I think I will start with some guesses about the positions:

SS - A-Rod.
He seems to have nailed this spot down.

2B - Grant Mac
I think he will be here when not pitching. When pitching I will give the nod to Schultz.

1B - Dalton Reed
Big bat and he will be hard to unseat here. Could DH.

3B - Breydon Daniel
He is versatile and might move around, but I think he goes here.

C - Kessler
I think this might be a bit by committee with Marshall spelling him some, but Kessler will get the lead.

Here is where it gets super hard:

CF - Rook Ellington
This kind of hurts to say because I think Hill would be best here, but I think the coaches really like Rook, and he'll be slated here.

LF - Cam Hill
He will fit in anywhere the OF, and should do fine over in left.

RF - Jaren Shelby
This is a wild guess. I would put Shinny here as he is tearing it up, but I feel that Shelby has to have a role.

DH - Ryan Shinn
I think Shinn and Shelby rotate some. Unfortunately, I fear that Collette may still not be healthy. I don't know this for sure, and don't really have any insider information, but that is just a fear of mine.

I think you're probably pretty close here. Hopefully wrong about Collette. His bat would make a big difference in the lineup. But when he's out... my guess would be Harmon would be the DH. My guess would be Shinn and Shelby will be the corner OFs with Cam or Rook at CF. I didn't really have any different opinions on the IF, but granted... I know very little about most of the candidates. Macciocchi does look intriguing at 2b.

My guess for the lineup (with attempting to alternate left/right hitters) is...
Macciocchi -2b(right)
Dalton -1b(left)
Shinn -lf(right)
Collette -dh(left)
Shelby -rf(right)
Daniel -3b(switch)
Kessler -c(left)
Arod -ss(right)
Cam -cf(left)

It has a little bit of a softball lineup feel with Dalton batting 2nd and Cam batting 9th. But still a little traditional with Shinn/Collette/Shelby at the 3/4/5 slots. Probably way off but still a fun exercise.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I think you're probably pretty close here. Hopefully wrong about Collette. His bat would make a big difference in the lineup. But when he's out... my guess would be Harmon would be the DH. My guess would be Shinn and Shelby will be the corner OFs with Cam or Rook at CF. I didn't really have any different opinions on the IF, but granted... I know very little about most of the candidates. Macciocchi does look intriguing at 2b.

My guess for the lineup (with attempting to alternate left/right hitters) is...
Macciocchi -2b(right)
Dalton -1b(left)
Shinn -lf(right)
Collette -dh(left)
Shelby -rf(right)
Daniel -3b(switch)
Kessler -c(left)
Arod -ss(right)
Cam -cf(left)

It has a little bit of a softball lineup feel with Dalton batting 2nd and Cam batting 9th. But still a little traditional with Shinn/Collette/Shelby at the 3/4/5 slots. Probably way off but still a fun exercise.

Pretty interesting take you got there. I haven't heard much about Harmon, but that's not really saying much. He's a big kid that comes in with high accolades, so he may be hard to keep off the field.

This year will be interesting because we have a lot of players who just haven't solidified themselves into a lineup and we don't necessarily have enough spots. This is especially so in the outfield. Rook, Hill, Shelby, and Shinn with just 3 slots. Not to mention, a starter from last year, Johnson, isn't even really being talked about.

The outfield battle may effect the DH. Shinn is the best overall player, so I don't see how you leave him out, but Shelby and Hill are big time threats and athletes. Harmon and Collett switching depending on matchups also makes sense.

Apparently yesterday Hill, Shelby, and Collett hit home runs in the cage off of live pitching.

 

[dswan17]

I'm sure there will be a lot of tinkering with the lineup early on... especially with so many new players. If both Rook and Cam can hit for high percentages and cause havoc on the base paths, then that would be a really fun lineup. However both hitting for high percentages might be a bit much to ask, and with the uncertainty of the new starting pitchers, I have a feeling they'll eventually migrate towards getting some more power in there (and platoon Rook/Cam depending on whether they are facing a lefty or righty). It's going to be fun to see which players step up and force the coaches to play them by their production.

 

[MAYHOO22]

The wild card is Curtis. Can play some OF, but mostly a infielder by trade. Swings a great bat.

 

[Comebakatz3]

The wild card is Curtis. Can play some OF, but mostly a infielder by trade. Swings a great bat.

There are a lot of wildcards on this team in a way. Curtis and Daniel can both be moved basically all over the field and both hit well. Then you have a couple two way guys like Grant Mac and Ryan Johnson. A bunch of options for the coaching staff to work with.

 

[Jeff Drummond]

I have a feeling it could be in flux through the non-conference portion of the schedule. As you guys have pointed out, there are a lot of new names to work in, and we don't know exactly how many of them will respond to being thrust into the spotlight.

IMHO, you have to have Shinn in the lineup somewhere. I don't see any way around that unless there's somebody(s) that have REALLY come on since the fall.

 

[micatz]

I have a feeling it could be in flux through the non-conference portion of the schedule. As you guys have pointed out, there are a lot of new names to work in, and we don't know exactly how many of them will respond to being thrust into the spotlight.

IMHO, you have to have Shinn in the lineup somewhere. I don't see any way around that unless there's somebody(s) that have REALLY come on since the fall.

Jeff, do you know when the media day will be for the UK Baseball season kick off??

 

[MAYHOO22]

I think I heard Media Day is early next week.

 

[micatz]

2019 Outlooks are now up for the Freshman and Juco Transfers so that at least will give a little insight as to what the coaches are thinking

 

[Comebakatz3]

I am just ready for the season. 17 more days until we see Zack Thompson head out there. You know what... I'm going to look at Austin Peay and see what I can find out... back in a bit. haha

 

[Comebakatz3]

Austin Peay was 30-27 a year ago and 17-13 in the OVC. They really hit the skids at the end of the season losing their last 7.

Last year they had a team ERA of 6.56 and a batting average against of .292. Brett Newberg was their best pitcher with a 3.88 ERA and a 3-2 record. He appeared in 29 games and picked up 6 saves giving up 25 earned runs, 19 walks, with 42Ks. Opponents hit .268 against him. Newberg is a returning senior lefty and also plays some first base. I imagine he'll be their closer again this year.

Their best starter was Jacques Pucheu (have fun with that one Darren Headrick), who had a 4.03 ERA in 15 appearances with 15 starts. He went 7-4 and threw 89 innings of work. He struck out 101 while walking just 33 and opponents hit .247 against him. Jacques is a senior lefty from Mississippi and was their Saturday starter a year ago, but I imagine they will bump him up a day and we will see him on Friday night (or day).

Austin Peay lost their Friday guy and a year ago they struggled to find someone to fill the Sunday role. At one point they had 6'7 righty Tyler Thompson on the mound for them, but he struggled in his 16 appearances, 3 starts, with a 13.69 ERA in 23.2 innings of work, opponents hit .414 against him. Harley Gollert also got 3 starts. The lefty had a 5.91 ERA in 42.2 innings of work with opponents hitting .261 against him. Brandon Vial also got a turn, he started 10 games with 18 appearances he had a 5.92 ERA with 22 Ks in 59.1 innings of work. Opponents hit .301 against him, he's a righty. I believe, a lefty, also got some starts for them and might have been a weekday guy.

As a team the Govs hit .276 through 57 games and scored 403 runs. They had 123 doubles, 8 triples and 65 home runs. They struck out 510 times in 1959 at bats and had an on base percentage of .382. They were 65 of 93 on stolen bases. The Govs lose their best hitter, but they do return infielder Garrett Kueber who hit .340 a year ago through 162 at bats, with 36 runs, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs. He drew 34 walks and 44 Ks. Catcher and utility man Parker Phillips also returns. The right handed hitting junior from Colliersville hit .313 as a sophomore with 19 dingers in 198 at bats. He knocked in 62 runs on 62 hits. Struck out 51 times and walked 21. Looks like the Governors will return 4 or 5 of their starters in the field.

 

[MAYHOO22]

Thanks for the report Comebakatz3. Peay has been a pretty good program the last few years. I think they made the Regionals a couple years ago. Like you, I am ready for the season to begin.