With Kentucky baseball four games into its 2018 season, Cats Illustrated takes a look back over the recent action and singles out the highs and the lows, the top performers and the players who struggled.
It's a limited snapshot in time so don't fix any opinions yet.
Justin Lewis (UK Athletics)
Three Up
Junior right-handed starting pitcher Justin Lewis turned in a masterful six-inning, two-hit performance on Saturday in the late game, keeping USC Upstate off the scoreboard and almost completely off the basepaths. He didn't walk anyone and struck out nine batters, a career high. When the Spartans did make contact Lewis generally kept the ball on the ground. That's important because while Lewis had an excellent 2017 season, he did allow 12 home runs in 91 innings of work and that's where he can stand to improve. He wasn't an overpowering strikeout pitcher in '17, so his ability to miss bats and put batters down with wipeout pitches was impressive on Saturday.
D1 Baseball and Baseball America each have Lewis as a Top 100 prospect for the MLB Draft and outings such as the one he had Saturday will only improve his stock.
Junior outfielder Tristan Pompey was was a Preseason First or Second Team All-American according to every major college baseball media outlet and he looked the part in Kentucky's first four games.
Pompey batted .471 with a .550 OBP in the Wildcats' first four games. Included in those numbers: Eight hits, three walks, three RBI's and six runs scored.
The only blemishes for Pompey thus far were four walks in the first two games and his failed steal attempt in the opener. But he also went deep in that game against Wofford as well, and had three doubles (4/4, BB) in the Cats' Sunday win against Evansville.
Kentucky's bullpen started the weekend beautifully, finishing up Sean Hjelle's gem of an opener with three scoreless innings and then 7.1 IP with no runs against USC Upstate in the early afternoon game against Upstate.
They did allow a little more in the weekend's last two games but considering Zack Thompson only went 2.2 innings and Daniel Carson's day ended after four, the pen handled business, shutting down USC Upstate after a surprising 5-0 deficit and holding onto comfortable leads in Kentucky's other games.
It's far too early to make any bold proclamations about the bullpen, but the talent is there and it was a good start.
Carson Coleman did walk two batters in three scoreless innings of work but he struck out five. Mason Mazelwood, Chris Machamer, Alec Maley and Trip Lockhart were all especially impressive.
Zack Thompson (UK Athletics)
Three Down
Sophomore lefty Zack Thompson has tremendous potential and MLB scouts are salivating over his future and the possibility of drafting him with a high pick in 2019. He was fantastic in 2017, posting a 3.45 ERA in 13 starts and 20 appearances. Opponents batted only .187 against Thompson last year (compare to .243 against Hjelle, the SEC's Pitcher of the Year).
But his first start of 2018 against USC Upstate on Saturday left something to be desired. Thompson walked four batters, surrendered three hits and allowed five earned runs in 2.2 IP in a shortened start. Kentucky rallied for the win, but Thompson's command and control were both lacking. Last year the black mark on Thompson's record was his walk rate (4.52 per 9 IP). Four walks and a HBP in his first start won't do anything to fix that, but it's probably safe to say that Kentucky's No. 2 starter won't often pitch as poorly as he did on Saturday.
Thompson struck out three USC Upstate batters in the first inning and five of the ten outs he procured were punchouts. Nobody doubts his ability to strike batters out after 96 in only 75.2 innings of work last year.
Nick Mingione probably does not doubt Thompson's ability to bounce back quickly. After all, he called Thompson "one of the toughest players (he's) ever coached" in the postseason last year.
JUCO pitching transfer Aaron McGeorge, of Henry Clay in high school, should be a factor in Kentucky's pen this year and he was one of the only relievers who struggled this weekend.
He threw 2.1 innings against Evansville on Sunday and was tagged for four hits, walked a batter and surrendered two earned runs.
It was George who replaced freshman starter Daniel Harper at the start of the fifth inning and the Cats leading 7-2. He handled the fifth and sixth frames nicely but ran into trouble in the seventh with a walk and a series of singles that made it an 8-4 game. Fortunately Maley was there to stop the bleeding with two men left on base.
Shortstop Trey Dawson's defense is his best skill and Nick Mingione has raved about the junior's glove. He showed off impressive range from the field, which is what the Wildcats really need from him. However, at the plate and batting from the bottom of the lineup he was 1/14 with four strikeouts, his lone hit being a double in the second game against USC Upstate. Dawson, formerly of LSU and a JUCO transfer before this season, is known more for his power than his contact and in very limited at bats as a freshman at LSU hit .111 in 2016.
It's a limited snapshot in time so don't fix any opinions yet.
Justin Lewis (UK Athletics)
Three Up
Junior right-handed starting pitcher Justin Lewis turned in a masterful six-inning, two-hit performance on Saturday in the late game, keeping USC Upstate off the scoreboard and almost completely off the basepaths. He didn't walk anyone and struck out nine batters, a career high. When the Spartans did make contact Lewis generally kept the ball on the ground. That's important because while Lewis had an excellent 2017 season, he did allow 12 home runs in 91 innings of work and that's where he can stand to improve. He wasn't an overpowering strikeout pitcher in '17, so his ability to miss bats and put batters down with wipeout pitches was impressive on Saturday.
D1 Baseball and Baseball America each have Lewis as a Top 100 prospect for the MLB Draft and outings such as the one he had Saturday will only improve his stock.
Junior outfielder Tristan Pompey was was a Preseason First or Second Team All-American according to every major college baseball media outlet and he looked the part in Kentucky's first four games.
Pompey batted .471 with a .550 OBP in the Wildcats' first four games. Included in those numbers: Eight hits, three walks, three RBI's and six runs scored.
The only blemishes for Pompey thus far were four walks in the first two games and his failed steal attempt in the opener. But he also went deep in that game against Wofford as well, and had three doubles (4/4, BB) in the Cats' Sunday win against Evansville.
Kentucky's bullpen started the weekend beautifully, finishing up Sean Hjelle's gem of an opener with three scoreless innings and then 7.1 IP with no runs against USC Upstate in the early afternoon game against Upstate.
They did allow a little more in the weekend's last two games but considering Zack Thompson only went 2.2 innings and Daniel Carson's day ended after four, the pen handled business, shutting down USC Upstate after a surprising 5-0 deficit and holding onto comfortable leads in Kentucky's other games.
It's far too early to make any bold proclamations about the bullpen, but the talent is there and it was a good start.
Carson Coleman did walk two batters in three scoreless innings of work but he struck out five. Mason Mazelwood, Chris Machamer, Alec Maley and Trip Lockhart were all especially impressive.
Zack Thompson (UK Athletics)
Three Down
Sophomore lefty Zack Thompson has tremendous potential and MLB scouts are salivating over his future and the possibility of drafting him with a high pick in 2019. He was fantastic in 2017, posting a 3.45 ERA in 13 starts and 20 appearances. Opponents batted only .187 against Thompson last year (compare to .243 against Hjelle, the SEC's Pitcher of the Year).
But his first start of 2018 against USC Upstate on Saturday left something to be desired. Thompson walked four batters, surrendered three hits and allowed five earned runs in 2.2 IP in a shortened start. Kentucky rallied for the win, but Thompson's command and control were both lacking. Last year the black mark on Thompson's record was his walk rate (4.52 per 9 IP). Four walks and a HBP in his first start won't do anything to fix that, but it's probably safe to say that Kentucky's No. 2 starter won't often pitch as poorly as he did on Saturday.
Thompson struck out three USC Upstate batters in the first inning and five of the ten outs he procured were punchouts. Nobody doubts his ability to strike batters out after 96 in only 75.2 innings of work last year.
Nick Mingione probably does not doubt Thompson's ability to bounce back quickly. After all, he called Thompson "one of the toughest players (he's) ever coached" in the postseason last year.
JUCO pitching transfer Aaron McGeorge, of Henry Clay in high school, should be a factor in Kentucky's pen this year and he was one of the only relievers who struggled this weekend.
He threw 2.1 innings against Evansville on Sunday and was tagged for four hits, walked a batter and surrendered two earned runs.
It was George who replaced freshman starter Daniel Harper at the start of the fifth inning and the Cats leading 7-2. He handled the fifth and sixth frames nicely but ran into trouble in the seventh with a walk and a series of singles that made it an 8-4 game. Fortunately Maley was there to stop the bleeding with two men left on base.
Shortstop Trey Dawson's defense is his best skill and Nick Mingione has raved about the junior's glove. He showed off impressive range from the field, which is what the Wildcats really need from him. However, at the plate and batting from the bottom of the lineup he was 1/14 with four strikeouts, his lone hit being a double in the second game against USC Upstate. Dawson, formerly of LSU and a JUCO transfer before this season, is known more for his power than his contact and in very limited at bats as a freshman at LSU hit .111 in 2016.
