UK 2015 returners......

[CloverforkCat]

With Baseball practice starting in 2 weeks and the season 6 weeks away today, thought I would share a look at who is back for the 2015 season.

Hitters...Kai Tom .328 3 hr 41 rbi, Thomas Bernal .305 1 hr 32 rbi, Storm Wilson .289 4 hr 20 rbi, Kyle Barrett 1 hr 19 rbi, Javon Shelby .250 4hr 21 rbi, Zach Arnold .542 0 hr 8 rbi, Dorian Hairston .400 0 hr 7 rbi, Marcus Carson .364 0 hr 9 rbi, Greg Fettes .250 0 hr 5 rbi, Conner Heady .133 0 hr 10 rbi.

Pitchers...Spencer Jack 4-1 1.16 era, Andrew Nelson 2-5 3.94 era, Kyle Cody 4-0 2.84 era, Zack Strecker 0-1 3.80 era, Dylan Dwyer 5-3 5.46 era, Zack Brown 1-1 5.65 era, Taylor Martin 0-0 6.23 era, Ryne Combs 1-2 6.55 era, Matt Snyder 0-0 8.00 era, Sam Mahar 1-0 9.19 era

Other notes...Stolen bases Tom 14-18, Bernal 6-8, Wilson 3-4, Barrett 10-12.....Errors Shelby 11, Heady 6, in 2014 Max Kuhn committed 21 errors and Matt Reida 17, of course they are gone, but they did have 38 errors on the left side of the infield.

Looking ahead our offense should be productive once again in 2015, and our question marks will be pitching and infield defense.

This post was edited on 1/2 3:32 PM by CloverforkCat

This post was edited on 1/2 3:34 PM by CloverforkCat

 

[Comebakatz3]

I don't know Clover... I worry about the offense as well. One player can really boost the numbers of the other players in the lineup. Teams give him worse pitches and give the guys around him better pitches. Hopefully these guys prove me wrong, but I do worry that AJ Reed had a whole lot of impact on our numbers.

 

[CloverforkCat]

Yes Comeback, AJ was the man. Also lost Cousino, and Kuhn who were big time hitters as well, but looking at who is back, and also the addition of Rick Eckstein as our hitting coach, I think we will hit well again, not as much power of course, but more singles and doubles combined with more aggressive base stealing.
I believe our infield defense will be improved as well, we have Heady at ss, Shelby at 2b and Bernal at 1b, there will be pretty solid. Don't know who will replace Kuhn at 3b, but maybe whomever it is will cut down the 17 errors he committed in 2014.
Our OF will be very good with 4 quality players Tom, Barrett, Carson and Wilson. All solid hitters and defenders as well.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I certainly hope you're right.

At 3rd base... I just don't see who the heck we have to play there. Tyler Marshall is a third baseman, but I'm not sure that he is SEC starting quality. Troy Squires is another guy who can play any position in the infield, but he came in largely as a short stop. Tyler Tipton is a JUCO guy that came in last year and he can play anywhere on the infield, but again... it makes me nervous that he didn't even get in any time last year. There are some new guys coming in, but none of them jump out at me as being the ones that will definitely fill the role at the hot corner.

We also have the concern that we apparently had so many injuries this off season that we never actually had a fall world series. Hopefully we heal up by the time the season starts, but that is a pretty big concern, especially with an infield that might not prove to be that deep.


On another note... Nicholas Shumpert, a 2015 commitment is the number 4 overall prospect in the 2015 class according to Perfect Game. Watching his highlight video is pretty nice. He has a ton of range and fields the ball very smoothly and naturally. Also has a nice compact swing. He's always wanted to be a Wildcat (partly due to our basketball team), so hopefully that will be enough to sway him to come to UK next year instead of heading to the pros.

 

[CloverforkCat]

Originally posted by Comebakatz3:
I certainly hope you're right.

At 3rd base... I just don't see who the heck we have to play there. Tyler Marshall is a third baseman, but I'm not sure that he is SEC starting quality. Troy Squires is another guy who can play any position in the infield, but he came in largely as a short stop. Tyler Tipton is a JUCO guy that came in last year and he can play anywhere on the infield, but again... it makes me nervous that he didn't even get in any time last year. There are some new guys coming in, but none of them jump out at me as being the ones that will definitely fill the role at the hot corner.

We also have the concern that we apparently had so many injuries this off season that we never actually had a fall world series. Hopefully we heal up by the time the season starts, but that is a pretty big concern, especially with an infield that might not prove to be that deep.


On another note... Nicholas Shumpert, a 2015 commitment is the number 4 overall prospect in the 2015 class according to Perfect Game. Watching his highlight video is pretty nice. He has a ton of range and fields the ball very smoothly and naturally. Also has a nice compact swing. He's always wanted to be a Wildcat (partly due to our basketball team), so hopefully that will be enough to sway him to come to UK next year instead of heading to the pros.

I think Squires may wind up the starter, although Bernal has also played there a little. May move back and forth until someone claims it. Injuries were a problem last fall, although most were minor, they should be ok now.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I liked Bernal over there when he was there a couple times last year. The question is... do we have anyone who can also head over and play first base? I've read that Ryne Combs played first base in the fall almost every day. I think that may have been due to injuries, but still scary that he had to be moved over there some. Would definitely like to have some more corner infielders, and it is concerning to me that we might have someone at 1st/3rd that hasn't seen an NCAA collegiate pitcher in an actual game, especially since we're trying to replace Max Kuhn who hit .324 last season.

Also, do you think we'll see Fettes and Arnold behind the plate and switching out as DH?

As usual, I'm pretty excited to see how it will all play out.

 

[CloverforkCat]

They had a freshman playing 1st in fall scrimages a tall thin lefty freshman, whose name escapes me. I think Hendo will experiment during the first 10-15 games to find out who he can depend on. I don't know if Arnold or Fettes can play 1st ala Luke Maile and Michael Williams did a few years back.
As far as catchers, Arnold hits for avg. and Fettes has power, but neither has has a lot of at bats in game action. The outfield has the most depth, with 4 solid guys, they will also rotate and DH some, although Tom will certainly play LF on a daily basis, he will probably DH a little as well.
The UK athletics web site has posted the schedule, but for some reason they still have the 2014 roster showing, wish they would update to 2015.

 

[parrott]

Originally posted by Comebakatz3:
I certainly hope you're right.



On another note... Nicholas Shumpert, a 2015 commitment is the number 4 overall prospect in the 2015 class according to Perfect Game. Watching his highlight video is pretty nice. He has a ton of range and fields the ball very smoothly and naturally. Also has a nice compact swing. He's always wanted to be a Wildcat (partly due to our basketball team), so hopefully that will be enough to sway him to come to UK next year instead of heading to the pros.

That and for the fact that his father played baseball at UK (Terry) makes a nice match. There's also another high profile commitment -- currently a SS -- that looks tailor made to play 3rd. The 2015 class is special if they can hold on to most of them.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

Just thought I would throw my two cents in.

~The outfield has good depth. No real worries there.

~I would like to think that Arnold and Fettes will rotate this year like Maile and Williams did a few years back. I think Arnold is a little better defensively but it should be a good mix.

~The pitching staff worries me a little bit. Im not sure who the weekend rotation will be but my opinion is Cody, Dwyer and maybe Andrew Nelson or possibly Ziegler. I think Zack Brown showed a lot of promise in the regionals last year as well as did Taylor Martin. I think Jack will be used as the closer and Salow as an Alex Phillips type but unsure.

~I think there is promise on the infield with Shelby and Heady who got a lot of playing time last year and Bernal is a fixture at first. I think there is a freshman named Marshall Gei who played third some in the fall. What little I got to see in the fall, this team will not be a power team but more of a speed team.

Its hard to tell how this year plays out but as always, Ill be cheering from section B at the cliff! Go Cats!!

 

[CloverforkCat]

Originally posted by CloverforkCat:
They had a freshman playing 1st in fall scrimages a tall thin lefty freshman, whose name escapes me. I think Hendo will experiment during the first 10-15 games to find out who he can depend on. I don't know if Arnold or Fettes can play 1st ala Luke Maile and Michael Williams did a few years back.
As far as catchers, Arnold hits for avg. and Fettes has power, but neither has has a lot of at bats in game action. The outfield has the most depth, with 4 solid guys, they will also rotate and DH some, although Tom will certainly play LF on a daily basis, he will probably DH a little as well.
The UK athletics web site has posted the schedule, but for some reason they still have the 2014 roster showing, wish they would update to 2015.

The freshman 1st baseman who played so well in fall ball is Evan White, 6' 3" 200 lbs out of Gahanna Ohio. I am pretty sure he is a switch hitter. With these unseasonably warm temps these past couple, and next couple of days, outside practices should help get the Cats prepared for Feb. 13th !!

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

One player to watch is Riley Mahan. He was one of the top gets in this recruiting class. I think he may end up at third base. If I'm not mistaken, Evan White only hits from the right side. Either way, February 13th can't get here soon enough. Go Cats!

Just a ponder. Who all will be at opening day?

 

[CloverforkCat]

Originally posted by Big_Blue_1018:
One player to watch is Riley Mahan. He was one of the top gets in this recruiting class. I think he may end up at third base. If I'm not mistaken, Evan White only hits from the right side. Either way, February 13th can't get here soon enough. Go Cats!

Just a ponder. Who all will be at opening day?

I believe you are right, someone else on the squad is actually a switch hitter. Yes, Riley Mahan is a kid to keep an eye on, great prospect !

 

[Comebakatz3]

I am actually hearing that Bernal will likely be over at third, White will probably get most of the time at first, and Mahan may likely unseat Connor Heady at short stop. Connor was apparently injured over the summer so he is kind of behind, and his bat apparently has continued to be below where it needs to be. So, it might be possible that Mahan gets the short stop position locked down before SEC play.

 

[Big_Blue_1018]

Marshall Gei is the switch hitter. He's a catcher and infielder. I wouldn't be shocked to see Mahan take Headys spot. Heady just seemed to forget how to hit last year. I think he hit .138 for the year.

 

[CloverforkCat]

Originally posted by Big_Blue_1018:
Marshall Gei is the switch hitter. He's a catcher and infielder. I wouldn't be shocked to see Mahan take Headys spot. Heady just seemed to forget how to hit last year. I think he hit .138 for the year.

Yes Gei is a good looking prospect, Bernal is a pre-season all SEC pick (2nd team ) and word is Riley Mahan is the real deal, he played at Moeller High in Cincy. IF and that's the 64 dollar question, our pitching staff can be decent, we can make some noise again this season.......can't wait till Feb. 13th !!