Kyle Cody rhp for the Cats squaring off vs Ryan McCormick rhp for the Johnnies. Cats are 2-0 in the ODU tourney, meanwhile St. John's is 0-2. Ironically the same scenario as last weekend in Wilmington N C, against VMI, let's hope for a different outcome.
UK versus St. John's 02-23....
- Thread starter CloverforkCat
- Start date
St. John's played in a super regional a few years ago, right? I figured it would still have a pretty solid team.
A.J. Reed homers in the top of the 2nd to give UK a 1-0 lead. Reed is killing it to start the season.
A.J. Reed was definitely feast or famine today at the plate. Hit two homeruns, but struck out three times. Believe Dick Gabriel said on the radio that he was still hitting around .600 on the season though. Cats leading 13-0 in the top of the 8th.
Big win today, gives Cats a 5-2 record heading home for several games, weather permitting, and should rack up even more wins. Played 1st 7 games away from CHS, and actually should be 7-0 !
Well I just got back a while ago and very much enjoyed the games yesterday and today. Just a few thoughts FWIW. First, buy your AJ Reed rookie card as soon as you can. The guy can flat out hit. I know he K's 3 times today but holy smokes...5 HR's in a weekend series? Are you kidding? I am not sure what the Johnnies starter was thinking but he laid a 90mph fastball down the middle on the 1st pitch to Reed and he was all over it lining a drive that just cleared the fence in RCF. The next AB he got him swinging on a full count slider that started in the zone and broke out of it. AJ was out on his front foot in his next AB but he hit the ball 400ft anyway for his 2nd homer of the day. I was actually impressed with the next Johnnies pitcher who struck AJ out on a 90mph fastball...he set it up by throwing him curve after curve after curve that made the his fastball look like 95. That's the only time I saw this weekend someone have a clue of how to pitch to him. No way was AJ seeing anything other than sliders in his 5th AB and he bit on one down and in. But AJ Reed is the real deal as far as I'm concerned.
I saw someone post earlier that Ky's bullpen is in need of development and I did not see any evidence to the contrary. I did not see Friday's game so I don't know about Brown or Martin but I saw three guys today and 1 yesterday come out of the pen. Although they all did a credible job, no one had dominating stuff. Matt Snyder seemed to have some unhittable quality about him but he struggled a bit with his control. Spencer Jack looked like he had some great stuff warming up but was clocked at 85 & 86 once the ball was in play. They are just going to have to "do a good job" and the defense is going to have to play extremely well for Ky to close out games when the SEC competition begins. Speaking of defense, I gotta tell you I'm not sure we have a stellar defense up the middle. It almost looks like we have two 2nd basemen. Reida is a good player but he does not have outstanding range. There was a ball hit up the middle in the 1st inning I thought he could have made a play on if he had tried harder. Maybe I am being a bit critical but I was kinda expecting a bit more "Dustin Pedroia" type hustle out of our SS. (I also saw him lay back on a ball yesterday) And although they turned two 4-6-3 double plays today, they do not look like they can turn the same DP when the ball is hit straight to the 2nd baseman or to his left. The balls were hit close to 2nd base on those turned DP's.
Depth-wise it looks like Henderson does have some big boys on his bench that could swing the sticks with authority if given the opportunity. Shelby, Arnold, Bernal, and Hairston all got in the game and all are great looking athletes that swing the bat like it was a toothpick.
I do not get to see SEC baseball teams in person so take this review with a grain of salt because I really have no idea how we stack up against other SEC teams. But I think we have a good team but not a great team. Our starters (Reed, Shepherd, and Cody) are obviously the pitchers with the best stuff and they are going to have to have excellent seasons if we are to make the NCAA tourney. Reed is looking like he is primed for a fantastic season but what about the other starters? I think the hitting lineup is better than it was last season so there will definitely be an improvement in our record. Anyway....
I saw someone post earlier that Ky's bullpen is in need of development and I did not see any evidence to the contrary. I did not see Friday's game so I don't know about Brown or Martin but I saw three guys today and 1 yesterday come out of the pen. Although they all did a credible job, no one had dominating stuff. Matt Snyder seemed to have some unhittable quality about him but he struggled a bit with his control. Spencer Jack looked like he had some great stuff warming up but was clocked at 85 & 86 once the ball was in play. They are just going to have to "do a good job" and the defense is going to have to play extremely well for Ky to close out games when the SEC competition begins. Speaking of defense, I gotta tell you I'm not sure we have a stellar defense up the middle. It almost looks like we have two 2nd basemen. Reida is a good player but he does not have outstanding range. There was a ball hit up the middle in the 1st inning I thought he could have made a play on if he had tried harder. Maybe I am being a bit critical but I was kinda expecting a bit more "Dustin Pedroia" type hustle out of our SS. (I also saw him lay back on a ball yesterday) And although they turned two 4-6-3 double plays today, they do not look like they can turn the same DP when the ball is hit straight to the 2nd baseman or to his left. The balls were hit close to 2nd base on those turned DP's.
Depth-wise it looks like Henderson does have some big boys on his bench that could swing the sticks with authority if given the opportunity. Shelby, Arnold, Bernal, and Hairston all got in the game and all are great looking athletes that swing the bat like it was a toothpick.
I do not get to see SEC baseball teams in person so take this review with a grain of salt because I really have no idea how we stack up against other SEC teams. But I think we have a good team but not a great team. Our starters (Reed, Shepherd, and Cody) are obviously the pitchers with the best stuff and they are going to have to have excellent seasons if we are to make the NCAA tourney. Reed is looking like he is primed for a fantastic season but what about the other starters? I think the hitting lineup is better than it was last season so there will definitely be an improvement in our record. Anyway....
