⚾ 🥎 2019 Alabama baseball preview: INFIELD | OUTFIELD | STARTING PITCHING | BULLPEN

[Bama News]

TIDESPORTS: The Infield

Alabama baseball opens its 2019 season on Friday with a three-game series against Presbyterian. TideSports will examine the team in a four-part series this week before the season.

This season is the start of something new for Alabama baseball. Yes, 2018 was the first season for head coach Brad Bohannon and his assistants, but this is the first year with major changes on the roster. That’s obvious with a look around the infield.

Alabama played 56 games in 2018, meaning there were 224 starts at the four infield positions. Of those, 208 are gone as players graduated, drafted or otherwise moved on. The only returning player with even a little experience is junior John Trousdale, who started 16 games at first base or third base last season, plus five more as the DH.

Trousdale played more late in the season but doesn’t appear to be on track to open 2019 as a starter. Freshman Drew Williamson seems most likely to start the season as the first baseman. He’s a physical presence (6-5/210) who has potential to grow into some power. Junior college transfer Justin King is another possibility there.

Morgan McCullough, a junior college transfer who started his career at Oregon, is the leader to open the season at second base. He hit .271 as a freshman for the Ducks and was the JUCO World Series MVP last year at Chipola College, where he hit .381 with a .471 on-base percentage. He can play multiple positions if required.

Wallace State transfer Kolby Robinson looks like the strongest candidate at shortstop. He may not be a major player on the offense, but won a Gold Glove for his play at junior college.

Another junior college transfer, Brett Auerbach, could round out the infield at third base. It’s not his natural position but his bat might necessitate that he finds a place in the lineup. He was a late-round draft pick in 2018 but chose to come to Alabama.

The one position that does have real experience returning is catcher. Sam Praytor had a strong freshman season and took a bigger role as the season went along. Praytor started 39 games and hit .279, including .278 in the SEC. He had three homers and drove in 16 runs but will be counted on for much more this season. He receives the ball well and has an arm to deter runners, throwing out 10 runners on 19 attempts last season. Auerbach can also catch.

 

[Bama News]

TIDESPORTS: The Outfield

The new faces in the infield might take you some time, but the outfield is a quicker study. Applying the same standard to the outfield that we used yesterday, there were 168 starts for Alabama baseball in the outfield in 2018. Alabama returns 116 of those.

Chandler Taylor will no longer patrol right field after spending three straight years there, but the other regular contributors all return.

Joe Breaux started slow last season but hit .280 against SEC opponents with a .429 on-base percentage. He’ll be counted on to be more reliable on offense as a senior. You can look for him to hold one of the regular spots, most likely in center.

Keith Holcombe is back for his redshirt senior season. This may be his best chance to take a big step forward after spending the fall with the baseball team instead of at football. Look out for Gene Wood as well. Wood, now a redshirt junior, won a starting job in both 2017 and in 2018 before suffering season-ending injuries both years. Wood can play center but could be more likely to compete in left, where Holcombe played most of last season.

Wallace State transfer Tyler Gentry has a strong chance to step in and play right away. He had 18 homers in his only season of junior college ball, and there aren’t any established power bats to start the season. He could be the starter in right field on opening day. Freshman T.J. Reeves should also have some chances to show what he can do during the nonconference schedule.

Walker McCleney played more than expected as a freshman in 2018. He’s a strong defensive center fielder and has good speed, so he could contribute off the bench even if he doesn’t become a regular starter. There’s still no official word on the status of Tyrell Shavers, the wide receiver who has practiced with the team this spring. He has athleticism in spades but hasn’t swung a bat regularly since his junior year in high school after enrolling early and missing his senior season of baseball.

 

[Bama News]

TIDESPORTS: Starting Pitching:

The pitching situation for Alabama will need more than one recruiting class to rebuild. The starting rotation in 2018 gave a decent account for itself, but depth was a constant worry and the talent was often overmatched by SEC opponents.

Four SEC pitchers were chosen in the first two rounds of the draft last year and more talent is always on the way up. It’s not an exaggeration to say the top third of No. 1 pitchers in the conference have first- or second-round potential, and Alabama isn’t there yet.

Friday night starter Sam Finnerty is back for his senior season and was announced as the Friday night starter earlier this week. He went undrafted after his junior season. Despite that, he acquitted himself well last season and gave Alabama a chance in nearly every outing. He didn’t get roughed up consistently, managed and minimized bad innings and didn’t put undue burden on the bullpen. That’s more than enough for him to be a reliable starter to open a series.

Freshman Tyler Ras was announced as the Saturday starter. The righty was Alabama’s top-ranked recruit in the class. Perfect Game ranked him No. 74 overall in the nation, and he has as much potential as any player on the roster.

The Sunday starter and midweek starter are still up in the air, and those positions may not be decided until competition sorts things out in the first few weeks.

Junior college transfer Wil Freeman was chosen in the 36th round of the draft but chose to attend school instead. He should be steadier than some of the freshmen, a quality which has real value when you’ll be counting on so much unproven talent. Freshman Connor Shamblin has also drawn strong reviews and will likely get an opportunity.

Redshirt junior Brock Love, now almost two years removed from Tommy John surgery, should be better off than he was in 2018. He’s always been seen as a pitcher with good stuff who just needed to stay healthy. Lefty Garret Rukes was the Sunday starter last year could be used similarly, though he never stretched out last year to the load of the other starters. Having a lefty somewhere in the weekend rotation can make things more challenging on opposing lineups.

Regardless of who is involved, look for lots of combinations in the early parts of the season. The Tampa Bay Rays had some success last season using what they called an “opener.” That essentially means using a reliever to pitch for one or two innings before bringing on a “starter” to throw the bulk of the game. That could be a possibility, but there may be even more unusual strategies waiting to be seen.

 

[Bama News]

TIDESPORTS: The Bullpen

Depth was an issue for Alabama’s pitching all of 2018. Take Alabama’s top three starters last season (Sam Finnerty, Jake Walters, Garret Rukes) out of the equation and the rest of the staff allowed 160 total runs across 291 1/3 innings. It’ll take some time to get the staff to a level more comparable with other SEC programs, but there’s reason to look for this group to improve.

Junior college transfer Casey Cobb might have the inside track to be the staff’s closer. He’s more experienced and should respond better in some pressurized situations. ACA product Deacon Medders, now a junior, will have a significant role as well after making 20 appearances last season.

Three freshman righties are going to have a role somewhere on staff: Tyler Ras was Alabama’s top high school signee. He may compete for a starting job but will end up pitching somewhere. Other evaluators were higher on Connor Shamblin, and he could also be in the mix to start as well. Jacob McNairy has pitched well in practice and is going to have a role.

Freshman Dylan Smith should have a chance to play. Don’t count out redshirt freshman Chase Lee, a walk-on who could help as a righty-on-righty specialist.

Lefty Brock Guffey (1-2, 3.64 ERA) took a bigger role as a freshman than he might have been ready for, though that could pay off this season. He may be the top left hander in the bullpen. If Garret Rukes slides over from the starting rotation to the bullpen, he’d augment depth there.

There’s going to be competition among the returning players as well. Redshirt junior Davis Vainer has always had a big curveball but has struggled with consistency. Kyle Cameronappeared in 15 games last year. They both struggled as the season went on and will have to make progress to be counted on this year like they were in 2018.

 

[bama alum]

Good to see there's depth in the bullpen. If the bats produce, the pitching should match.

 

[rick4bama]

I got to get into our baseball team more!

 

[UAgrad93]

I got to get into our baseball team more!

Baseball for the last several years has been much like the basketball program, a damn yo-yo!!!! They play well and get your hopes up, only to break your heart and let you down. Bohannon had to play the cards he was dealt last year but is making strides in creating the roster into one that can compete. He inherited one helluva mess from Goofy ass Goff!!

 

[Bama News]

https://www.tidesports.com/alabama-baseball-2019-presbyterian/

 

[alabama mike]

Hopefully, these changes will be the start of turning this program around.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Harry Doyle: One hit,that's all we got, one goddamn hit?

 

[UAgrad93]

Harry Doyle: One hit,that's all we got, one goddamn hit?

I know that 2 years ago under Goff, they had several games where they were 1 hit or even 2 hits allowed with multiple strikeouts!! They seemed to have no plan or approach at the plate other than my golf swing approach "grip and rip baby!"
Several years ago, I was given a coaching approach to hitting, called Hitting by the numbers. In it, it gave the count and then more than likely what pitch to expect. NEVER swing at a 1st pitch breaking ball!!!! Under Goff, I saw it happen so many times that players were swinging for the trees on the first pitch and it was a 57' curveball. They had their mind made up regardless!! Hopefully, Bohannon has instilled some type of hitting philosophy or approach to help these guys improve.
I will say that for my teams, it helped us tremendously. All of our offensive numbers exploded from the last year without it.

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