In part two of the Bat-Cat preview, today we will discuss the returning outfield and pitching staff. Between the players we will be discussing six out of the 12 are draft picks out of high school and one special player looks to be a first rounder in the 2011 MLB draft. Want to know who it is keep reading and find out. Suspense killing you? Well let’s get to it!
Outfield:
The 2011 veterans in the outfield include a great group of guys they are sophomore Brian Adams and junior Chad Wright. When you put these two guys together you account off a lot of time served in the outfield.
Another veteran outfielder is Cameron Flynn who is a transfer student from Morehead State but due to NCAA transfer rules and having a season ending wrist surgery he will not play. He will be a great addition to the 2012 season and thought I would include him because he is still a member of this seasons squad. Flynn is an extremely talented outfielder while at Morehead State he belted out 15 home runs and batted .326. He also did work on the field as well, he had a .957 fielding percentage with four errors and three outfield assist. Too bad we will not have his talent for 2011 but the good news he will be here for 2012.
Does the name Brian Adams ring any bells? If not it should, he is also a member of the football team as well. Adams is a two sport athlete who serves as a back up to Randall Cobb this season but got to play in 11 of the 12 games this past season. Adams is raw talent baseball player who brings his football knowledge to the field every game. In 2010, Adamas played in 18 games and started the final nine games of the season. He is used in a strange way being he joins the team for the first few weeks of the season, then joins the football team for spring practice and returns to the baseball team following spring practice. This will keep him playing in several games, but if they do like last year this will use his speed on the base path in early games. Last season he was used for late-inning pinch running situations. In 2010 Adams had 36 at bats, with 17 hits and 10 runs, also having 8 RBI. His 2010 batting average was an amazing .472 with the lowest he dropped all season was a .375. Adams was a 2009 draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 45th round.
Now for the most consistent batter on the team if not the best hitter in Chad Wright, he was an everyday starter in 2010, playing in 54 games with 53 of them being starts. He batted a whopping .316 hitting 76 in 225 attempts. The most important number to me was his on base percentage of .388 it is like this guy will find away to get on base and give his team a shot at winning even if it means taking a pitch every now and then, he went on to score 36 times last season. Wright also spent his summer in New England at the Cape Cod league, and even received all-star honors there. This summer he led his team to a batting title as well as batting an even .300 which is outstanding for the little amount of at bats you get. He got the honor of playing at my favorite ball park in baseball Fenway Park in the Cape Cod League All-Star game. Between this past summer play and what I look to be a big season he may hear his name come draft day.
Pitchers:
As most teams the pitching staff is the most returning amount of player this year is no different. Eight returning players including four players who I believe are ready to get the start. You have two southpaws (LHP) returning this season sophomore Taylor Rogers and senior Mike Kaczmarek. As for the right hand pitchers you have sophomore Jordan Cooper, sophomore Walter Wijas, sophomore Sam Kidd, junior Braden Kapteyn(who we discussed on Monday), junior Alex Meyer and redshirt senior Nick Kennedy. An experienced pitching staff wins games and I believe these guys have that experience.
In 2010 southpaw Taylor Rogers was of the top freshman pitcher and the only pitcher to make a start every weekend of the season. Making 14 starts he posted a 4-7 record with a .640 ERA and tossed a team-best 83 innings. In his first collegiate start he threw 7.2 shutout innings allowing six hits and one walk. Rogers is a highly awarded player receiving freshman of the week honors (2/22/10) as well as being called the seventh-best newcomer in the SEC last season. I expect a big year out of Rogers this season as he shakes off the freshman image and becomes a top pitcher in the SEC. He throws a low 90’s fast ball and several secondary pitches. In 2009 Taylor was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 37th round and he has been named the 52nd best prospect for the 2012 draft.
Senior Mike Kaczmarek has become the workhorse of bullpen last season. He appeared in 22 games, which was the second most on the team, he was used as a set-up man as well as a middle reliever. He was originally brought to the team to be a two-way player, also plays outfield, but due to his ability as a lefty specialist. They have worked him in fall ball in both positions so he may be a two-way player again his senior year but he is such an important member of the pitching staff I wouldn’t risk it. He pitched in 23.1 innings with a 5.40 ERA he gave up 15 runs last season as well as 21 hits. I am excited to see is performance this season.
Next up is a player who has the ability to become one of the best pitchers in the nation Jordan Cooper. Last season Cooper was used in several different roles primarily as a starter, he appeared in 20 games and started eight. Midway through last season he emerged to be a weekend starter. Some say Cooper will be the Ace of this year staff he ended 2010 with a 5.71 ERA in his 58.1 innings pitched. He had his best week against the 2009 and 2010 national champions LSU and South Carolina to earn him Freshman of the week (5/17/10), he pitched a one run game against South Carolina and came back later in the week to pitch a seven inning best against LSU. Cooper is looking to have a big season in 2011 with more starts coming his way. Cooper was a 17th round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009.
Next up is Walter Wijas who appeared in 14 games making one start. Wijas tossed 25.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA in his one start that he made in 2010 he gave up one hit and one walk and struck out three batters. He will continue to be a piece of the Cats bullpen in 2011.
Another two-way player for the Cats is Sam Kidd, played in 10 games in the outfield and made 12 appearances at the mound with 5 starts. He severed as a mid week starter with a 1-2 record and 8.89 ERA. As for the outfield he was placed in to late inning games. Kidd will be competing for playing time in the outfield as well as on the mound this season. He went to play this summer in the New York Colligate Baseball League this summer to improve his game as well as future draft stock. He played in 22 games and made nine starts in the outfield batting.273 as well as on the mound he made seven appearances starting five and threw in 18.2 innings. Hopefully this summer’s experience will help him improve for the 2011 season. Kidd was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 39th round of the 2009 draft.
Senior Nick Kennedy has a great piece to the bullpen with is amazing sidearm pitching style; he appeared in 21 games last season all out of the pen. He primarily was used as a late inning relief guy who posted up a 4-1 record as well as a 4.21 ERA with one save. I look for him to share the late inning spot with Kaczmarek this season. With his amazing release point mixed with his nasty slider he causes trouble for many right-handed hitt
ers.
I have saved the best for last I know teased you this long and wouldn’t tell you who the first round draft-pick will be. Are you ready for it? Alex Meyer the starting pitcher from Indiana looks to have emerged as a first round draft pick in the 2012 draft according to mymlbdraft.com. Meyer throws a high-velocity fastball and a breaking ball that will make you snap your neck! He has been looked at as a top draft pick since arriving to Kentucky. Last season the right handed pitcher made 12 appearances with 11 starts, would have been more if he had not become ill with mononucleosis and miss three weeks of the season. In those 12 games he posted a 5-3 record with a 7.06 ERA. He tossed 51.0 innings, gave up 59 hits, 47 runs (40 of which were earned) and 36 walks. The number that stands out to me is his ablity to strike people out with 63 K’s. I look forward to a big season in his junior season with and being healthy I expect at least 15 starts if not more for this amazing pitcher. MyMLbdraft.com has Alex Meyer to be selected as the 20th pick overall to the Colorado Rockies, as we know after a long season this could go up or down as this is just a mock draft but I look at him to get picked somewhere between 20-30 in draft. I believe he would be a better fit for the Boston Red Sox who holds the 19th pick of the draft as I believe he fits in perfect with their minor league system and they have shown interest in him in the 2008 draft. The Red Sox used their 20th pick on him in 2008, the Red Sox hold two first round picks as well as a compensation round so who knows how it will fall.
Well this wraps up the returning players for the 2011 season next week brings on the freshman and can’t wait to talk about it. 14 days until the BatCats take the field are you just as excited as I am?
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