Little late I know.... being out in right field, it's a little bit limiting as far as what all you can see, but in any event it's always nice to be back in the ball park.
-Robert Tyler and David Gonzalez were the starters for their respective squads.... that's a bit of misnomer though as they were doing the "three way" rotation that we saw last season.... I have to say that I like that format as it allows guys to get more at bats in a shorter time. Tyler looked good. No way to tell what he was throwing from a velocity stand point, but he was keeping it down and seemed to really over match the hitters that faced him. He has a very relaxed, in charge, kind of demeanor.... similar to what we saw from Michael Palazzone later in his career. Gonzalez struggled a bit with walks, but got a ground ball for a tailor made double play, only to see it get thrown into RF from SS.
-On that note, Nick King and Michael Bell flip flopped between 2B and SS. Bell had the error noted above. That was disappointing to see. You don't want to read too much into it, but I was hoping to see that double hitch gone this fall... King looks more comfortable at SS from what I can tell, but he didn't get too many balls during the live scrimmage.
-Morgan Bunting and Daniel Nichols rotated at 1B. I don't believe that Jared Walsh saw any time there, but he did pitch. Walsh looks like his lost some velocity from 2013, but seemed to have pretty good control and pitches to contact a lot.
-Keegan McGovern played CF when Wrenn wasn't there. I'm not sure if a 3rd guy played there, but I don't think so.
-Henry Rowling and McGovern also saw time in RF. The latter is the better fielder, but I understand that the plan is more for Rowling to DH.... I don't think that Rowling would be a huge liability in the OF or anything, but McGovern is pretty good. DJ Smith played out there too.
-Wish I knew who else was playing 3B when Trevor Kieboom was hitting... Kieboom is pretty well put together, by the way.
-Watched a good bit of BP before the scrimmage.... Aaron Rzucidlo squared up some balls and had the nicest round that I remember noticing.
-Skyler Weber hit a triple to right center, that I really thought was getting out of the park, for the nicest hit of the day. Skyler looked good in BP too and was playing LF during the scrimmage.
-Brandon Stephens pitched the last inning and seemed to have some trouble with location. Really pulling for Stephens to get an inning this spring given that's how he hurt himself back in '12.
-Noticed Bo Tucker and Ryan Avidano shagging balls and playing some long toss during BP. Physically, both of those guys look like juniors already.
-Pitching is definitely ahead of hitting right now. We didn't drive too much into the OF during the scrimmage. Hard to get a feel for what we'll be defensively. If there's a better CF in the SEC than Wrenn, I'll be stunned. You have to feel great about C when Stephens is back there too. Stricklin seems very high on Nick King, but Nelson Ward did such a good job at SS last year that you expect there to be a little drop off. Conor Welton would have been a CF on any other team, so those are very big shoes to fill in LF also.
-Sure was great to be back out there.... Hope to catch a couple more this fall.
-Robert Tyler and David Gonzalez were the starters for their respective squads.... that's a bit of misnomer though as they were doing the "three way" rotation that we saw last season.... I have to say that I like that format as it allows guys to get more at bats in a shorter time. Tyler looked good. No way to tell what he was throwing from a velocity stand point, but he was keeping it down and seemed to really over match the hitters that faced him. He has a very relaxed, in charge, kind of demeanor.... similar to what we saw from Michael Palazzone later in his career. Gonzalez struggled a bit with walks, but got a ground ball for a tailor made double play, only to see it get thrown into RF from SS.
-On that note, Nick King and Michael Bell flip flopped between 2B and SS. Bell had the error noted above. That was disappointing to see. You don't want to read too much into it, but I was hoping to see that double hitch gone this fall... King looks more comfortable at SS from what I can tell, but he didn't get too many balls during the live scrimmage.
-Morgan Bunting and Daniel Nichols rotated at 1B. I don't believe that Jared Walsh saw any time there, but he did pitch. Walsh looks like his lost some velocity from 2013, but seemed to have pretty good control and pitches to contact a lot.
-Keegan McGovern played CF when Wrenn wasn't there. I'm not sure if a 3rd guy played there, but I don't think so.
-Henry Rowling and McGovern also saw time in RF. The latter is the better fielder, but I understand that the plan is more for Rowling to DH.... I don't think that Rowling would be a huge liability in the OF or anything, but McGovern is pretty good. DJ Smith played out there too.
-Wish I knew who else was playing 3B when Trevor Kieboom was hitting... Kieboom is pretty well put together, by the way.
-Watched a good bit of BP before the scrimmage.... Aaron Rzucidlo squared up some balls and had the nicest round that I remember noticing.
-Skyler Weber hit a triple to right center, that I really thought was getting out of the park, for the nicest hit of the day. Skyler looked good in BP too and was playing LF during the scrimmage.
-Brandon Stephens pitched the last inning and seemed to have some trouble with location. Really pulling for Stephens to get an inning this spring given that's how he hurt himself back in '12.
-Noticed Bo Tucker and Ryan Avidano shagging balls and playing some long toss during BP. Physically, both of those guys look like juniors already.
-Pitching is definitely ahead of hitting right now. We didn't drive too much into the OF during the scrimmage. Hard to get a feel for what we'll be defensively. If there's a better CF in the SEC than Wrenn, I'll be stunned. You have to feel great about C when Stephens is back there too. Stricklin seems very high on Nick King, but Nelson Ward did such a good job at SS last year that you expect there to be a little drop off. Conor Welton would have been a CF on any other team, so those are very big shoes to fill in LF also.
-Sure was great to be back out there.... Hope to catch a couple more this fall.
