I went to Saturday's scrimmage and watched the first eight innings, and the revelation was freshman center fielder Tanner Chun. I usually refrain from making bold statements after one viewing, but he looks like he will be a big-time producer this year. Batting leadoff for the blue team, he went 4 of 5 with two runs scored, icluding two doubles. He got his first two hits off Michael Lombardi, who pitched well, his next one off of Kross Howarth, a freshman who struggled, and his last one off of Logan Hurd. More than the four hits, he just looks the part and could be a huge addition to the lineup.
The batting order for the blue team was Chun, freshman second baseman Nate Johnson, freshman third baseman William Good, DH Matthias Haas, catcher Andrew McKenna, shortstop James Agabedis, left fielder Brock Slaton and freshman right fielder Grant Wilson. They had eight guys batting because the first baseman was either Brennan Lambert or another coach who were manning the position without obviously getting at-bats. I did not do interviews, so I'm not sure what the reason for that was.
The green team had Lombardi leading off, following by freshman center fielder Jason Wachs, second baseman Connor Rasmussen, third baseman Gavin Schulz, left fielder Jackson Linn, right fielder Tracy Mitchem and catcher Hugh Pinckney. It was a seven-man lineup without a DH or a hitting first baseman.
Lombardi showed his athleticism in the first inning after giving up a single to Chun and walking Johnson, first fielding a bunt by Good and forcing out Chun at third and then catching a soft liner right before it hit the ground even though Haas's bat was heading his way. Johnson thought the ball had hit the ground, so Lombardi trotted to second base to double him off to end the inning. I liked Lombardi's stuff. He proceeded to retire five in a row in the second and third before Chun singled off him again and he walked and hit the next two batters. He struck out Haas to get out of trouble and had a clean fourth to end his day on the mound after about 50 pitches. He was not done, though, Leading off the bottom of the fourth, he hit a home run over the left field wall.
Overall, I felt the defensive fundamentals were better than in the last several preseason or fall scrimmages I attended over several years (no more than 1 or 2 per year). This was a pretty good defensive team last year that was much more fundamentally sound than it ever was under Jewett. Gavin Schulz tried reach for hard grounder instead of blocking it and it got past him, and Wachs dropped a sinking fly ball in left center field, but I would not given either player an error, and I'm usually a harder judge than the official scorekeeper in real games. I did not get to see presumed starting shortstop Kaikea Harrison, who got the day off but is not hurt.
I was not particularly impressed with the pitchers other than Lombardi, but it is hard to judge on one or two innings. Blaise Wilcenski, who likely will be one of the weekend starters (Saturday or Sunday), gave up seven hits in four innings by m count, including Lombardi's homer (the scoreboard was not operational). Other than Luc Fladda, there are question marks with the rotation in my book.
J.D. Rodriguez, a transfer from Golden West College in Calfornia, pitched two innings and gave up an RBI single to Schulz. Freshman Michale DeVenney showed some promise, getting three fly-ball outs, but it was a short sample size. Julius Ejike-Charles, who I saw hit a mammoth home run off Lombardi in the fall but probably has a better chance of a role at pitcher than as a hitter, pitched a scoreless eighth.
For the green team, Howarth replaced Lombardi and got hit hard, allowing at least four hits and three doubles in the sixth inning and a run in the fifth as well. Chun turned on a pitch to double down the left field line off him, and Johnson turned on a pitch to double down the right field line immediately afterward. Hurd had a clean seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth, giving up four hits.
Rasmussen lined out to right field for a sacrifice fly in the first but went 0 for 3 with a walk after that. Jackson Linn went 0 for 3 with a walk, including a warning track fly ball to straightaway center field.
Chun, Johnson and Wachs are the freshmen who I hear are ready to play immediately, and I saw with my own eyes about Chun. Jay Uhlman is high on this freshman class after the near washout from last year's group.
The new pitchers I hear have made the best impression are Ejike-Charles, Devenney, Rodriguez and John-Paul Sauer, who did not pitch while I was there. They really think the bullpen will be championship material--I am wait and see on that--so the key will be finding starters who can get threw an order twice.
The batting order for the blue team was Chun, freshman second baseman Nate Johnson, freshman third baseman William Good, DH Matthias Haas, catcher Andrew McKenna, shortstop James Agabedis, left fielder Brock Slaton and freshman right fielder Grant Wilson. They had eight guys batting because the first baseman was either Brennan Lambert or another coach who were manning the position without obviously getting at-bats. I did not do interviews, so I'm not sure what the reason for that was.
The green team had Lombardi leading off, following by freshman center fielder Jason Wachs, second baseman Connor Rasmussen, third baseman Gavin Schulz, left fielder Jackson Linn, right fielder Tracy Mitchem and catcher Hugh Pinckney. It was a seven-man lineup without a DH or a hitting first baseman.
Lombardi showed his athleticism in the first inning after giving up a single to Chun and walking Johnson, first fielding a bunt by Good and forcing out Chun at third and then catching a soft liner right before it hit the ground even though Haas's bat was heading his way. Johnson thought the ball had hit the ground, so Lombardi trotted to second base to double him off to end the inning. I liked Lombardi's stuff. He proceeded to retire five in a row in the second and third before Chun singled off him again and he walked and hit the next two batters. He struck out Haas to get out of trouble and had a clean fourth to end his day on the mound after about 50 pitches. He was not done, though, Leading off the bottom of the fourth, he hit a home run over the left field wall.
Overall, I felt the defensive fundamentals were better than in the last several preseason or fall scrimmages I attended over several years (no more than 1 or 2 per year). This was a pretty good defensive team last year that was much more fundamentally sound than it ever was under Jewett. Gavin Schulz tried reach for hard grounder instead of blocking it and it got past him, and Wachs dropped a sinking fly ball in left center field, but I would not given either player an error, and I'm usually a harder judge than the official scorekeeper in real games. I did not get to see presumed starting shortstop Kaikea Harrison, who got the day off but is not hurt.
I was not particularly impressed with the pitchers other than Lombardi, but it is hard to judge on one or two innings. Blaise Wilcenski, who likely will be one of the weekend starters (Saturday or Sunday), gave up seven hits in four innings by m count, including Lombardi's homer (the scoreboard was not operational). Other than Luc Fladda, there are question marks with the rotation in my book.
J.D. Rodriguez, a transfer from Golden West College in Calfornia, pitched two innings and gave up an RBI single to Schulz. Freshman Michale DeVenney showed some promise, getting three fly-ball outs, but it was a short sample size. Julius Ejike-Charles, who I saw hit a mammoth home run off Lombardi in the fall but probably has a better chance of a role at pitcher than as a hitter, pitched a scoreless eighth.
For the green team, Howarth replaced Lombardi and got hit hard, allowing at least four hits and three doubles in the sixth inning and a run in the fifth as well. Chun turned on a pitch to double down the left field line off him, and Johnson turned on a pitch to double down the right field line immediately afterward. Hurd had a clean seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth, giving up four hits.
Rasmussen lined out to right field for a sacrifice fly in the first but went 0 for 3 with a walk after that. Jackson Linn went 0 for 3 with a walk, including a warning track fly ball to straightaway center field.
Chun, Johnson and Wachs are the freshmen who I hear are ready to play immediately, and I saw with my own eyes about Chun. Jay Uhlman is high on this freshman class after the near washout from last year's group.
The new pitchers I hear have made the best impression are Ejike-Charles, Devenney, Rodriguez and John-Paul Sauer, who did not pitch while I was there. They really think the bullpen will be championship material--I am wait and see on that--so the key will be finding starters who can get threw an order twice.
