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For the few UK Baseball fans here...

  • I went to the Blue/White game on Saturday and have a few observations and reports from those who know.

    -Mike Williams, Paul McConkey, JT Riddle and Corey Littrell have all been hitting the weights and you can tell. They all are in visibly better shape, but not that they were in bad shape last year.

    -The newcomers are going to help a lot. One thing I noticed is how big some of the incoming freshman are... big.

    -They were hitting the ball quite well. Sorry if I get the names wrong as they were new, but AJ Reed dropped a bomb and others were swinging very good. Word is coach Green says this may be the best hitting team since his days at UCLA... and definitely since Cohen left.

    -Pitching is a work in progress but there will be a few main names... Littrell will be your Friday starter and he looked great working in the low 90's and giving up one hit over two innings. Low 90's isn't overpowering, but very good and with his movement, nasty.

    Didn't see Taylor Rogers, but I figure him to be the Sunday starter to close out the series. He played great over the summer up in MA.

    The third starter spot might be another freshman. There is talent there and we will just have to wait and see.

    The bullpen figures to be vastly improved. Gott is now throwing his curve for strikes which makes his fastball that much better. Wijas has also made great improvement so I don't see the bullpen being the glaring weakness it was last year.

    THis team will be young, but it's hard not to see a better result than last years disappointing squad. One thing is for sure, this team is working hard.

    This post has been edited 3 times, most recently by TKE_ on 9/26/2011 at 9:55 PM

    Twitter: @Br_Boston

    TKE_

  • Thanks for the report.

    Lets hope the bullpen does improve, because it has killed us the last 2 years.

    Follow me on twitter @ TailgatingCzar

    princeuk21 ●

  • Thanks for the report. Cats have really struggled the last 2 seasons. Hopefully they can get back on track and make the SEC Tournament.

    Jeremy Grey

  • TKE_ said...

    I went to the Blue/White game on Saturday and have a few observations and reports from those who know.

    -Mike Williams, Paul McConkey, JT Riddle and Corey Littrell have all been hitting the weights and you can tell. They all are in visibly better shape, but not that they were in bad shape last year.

    -The newcomers are going to help a lot. One thing I noticed is how big some of the incoming freshman are... big.

    -They were hitting the ball quite well. Sorry if I get the names wrong as they were new, but AJ Reed dropped a bomb and others were swinging very good. Word is coach Green says this may be the best hitting team since his days at UCLA... and definitely since Cohen left.

    -Pitching is a work in progress but there will be a few main names... Littrell will be your Friday starter and he looked great working in the low 90's and giving up one hit over two innings. Low 90's isn't overpowering, but very good and with his movement, nasty.

    Didn't see Taylor Rogers, but I figure him to be the Sunday starter to close out the series. He played great over the summer up in MA.

    The third starter spot might be another freshman. There is talent there and we will just have to wait and see.

    The bullpen figures to be vastly improved. Gott is now throwing his curve for strikes which makes his fastball that much better. Wijas has also made great improvement so I don't see the bullpen being the glaring weakness it was last year.

    THis team will be young, but it's hard not to see a better result than last years disappointing squad. One thing is for sure, this team is working hard.

    What about Taylor Martin for Lex Catholic? Friends of the family.

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    Nate87

  • Hey Nate... I'll let you know what I hear, but he wasn't brought up specifically, just that they expect significant contribution from the freshman pitchers so that would include him. We didn't go down the roster, but I like what I hear about the freshman pitching crop.

    -Also, there is a transfer from Morehead (I believe) they think will help out quite a bit. Position player.

    -Cousino isn't big, but a baller.

    -I expect Maile and Riddle to have double digit jacks this year. Williams too.

    Twitter: @Br_Boston

    TKE_

  • Thanks. Taylor's father has been a friend of the family for 30+ years and from what I've heard Taylor could walk on to our basketball team. He's on scholarship for baseball and hope he contributes to a successful baseball season.

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    Nate87

  • Appreciate the report, TKE. Hoping to see the team take a step forward this season. Bullpen will be crucial.

    signature image

    E-mail: JDRUM@247SPORTS.COM Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JDrumUK

    Jeff Drummond

  • Good stuff. I know one of the reasons Riddle stayed in town and played with the Hustlers instead of going to another summer league (Henderson told me he could have played on the Cape if he wanted) was to stay in town and have access to UK's weightlifting facilities. It's good that you can already tell a difference this long before the season.

    I expect JT Riddle will be the team's go-to name for the next few seasons.

    http://www.twitter.com/pennington_jl pennington.jl@gmail.com

    JamesPennington

  • We will have power in the batters box next season. Those three I mention and even AJ Reed will add the punch we've been missing. I think Riddle and Maile look like as good of prospects you could hope for.

    James, you are correct with Riddle and that is also the same reason Littrell did not play in Cape Cod... they felt his progress was good and that adding weight was more important. Littrell is working a little faster, but getting more innings out of him and passing games off to Gott and Wijas is the goal. I expect them both to play in Cape Cod next summer.

    This post was edited by TKE_ on 9/27/2011 at 9:05 AM

    Twitter: @Br_Boston

    TKE_

  • I'll add my thanks as well. I hope to see the Cats benefit from the growing pains of the last couple years, particularly in the bullpen.

    SSP4L!! #GBB

    terryinbham

  • If you're looking forward to big guys stepping on campus you'll be glad to see 2012 commit Chase Mullins get on campus, (6'6, 230)

    GoNolesFSU

  • Good to hear things are looking improved. Recruiting seems to be consitently good. Hopefully that will start to translate on the field.

    2kuk

  • Things need to improve. Coach is on a short leash at this point. Sucks having to count on another freshman on the pitching staff. Alex Meyer isn't walking through that door. Good to hear that guys took the offseason seriously and came back with improved bodies. Homeruns are great, but we have to keep making solid contact with the ball and driving singles and doubles. You can't rely on the homerun. I'm still worried about the pitching staff though.

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    Twitter - @JEdwar247

    Josh Edwards ●

  • It's not that UK is relying on the HR, just that we didn't have that in our arsenal much last year.

    The coaches seem to have taken a far different approach than last season... very loose with this bunch so far which if anyone was paying attention last year, wasn't the case.

    We seem to be set with two starters and two relievers, but the rest will have to fill in as practice moves along.

    Also another little tidbit.... facility improvements are on their way.

    This post was edited by TKE_ on 9/27/2011 at 11:49 AM

    Twitter: @Br_Boston

    TKE_

  • I don't have much to add, but I talked to Chandler Shepherd and Jerad Grundy at our tailgate Saturday. They were raving about the Reed kid, said he scorched every ball he hit. I asked about Maile and they said he was starting to hit better but had struggled some early. They talked like there was going to be some movement of the returning infield players (changing positions). They're both 1st year players, but they said Henderson seemed to be putting a bigger emphasis on weight lifting this year.

    They really liked Henderson's pitching knowledge. Grundy is from around Chicago and he said there is no doubt Henderson knows pitching.

    Katonic

  • I really hope the recruiting success will pay off. Recruiting has been there, but the program has been on the decline since Cohen left. Nothing against Henderson but he must win, and its not like we're expecting to go to Omaha. But at least make the SEC and NCAA tournament.

    UKCAT17

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