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Summer Ball

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uabaseballdad

BamaNation Citizen
Aug 8, 2009
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Anyone know what pitchers are playing summer ball??
Also, heard one of the pitchers may be having surgery this summer, can anyone confirm? (not sure if this is confidential)
With the loss of Peanut, Morgan, Smart, and a new catcher, that is the core of our SEC weekend pitching crew.
Summer ball performance will be very important and could give some insight into what we could expect next season in SEC play.
This fall could be the most critical of any in recent years.
 
Don't know about summer ball, heard more than one rumor about Hawley and tommy John though. That's gonna leave some huge question marks for the pitching staff if true.
 
TJ is ligament replacement surgery, right? I saw Hawley pitch against South Carolina and UCF and he didn't look like he needed any ligaments replaced. Someone needs to edjumacate me on this, I guess?

rtr
 
I do know that Alabama is the only SEC team that does not have a single player in the Cape Cod League this summer. Granted, that likely doesn't mean anything, but nonetheless, the Cape is the most prestigious and recognizable summer league, and having no representation doesn't exactly make the program look good. To put it in perspective, the only schools from the five strongest conferences (SEC, ACC, Big XII, Pac-10, and Conference USA) that have no players on the Cape this summer: Alabama, Maryland, Kansas, Kansas State, and Marshall. Austen Smith, at least, should have had an opportunity to play up there.
 
bamamick,

Hawley probably just has a tear in his UCL which could take forever to heal on its own and if it did would develop so much scar tissue. Some pitchers have a complete tear of the UCL. Same surgery for a tear or a torn UCL and he was in the bullpen and used for short stints. Alabama decided he wouldn't be eligible for a red shirt this year and they could use him in the back end of the game. By having surgery in the summer he will be out for the up coming season and should receive a medical red shirt.

As far as next years pitching staff goes, Wolf has got to be the front runner for your friday night starter. Sat and Sunday spots are wide open with a talented crop of freshmen pitchers coming in. Keller will surprise some folks early and should compete for a starters spot.
 
RoyDMercer said:
As far as next years pitching staff goes, Wolf has got to be the front runner for your friday night starter. Sat and Sunday spots are wide open with a talented crop of freshmen pitchers coming in. Keller will surprise some folks early and should compete for a starters spot.
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We have to get Ian Gardeck to school. Have have have to. Piecemealing a pitching staff together (2007) is not an option. To me, neither is starting Wolfe on Friday nights; he has proven time and time and time and time again he can't pitch in a big game...every single Friday night in the SEC is a big game.

Pilkington finally completing the turn of the corner has to happen as well.
 
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bamzoo said:
We have to get Ian Gardeck to school. Have have have to. Piecemealing a pitching staff together (2007) is not an option. To me, neither is starting Wolfe on Friday nights; he has proven time and time and time and time again he can't pitch in a big game...every single Friday night in the SEC is a big game.

Pilkington finally completing the turn of the corner has to happen as well.
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I sure hope Gardeck will come to school and try to improve his draft stock. He's got 1st round talent, 10th round control. If he can get his control problems fixed with a year at school, he could be looking at a 7-figure signing bonus next year, but I wouldn't bet on him making it to school.
 
Right now, Gardeck is just a thrower, and his control is so awful he likely wouldn't be as much help to the staff as one might think. There's obviously a reason why a guy who tops out at 98 mph falls all the way to the 8th round. He pitched his way out of the rotation and into the bullpen at Angelina JC this season, mainly due to a 1:1 ratio of walks to strikeouts. He sits at 94-96 mph in relief with a potentially nasty, yet inconsistent slider, but he generally has no clue where the ball is going. His mechanics are a mess, and he'll require a lot of work from his future pitching coaches to get straightened out. Granted, I hope he comes to school and makes an impact, but I'm not going to be overly concerned if he signs. Incoming freshmen Taylor Guilbeau and Jonathan Keller are both considerably more polished than Gardeck, and could have better chances at contributing immediately. Nonetheless, especially if Hawley is out for the season, the pitching staff will be a largely inexperienced collection of freshmen and former midweek/relief arms trying to make the next step, and a major cause for concern.
 
I thought that Charley Sullivan showed flashes of being a good pitcher for us this year. Anyone else think that he might have a shot as a starter?

rtr
 
bamamick said:
I thought that Charley Sullivan showed flashes of being a good pitcher for us this year. Anyone else think that he might have a shot as a starter?
rtr
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He did have his moments, particularly the four innings of shutout relief in the midweek game against UGA. He also got knocked around by some bad teams like Alabama State, Samford, and Alcorn State, but finished with fairly respectable numbers overall. On next year's staff, he certainly has a chance to earn some starts, as the competition figures to be pretty wide open.
 
Andrew Miller is playing for the Acadiana Cane Cutters. He is starting in right field tonight.
 
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Troy Sutherland is also pitching for the Acadiana Cane Cutters. In one inning of work thus far, he has allowed six runs (five earned) on one hit and five walks. In his only appearance this season at Alabama, he walked all three Alabama State batters he faced without recording an out, leaving him with a career ERA of infinity.

Might be time for Troy to consider finding something else to do with his spare time.
 
Coming into this past season, I had probably the lowest expectations for an Alabama baseball team I have had in some time. I really underestimated how valuable having three quality starters would be, and it turned out to be a better than expected season. Next year I feel like we should be improved, with immediate upgrades at 2B (or short, wherever Roberts plays) and LF (Carlisle) and the potential for a very solid lineup if Dugas returns. However, I'm thinking I might be undervaluing the importance of a solid weekend staff again. Maybe we will see Wolfe make the jump from his sophomore year to junior year a la Jimmy Nelson. He is terribly inconsistent but he showed flashes this year of being dominant (USM in relief and Auburn in Montgomery). Also pitched very well in Hoover against UF. Also, speaking of consistency:



BamaBriar said:
Andrew Miller is playing for the Acadiana Cane Cutters. He is starting in right field tonight.
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this guy needs to step it up a notch. He is a solid defender, but he seems to be pretty streaky at the plate.

Maybe Roy or JoJo may know, but is Booth going to move permanently to catcher next year? I know Rosecrans caught some last year, and keeping Booth at third instead of having to rely on a true freshman ( A.J. Cole?) there would be nice if Rosie can handle the job behind the plate. I would have liked to have seen Montgomery get more pt this year.
 
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We could not have not played Brock with this team we had in 2011. He was one of three guys that you could count on to hit, and we couldn't afford not to play him every inning he could be in there.

We started Montgomery against UCF in Mobile and he looked overmatched at the plate.

jmo rtr
 
Brock was one hell of a sacrifice bunter, too, which we saw way too often, especially in the first inning of games.
 
Troy Sutherland pitched 2.2 innings of shut-out relief tonight. 37 Total Pitches = 23 Strikes and 14 Balls. He allowed 3 hits. He had 1 strikeout, no bases on balls, and allowed no runs. He entered with the Cane Cutters leading 7-4 and left with the same score in the 8th with one out. Great job Troy. That's something to build on. The Cane Cutters won 7-4 to take the lead in the Texas Collegiate League.

Are any of our players other than Taylor, Andrew, and Troy playing summer ball?
 
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ptide12 said:
Maybe Roy or JoJo may know, but is Booth going to move permanently to catcher next year? I know Rosecrans caught some last year, and keeping Booth at third instead of having to rely on a true freshman ( A.J. Cole?) there would be nice if Rosie can handle the job behind the plate. I would have liked to have seen Montgomery get more pt this year.
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Everything I've seen indicates yes re:Booth moving to catcher. I've heard great things about AJ Cole, so if he can man the hot corner, then I'm on board with it. I don't know anything about Roberts defensively, but here's how my defense would break down next year:

C - Booth/Rosecrans (maybe replace Rosecrans with Montgomery, depending)
1B - Smith/McGavin (McGavin really did better latter part of season)
2B - Roberts/Reaves (whichever has the "weaker" arm/range)
SS - Reaves/Roberts (see 2B)
3B - Cole/Smith (I'm hesitant on Cole only because I haven't seen him personally, but I hear good things)

RF - Miller/Hendricks (Both have to step up big time next year)
CF - Kelton/Moore(?) (assuming Dugas signs, this is a big question-mark next year. Don't know much about Moore other than he's listed as an OF, so why not?)
LF - Carlisle/Tullidge (Zona's gonna hate this one, Tuscaloosa Chapter)

Pitching staff is where the biggest questions are going to be. Currently we have 5 guys returning with starting experience, Wolfe, Pilkington, Windsor, Sullivan, Hawley (who, if rumors are correct, will probably be lost to TJ surgery). I personally think Wolfe found his niche as a reliever this year. Maybe he can translate that into starting next year, but I wouldn't mess with it. I'd keep him coming out of the pen in the 6th-7th innings. As has been mentioned, Sullivan gave us some quality starts later in the season, but also got rocked by some lesser competition as well. I thought our "spot-starters" did fairly well considering the position they had been put in. I highly doubt that those three will be our weekend starters. More than likely going to have to rely on the freshmen arms to lock down 1 (or 2) of the weekend spots. Hopefully, Guilbeau, Keller, Kamplain can come in ready to go. Here's my absolute guess at the rotation (that's all it will be until fall practice rolls around, and probably still even then):

1). Pilkington
2). Sullivan
3). Kamplain
4). Keller
5). Tough one, I have no idea, don't want to put another freshman, I guess Zylstra can go here if he can make it back.

Bullpen - Wolfe, Windsor, Nixon, Rosecrans (if he can improve on this year), Kennedy, the rest of the freshmen, Gardeck (unlikely he doesn't sign IMO).
 
Actually, Carlisle hit near .400 with 10 or 12 HRs, I believe, with the new bats at his junior college in Alabama (Central Alabama I believe). So, I get the feeling more than just Alabama wanted him, as opposed to other walk-ons or lightly-recruited players from the area we've had to use. I'm thinking he'll be one of our better players next year.
 
BamaBriar said:
Troy Sutherland pitched 2.2 innings of shut-out relief tonight. 37 Total Pitches = 23 Strikes and 14 Balls. He allowed 3 hits. He had 1 strikeout, no bases on balls, and allowed no runs. He entered with the Cane Cutters leading 7-4 and left with the same score in the 8th with one out. Great job Troy. That's something to build on. The Cane Cutters won 7-4 to take the lead in the Texas Collegiate League.

Are any of our players other than Taylor, Andrew, and Troy playing summer ball?
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Ever since that first game he's gone 2 ERs in 8 IPs 4:3 K/BB. Best outing was 4 innings of 2-hit ball with 3 Ks to 1 BB. His last two outings were 6.2 IP 0 ERs 4 Ks to 1 BB.

Hopefully, he can build on it. This is a big year for him. If he can't earn a share of the workload this year, he may not ever get it.
 
bballfanatic

I like what you have there but I think Dugas will be back barring a stud performance this summer. He is playing summer ball with the hopes of driving his signing bonus above slot before the Aug 15th deadline. My sources tell me McGavin will not be back next year, (JC). Good news to hear that Troy is finding some success even if it is Helen Keller teams, he needs it. The Carlisle kid is a player and was a sure fire stud at Hillcrest. Speaking of Hillcrest, Case Nixon is playing summer ball and has some good outings. I think Booth will move to the catchers spot next year. He is not a HR hitter and has a catchers build who will be draft eligible next year and fits the build for a catcher. The problem with that is what about Ladson Montgomery a left handed stick and a very good catcher that sits again next year.

Rosecran will be in the bullpen possibly getting a look as a starter but we know when he isn't on the mound, he will be in the line-up. As we all know, none of this matters because our biggest concern is pitching.
 
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