In less than two weeks, Georgia’s baseball team will be back at it as the Bulldogs begin workouts before the official start of fall practice set for Oct. 2.
As you might suspect, changes will abound. They'll be brought about by protocols in place due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
“We’ve got a 45-day window to get in as many as 30 practices, so we’ll do that. There will be no outside games, so all of our games will be intrasquad. We’ll do our Red and Black World Series, but there will be no outside games,” head coach Scott Stricklin said in an interview with UGASports. “Basically, the month of September is going to be getting these guys into basically game shape to get them ready to play in October. So, right now, we are getting them on campus, getting everyone tested, getting them settled, and we’ll get to work Aug 31, which is our first scheduled workout.”
Besides the mandatory masks, the Bulldogs will be alternating baseballs from day to day, disinfecting each batch before using a new set the following practice.
When balls are placed in the pitching machines, coaches will wear gloves. The team will not use the locker room. Players will be spread out in both dugouts, and social distancing will be employed throughout.
“It will be just like you see with the big leagues,” Stricklin said. “I know everything doesn’t seem exactly right, but that’s the way it’s got to be. There’s going to be some over-precaution, just to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help slow this thing.”
Stricklin acknowledges it will be a challenge.
Unlike Major League Baseball, which could keep players in some semblance of a bubble, it's basically impossible when you are talking about student athletes.
“It’s tough on a college campus when you’ve got kids in class and kids going out to eat in restaurants. Major League Baseball, the NBA, and soon, the NFL are keeping guys in a bubble to track every move, but I think we’ve seen in the last week with that thing with the Indians, if somebody steps out of line, there’s big-time ramifications,” Stricklin said. “The toughest challenge for all us coaches is to keep our players healthy, because we can’t keep them in that bubble that the professionals can.”
Stricklin did reveal some good news as it pertains to his team. Veterans Riley King and catcher Mason Meadows will both return for another year, joining pitchers Ryan Webb and CJ Smith, along with twins Connor and Cole Tate as draft-eligible players who made similar decisions to come back for another year in Athens. Georgia did lose outfielder Tucker Bradley, who signed a free agent contract with Kansas. But it does return a host of other position players, including Ben Anderson, who led the Bulldogs in hitting during last year’s abbreviated season at .414 with 13 RBI.
“That’s a pleasant surprise. Certainly, when the season starts, you look at guys like Riley, Ryan Webb, CJ Smith, the Tate twins, Mason Meadows, all those guys you expect to get drafted—especially in a 40-round draft. And they’re all back,” Stricklin said. “That gives us a lot of veteran experience, along with a lot of really talented freshmen. This is a great freshman class, so it's a good mix of veterans and young guys.”
While the Bulldogs will obviously miss pitchers Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox, who signed with Seattle and San Diego after being selected in last June’s MLB draft, Stricklin is feeling better about his pitching than he ordinarily might have.
“When you look at our pitching staff, Ryan Webb (2-0, 1.20) and CJ Smith (0-1, 3.32) are two really big pieces we didn’t expect to have, and now have,” Stricklin said. “Jonathan Cannon (3-0, 0.00) has blossomed in the way we hoped he would, and over the summer was really good. Now people are talking about him being one of the top picks in the draft next year.”
Like Wilcox before him, Cannon will be a draft-eligible sophomore in the 2021 draft. Sophomores Will Childers (1-0, 0.79) and Michael Polk (0-0, 0.50 over five innings) are two other promising arms to keep an eye on.
Stricklin also hopes that Florida transfer Nolan Crisp, who saved eight games as a freshman with the Gators, will be granted a waiver by the NCAA and be eligible to play next spring.
As to what the schedule will look like, right now nothing has changed.
“We’ve got our SEC coaches call coming up in a couple of weeks, and I’m sure that will be a hot topic of what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it,” Stricklin said. “As of right now, nothing’s changed. We will open with the University of Evansville on Feb. 19—as of today. That is what we hope; that is what we expect. Evansville is ready to go, so that’s what we’re hoping for, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Speculation that the SEC might consider moving to a conference-only schedule as has happened in football—is just that.
“You’ve heard all kinds of rumors and talk of conference-only, and no mid-week games. Right now, it's just all speculation, all hearsay," he said. "I think the SEC is taking the right approach, where we’ve tried to let time dictate what we do.”
