Season-opener: Richmond at Georgia
WHERE: Foley Field
WHEN: Friday (5 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.), Sunday (1 p.m.)
With the 2020 season opener now just five days away, Georgia baseball coach Scott Stricklin and his staff are putting the final plans in place for what many are predicting will be another successful campaign.
The Bulldogs are picked to finish third in the SEC East by league coaches, behind Vanderbilt and Florida. Leading college baseball media outlets such as Baseball America and D1Baseball also have the Bulldogs slated for a top-10 finish, which would essentially assure Georgia of hosting an NCAA Regional for the third time in as many years.
Of course, winning the regional after two straight losses is the bump Stricklin’s squad must find a way to overcome. But from a talent standpoint, those who follow the sport closely believe the Bulldogs at least have the talent to give it a try.
“It all starts on the mound, we know that. And we think our defense is going to be elite again,” Stricklin said. “The defense the last two years has been one of the best in the country, and I think we’re going to be right there again.”
Last year the Bulldogs set a school record for defense by making just 46 errors in 63 games for a fielding percentage of .980, the best in the history of the school.
However, as Stricklin surmised, it’s the pitching that will ultimately determine how far the Bulldogs go. With a starting rotation that includes a pair of early first-round picks in Emerson Hancock and Cole Wilcox, along with junior lefty C.J. Smith, expectations are high.
Pitch counts are currently being increased.
According to Stricklin, plans after this weekend’s intra-squads will be to have each starter be able to go 85-90 pitches during the opening series against Richmond, before slowly increasing those numbers over the next few weeks of non-conference play.
“The biggest goal this last week is getting pitch counts up and staying healthy,” Stricklin said. “I think you can anticipate seeing 8-10 (pitchers), somewhere in there, depending on the scores. We feel really good about our top 8-9 guys, and we’ve got 3-4 other guys who could jump in there very easily. They’ve got the potential to do it.”
During the season, 13 to 14 pitchers will likely be the norm.
Offensively, Stricklin said the team plans on being more aggressive than perhaps what they’ve been in previous seasons.
“We’re going to try to run a little bit more and try to put more pressure on defenses,” Stricklin said. “When you play a lot of close games as you do in the SEC you’ve got to find a way to win 4-3 instead of losing 3-2. You’ve got to find ways to score that extra run. So you might see a little more hit-and-run; you might see a little more aggressiveness on the base paths.”
Stricklin feels he’s got the personnel to make that happen.
Ben Anderson is a transfer from Furman who earned Freshman All-American honors after hitting .361. He figures to hit leadoff in Friday’s opener, followed by senior shortstop Cam Shepherd (.231-8-33).
Tucker Bradley (.299-3-26 in 2018), who played in just three games after injuring his shoulder, is slated to hit third, followed by second baseman Riley King (.295-8-43) at cleanup, with newcomer Garrett Blaylock and third-year man Connor Tate (.270-3-19) jockeying for position in the lineup after that. First baseman Patrick Sullivan (.263-3-24), either catcher Mason Meadows (.180-3-15) or Shane Marshall (.258-1-10), and hopefully center Randon Jernigan (.248-1-12), who suffered a minor finger injury recently, are expected to round out the bottom third of the lineup.
Veteran Chaney Rogers (.256-1-13), outfielder Kaden Fowler, and freshman infielder Buddy Floyd are three other players to watch.
“We’re not going to be a team that hits 100 home runs, but we’re going to have some sneaky pop in our lineup,” said Stricklin, who plans on playing 13-14 different position players throughout the early course of the campaign.
“We’re not going to have one lineup, at least early on,” he said. “We might look at some guys—right-handed hitters against left-handed hitters, things like that. But I feel really confident that throughout the season, we’re going to have 13-14 guys who get to play.”
While he expects players like King, Shepherd, Tucker, and Tate to hit anywhere between eight and 10 home runs, Stricklin says to keep an eye on Blaylock as a candidate who could possibly hit more.
Blaylock (6-foot-3, 206) comes to Georgia as a junior college transfer after spending a season at St. John’s River State following a one-year stint at Vanderbilt, where he played in 18 games for the Commodores in 2018.
“Tons of talent, tons of upside, lots of power. He had a great summer. When he was in the Coastal Plains League, he hit 14 home runs and led that league in home runs with a wood bat,” Stricklin said. “He’s the guy. When he hits in batting practice, it stands out. He hits them farther than anybody. He just has to be a little more consistent, but he’s a great athlete with great arm strength, and looks the part. When he puts on the uniform, you’ll see he's that guy. We just need to get him off to a good start, get that confidence going.”
