Preseason Practice Underway

Part 1 – New player amenities already paying dividends

Part 2 – Talking development, experience benefits, whiff rates

The countdown to Opening Day is upon us.

In a mere three weeks, Georgia’s baseball team opens its season under first-year head coach Wes Johnson with a three-game set against UNC-Asheville.

Friday, the Bulldogs officially kicked off preseason practice, so the timing is perfect to take a deep dive inside Johnson’s first squad, and what the Bulldogs can expect this spring:

During the fall, Johnson was reticent to list pitchers in specific roles, with preseason practice underway, that’s starting to change.

Graduate Charlie Goldstein (3-2, 5.03) and sophomore Leighton Finley (2-2, 6.26) were the first two names mentioned when asked about his weekend rotation, with 6-foot-5 transfer Christian Mracna (4-1, 3.09, four saves) as another name to keep an eye on.

Don’t let the earned run averages of Goldstein and Finley fool you.

Goldstein did his best work against SEC foes, and under Johnson, has added a couple of ticks to his velocity up to 95 mph. Ditto for the 6-5, 225-pound Finley, who can get the ball to the upper 90s and is coming off an excellent fall.

“(Goldstein) had a really good second half of the season if you look at his metrics and his numbers and all the stuff that I looked at, he had a really good second half,” Johnson said. “Going back to that heartbeat, you feel good about running him out there on the weekend and he's not going to be overwhelmed with an environment or a situation.”

Finley – who struck out 31 batters in his 26 innings as a freshman – appears ready to take the next step.

“Leighton Finley looks real calm and poised and everything we're doing, and he throws a lot of strikes,” Johnson said. “Christian Mracna, we really, really like him.”

Johnson said Mracna could also see work out of the bullpen, where transfers Brandt Pancer (Stanford), Brian Zeldin (Penn), Zach Harris (Georgia Southern), Daniel Padysak (College of Charleston), and Josh Roberge (Southern New Hampshire) along with returnee Kolten Smith are among those who have opened Johnson’s eyes.

Of that group, Pancer (3-1, 4.18, four saves) comes from a Stanford squad that played in the last three College World Series, while Zeldin (2-1, 3.74) also comes with postseason experience.

Holdovers Chandler Marsh (1-3, 5.46), Jarvis Evans (2-0, 4.71) Will Pearson (0-1, 5.73), Colin Caldwell (2-0, 8.31), and Coleman Willis (redshirted in 2022) are among the returnees hoping Johnson’s teaching will help them bounce back from subpar years.

“When I talk about Brandt Pancer, Brian Zeldin, or a Kolten Smith, and I could go down the list, I’m not saying those guys couldn’t start, either. Zach Harris has come back and done some nice things,” Johnson said. “There’s still some competition going right there, where those guys will have to separate. But I feel comfortable that however that dust settles, we’ll have some options in the bullpen to get us out of some jams.”

However the bullpen shakes out, don’t look for Johnson to pigeonhole his pitchers into specific spots.

“When I was with the Twins, we never announced the closer. There were times when the games on the line in the 6th inning and your starter is done, you go with your best guy right there to stay in the game,” said Johnson, who served as the pitching coach for Minnesota from 2019-2022. “We did that and in 19 we had the best FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) in the major leagues in the bullpen and had another good year in 2020. So, my point is, is. We'll operate a little bit like that.

“It may be one of those things that evolves and you look up and so and so is up and throwing a lot in the eighth and the ninth, and everybody will go ‘Is that your closer? Well, yes and no. If we've got to use a Brandt Pancer or a Josh Roberge or whoever, if we need them in the sixth, they’re going in the sixth.”

First base is one position where you’re likely to see some platooning through the year, simply because Johnson appears to have some quality options.

All-American Charlie Condon (.386-25-67) saw most of his playing time at first base last year. But with Condon expected to play a lot of outfield and possibly third base, that’s opened the doors for players like Corey Collins (.267-6-20), transfers Henry Hunter (.166-3-20 at UAB) and Lucas Farris (.291-13-43 at Western Kentucky), and true freshman Trey Phelps (rated as the No. 2 third baseman his senior year at George Perimeter Academy Perfect Game).

Second base and shortstop will also be a position of depth.

Kolby Branch (.325-6-41) started all 55 games last year earning Freshman All-American honors at Baylor while returnee Sebastian Murillo (.266-6-23), Purdue transfer Paul Toetz (.335-10-53 last year at Purdue) and slick-fielding freshman Trey King (.517-4-43 his senior year at McIntosh) are all in the mix at second.

Senior Josh Stinson (.188-1-6) is also back to playing some infield after spending the majority of time in the outfield and figures to see his share of opportunities.

Mississippi State transfer Slate Alford will also play some second base when he’s not playing third.

“In our first live hitter-pitcher the other day, he hit a ball that I think went 440 feet,” Johnson said of Alford (6-3, 220). “He’s on a mission. There are scenarios where Slate could play all four infield positions, and everybody will go wow.”

After hitting .248 with nine homers and 36 RBI last year for Mississippi State, Johnson will not be surprised to see those numbers jump considerably.

He feels a change of scenery will do the junior good.

“One hundred percent,” Johnson said. “Look at a guy like Justin Turner. It’s not to say that where he came from was a bad place. It’s just the actual coaching philosophy didn’t match up to the way his mind works. So yeah, I do think the change of scenery is really going to help.”

Keep an eye on Condon, too. The All-American will also play some third for the Bulldogs when he’s not in the outfield.

Another position of depth.

Senior Fernando Gonzalez (.232-6-18) was metrically the best catcher in the SEC last year, and there’s depth behind him in Hunter, Collins and Campbell transfer Logan Jordan (301-12-52), who also plays in the outfield.

“Logan Jordan is really good back there, so is Henry Hunter, and you’ve got Corey as well,” Johnson said. “If we're not playing Fernando, we've got three other legitimate options to put him.”

Condon can and will play all three outfield positions for the Bulldogs depending on matchups.

He’ll have a lot of help.

FAU grad transfer Dylan Goldstein (.297-13-62) missed the fall due to a hamstring injury but has since returned, recently hitting three home runs in nine at-bats during pitcher-hitter sessions.

Johnson feels grad transfer Dillon Carter (.267-6-23 at Texas Tech) could be as good a center fielder as there is in the country, with grad transfer Clayton Chadwick (.291-10-49 in 63 starts last year at Sam Houston State) also expected to receive significant playing time.

Along with Stinson, the aforementioned Jordan will also be part of the mix, with transfer John Morant (.434-15-70 in 52 starts at College of Central Florida) also slated to see some time in right field.