Analyzing No. 23 Alabama Baseball's Catching Tandem Prior to Conference Play

A single game separates the No. 23 Alabama baseball team from the start of conference play for the 2025 season. After March 11's road test against UAB at Regions Field, the Crimson Tide will head to Blue Bell Park for a three-game series against No. 14 Texas A&M beginning March 14.

The Crimson Tide has lost just once in 17 games, the lone defeat coming Sunday at home in the series finale against Presbyterian. Win or lose against the Blazers, the team is in a solid spot entering the almost-perpetual gauntlet that is the SEC.

One thing the team will need to be successful in this next phase of the regular season, where all the challenges that are inherent to college baseball will ramp up considerably by virtue of playing in the sport's top league, is production from its catchers.

Alabama entered the campaign shorthanded behind the plate thanks to an offseason injury to backup Luke Vaughn, whose 2025 season was lost before the first game. Its two backstops are both SEC through and through: LSU transfer Brady Neal and former Ole Miss catcher Will Plattner.

The two have started 11 and six games respectively. The unit sans Vaughn, who partook in limited 2024 action, is effectively new; Plattner did not play last season despite being on the team, and Neal replaced Mac Guscette, the Crimson Tide's starting catcher from 2023-24.

There was much excitement surrounding Neal's summer 2024 commitment to Alabama and second-year coach Rob Vaughn. A productive player for the Tigers with 33 starts under his belt prior to arriving in Tuscaloosa, he was a big addition for a roster that needed to fill a vastly important spot.

Neal's bat has not yet come around almost a month into the season. He is presently hitting .194 with one home run and seven runs batted in. Among starters on a prolific offense, he is last in both categories, and also behind the field in hits (six, tied with Plattner).

None of that is to suggest that he has not contributed to the offense or will not improve at the plate in short order. He is fourth on the team in walks, and left fielder Kade Snell is the only starter who has fewer strikeouts than Neal: it's Snell five, Neal eight.

Plattner, for his part, has been as productive in the backup catcher spot as many might hope for. In a depleted group, things he does in Neal's absence have some level of elevated importance as Alabama is only two deep amongst natural catchers. He has seven runs scored and six RBIs in 23 at-bats.

Against the Blazers on Tuesday, it may well be that Plattner starts since it's a midweek game. He got the Saturday start against Presbyterian, going hitless but walking once and scoring twice. When Neal returned to the lineup on Sunday, he was also without a hit but added an RBI.

While at LSU, Neal posted good offensive numbers, with five extra-base hits as a true freshman on the 2023 team that won a national title and an overall batting average of .276 accompanied by nine big flies. The junior is a good defensive catcher with a strong arm, but this is the version of him the Crimson Tide needs at the dish.

It would be hard not to be pleased with Plattner's work while the bat is in his hands. In his most recent midweek outing, he went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in on March 4 against Jacksonville State. Neal going down for any reason would be a nightmare scenario, but the Crimson Tide does have another former adversary to potentially lean on.

It's a long season in baseball. March can often look a lot different from April or May. The toughest part of Alabama's season is about to be staring it right in the face, and it needs everything it can get from the catcher position both at and behind home plate.

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