Series Notebook: Question Marks on the Mound, Early Solidity in Middle of the Order for UK After Wright State

Kentucky baseball is now 5-2 after the first two weeks of the 2023 regular season.

There's been plenty to brag about at Kentucky Proud Park, especially on Sunday, as the Wildcats won their rubber match over the Wright State Raiders in dominant fashion, 15-0.

Against both Elon and WSU, Kentucky has won two of three games, with a 6-3 win over Evansville in the midweek sprinkled in-between. Nothing to write home about, sure, but when taking a peak at some of the "powerhouses" of the SEC, you'll find that winning every game — even every series — against a smaller opponent is no easy task.

No. 5 Texas A&M needed a late rally to avoiding getting swept by the Portland Pilots, Mississippi State has losses to VMI and UL Monroe and No. 3 Tennessee has already had its share of on-field and off-field misfortunes through its first few games. Nobody's perfect...except No. 20 Alabama and No. 23 South Carolina...both are yet to lose.

The point is, it's early doors. Lots of ball to be played over the next few months. As mentioned in my first series notebook following UK's weekend at Elon, take it all with a grain of salt, because the identity of every team in the nation is still taking shape.

Game Recaps:

Game 1: Kentucky 8, Wright State 3
Game 2: Wright State 12, Kentucky 9
Game 3: Kentucky 15, Wright State 0

Here's some thoughts from the series:

ON THE MOUND

-We'll go game-by-game here. Logan Martin earns his first win of the season on Friday night, tossing six innings worth of four-hit, three-run baseball, and credit to him for settling in after a rough beginning. Just two batters in, he was down 2-0 after a walk and a home run.

-Martin has now given up five earned in two starts spanning 11 IP. The off-speed stuff is looking effective and the fastball has life, but there's still that sharpness missing thus far. Very intrigued to see the redshirt freshman's progression as SEC play nears.

-Willing to chalk one up in the "throw away" column for Tyler Bosma. He threw a few too many strikes to the Raiders and paid the price for it. Playing the "crafty lefty" role has its highs, and boy, does it have its lows.

-Seven hits and six earned in less than three innings won't slide in a weekend rotation spot. Bosma knows that, and knows that location on the mound will be contingent for his success. We've seen it in the form of six scoreless against Elon, now we've seen what it looks like when that doesn't happen.

-Senior right-hander Zack Lee has had the best pair of outings thus far, blanking WSU on Sunday in six IP, striking out six batters and allowing a trio of hits. He and coach Nick Mingione have both touched on Lee landing his breaking ball for a strike, adding that third commanding pitch to his arsenal.

-Darren Williams? Still a beast. I do wonder how Mingione will handle him as the year treks onward. The only reasonable options seem to be either A). Make him the closer or B). toss him in the weekend rotation. Six hitless innings...not too shabby. Mingione noted on Friday that he threw five pitches for a strike. Arsenal.

-Lefty Mag Cotto still has that hit of wildness that honestly, might not be such a bad thing, as long as it doesn't get too wild. With an arm as electric as his, controlling the batters box with some inside cheddar could play nice if he can locate off-speed. He hurled two scoreless to close out the 15-0 win on Sunday.

AT THE PLATE / IN THE FIELD

-Catcher Devin Burkes (.393 AVG and a 1.371 OPS) is a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Co-National Player of the Week after hauling in 11 RBIs in his last four games. He's seeing the ball so well early on, stroking seven doubles and a homer against the Raiders. Having his bat be reliable is huge for the middle of this UK order that still has plenty of unknowns.

-Five more hits in Émilien Pitre's last three games. The second baseman has delivered right behind Burkes thus far in the cleanup spot. Has also played a very clean 2B so far.

-Want to give James McCoy some props. He had a tough first series at Elon, but collected four doubles against Wright State and also hit a couple of balls that would've been home runs if not for the cooler weather. The switch-hitting is a huge plus, obviously.

-First baseman Hunter Gilliam worked a ton of tough at-bats and was finally rewarded with a 431-foot tank on Sunday, sending a ball of the batters eye in center field. Mingione agreed postgame about the ABs, asking if it was even possible for him to line out any more. Gilliam won't be hitting homers left and right, but he is a 1B after all, there's a slugger in there.

-Players are taking advantage of opportunities so far. Jase Felker makes his debut at DH, subsequently triples and gets three hits. Reuben Church turned a double-play in the top of the first and got on base twice on Sunday. Nolan McCarthy has hit the ball well in limited ABs. It bodes well for the overall depth of the bench, though it's still too early to tell who will really earn more of a shot moving forward.

-All in all, much more good than bad at the plate. Already seeing some improvements from the first weekend at Elon.

LOOKING AHEAD

The 8-0 Morehead State Eagles will take on the Wildcats at KPP on Tuesday, then the Indiana State Sycamores come to Lexington for a weekend series. Lots to look for as the non-conference schedule pushes onward.

Three questions i'm asking of UK entering the third week of the season:

-Does Travis Smith start again on Tuesday? If so, how does he fare?

-Will shortstop Grant Smith and third baseman Isaiah Byars produce better at-bats at the bottom of the order?

-How does Bosma respond, presuming he gets the ball again on Saturday?

First pitch between Kentucky and Morehead State is set for 4 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on SEC Network+.