Stock Report: Mixed Results for Bat Cats' Small Ball as SEC Play Looms
Kentucky baseball wrapped up a 10-game homestand on Wednesday night, defeating the Ohio Bobcats 9-2. The Bat Cats went 9-1 during that stretch and are now 11-2 on the young 2023 season.
Taking care of business during the midweek matchups was a real RPI killer for coach Nick Mingione's squad last season, but his team is currently 4-0 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, having also won all three of their weekend series.
The Wildcats will now head to Carbondale, Ill. for a series against Southern Illinois, a weekend that will serve as an opportunity for UK to load some hay in the barn and pile up some key wins that could look good on a tournament résumé down the road. Just four games remain until the beginning of Southeastern Conference play.
Here's a stock report as the savage SEC schedule looms:
STOCK UP: Bunting
Mingione's idea of "mass chaos" back at UK's Media Day involved lots and lots of bunting. While that may not seem like living life in the fast lane, it's proving to work.
Kentucky is first in the SEC with 15 sacrifice bunts. Many of those have been of the safety squeeze variety, bringing runs home, while plenty of others have led to errors by the opposing defense, advancing runners further. Mingione is well aware that his team isn't going to knock the ball out of the yard (last in the SEC in home runs with seven), so why try to?
The Cats are also 13th in the SEC in runs scored (93), so getting runners into scoring position by any means necessary often times results in laying one down. There's been no lack of execution in doing so this far into the season.
Nickel and diming the Evansvilles and Indiana States of the world has worked a treat, but how will it fare when tough conference competition is in the field?
STOCK DOWN: Baserunning
Bunting is a big part of the "chaos" style of small ball Mingione is after this season. Running the bases is the most important part of that, and while the Cats are being aggressive, it isn't paying off as well as they'd like it to.
Kentucky is third in the SEC in steal attempts with 28 tries. It has only swiped 18 bags, good for only seventh in the conference. The 10 times caught stealing are the most in the league.
Getting picked off has also been an issue, perhaps due to the push for attempting more steals and being more aggressive on the base paths. That's an okay trade when you have a good stolen base percentage. A 64-percent clip? Not great.
STOCK UP: Darren Williams
If there were any questions as to how Darren Williams would rebound as a seventh-year player coming off of Tommy John surgery, they've undoubtedly been answered with an exclamation mark through his first three appearances of the season.
The Maysville, Ky. native has tossed 11 innings and allowed just one hit, one walk and one hit batsman while striking out 14. His five-pitch arsenal is working a treat, keeping hitters off-balance and resulting in weak contact — if they can even make contact in the first place.
Williams will now make his first start of the season on Friday in game one of a three-game set at Southern Illinois, taking the mound in place of usual starter Logan Martin. His last outing saw five scoreless innings against Indiana State, so he's already shown he can hang for more than a small relief showing.
Mingione told reporters on Wednesday that Williams was currently only pitching once a week, but the Cats will need as much as they can get from the veteran's veteran down the stretch of the season.
STOCK DOWN: Strikeouts / Walks
Another issue that could prevent the want to play small ball is not putting the ball in play to begin with. Kentucky's 121 Ks at the plate is second-worst in the SEC. Right fielder James McCoy has punched out 20 times, the most of any player in the league.
It's hard to justify striking out so much, especially when the power numbers are almost non-existent. It's even worse when you see that UK has drawn just 64 walks, the lowest in the SEC.
Kentucky is going to get burned if it can't fix at least one of these issues as the season progresses. Plain and simple.
STOCK UP: Bullpen Reliability
Aside from Williams, there was a big question mark surrounding the Wildcats' bullpen. Not every arm has been outstanding, but Mingione and pitching coach Dan Roszel have seen plenty of capable pieces arise in the early goings.
Right-handers Ryan Hagenow and Mason Moore have each made four appearances, allowing a combined three hits across 14 IP while striking out 15 batters. Lefty Jackson Nove has four scoreless innings, while hard-throwing righty Seth Chavez is yet to allow a run in three innings and could become a closer of sorts.
Again, non-conference numbers are to be taken with a grain of salt, but Kentucky is yet to lose a midweek outing, so there's something to be said for that, especially when taking a peak at the back-end arms and how they're progressing.
STOCK DOWN: Kendal Ewell
After being named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, it's not been a great start to the season for the Eastern Kentucky transfer.
In five games, Ewell has struck out in eight of his 15 at-bats, collecting just four singles and three walks. Ryan Waldschmidt and Jackson Gray have locked down spots in the outfield. Nolan McCarthy and McCoy continue to show brighter glimpses, leaving Ewell seeing mostly DH opportunities.
A few starts can change everything, but it appears as though Ewell may be on the outside looking in entering SEC play.
Kentucky and Southern Illinois will take part in a three-game set in Carbondale, with game one beginning Friday at 4 p.m. EST.
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