Dan McDonnell High on Louisville's Depth Heading Into 2023 Season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Baseball season in the Derby City is almost back. Following another long offseason, Louisville will return to action this weekend, taking on Bucknell as part of a three-game weekend series.

Unlike this time last year, the Cardinals are heading into the new season with their normal lofty expectations. Louisville ranks as high as the No. 5 team in the nation, and were picked as the preseason co-favorite with Wake Forest to win the ACC.

While Louisville did lose their fair share of talent over the offseason, the Cardinals not only return a plethora of high-impact players, but brought in another talented crop of freshmen and JUCO transfers. In fact, head coach Dan McDonnell is extremely high on the depth that his team has heading into their 2023 campaign.

"I love our options, I love our talent. ... Meeting with my coaches, we talked about all the options we have position player wise, we talked about the scenarios with our pitching staff," he said. "Honestly, it's a good feeling to know that we've got a lot of versatile players, both position player wise and pitchers on the mound that have done a little bit everything."

During the program's annual media day on Monday, McDonnell said that the core of his position players will likely consist of five guys: second baseman Logan Beard, left fielder Isaac Humphrey, shortstop Christian Knapczyk, first baseman Ryan McCoy and catcher Jack Payton. Their exact positions may change, but McDonnell admits that it's "hard to make a lineup out without those five names," especially without preseason All-Americans Payton and Knapczyk.

As for the other four spots in the field? McDonnell says that, at the current moment, there are "eight or nine guys" that are vying for significant reps, ranging from outfielders Tyeler Hawkins, Eddie King Jr. and Haven Mangrum to infielders Noah Smith, Brandon Anderson and Patrick Forbes. Even the five players who are expected to be everyday guys might have their role occasionally shaken up, just to see how the players behind them fare.

"For us. it's about making sure that this depth, this talent gets opportunities and they're ready to go," McDonnell said. "Whether that's in a starting role, whether that's coming off the bench. Who's gonna get the big pinch hit at-bat? Who's gonna get to hit late in the game? Who's gonna make a great play? Who's gonna steal a base? All these things that that we talked about?"

Through the first 2-3 weeks of the season, McDonnell is expecting to get crafty with his batting orders. Not because he is unsure of what he has, but because he wants to see who will do the best job at seizing the opportunity. Doing so early in the season will only strengthen Louisville's group of position players, and put them in a better position when it's time for the postseason.

"We talk a lot about it: You might be in the starting lineup today. Whether you get three hits or no hits, I'm thinking about playing another guy tomorrow," he said. "As coaches, you hate say lose, but the saying I had heard at a young age was: "you can't be afraid to lose in February if it will help you in May or June." Well, nobody's trying to lose. We just might not have the best guy in that spot in February. Part of that is, we just got to run them out there and and let them do it."

McDonnell will also be taking a similar approach with his pitching staff, partially because it is a little more open. Guys like right hander Ryan Hawks, left-hander Tate Kuehner and left-hander Riley Phillips are the three most obvious candidates to be in the weekend rotation, but McDonnell says that Louisville will likely have "five or six starters" over the first 2-3 weekends of the seasons.

He specifically mentioned left-handed JUCO transfer Greg Farone, right-hander Alex Galvan, and even former closer righty Kaleb Corbett as guys who could earn early starts. McDonnell also believes he has 3-5 candidates to be the Cardinals' go-to closer.

"We want these kids to know that we trust them, we believe in them, and that's why we're giving them these opportunities," he said. "They've earned it. They've earned the right to run out there and compete."

First pitch of Louisville's season-opener against Bucknell is set for Friday, Feb. 17 at 3:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Dan McDonnell: Marty Pearl - Special to Courier Journal)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter

Add us as a preferred source on Google