UT Arlington center fielder Michael Choice was the 2008 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. Courtesy: Southland.org
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
The UT Arlington Mavericks baseball roster will have a familiar look in 2009 with 27 returning lettermen, including 21 seniors. The large turnover the Mavericks endured in 2008 will now look to be a huge advantage in 2009.
UT Arlington returns seven position players who started the majority of the games last spring and will welcome back 13 pitchers that provided the Mavs 94 percent of their innings pitched from last season.
In his first season as head coach in 2008, Darin Thomas guided the Mavericks to 26 victories, doubling their overall win total (13-40) from the 2007 season. Thomas believes his team’s experience will be an advantage in 2009.
“We are excited about having so many returners,” Thomas said. “We feel our experience will be a strength having so many guys back that have been through a Division I schedule. That should provide us some good leadership.”
Leadership will be crucial for the Mavericks, after the graduation of David McLeod (.375, 18 doubles, 29 RBI) and Danny Slinkman (.370, 15 doubles, 47 RBI), as a lot of the position players will be battling for starting positions.
“We played a lot of position players last year that are returning for us,” Thomas said. “Hopefully that will pay off for us. We have our entire defense returning up the middle of the field. We have all of our catching back, all of our middle infielders return and our starting center fielder Michael Choice is back. If you are strong up the middle, you should be strong defensively, and we have returners at all of those positions.”
The Mavericks pitching staff will be almost a mirror image from a year ago, as UT Arlington brings back their top nine pitchers in innings pitched – who combined won all 26 games for the Mavericks in 2008.
“Having that many pitchers back means they have all been through it,” Thomas said. “With so many pitchers having experienced different situations, not only in conference but in some big Tuesday games in different roles, we are looking forward to seeing those guys compete and get better.”
The UT Arlington coaching staff did enhance this year’s team with the addition of a few newcomers who will look to provide an impact this season.
“We tried to add on the mound as we brought in Jason Mitchell,” Thomas said. “He is going to be a good addition with all of our returners. Getting Tim Steggall, who is a very good athlete and can play more than one position, will help a lot. Also adding a left-handed bat with Shane Hopkins will benefit our line-up.”
Starting Pitching
The Mavericks starting pitching lost nobody from a year ago, and with the addition of Mitchell, the Mavericks will have plenty of options to round out their three weekend starters and mid-week starting pitchers.
UT Arlington has a balanced pitching staff with six left-handers and 10 right-handed pitchers.
The Mavericks top three pitchers in wins and strikeouts return as seniors Ryan Robinson, Nathan Long and Andy Sauter look to lead the Mavericks pitching staff for the second straight season.
Mitchell, who helped lead Central Arizona College to a third-place finish at the NJCAA World Series last season, will also look to be in the mix after going 11-3 with 100 strikeouts. Mitchell also proved his durability at Central Arizona by pitching 116 innings.
The Mavericks staff will also rely heavily on right-handed pitchers Matt Otteman and Rett Varner as well as lefty Mark Picca to possibly fill spots in the Mavericks rotation.
“We have all of our starting pitching back from last year” Thomas said. “We look for pitching to be a strength for us this season. We don’t know exactly who will be our conference starters and mid-week starters, but hopefully we will have that figured out before our first conference weekend.”
Bullpen
The heart of the Mavericks bullpen also returns with senior right-handed pitcher Ryan Martin leading the way after tallying the lowest ERA in the Southland Conference (2.78) during league play in 2008.
Martin, who led the Mavericks with 19 appearances, is not the only reliever back who made an impact last season as Drew Clementz (team leading 3.16 ERA) and Adam Boydston (2-0, 13 strikeouts, 3 walks) return for UT Arlington.
“Ryan Martin was one of our top relievers last year,” Thomas said. “He did a nice job in relief for us. He got us out of some tough situations. He has a lot of experience coming out of the bullpen.”
The Mavericks bullpen depth also includes righties Matt Dunn, Stephen Krolick and Brandon Endsley along with left-handers Brian Watson and Jeff Edlefsen. Also joining the Mavericks on the mound this season will be outfielder Andrew Kainer, who will add a left-handed arm to the Mavericks staff.
Catcher
Once again, this position is exactly the same as it was a year ago. Redshirt sophomore Chad Comer started 31 games a year ago and produced offensively and behind the dish. Comer batted .279 and recorded 10 extra-base hits with 23 RBI. Comer threw out 11-of-34 would-be base stealers in his first season with the Mavericks.
Seniors Mitch Putman and Chad Price also shared catching duties last season, as each player started at least 10 games behind the plate. Putman batted .246 with two doubles and one home run, and Price collected three RBI in 38 at-bats.
“Last year Chad Comer did the majority of our catching,” Thomas said. “He had 31 starts and was our weekend catcher and did a nice job. He really controlled the running game. His offense really came on in his first full season at this level. We also have Chad Price and Mitch Putman behind the plate, who both have experience and have done a good job for us. Steffan Guest, who was a DH for us most of last year, is also an option for us behind the plate.”
First Base
There are big shoes to fill at first base for UT Arlington after David McLeod and Danny Slinkman held down the position in 2008.
McLeod batted .375 and led the nation in toughest to strikeout with only five strikeouts in 200 at-bats. Slinkman, who was a third team All-SLC pick, led the Mavs with a .497 on-base percentage, which ranks second all-time in UT Arlington single-season history. He also broke an all-time UT Arlington single-season record by reaching base 15 times by a hit-by-pitch.
“This was the position that was one of our biggest strengths last year with David McLeod and Danny Slinkman,” Thomas said. “McLeod was one of the best defensive first basemen we have ever had, and he also hit .375. We have some candidates to play there this season with Jordan Vaughn, Shane Hopkins, Ryan Davis and possibly with outfielders Andrew Kainer and Matt Otteman. We are looking at some different combinations, because obviously this is a position we are looking to get some offense out of and hopefully they will play good defense too. Last year we had both, so that will be a big hole that we need to fill.”
Second Base
Several players started games and played second base for the Mavericks in 2008.
The returners that will be battling for the starting spot this season include seniors Justin McPherson and Jeff Storms, who combined started 43 games at second base last season. Storms finished the season batting .258 with five doubles and 21 RBI while McPherson hit .220 with 14 runs scored and 20 base hits.
Another option for the Mavericks at second base could be senior Jay Pitschka, who will also be a top candidate at shortstop for UT Arlington.
“We have a lot of options at this position with everyone returning who played second base last season,” Thomas said. “We have Justin McPherson, Jeff Storms and Pitschka as options that will allow us a lot of flexibility at second base.”
Shortstop
Pitschka led the Mavericks last season with 152 assists from the shortstop position, and this season will be in competition with junior Tim Steggall for the starting spot. Pitschka batted .277 with five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI in 2008.
Steggall teamed with Mitchell at Central Arizona last season and was a main contributor to the Vaqueros’ World Series run with a .398 batting average and 100 base hits. He was a first team All-Region pick and was also selected to the Arizona Community College All-Conference Team.
“Shortstop is a very important position to any team,” Thomas said. “Jay Pitschka did the majority of our work at shortstop last year. We also have Tim Steggall, who played shortstop right alongside Pitschka this fall. We will use the first couple of weeks of practice in the spring to see who will win that battle. Pitschka has also played second base and looked good this fall on that side.”
Third Base
The hot corner will likely be held down by seniors Evan Raley and Ryan Davis, who were the only starting third basemen for the Mavericks in 2008. Raley started 39 games at third base while batting .250 with seven doubles and 16 RBI.
Davis, meanwhile, started 28 games, including 18 at third base, seven at second base and three at first base. Davis is coming off an impressive summer in California where he helped lead his team (Southern California Fire) to a 2-2 record at the National Tournament in Wichita, Kan.
Davis’ .444 batting average in the tournament ranked sixth among all players.
“Last year we split time between Evan Raley and Ryan Davis,” Thomas said. “Both of them are back and both are seniors. We are expecting more out of both of them. We need to get more offense out of this position. We are expecting both of these guys to have a good year.”
Outfield
The Mavericks outfield remains intact from last year, despite the graduation of four-year letterwinner Brock Wilson, with the return of Michael Choice, Collin Garner, Matt Otteman, Preston McCoy, Blake Holt and Andrew Kainer.
The only new player for the Mavs in the outfield will be redshirt freshman Eric Wright.
Choice, the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and five-time Freshman All-American, anchors the UT Arlington outfield after batting .376 with seven home runs and 51 RBI while leading the Mavericks in all three statistical categories.
Otteman and Kainer are also returning outfielders who batted at least .300 last season, as both players combined started 65 games and had 20 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 53 RBI.
“Our outfield spots should be one of the strengths of the team, along with our pitching,” Thomas said.
“Choice started in center field for us and Otteman played the majority of our games in right field. When we were playing good last year he (Otteman) was playing good. We are looking for good things from Matt, not only in right field but also on the mound. We also have Blake Holt and Andrew Kainer, who have both played right field and both have the ability to play in the outfield, both defensively and having the chance to hit with some power at the plate.”
Choice, who has been named to the 2009 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch list, started 50 games in center field as a freshman and also tied for the team lead with a perfect 8-of-8 in stolen bases.
“Michael had a very good year last year, and his numbers speak for themselves,” Thomas said. “But one thing he did was play a good defensive center field. Considering he didn’t have much experience in the outfield, he did a good job. We are expecting him to continue to work on his defense and get better out there and to be a leader now that he has some experience.”
Designated Hitter
The Mavericks had seven players start as their designated hitter last season. The player with the most starts was Steffan Guest who started 25. Guest batted .271 with five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI in his first season at UT Arlington.
“Whoever is hot will typically be our DH,” Thomas said. “Last year we used some different people and most of those players are back this year. Steffan Guest started out the year as our DH and he definitely has shown his ability to hit.
“We have some left-handed bats that we can use in that position. We will use the designated hitter spot for a player who is not in the line-up defensively that we think would be a good match-up for whatever we are facing on the mound that day.”
Bench
Most teams will finish a season with a completely different line-up than what they started the season with. Players who start out the season on the bench might be the player coming in relief to save a championship game or a player on the bench might be pinch hitting to help drive in the winning run to advance his team in the playoffs.
UT Arlington should have the depth at each position that will provide them a strong player to come off the bench who has the experience to provide an impact when called upon.
“Another advantage for us will be whoever we do bring off the bench on a particular date will have experience, and I don’t think every team can say that,” Thomas said. “That is going to be one of the keys to our season, with not only how those players play coming off the bench, but how they react to their role. Those are important positions. Just because they aren’t in the starting line-up that day, they need to take on that role and give it their best shot they have with a good attitude. That is going to be a key to our success this year.”
Schedule
The Mavericks schedule includes 29 home dates at Clay Gould Ballpark and it features 28 games against 14 opponents that won at least 30 games in 2008. In addition, the Mavericks will play 10 games against opponents who participated in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
“Our conference is a very good conference, as most people know, but is a little underrated nationwide,” Thomas said. “We don’t get a break in the non-conference portion of our schedule. We are usually playing up as far as competition goes in mid-week games. I think we are going to be fine because we have some depth coming back on the mound. We have a lot of pitchers returning who were out there last year on a Tuesday or Wednesday competing against some of those better schools.”
