Baseball Team Sorting Through Impressive Depth This Fall
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
The Oregon baseball team has 30 practices over 45 days to sort a few things out in advance of the 2015 season – and there’s a whole lot to sort out.
The Ducks began fall practice on Sept. 11, five months and two days before the season opens in Hawaii. George Horton’s club is adjusting to the loss of ace Tommy Thorpe and closer Jake Reed to the MLB draft, while welcoming an infusion of talent that could significantly reshape the lineup.
“It’s kind of like spring football – we’ll try guys at different places, we’ll see our personnel, have a better evaluation on the skillsets,” Horton said. “When we come back in January, we’ll have some guys penciled in a little firmer, and then they’ll have to reestablish themselves.”
The Ducks also lost a middle-of-the-order bat in outfielder Kyle Garlick, who earned his bachelor’s degree and looked to play his final season closer to home. But the outfield should be bolstered by the return from injury of Scott Heineman, and the addition of A.J. Balta, who played primarily infield last season as the Ducks adjusted to Heineman’s absence.
The addition of bats like Brandon Cuddy, who could play first base come spring, and several other new faces has Horton feeling cautiously optimistic about the Ducks’ chances of better weathering an injury such as the one Heineiman suffered last season. Heineman had been set to play third base; after his shoulder injury, Mitchell Tolman moved across the infield to play there, and Balta was asked to play first for the first time in his life.
“It’s going to be quality depth around the field,” Horton said. “And quality depth on the mound again; maybe not as deep in quality arms to begin with, but a lot deeper in the field.”
Oregon’s pool of catching talent was bolstered by the addition of Tim Susnara, who enrolled despite being a 34th-round MLB draft pick, and fellow freshman Slade Heggen. Cuddy will join an infield that will also include sophomore shortstop Mark Karaviotis along with Tolman, and the outfield is loaded with veterans Balta, Heineman, Austin Grebeck, Nick Catalano and Steven Packard.
Packard is a senior whose left-handed bat – along with that of Cuddy – would balance a lineup that was heavily right-handed last season. Packard hit .394 to lead the West Coast League in hitting over the summer.
“You go around the field and, even though we lost some guys, we’re not brand-new or inexperienced at any position, which makes me feel good at the start of it,” Horton said.
The pitching situation is a bit more unsettled this fall. Along with Thorpe and 2014 senior Jeff Gold, the Ducks still don’t have left-handers Cole Irvin and Matt Krook throwing from the mound, after their Tommy John surgeries earlier this year. The hope is that Irvin, who won a UO-record 12 games as a freshman in 2013, will be ready for opening day, and that Krook could be activated for the stretch run.
While the Ducks did lose the likes of Thorpe, Reed and several high school signees to the draft, they were happy to add David Peterson this fall after a broken leg suffered playing basketball last spring led to him falling to the 28th round of the draft. Peterson, Baseball America’s No. 1-rated prospect from the West Coast League this summer, is a 6-foot-6 left-hander penciled into Oregon’s 2015 rotation.
“We think he’ll be one of the weekend guys if he becomes who we think he can be,” Horton said.
Left unsettled are the third and fourth starters – and probably more – the Ducks will need in order to get through the 2015 season. Sophomores Trent Paddon and Stephen Nogosek had their moments this past spring, and newcomers Conor Harber, Jake Corn and Brac Warren also could be candidates.
Left-hander Garrett Cleavinger is first in line to replace Reed as the closer. Cleavinger recovered from an inconsistent sophomore season to strike out 33 in 15 innings this summer in the Cape Cod League, where he was named Baseball America’s No. 17 prospect.
Some setup duties could fall to Heineman, a hard-throwing right-hander who could stick in the outfield rather than his position prior to last year’s injury, third base, in order to preserve his arm for work out of the bullpen.
“If everything goes well, in development and effort and mentality and chemistry, this has the chance to be one of the deepest in quality on the field as we’ve had,” Horton said. “There’s a slew of guys, and we’re excited about all of them.”
