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Jan. 30, 2004
2004 Virginia Baseball Preview
In 2003, the Virginia Cavaliers officially turned the corner. UVa finished the year 29-25 overall, 11-12 in the ACC and posted its first winning season in five years while tying the school-record for the most conference wins ever at Virginia. The Cavaliers set a school-record for most consecutive wins at home with 16, had a season-high 10-game winning streak and won six games against teams ranked in the Top-25. All this occurred with a relatively young team that at year’s end, lost only one positional starter.
As good as 2003 was to Virginia, 2004 has the potential to be even better. With nearly every starter back and a core of experienced role players returning for the Cavaliers, UVa will also be under the new direction of first-year head coach Brian O’Connor and his staff. O’Connor, one of the exciting young coaches in college baseball, takes over a team with a solid resume, but with work still yet to be done. With the team’s new found success, coupled with a dynamic coaching staff ready to get the season underway, the 2004 season can’t get here soon enough for the UVa faithful.
It’s no secret that solid pitching is the key to a program’s success at any level in baseball. Fortunately for Virginia, its pitching staff is in good hands. Although the Cavaliers will not be at full strength on the mound in 2004, UVa certainly has nothing to hang its head about either. Virginia was dealt a blow last season when it lost its #1 and #2 starters in the rotation, RHP Jeff Kamrath (3-1, 2.72 ERA in 2003) and LHP Mike Ballard (2-2, 1.93 ERA). The duo combined for 13 starts, five wins and 70 strikeouts before having their season’s cut short midway through the year due to injuries. Although both pitchers are expected to miss action in 2004, their vacancies last season were filled by teammates who stepped right in to solidify UVa’s weekend rotation.
The trio of LHP Andrew Dobies (6-3, 3.84 ERA), LHP Joe Koshansky (7-2, 2.31 ERA) and RHP Chris Gale (3-4, 4.68 ERA) stepped in and closed out the season as Virginia’s weekend rotation. The group didn’t miss a beat and all three pitchers return in 2004 as the preseason favorites to nail down the starting jobs.
“Dobies is going to start off the season as the number one starter and he has got to be the anchor of our pitching staff,” said O’Connor. “Dobies had a tremendous summer in the Valley League where he put up some incredible numbers and he is going to have to carry the load and be that Friday night starter for us that can match up against the other team’s number one starters. I believe he is ready to step into that role and have a lot of success.”
Dobies won’t be alone in having to shoulder some of the weight in the weekend rotation with teammates Koshansky and Gale at his side.
“Koshansky had some outstanding numbers last year,” said O’Connor. “He’s going to have to produce on the mound and also hit in the middle of our lineup. We’re looking for Koshansky to continue on the mound as he did last year in the starting capacity. Gale has logged a lot of innings in his career here and he has done some very good things. This is his last go-around as a senior and I know he’s excited to perform at a high level.”
With the weekend rotation picking up where it left off from last season, it is just as important for the mid-week starters to rise up to the challenge as well. Mid-week games are sometimes the difference between winning and losing seasons, and the Cavaliers have some pitchers ready to compete in starting roles.
“The first pitchers we’re looking at in this role is RHP Matt Avery (2-4, 3.40 ERA),” said O’Connor. “Avery had one of the best fall seasons out of all of our pitchers and showed our coaching staff that he is a competitor. I believe he’s really starting to find out what kind of pitcher he can be and he will challenge the other weekend starters.”
Although he’s just a newcomer, first-year LHP Casey Lambert has already shown flashes of what he can do. His performances so far has O’Connor feeling certain he will find his groove somewhere in the mix of the rotation.
“Lambert can really pitch,” said O’Connor. “He’s got good stuff and he will challenge for one of the starting roles. Lambert is going to have a great career here. I believe he has the ability and the mental toughness to go out there and have success.”
As important as it is to have a solid starting pitching rotation, it is just as important to have reliable middle relief and closers on the staff. Virginia has a wide range of pitchers to chose from as situations present themselves and O’Connor will tap into his bullpens for a variety of pitching styles.
One of UVa’s top relief pitchers is fourth-year returning LHP Alan Zimmerer (2-0, 3.45 ERA). He is a player who Virginia will be relying on this season and should see his share of innings.
“Zimmerer really impressed me this fall,” said O’Connor. “He impressed me with his poise on the mound, his leadership amongst his teammates and his determination. Zimmerer’s a tri-captain as he is going to be a pitcher I can see pitching pretty extensively out of the bullpen.”
A pair of left-handed pitchers that O’Connor may also turn to often are returner Scott Morgenthaler (0-2, 5.21 ERA) and first-year newcomer Alex Smith.
“Morgenthaler is another pitcher that you have options with,” said O’Connor. “Like Zimmerer, you could bring Morgenthaler in situationally against a left-hander, but you could also pitch him in an extended outing as well. Smith also has the potential to be a starter, he just needs to continue to improve and learn how to pitch at the college level.”
An injury forced fifth-year senior Shooter Starr (1-3 in 2002) to miss all of the 2003 season. But the experienced RHP appears to be back close to the form that made him an important part of the rotation earlier in his career.
“Starr’s comeback is coming along well,” said O’Connor. “He showed signs this fall of really being able to contribute to the success of our pitching staff.”
RHP Adam Laird (1-1, 4.07 ERA) returns for his third year and displayed some versatility during the fall season that may land him some playing time in more places than just on the mound.
“Laird’s going to pitch out of the bullpen, but the interesting thing about him is, we also took a look at him last fall season as an offensive player too,” said O’Connor. “We’ll continue to look at that option with him.”
Every year, players strive to improve from the previous season in hopes of rounding out their game. One of those type of players is RHP Josh Meyers (1.59 ERA), who really turned O’Connor’s head in the fall practices.
“The surprise player to me out of the upperclassmen this fall season was Myers,” said O’Connor. “He has a different look for us. Myers throws from a lower arm slot and he loves to compete. Although he hasn’t pitched much, the coaching staff has a lot of confidence in him to go out and have success.”
In past years, UVa’s closer was handled more by a committee of pitchers rather than one particular player. But last season, RHP Canon Hickman (2-0, 4.19 ERA, 5 saves) surfaced as the type of go-to-guy the Cavaliers have been searching for to close out a game.
“Hickman is a big, strong kid that has a live arm,” said O’Connor. “I believe he will be pitching some important innings for us this year.”
Keep an eye on newcomers Kent Krekorian (RHP) and Shawn Roe (RHP) to try and make an impact in the rotation as well.
“I’m excited to see where Krekorian and Roe end up as the season moves along,” said O’Connor.
If there’s one area on the team that could be tabbed as Virginia’s strength, it just might be the infield – both offensively and defensively. Graduation was very kind to the Cavaliers, as they enjoy the luxury of returning every starter in the interior of the diamond from last season. The group’s chemistry, production at the plate and sound fielding gives O’Connor and his staff one more thing to smile about.
Last season, Scott Headd (.287, 45 hits, 19 RBI) surfaced as UVa’s starting catcher after splitting duties behind the plate the previous season. His experience and increased productivity each year is exactly what O’Connor and his staff is looking for.
“The thing I like so much about Headd is he’s a tremendous leader” said O’Connor. “He has experience, he’s an intelligent kid and he’s got the catching skills to have success back there and lead the team.”
The back-up options behind Headd at catcher are Kyle Werman (.293, 46 hits, 20 RBI), who is slated as the starting second baseman, and newcomers Chad Fisher and Ryan Hudson.
When he isn’t starting on the mound for Virginia, Koshansky (.320, 57 hits, 36 RBI) will be at first base where he was the starter in 2003.
“It’s no secret that Koshansky will be a key part to the success of this team,” said O’Connor. “He’s going to hit in the middle of the order and provide some power to our lineup.”
When Koshansky does step on the mound to pitch, look for returning players Miguel Luina (.286, 8 hits, 4 RBI) and Jordan Ghrist (.200, 6 hits, 3 RBI) or newcomer Josh Darby to step in and play at first base.
Werman will pick up where he left off last season as UVa’s starting second baseman where he has quietly enjoyed an impressive career thus far.
“Werman will be a very productive offensive player for us this year,” said O’Connor. “He has shown this throughout his career. Werman will get dirty, he’s an over-achiever and he’s really a good leader on the team and he leads by example.”
If you had to label one member on the team as Virginia’s ’10th Man’, the honor would probably go to the multi-versatile Matt Dunn (.281, 43 hits, 19 RBI). Dunn, a second-year player who started 41 games last season, has the ability to plug-in wherever he is needed on the team. Aside from competing for several starting positions, he will also serve as Werman’s back-up at second base.
“Dunn will be a critical player for us,” said O’Connor. “He is our top utility infielder and is also a top candidate to start in left field or as the designated hitter. Dunn is so valuable because of his versatility to player several positions defensively and he can also handle the bat at the plate as well.”
At shortstop, Mark Reynolds (.295, 59 hits, 46 RBI) has developed into one of the more complete players in the ACC. As he has improved in each of his previous two seasons at UVa, his glove on the field and his bat at the plate have become a very big part of Virginia’s success.
“Reynolds is a player that has a lot of God-given ability and talent,” said O’Connor. “He is going to be the anchor of our infield and will need to make the routine plays everyday. Reynolds has the capability of making some spectacular plays at times too. He has very good range and he’s got good arm strength. As is the case with Koshansky, Reynolds is also going to have to step up and help lead this team offensively.”
Last season, just about anyone who watched third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (.308, 68 hits, 36 RBI) perform probably came away impressed with what they saw. However, what may have come as a surprise to those onlookers, was the player they were watching was only a true freshman. Zimmerman displayed his range and arm strength from last season and is expected to only get better with time.
“Zimmerman is a throwback player in my opinion,” said O’Connor. “He just does everything the right way and I believe the sky is the limit for him. Zimmerman’s got great baseball instincts, which you do not see enough of in the game of baseball anymore. He’s going to be a critical offensive player and he will hit in the top half of the line-up.
“It gives you a lot of confidence as a coach when you have a very talented left side of the infield with players like Zimmerman and Reynolds out there.”
First-year newcomer Matt Lucido will be used as a utility infielder and also has the versatility to play several infield positions.
As important as the play of the infield is to a team’s success, the same can be said for the outfield as well. Virginia’s solid outfield play begins with fourth-year RF Matt Street (.315, 74 hits, 23 RBI). After serving as the starting right fielder the past two seasons, Street is primed for another solid campaign in his final year as a Cavalier.
“Street had the best fall season out of everybody as a positional player,” said O’Connor. “He was a leader this fall by example and I’m looking for him to have a big year. Street’s a very productive and exciting offensive player who will probably be our lead-off hitter. He’s got the ability to hit for a high average and can steal bases.”
The only new positional starter UVa has to replace from last year’s team is in center field. The void left from the departure of graduated Chris Sweet may fall squarely on the shoulders of an exciting first-year player in Mike Mitchell.
“Mitchell possesses tremendous speed and athleticism,” said O’Connor. “In a ballpark like ours, you have to have somebody out there in center field that can run balls down. Mitchell proved to the coaches this fall that he’s going to be a tremendous center fielder.”
UVa is in the same position this year as it was at the start of last season in searching for a starter in left field. However, the search does not rest on who to find to play in left fielder – the sticking point in naming a starter lies in which one. The good news for O’Connor is, he has several options to choose from beginning with three players that shared starting LF duties last year in Tom Hagan (.386, 17 hits, 10 RBI), Dunn and Paul Gillispie (.298, 31 hits, 22 RBI).
Last season, Hagan began the year as the starting left fielder before being nipped by the injury bug a month into the season. That’s when Dunn and Gillispie both stepped in and manned the starting role for the rest of the year.
“Hagan is a left-handed hitter and is a very good athlete who led the team in hitting last year until he got hurt,” said O’Connor. “Dunn will also be battling for the starting left fielder position. Gillispie is one of our tri-captains and is a third possibility in left field. He logged several starts in LF last season. Gillispie may also see a good bit of time as the DH, another area he is seasoned in.”
Ghrist, Luina, Darby and fellow newcomer Kye Kolar will also compete for playing time as the DH for the Cavaliers.
A trio of players who will be pushing for playing time in the outfield are third-year returner Ty Grisham, first-year newcomer Tim Henry and UNC Greensboro transfer Sean Slaughter (.371, 23 hits, 8 RBI in 2002 at UNCG)
“We have three options in the outfield with Grisham, Henry and Slaughter and all three will be competing for playing time,” said O’Connor. “Grisham possesses good speed and he needs to use that speed to his advantage. He is currently learning to hit from the left side of the plate to hopefully use his speed as more of an asset.”
With the start of the 2004 season right around the corner, O’Connor, his coaching staff and his team are eager to get the season underway. After a near-miss for an NCAA Regional appearance last season, O’Connor hopes to lead Virginia to its elusive fourth appearance in an NCAA Regional in 2004, and to make it routine in the future for the Cavaliers to be playing in the postseason.
“My goal for Virginia baseball is to maximize our ability on the field year-in and year-out to have an opportunity to compete for an ACC Championship and to play in the NCAA Tournament,” said O’Connor. “That is what the expectation will be. The exciting thing for us as coaches is, I also believe that’s what the players expect and what they are expecting out of each other as well.”