The 2012 edition of the Bearcat baseball team kicks off its season this Friday in Clearwater, FL against Purdue as part of the Big East/Big Ten Challenge. Bearcat Lair was able to catch up with Head Coach Brian Cleary at the team’s First Pitch Reception to discuss the upcoming season.

UC baseball coach Brian Cleary

Outfield:

Last year the coaching staff asked Braden Kline, who came to UC as a catcher, to move to left field in order to get his bat in the lineup everyday and to fill a hole in the defensive lineup. That move paid off in a big way as he was named to the All Big East Third Team. Kline finished the season hitting .326 with 5 homeruns and 31 RBI. Despite having never played in the outfield before, he only had 2 errors on the year. He will return to the starting spot in left for his senior season.

Centerfielder Jake Proctor struggled to adjust to the college game his freshman year, hitting just .111 in 40 games. In his sophomore campaign he found his rhythm, batting .286 and driving in 30 runs while starting 56 of the team’s 57 games. He led the team in runs scored with 51 and in stolen bases, only getting thrown out twice in his 23 attempts.

Justin Glass filled his mantle with awards after an outstanding freshman year as the Bearcats’ DH. He was named to the Big East/Big Ten Challenge All-Tournament Team, was the Joe Nuxhall Classic MVP, was an All Big East Second Team selection, and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All American. He finished the year hitting .326 and drove in 45 runs. Glass was not able to play in the field at all in 2011 due to a shoulder injury. While offseason surgery was successful, Coach Cleary explained that it could be a couple of weeks into the season before Glass shows what he is capable of defensively.

“The arm strength is not all the way back yet. There may be a situation where for the first couple of weekends, maybe two or three weeks, hopefully not much more than that, he may have to DH. He can go out and throw; there is just a little too much loop in that throw.”

In the meantime, it will be senior T.J. Jones starting in right field. Jones made 98 starts during his first two seasons at UC, but leg problems limited him to action in just 33 games, including 14 starts, in 2011. In those 33 games he hit .284. Once Glass is back to full strength it is likely that Jones will be the fulltime DH.

Infield:

After a slow start catcher Jake Saylor started to adjust to the Division I games late in the 2011 season after transferring from Paradise Valley CC. He ended the season with a .222 batting average and showed some power, hitting 3 homeruns. What he lacks at the plate, he makes up for as an excellent defensive catcher.

Senior Nic Spence will again be the starting first baseman for the Bearcats. He was one of just three players who started every game in 2011. He batted .227 and was second on the team with 6 homeruns.

Senior Sam Vandenhuevel started 51 games at second base last season. That number will likely decrease this season as the coaching staff would like to use him as a pitcher more often than they did a year ago when he made 5 appearances on the mound. He is expected to split time with sophomore Ryan Quinn who only had 6 at bats and was mostly used as a backup third baseman in 2011. Coach Cleary spoke about both players.

“Quinn is not a tremendous talent, the tools don’t jump off the page at you, but I just love the way he plays. He is scrappy and hard-nosed. He’ll fight in the batter’s box. I love the way Vandenhuevel plays too. He flies around the field. So I think to save Vandenhuevel’s arm, Quinn is going to see some time, much more than a year ago.”

Matt Williams started 56 games at third base in his freshman season, but with the graduation of Chris Peters, Williams is going to move to his more natural position of shortstop in 2012. He hit .250 and scored 21 runs last year. He is an outstanding athlete with plenty of range and strong arm, but needs to decrease his team high 20 errors from 2011.

For the second straight season the Bearcats will be starting a freshman at third base. This season it will be Joey Bielek from Scottsdale, AZ. Cleary is very excited about the potential Bielek brings to the team.

“I think he is going to be a very good player. There is always a learning curve with freshman, but I think we will look back in three or four years and have witnessed a really good career.”

Pitchers:

Right hander Andrew Strenge is the lone member of the 2011 weekend rotation returning this season. Strenge was 4-5 in 11 starts as a sophomore, and finished the season with a 4.54 ERA. The staff is hoping that with a year as a starter under his belt the junior can return to the form that earned him Louisville Slugger Freshman All American honors.

Moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation will be Matt Ring. The right hander was one of the few consistent pitchers in relief last season. In 29 innings he struck out 26 batters and had an ERA of 3.72.

Freshman lefty Zach Morris from DeMatha Catholic in Maryland rounds out the weekend rotation. Morris had a dominant high school career, going 10-1 with a 1.91 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 77.1 innings during his junior and senior seasons.

Coach Cleary also believes RS sophomore Christian McElroy, who he expects to use as a midweek starter, could work his way into the rotation.

“We’re trying to clean up a couple of things with his delivery, just let him throw some more strikes. His stuff is electric, he just hasn’t commanded his fastball enough yet, but it has gotten better each time out.”

Other options to start midweek games include Brad Mergen, Sam Vandenhuevel, and Thomas Gentile. Mergen came to UC with high expectations out of Indian Hills CC in Iowa, but finished the season with a 6.61 ERA and a 1-3 record in 10 appearances, included 6 starts. Cleary thinks that they will be able to get a better performance from him in 2012.

“Going back to last fall, he has been very good. The changeup works. The fastball doesn’t stay straight, you know, there is a lot of movement to it. I feel good about him.”

The bullpen was one of the weaker spots on the 2011 team. Several games were lost as a result of inconsistent performances and the lack of one player in the closing role. There are still several questions entering this season, but Cleary feels that addition of some talented freshman the depth is better.

“We have got some more guys there, some of them are freshman. Grant Walker, Art Warren, and Bryan Chenoweth, those guys have thrown really well, but they are freshman so you always worry a little bit about how quickly they get up to speed. So we have some depth that I think will be able to help us. We will just have to see how it goes.”

Junior Zach Isler will hand the duties as closer. The right hander threw 51 innings in 2011, finishing with an ERA of 4.41 and a record of 5-3 with 2 saves. Isler has an overpowering fastball and should excel in a closing role.

Overview:

The 2012 version of Bearcat baseball is full of potential. With a lineup returning seven starters from a team that won 30 games a year ago and an eighth starter who has seen action in more than 100 games in his career, this team should put up great offensive numbers. However, there are a lot of questions to be answered when it comes to the pitching staff. Of the weekend starters, Strenge is the only one with experience in a starting role at this level, and he had a slightly down season in 2011. The bullpen that struggled to maintain leads a year ago has improved in depth and added a closer, but there are a lot of unproven arms. So far the coaching staff has been impressed by the pitchers in preseason workouts. If they can get consistent performances from them once the games start, this team will be battling for a Big East title.