With Fresh Faces, Alabama Baseball Looks to Have Roster Questions Answered this Fall

Now over two weeks into the fall practice season, the Crimson Tide is looking to answer some of its biggest roster questions — particularly at the catcher position.

Joey Blackwell | Oct 4, 2021

Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For just over two weeks now, another athletic program at the University of Alabama has begun practices on campus in preparation for next season.

While Crimson Tide football and basketball are currently dominating the headlines with football almost at the halfway point of the regular season and basketball just weeks away from defending its 2020-21 SEC title, Alabama baseball quietly began preparation inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

After having made it to an NCAA Regional last spring for the first time since 2014, head coach Brad Bohannon is back with a new squad of players looking to improve on last year's successes. With a lot of questions after some key departures, there's work to be done this fall.

“It’s just good to see our guys in a scrimmage [and] in a game setting,” Bohannon said after the team's first weekend of practices. “It’s a talented group. It’s a real physical group and we’ve got a lot more experience positionally than we’ve ever had. I really think our returning players — our older kids — are doing a good job in leading by example and we’re off to a good start. I’m really excited to see our team grow these next six weeks.”

The Crimson Tide wrapped up the 2021 season with an overall record of 32-26 including a 12-17 record in SEC play. At the 2021 SEC Tournament, Alabama made it all the way to the fourth round before being beaten 11-0 by No. 4 Tennessee, a team that the Crimson Tide had downed in extra innings two days prior.

At the Ruston Regional, Alabama made it to the semifinal game before being eliminated by host Louisiana Tech. While the trip to its first NCAA tournament wasn't quite what the Crimson Tide had been hoping for, 2021 marked a remarkable improvement for a program that is still quietly growing in an SEC that is packed with tough competition.

“This team — it’s a special team this year,” Crimson Tide outfielder Owen Diodati said. “We have some guys that keep everyone accountable and things like that but everyone kinda keeps themselves in line and the culture among our team is really, really good. We’ve got a few guys that kind of step up and say things when they need to be said but for the most part this group is all on the same page and I’m really excited about what this season holds for us.”

This year sees a lot of new talent arrive at the Capstone, consisting of 12 new freshmen and two JUCO transfers. Additionally, the Crimson Tide picked up two graduate transfers in infielder Eric Foggo from Stetson and outfielder Tommy Seidl of Harvard — two players that Alabama played against over the last couple of seasons.

“It’s pretty cool how Tommy Seidl and Eric Foggo ended up here,” Bohannon said. “They played here as opposing players and they were like ‘Oh my gosh, this place is sick’ and they have a unique perspective of being a student-athlete at the University of Alabama because they’ve had experiences at other places and then you come here and It’s pretty easy to want to wear the Crimson."

The most important factor that Seidl brings with him to Tuscaloosa is his experience. Of the 42 players currently listed on Alabama's roster, exactly half are listed as redshirt-sophomores or younger, meaning that Seidl's experience through four seasons at Harvard will bring a lot of mental maturity to the young Crimson Tide team.

"The biggest thing that Tommy brings — and he’s got some athleticism and some baseball skill — is he is really mature," Bohannon said. "I mean, he’s 23 years old. This is a kid that’s a Harvard graduate. He’s played four years of college baseball and just the level of maturity that he brings. [...] He’s a great teammate and he’s a really magnetic personality and he’s got a lot of college at-bats under his belt and we’re really glad that he’s here and he’s gonna be able to help us win.”

One of the biggest losses from last year was the Crimson Tide's experience at catcher in redshirt junior Sam Praytor. Not only was Praytor one of the program's better bats over the last several seasons, but he was consistently one of the team's best fielders. This offseason, the largest question surrounding the team is arguably who will fill Praytor's shoes following his departure.

Catchers Graham Crawford and Dominic Tamez both joined the team this past offseason after transferring from junior colleges. Both will have opportunities this fall to be named the Crimson Tide's next starting catcher, and both bring with them a solid amount of experience at the position.

An NJCAA Third Team All-American, Crawford spent two seasons at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi While with the Wildcats in 2021, he led the team in walks (35) and on-base percentage (.485) while ranking second in home runs (15), RBI (49) and slugging percentage (.724). He also possesses some speed at catcher, stealing 10 bases his sophomore season.

Tamez brings two years of experience with him, as well, but he also adds SEC-level prowess to his resume. In his COVID-shortened freshman season of 2020, Tamez played at Arkansas. However, he then transferred to McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. With the Highlanders, Tamez helped the team to a 2021 NJCAA World Series title. In his second college season, Tamez posted a batting average of .380 and hit 17 doubles, three triples and 12 home runs across 61 games. He also recorded 62 RBI and 41 runs while being walked 31 times. Tamez was also named 2021 NJCAA First Team All-American.

Regardless of who gets the start at catcher for Alabama in 2022, both players are solid options and provide depth at the position. Catcher was certainly a big question mark in the offseason — and still is, to some extent — but the two players that the Crimson Tide has added to its roster will likely correct the issue.

“The first couple of days before we started training were unbelievably stressful for me because the catching position is huge,” Bohannon said. “[...] Being three or four weeks into it, I’m very pleased with both of those kids and they’re both plenty talented to be here and they look right and they’re really pleasant kids to work with.

"You never really know what you got until you get three or four weeks into league play but at this point I feel tremendously more confident in the catching position than I did six weeks ago.”

While there's still a long way to go, preparations for Alabama baseball's 2022 season are well underway in Tuscaloosa. While last season didn't end how the program would have liked it to, Bohannon and his staff have slowly but surely shown improvement year after year. Will 2022 be the year that the program finally has a winning record in conference play? It's certainly too early to say. However, with a top-10 recruiting class and four transfers that will likely have immediate impact, there's a lot of tools to build with.

Gallery: Alabama Baseball Hosts Fall Practice

Photos courtesy of Alabama Athletics

Published Oct 4, 2021

JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.