Auburn baseball: January practice observations

Here's what we saw from Auburn baseball at Sunday's intrasquad game.

Auburn played six innings of Team Blue vs Team Orange on Sunday; in advance of the February 17th home opener vs Indiana, here's what the Tigers are working on. 

Pitching

Sunday's starters were both freshmen lefties - Drew Nelson (Orange) and Zach Crotchfelt (Blue). Crotchfelt's pure stuff was better - his fastball sits lower 90s, mostly 91-93, with a low 80s change and a big vertical breaker (1-7 shape - picture a clock face and draw a line from 1:00 to 7:00) in the high 70s - and he picked up a few strikeouts in his 1.2 innings of work. But Nelson performed better - Crotchfelt got chased in the 2nd after allowing three runs and walking Bryson Ware to load the bases. 

Nelson's fastball sits in the high 80s - 87-89 - with a vertical-breaking curveball in the low 70s and a high 70s offspeed. He let plenty of hitters make contact, but didn't give up a hit until Nate LaRue pulled a double down the left field line in the 2nd inning. He went two full scoreless innings with only one strikeout, but no runs allowed and only one hit. I think he's got a leg up on the 3rd rotation spot if it goes to a freshman over one of the transfer options - Christian Herberholz, the redshirt junior from Scottsboro that transferred in from Southern Union, has been ridiculously effective so far. Reportedly, he's averaging a ridiculously effective 3.1 pitches per batter, dominating on Saturday in intrasquad action and inducing tons of groundballs. 

Entering in relief was Elliott Bray (Orange) and Caleb Pittman (Blue). Bray was particularly effective, mixing a 2-seam fastball and curveball from a high 3/4 slot, with the occasional slider that, while still a work in progress, shows promise. Pittman inherited a bases-loaded jam in the 2nd and got out of it, staying in for another inning of work. His fastball sits high-80s with a mid-80s slider and a slower breaker.

Hitting

Orange had the better game, but offense was definitely at a premium on a cooler day. Backup SS Ty Maudlin scored two in the 2nd on a line drive to left-center off of Crotchfelt, while Mike Bello (who led off for Orange) hit an RBI grounder through the right side. Plenty of hard contact, but quite a few fly balls came out just short of leaving the park - Cam Hill missed one to centerfield by just a few feet in the 1st, and Nate LaRue had one caught at the base of the left field wall in his first plate appearance. Warmer weather should help a few of those turn into home runs as the guys get into mid-season form. 

Cole Foster, the veteran switch-hitter from Texas that's moving from 2B to SS this season, battled in two at-bats, making the Orange pitchers earn the outs. He flew out to shallow left and to deep center, but saw 14 or 15 pitches over the two at-bats. 

Defense  

Don't worry, Kason Howell still has his horse - the fifth-year centerfielder went out and chased down balls in the gaps a few times in the game, displaying the exemplary range and smooth defense that gets someone drafted in the late rounds of the MLB Draft as a high-floor defensive specialist. 

The battle between returning underclassman Mike Bello and Kent State transfer Justin Kirby for an outfield spot will be interesting - Bello's arm isn't the greatest and Kirby has the edge over him defensively, but Bello led off for Orange and went 2-2 with an RBI, adding to a strong fall showing for the sophomore. It's definitely an interesting development - Bello was a heralded recruit out of Oak Ridge, NJ when he signed and the lefty power could be useful in a lineup that threatens to be right-handed heavy. It's definitely not a battle that we expected when Kirby committed, but it'll be fun to watch this play out. 

News and Notes

Injuries: Ben Bosse, sophomore righty out of Brenham, TX, will miss the season after a partial Tommy John procedure in December. Joseph Gonzalez, junior righthander out of Puerto Rico, had the start to his spring delayed by a scapula injury. It's the same shoulder that bothered him in preseason last year, but head coach Butch Thompson isn't concerned about the long-term prognosis. "Same thing, same scap(ula) stuff that we had last year. [...] we're going to treat it and give him a little more time. We're not really spooked by it." 

Roster changes: The roster is down to 44, with four players from fall not appearing on the roster in spring - RHP Carson Swilling (uncommitted), RHP Jordan Armstrong (UT-Martin), INF Rom Kellis (Florence-Darlington Tech) and INF Wesley Helms (Shelton State) 

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