The fall practice season has come to a close for the 2002
Stanford baseball squad. This year's team will be much more
experienced than last year's club and will look to get over that
final hurdle and win a National Championship. There were some
pleasant surprises in fall workouts this year along with some
troubling injuries. Here is a summary of some of the main
events:
* The "Big Four" hitters shined throughout fall
practice and will once again be counted upon to lead the
offensive attack. Sam Fuld will once again be starting in
center and will lead-off. Everything off Fuld's bat was hit
hard as he should once again have a huge year. Chris
O'Riordan, who is tied for the highest career batting average in
Stanford baseball history, will anchor second base once
again. O'Riordan had a solid fall and should improve upon
his 12 homer output in 2001. Carlos Quentin, the 2001
Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, will once again roam right
field. Quentin is primed for a huge year power wise and
should be able to hit 15-plus homers this season. He's also
improved defensively and showcased an above average arm this
fall. Finally, Ryan Garko returns as the starting
catcher. Garko, who led the team with a .368 average last
season, still struggles somewhat behind the plate, but can hit
with the best of them. He came on in the second half of
last season and should eclipse the 10-homer mark.
* One of the emerging stars for this Cardinal team would have
to be Brian Hall. Hall never stopped hitting all fall and
should find a spot in the starting lineup come February.
The question for Hall is where he will be playing. More on
that later.
* The freshman hitters looked very good this fall and there is
a very good chance that a few of them will sneak into the
starting lineup. Billy Paganetti and Chris Carter are both
battling out over at first base. Paganetti hit for a very
high average in the fall season and has shown pretty good
power. Carter has got unbelievable power as he was one of
the team leaders in homers this fall. It's still to close
to call on these two in terms of who will get a starting spot, so
we could see a platoon situation early on in the season.
Freshman outfielder Danny Putnam impressed as well this
fall. The 5'10" outfielder burst onto the scene with a
triple off the wall in center in the alumni game off Jeff Austin
and is a candidate to start in left field. Also, catcher
Donny Lucy swung the bat very well. Although Lucy will not
be starting behind the plate, don't leave out the possibility of
him getting some starts at DH.
* Jeremy Guthrie is back and it is clear that he is
head-and-shoulders above everyone else. Guthrie is going to
have a HUGE year and will be the #1 starter in the weekend
rotation. The #2 and #3 spots are still up for grabs, but I
would say that Tim Cunningham and John Hudgins are the leading
candidates. The key for both will be throwing strikes on a
consistent basis as both have great stuff. Other possible
starters include Drew Ehrlich, Ryan McCally, and Mark
Jecmen. Ehrlich, a sophomore, came on toward the end of the
fall season and can throw in the low 90's and has shown great
control. McCally has been a solid reliever the past two
seasons and will throw strikes. The wild card is freshman
hurler Mark Jecmen. Jecmen, who stands 6'8", throws
very hard and has got an above-average braking ball. He
still needs to learn to throw more strikes, but could find his
way into the rotation at some point (could be a weekday
starter). J.D. Willcox (6 saves in 2001) is back and will
likely continue as the team's closer.
* Injuries were a central theme this fall as two returnees,
Scott Dragicevich and Jason Cooper, were slowed with different
ailments. Dragicevich has a bad back and did not play at
all this summer. All he did this fall was hit in the
intra-squad games, as he could not run at full speed and did not
play in the field. Cooper's shoulder is once again giving
him trouble as he did not participate at all this fall. He
is out as more of a precaution and should be ready to go by
opening day. Dragicevich is more of a question mark.
* An early guess at the starting lineup (based on the active
players in fall practice):
C - Garko
1B - VanZandt/Paganetti/Carter
2B - O'Riordan
3B - Hall/VanZandt
SS - Topham
LF - Putnam/Hall/Paganetti/Carter
CF - Fuld
RF - Quentin
-- First base is still a question mark as VanZandt is
certainly feeling the pressure from the two freshmen. If
VanZandt is ousted at first, he could move over to third.
Topham looked great at short and will be very solid this
season. If Dragicevich comes back full strength and returns
to short, Topham will move to third. I believe that Hall
will be starting somewhere. If he is bumped out of the
infield, then look for him to move out to left. Although
they played very little in the outfield this fall, both Carter
and Paganetti do have some experience out there, so they are
candidates to start in left. Jason Cooper, if healthy, will
also likely start somewhere, either in left or at DH. Jonny
Ash, although he didn't have a great fall season, could also
start at DH or else be a top pinch-hitter off the bench. A
very early guess at the batting order (this usually changes often
in the season): 1. Fuld, 2. Topham, 3. O'Riordan, 4. Quentin, 5.
Garko, 6. Cooper, 7. Hall, 8 and 9.
VanZandt/Dragicevich/Carter/Paganetti/Ash/Putnam. Still too
early to really predict the actual batting order, but that's my
best guess at this point.
* The 2002 season begins on February 1st with a three-game
series at home versus Cal State Fullerton. The
non-conference schedule includes series' against Fullerton,
Florida State, Fresno State, and Texas among others. The
Pac-10 will be very strong once again this year. Conference
season starts the first week of April while the postseason was
moved back a week this year, so the CWS championship game will be
played on June 22nd. See you all at Sunken on February 1st
...