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The Baseball Vols return three catchers from last year's squad but only one of them played, sophomore Benito Santiago.
Through the first half, maybe two thirds, of last season Santiago and former Vol David Houser rotated fairly evenly with Houser playing two games a weekend and Santiago taking one and the mid week spot.
Houser ended up in the dog house later in the season and Santiago started every game the rest of the way. That's quite a lot for a freshman.
Houser and a couple of others were dismissed before the team went to Hoover.
They both had very similar stats from a defensive point of view.
The biggest difference was at the plate. Santiago struggled batting just .132. He got his first extra base hit and RBI against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament, the final game of the season. He got a grand slam worthy response from the crowd in Hoover that night. Houser hit .277 and .311 in SEC play, I don't know if we get that offensive production back from the catcher position this season to be honest. Fingers crossed.
Tyler Schultz who arrived from Cypress CC in 2014, will return this season. He sat out last season after back surgery and ended up having another. Hopefully he will be able to contribute as he is the only other Catcher on the roster with SEC experience. In 2014 he hit .254 splitting time with Houser, 8 RBI's and no extra base hits.
The guy is as tough as they come and has certainly fought through much adversity in coming back for his senior season. I hope he gets to enjoy it.
Dominick Cammarata red shirted last season, but played in 46 of 49 games this summer for the Morehead City Marlins. There were rumors that he might transfer around that time, but he's back. DC was a fan favorite over in Morehead and it was easy to see why. He was hit by pitch seventeen times, the league leader. He had 8 home runs, including one off former Vol commit Garrett Davila. The 8 homers was 2nd best on the team, but he only hit .232. He struck out 49 times in 155 at bats, hopefully CLS can work with him on that and at 6-2 213 he has power that none of the others have.
Cammarata is a really big kid and thusly a bit slow coming out of his crouch, so he had a little trouble throwing guys out at 2B, but he does have a cannon. When I went to watch practice in the fall he was playing 1B for the Vols...and we need a first baseman, but with Schulz coming back off of two back surgeries, we need some insurance behind the plate.
In addition, we have two freshman catchers. Nico Mascia is a switch hitting, product of Farragut HS here in Knoxville and Sean Skelly is from El Toro HS in Mission Viejo, California. Skelly looked solid in the limited action I saw back in the fall, and he was rated a 8.5 by PG. I don't know much about these two, so anyone with info to share please do so.
Normally I would be worried that we wouldn't carry five catchers, but due to attrition/numbers, they are all safe. At least one of the freshmen will redshirt I'm guessing.
I think Santiago is the clear front runner for the starting position, but Schultz should get plenty of opportunities early to test his back. From a defensive position we are in good shape, a little more offensive production would be a bonus.
GBO!!!
Through the first half, maybe two thirds, of last season Santiago and former Vol David Houser rotated fairly evenly with Houser playing two games a weekend and Santiago taking one and the mid week spot.
Houser ended up in the dog house later in the season and Santiago started every game the rest of the way. That's quite a lot for a freshman.
Houser and a couple of others were dismissed before the team went to Hoover.
They both had very similar stats from a defensive point of view.
The biggest difference was at the plate. Santiago struggled batting just .132. He got his first extra base hit and RBI against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament, the final game of the season. He got a grand slam worthy response from the crowd in Hoover that night. Houser hit .277 and .311 in SEC play, I don't know if we get that offensive production back from the catcher position this season to be honest. Fingers crossed.
Tyler Schultz who arrived from Cypress CC in 2014, will return this season. He sat out last season after back surgery and ended up having another. Hopefully he will be able to contribute as he is the only other Catcher on the roster with SEC experience. In 2014 he hit .254 splitting time with Houser, 8 RBI's and no extra base hits.
The guy is as tough as they come and has certainly fought through much adversity in coming back for his senior season. I hope he gets to enjoy it.
Dominick Cammarata red shirted last season, but played in 46 of 49 games this summer for the Morehead City Marlins. There were rumors that he might transfer around that time, but he's back. DC was a fan favorite over in Morehead and it was easy to see why. He was hit by pitch seventeen times, the league leader. He had 8 home runs, including one off former Vol commit Garrett Davila. The 8 homers was 2nd best on the team, but he only hit .232. He struck out 49 times in 155 at bats, hopefully CLS can work with him on that and at 6-2 213 he has power that none of the others have.
Cammarata is a really big kid and thusly a bit slow coming out of his crouch, so he had a little trouble throwing guys out at 2B, but he does have a cannon. When I went to watch practice in the fall he was playing 1B for the Vols...and we need a first baseman, but with Schulz coming back off of two back surgeries, we need some insurance behind the plate.
In addition, we have two freshman catchers. Nico Mascia is a switch hitting, product of Farragut HS here in Knoxville and Sean Skelly is from El Toro HS in Mission Viejo, California. Skelly looked solid in the limited action I saw back in the fall, and he was rated a 8.5 by PG. I don't know much about these two, so anyone with info to share please do so.
Normally I would be worried that we wouldn't carry five catchers, but due to attrition/numbers, they are all safe. At least one of the freshmen will redshirt I'm guessing.
I think Santiago is the clear front runner for the starting position, but Schultz should get plenty of opportunities early to test his back. From a defensive position we are in good shape, a little more offensive production would be a bonus.
GBO!!!
