Breaking down Kentucky's pitchers against Morehead State

Kentucky closed out fall practice on Sunday with a scrimmage against Morehead State at Kentucky Proud Park.

Ben Cleaver started game one for the Cats, and while his fastball got plenty of swing and miss, he was committed to working his off-speed perhaps a bit more often than he would come springtime. He didn’t quite have the finish to his curveball, but landed a couple of good looking changeups and also flashed a developing cutter. Cleaver wasn’t extremely sharp in the zone as he walked four during his outing. On the plus side, however, he did fan six, which helped limit any major damage. The southpaw’s fastball settled comfortably in the upper 80s.

Cleaver’s final line was kept clean thanks to Connor Mattison, whose experience out of the bullpen showed. The Grand Canyon transfer came into a bases-loaded jam and landed his off-speed early for strikes before capping the at-bat with a great fastball up in the zone for a big strikeout. Mattison, who features an uptempo delivery with a high leg kick and a fastball that climbs into the 90s, has experience both as a starter and a piggyback reliever from his days at GCU. He seems poised to be looked upon as an early fireman with a chance to earn a longer role and possibly a few spot starts in the spring.