Scrimmage observations: Feb. 1

Kentucky's preseason practices continued with a scrimmage on Saturday.

LHP Ben Cleaver. Photo credit to Caleb Bowlin of UK Athletics.

The second of three open scrimmages at Kentucky Proud Park this weekend took place on Saturday afternoon. A smattering of fans took the opportunity to travel to the ballpark for some preseason baseball. For anyone wanting to catch the final scrimmage of the weekend, it will begin at 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday.

I stayed for seven innings on Saturday, though the target for the team was to complete anywhere from eight to 10 innings. Some observations will follow, but here’s how the teams lined up at the beginning of the scrimmage:

Black team

1. SS Tyler Bell

2. 1B Eli Small (later moved to left field)

3. 3B Patrick Herrera

4. DH Shaun Montoya

5. RF Carson Hansen

6. C Raphael Pelletier

7. CF Griffin Cameron

8. LF Ryan Schwartz (later moved to catcher)

9. Hudson Brown (moved to 1B)

** Freshman infielder Aidan Larkin was out with an illness. This led to different players alternating at second base for the Black team.

Pitchers: LHP Ben Cleaver, RHP Tommy Skelding, LHP Evan Byers

Blue team

1. 2B Luke Lawrence

2. SS Kyuss Gargett

3. 1B Dylan Koontz

4. CF Will Marcy

5. LF Cole Hage

6. 3B Ethan Hindle

7. DH James McCoy

8. C Nolan Belcher

9. RF Khaleel Pratt

Pitchers: LHP Ethan Walker, RHP Nile Adcock, LHP Hayden Smith, RHP James McCoy

Before moving to some observations, a couple of notes on positions:

• Senior catcher Devin Burkes is still on track to be ready for the opener on Feb. 14. He didn’t hit in the scrimmage on Saturday, but he’s been hitting some in non-scrimmage situations. Burkes had offseason surgery, but it sounds like he shouldn’t miss much — if any — time this season. He participated in some situational base running in between innings during the scrimmage.

• This was the first time I remember seeing Eli Small in the infield. He played first base for a few innings before moving back to the outfield. There’s a lot of offensive potential for Small, so it’s understandable that the coaching staff is doing what it can to find him a defensive home. It seems that Small is most likely headed toward being a designated hitter, but it was interesting to see him in a different spot.

• Senior outfielder Shaun Montoya did not play the field as he was dealing with a minor injury, but he still participated at the plate. No reason to be anything other than cautious this early in the year with players.

Related: Scrimmage notes from Jan. 26

Observations

• Though I was unable to make it to Friday’s scrimmage, I was told it was an excellent offensive day. But much of Saturday belonged to the pitchers. Junior LHP Ethan Walker and sophomore LHP Ben Cleaver were the first two pitchers and both threw the ball well. Walker sat in the low 90s with his fastball and worked around an error to keep a zero on the scoreboard in the first inning. He struck out Carson Hansen to lead off the second inning and retired the side in order, though he gave up a few runs in his final inning. Patrick Herrera delivered a two-RBI single, and Montoya drove in a run as well. Hansen had a hard-hit ball that led to a double play to end the inning.

• Cleaver didn’t allow any runs and struck out four batters over three innings. The sophomore has put together good performances leading into the season. Still curious to see if he’ll serve as a starter or as a long reliever, but he looks like one of the better pitchers on the staff.