Scrimmage observations: Feb. 1

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

SS Tyler Bell
1B Eli Small (later moved to left field)
3B Patrick Herrera
DH Shaun Montoya
RF Carson Hansen
C Raphael Pelletier
CF Griffin Cameron
LF Ryan Schwartz (later moved to catcher)
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

2B Luke Lawrence
SS Kyuss Gargett
1B Dylan Koontz
CF Will Marcy
LF Cole Hage
3B Ethan Hindle
DH James McCoy
C Nolan Belcher
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.
RHP Tommy Skelding, who redshirted as a freshman in 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, was up to 92 miles per hour with his fastball. Skelding looks like an interesting option for Kentucky as he continues to get more comfortable post-injury. Like Cleaver, Skelding has thrown the ball well in his opportunities the past few weeks. Kentucky’s midweek staff is probably going to skew pretty young, and that might be where Skelding lands to begin the season. Skelding appears to be someone worth keeping in mind moving forward.
Senior outfielder Cole Hage homered off Evan Byers late in the scrimmage. Hage went the opposite way to record the scrimmage’s only homer, at least in the time that I was there. Infielder Ethan Hindle and center fielder Will Marcy also had deep flyouts that probably would’ve left the yard had it been warmer. Hindle recorded a hard line drive off Byers for a single as well.
Freshman Ryan Schwartz came into the new year behind some of his teammates since he was still recovering from hand surgery during the fall, but he’s gotten the opportunity to move around the diamond some. He played left field at the beginning of the scrimmage before moving to catcher to finish up. He was called out his first at-bat when it was determined (by his teammates, I believe) that he moved out of the way of a pitch. That’s an automatic out in these scrimmages, and he also missed his next at-bat because of it. He drew a walk in his second at-bat. I’m not sure about his path to playing time yet, but he seems like the kind of player who could see some action during blowouts early in the season.
Thought senior infielder Patrick Herrera had a few good at-bats on Saturday. As mentioned above, he drove in the first two runs of the scrimmage and also reached base again by walking. Defensively, Herrera made a diving catch to rob Kyuss Gargett of a base hit.
Freshman outfielder Khaleel Pratt struck out a couple of times, but he reached base with a double in the middle of the scrimmage. Pratt is a really good athlete who likely needs some time in the program to develop, but he has some intriguing tools as a switch hitter.
Senior James McCoy is the only pitcher who I didn’t see. He was set to pitch the eighth inning.
As a programming note, I’m attending my nephew’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon so I won’t be at the park. But I’ve started the preseason mega-preview (one of my favorite stories of the year because it means the season is near) and have what I feel is a pretty good content plan leading up to the season. As always, shoot me a message if there’s something you’d like to read. I appreciate your support of Bat Cats Central.

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.