Alaska, The Bucs
I first caught wind of
Jonathon Youngblood as an outfielder for the Cincinatti Steam last summer. I wondered if he would make it at UT because it didn't appear that he was much of a hitter. That summer he hit .147, he was 5/6 in stolen bases, I mean nothing really screamed success.
For the Vols he hit .306 last season as a true situational player. He has shown the ability to turn what looks like a routine ground out into a base hit or instead of an easy out on a sac bunt, he can turn it into two men on with no outs. He was also used as a pinch runner in late game situations. He was 6/7 for stolen bases last season. He had two doubles.
In Alaska he batted .161. He had 62 at bats and he only struck out 12 times, so he was making contact, he just wasn't getting on. I was hoping he'd find his swing but with six outfielders on the team, he had limited opportunities.
Some how, he fits with CDS and Coach Bergeron and the system they employ.
Peter Lenstrohm had a 3.65 ERA for the Vols...
37 IP, 32 H, 22 R, 15 ER, 11 BB, 21 SO
In Alaska his ERA was 3.52
23 IP, 18 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 15 BB, 22 SO
He had two bad outings which drove up his ERA but it should be noted, in his first four appearances he gave up no runs and in his last four appearances he gave up no runs and picked up his first two wins of the summer. In 11 of his 17 appearances, he gave up no runs.
Further, for the Vols last season, his BAA was .257 which is higher than the team BAA of .242. In Alaska teams hit .217 versus P. Lenny. If he put up that number for the Vols he would have been behind only Andy Cox's .178. That could bode well down the road.
It might not have been an outstanding summer, but he was pretty solid as a reliever.
The only pitcher on the roster with a worse ERA than
Bret Marks this past season was little used Dalton Saberhagen. Marks was injured early on and CDS said that it prevented him from being the pitcher they thought he would be.
Marks had a 6.43 ERA through 14 IP for the Vols.
His ERA in Alaska through 42.2 IP was 1.89
hmy:
He had 49 SO (tied for the league high) and only 15 walks.
Opponents batted .213 versus Marks in the ABL.
He didn't give up an ER in his first 6 appearances and truth be told he only had one bad outing...July 4th.
In 10 out of 12 games he gave up 1 run or less.
The best stat of all imo is this....He had four games where he pitched 6 or more innings. We desperately need a guy or two that can go deep into an outing. Nick Williams was the only guy we had, Godley the year before.
If Marks can do that this year it could really change the complexion of the staff.
I think Marks is easily the surprise of the summer.
More to come...
GBO!!!
