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2017 Baseball Position-by-Position Preview: Infielders/DH
2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 7, 2017
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University baseball team has less than two weeks left of practice time ahead of Opening Day on Feb. 17. This is the second of three weekly positional previews ahead, as FAUSports.com sat down with Head Coach John McCormack to talk about one of the most experienced groups of his 2017 squad.
- Tuesday, Feb. 1: Pitchers
- Today: Infielders & Designated Hitters
- Tuesday, Feb. 15: Outfielders & Catchers
The infield returns three of four starters, though the fourth was a starter, just at another position. At designated hitter too, the Owls bring back a two-way player with success in both roles.
First baseman Esteban Puerta, second baseman Stephen Kerr and third baseman Austin Langham are all seniors, and combined, they saw their names in the lineup last season 170 out of a possible 174 times. Langham has the team's highest returning batting average (.320), Puerta was the top home-run hitter and run producer (10 and 52), and Kerr was the table-setter for a lineup producing over six runs a game, and he led the way with 17 stolen bases.
"The infield is arguably right now one of the strengths of the team," said McCormack. "(Esteban) Puerta is a three-year starter and has been in the program five years, (Stephen) Kerr is a three-year starter and has played every game since his freshman year and (Austin) Langham has started every game here at third base. Tyler Frank is the only newcomer to the group because he was our starting catcher last year and is transitioning to shortstop."
Frank was Conference USA All-Freshman a year ago, out of position when the team needed a starting catcher. He batted .285 in 45 games, with 40 starts, adding 27 RBI and steady defense at backstop. He will be filling the shoes of C-USA Player and Defensive Player of the Year C.J. Chatham, a second-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox. The Owls' team leader in batting (.357), hits (89), doubles (17), triples (4), extra base hits (29) and slugging percentage (.422), Chatham was named to six different All-American teams.
The right side of the infield has two four-plus-year recruits, with Puerta actually in his fifth season with a redshirt. They are also the team's two captains for the upcoming year.
"EP (Puerta) will be the starter at first base, he's turned himself into an above-average defensive 1B, and offensively we all know what he can do," said McCormack. "Kerr is a three-year starter and has started nearly every game since he got here. He's one of the better defensive 2B in the country. He's a big help with everything that goes on in the middle of the field, he's a good director of traffic."
Kerr will be joined by a new double-play mate in Frank, while the calm, cool and collected Langham will man the hot corner.
"Tyler Frank came to us as an infielder, volunteered to catch last year when we had a myriad of issues behind the plate," said McCormack. "He's taken to (shortstop) well, but there's going to be some growing pains. We're very fortunate that this summer he was able to go away and play shortstop in summer ball, and he was named All-League (in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League). Langham is just Steady Eddie at third, he only had four errors last year, makes all the plays and makes it look easy. Steady Eddie does his job. They (the other players) call him 'Default.' If you don't choose and make a player (in video games), it's him, he just does everything good."
McCormack has a trio of newcomers he can call on to break glass in case of emergency.
"The guys that will help out in case we have issues will be Brad Mathiowetz and Alex Ray," he said. "Both of them are very versatile, they can play the three infield spots besides 1B. It gives us some options down the line if we have to make some moves during games. Another guy you might see in the infield who came to us as a middle infielder and now we've converted him to an outfielder is Gary Mattis. He has very good baseball instincts and can be available whenever we need them."
Mattis and Ray are true freshmen, while Mathiowetz is slated to oftentimes be the team's starting catcher as a junior college transfer.
The Owls also bring back last year's starting designated hitter, and a Preseason All-C-USA selection in Sean Labsan. The senior is a vital part of the starting pitching rotation, but was the team's starting DH 42 times a year ago, hitting .268 with five home runs and 23 RBI.
"Sean Labsan is right now the main DH because he did a really good job last year in that role," said McCormack. "When he pitches, in the past we've just allowed him to focus on pitching alone. At that point, everybody else on the roster is available. We're going to use a combination of players like Mathiowetz, Aldrich DeJongh, and Pedro Pages as possible designated hitters when he's pitching."
Similar to the infield reserves, DeJongh and Pages are also freshmen newcomers. DeJongh will be part of the outfield rotation and Pages is another option at catcher in addition to Mathiowetz.
More about the catchers and outfielders will be right here on FAUSports.com a week from today. That following Friday, Feb. 17, will be the Owls' first matchup of the season, hosting Monmouth at FAU Baseball Stadium. Tickets for opening weekend and all of the rest of the team's home schedule are available by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/fau/EN/link/buy/browse?i%5B0%5D=251.
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