The Arizona Wildcats conducted an intrasquad scrimmage Thursday night at Hi Corbett Field, the first of four consecutive dress rehearsals meant to mimic their upcoming opening series against Ball State.
The set against the Cardinals will be the first of five straight weekends during which the UA will play four days in a row. The season opener is slated for 6 p.m. next Friday.
Here are five takeaways from the eight-inning scrimmage, which the home team won 3-2:
1. Chase = ace
About 10 pro scouts attended the scrimmage. Their main focus was right-hander Chase Silseth. The transfer from College of Southern Nevada didn’t disappoint.
The 6-foot, 217-pound sophomore pitched six dominant innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter.
Silseth mostly featured a fastball and slider against a predominantly right-handed-hitting lineup. He retired the first nine batters he faced and struck out the last four. He looked the part of a Friday-night starter.
“We have good position players on our team. So he's had a couple (of outings) where it hasn't been as smooth as that,” Arizona coach Jay Johnson said. “But he's been very consistent in terms of throwing strikes and throwing all his pitches for strikes. He's a highly competitive kid. It's a unique situation where the talent and the makeup are exactly where you want them to be.”
2. The order of things
Johnson hasn’t settled on a lineup yet and probably won’t for a while. The way he sees it, he has 11 “starters” for nine spots.
This was the home lineup Johnson deployed Thursday:
1. CF Donta’ Williams (L)
2. 2B Kobe Kato (L)
3. SS Jacob Blas (R)
4. 1B Branden Boissiere (L)
5. C Daniel Susac (R)
6. DH Tyler Casagrande (L)
7. RF Ryan Holgate (L)
8. 3B Jacob Berry (S)
9. LF Mac Bingham (R)
(SP Chase Silseth)
Johnson also gave a ton of at-bats to veteran outfielder/DH Blake Paugh, who had two hits – including a double off of Silseth – and two walks.
“I'm excited when we can all get in one dugout, and I'm looking forward to the next few days of watching it evolve even more,” Johnson said. “I left tonight really encouraged as far as what I think our depth is going to be able to do for us.”
3. Fresh faces
Several freshmen are expected to be significant contributors this season. The two who stood out Thursday were Susac and outfielder Chase Davis.
Susac struck out in his first at-bat against right-hander Dawson Netz. The next time he came up, Susac fell into an 0-2 hole but managed to fight off an inside pitch for an opposite-field single. He singled in each of his next two at-bats as well, finishing the night 3 for 4.
“I think he's really developed as a hitter in a short amount of time,” Johnson said. “As you can see, we have good arms out here. Those freshmen have been tested. They've never seen pitching like this in their lives.
“We identified some things in the fall for him to go to Christmas break and work on. It really simplified his approach. When you have a player that's talented like that, that's sometimes the best thing you can do, and he's really in a good spot right now.”
Davis registered only one hit in four at-bats, but that doesn’t tell the story of his evening. He just missed knocking a Silseth breaking ball out of the park, instead flying out to the edge of the track in right. Davis laced a triple to right-center off veteran reliever Vince Vannelle. Davis almost got Vannelle again in his next AB, hooking a line drive just foul down the right-field line. Vannelle then struck him out looking with a curveball.
“His ability and talent is not an issue at all,” Johnson said of Davis. “The longer Chase is here, the more he learns how to play winning baseball, I think he's got a chance to be a really special player. You got some glimpses of that talent tonight.”
4. Small ball
As mentioned, the final score was 3-2. Arizona hasn’t played a ton of 3-2 games the last few seasons.
The result Thursday was a reflection of strong pitching on the part of Silseth, Netz and relievers Vannelle, Ian Churchill and Preston Price. It also might be an indication of the type of team the Wildcats will be this season.
Arizona regularly has been one of the best offensive clubs in the Pac-12 – and at times one of the best in the nation – under Johnson. But the Wildcats have lost several powerful hitters to the MLB draft in recent years, including third baseman Nick Quintana and catcher Austin Wells.
The top of the lineup Thursday featured three pesky, athletic batters in Williams, Kato and Blas. Williams hit the ball hard in each of his first three at-bats, including a line triple to right in the first inning. Kato scored him with a sacrifice fly and later singled. Blas had a double to left-center and a bunt single.
“I take pride in being able to try to score runs any way possible and do whatever our offense needs to do to be successful,” Johnson said. “It's almost like in football, if you have the best quarterback in the country, you probably want throw the ball 40 times a game. And if you’ve got 300-pound linemen that knock the snot out of people, then you run between the tackles.”
5. A quiet place
Johnson and his team are used to scrimmaging in an empty stadium. They’re going to have to get used to playing in one.
Thursday was supposed to be the annual “Meet the Team” event. But fans aren’t permitted to attend Pac-12 sporting events because of the coronavirus pandemic, per league policy. Whether that will change over the course of the season – which will run through at least late May – remains to be seen.
“I just really want our fans and the families of the players to get back in here,” Johnson said. “It's a unique place, and I think we've won almost 80% of our (home) games in the four years and change that I've been the coach here.”
The scrimmage did feature game-like elements, including a pregame hype video, a public-address announcer and walk-up songs. Several players, mostly pitchers, sat in the stands so the entire team wasn’t crammed into the dugout. Two pitchers sat behind the plate charting pitches. The scouts sat in the section behind them.
“My gut is the first two series we will not have anybody other than scouts and media,” Johnson said. “My hope is when we come home for Wichita State (March 11-14) that we at least have the players’ families or a guest list for the players on both sides.
"It's important (for the players). It's important to the parents too. You think about the guys that we're coaching that are on the field, that's the most important person in their parents’ lives. This is supposed to be one of the best times of them enjoying the good work that they did parenting. The reward is to get to watch them play and be a part of this."
