Arizona baseball: New approach at plate serving Wildcats’ Carson McEntire well

Hickman is a sophomore pitcher for the Arizona Wildcats. He faces Arizona’s batters during intrasquad scrimmages and watches them hit from the dugout.

“You can tell there's a brand-new approach to their swings,” Hickman said. “They're very short to the ball. And then sometimes they're going to run into home runs.”

That approach — implemented and emphasized by new hitting coach Jack Meggs — was on display again during an exhibition game against Central Arizona College Friday night. The Wildcats had 11 hits and drew eight walks in a 14-1 victory over the Vaqueros at Hi Corbett Field.

Outfielder Carson McEntire is among the players who’ve made tangible improvements at the plate. McEntire continued his strong fall by going 1 for 2 with a home run and three walks.

McEntire had a team-high 10 homers last season, his first at Arizona after transferring from Oregon State. But he also had a team-high 63 strikeouts. His K rate of 31.5% was the highest among UA players with at least 100 at-bats.

“My strikeout numbers were way too high last year,” McEntire conceded.

Instead of playing summer ball, McEntire spent the bulk of the offseason fine-tuning his swing. The goal was “just putting the ball in play more,” he said. “With the way I play, putting the ball in play is going to suit me great with my speed.”

“He’s come back and done nothing but impress us,” UA coach Chip Hale said. “He’s always been a great defender, always been a great baserunner. But his approach is way better. He’s using the other side of the field. He’s battling with two strikes.”

The areas McEntire focused on during the summer meshed with what Meggs has been promoting. Across the lineup, players have grinded out at-bats with two strikes.

“Meggs is awesome,” McEntire said. “There's not a player in here that has anything bad to say about him. ... I think every single one of us has improved our game.”

Hickman’s role TBD

Hickman served as the closer in Arizona’s first exhibition game in the Mexican Baseball Fiesta. He started Friday, throwing two scoreless innings.

What might his role be this upcoming season?

“I don't know,” Hickman said. “It's gonna be interesting to see. Wherever I'm needed.”

Hickman appeared in 18 games last season, all out of the bullpen. He had some excellent outings and some blowups, finishing with a 6.63 ERA. He struck out 25 batters in 19 innings but also issued 19 walks and hit 10 batters.

“I had a lot of ups and downs,” Hickman said. “The best thing that came out of last year was just the experiences I got. I (had) really bad experiences and very great experiences coming in different leverages and situations.”

Hickman spent the summer as a starter for the Ocean State Waves of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He posted a 3.68 ERA with a 20-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 14⅔ innings.

“It's almost like you're on vacation, but at the same time you're grinding to get better so that you can come back to Tucson and just be ready to go when the time comes,” Hickman said. “Because there you can mess up and figure new stuff out. Here you gotta be pretty dialed in because every game matters, every pitch matters.”

Hale can envision Hickman being a late-inning reliever with his fastball-slider combo. But the starting rotation isn’t out of the question either.

“I think his stuff will play better at the end of the game with Tony Pluta and that crew down there,” Hale said. “But we don’t know where we’re gonna be. We don’t know where we’re gonna be injury-wise going into the spring. So we want as many of these guys to be able to start as (possible).”

On the mend

Two projected weekend starters, right-handers Smith Bailey and Jack Lafflam, have yet to pitch in exhibition games as they work their way back from injuries.

Both have progressed to throwing off the mound. Bailey hit 92 mph Friday, “throwing nice and easy,” Hale said. The junior has been up to 94.

Neither will pitch in Arizona’s final exhibition game on Nov. 1 against Vanderbilt in Las Vegas. But both could be available for the Cats vs. Wild World Series the following weekend, Hale said.

Inside pitch

– Hale liked what he saw Friday night. The Wildcats did not commit an error and didn’t issue a walk until the ninth inning. “I was really proud of them,” Hale said. “I told them after the game, when you’re a head coach or any coach ... to sit back and watch how they played tonight is kinda what we teach. They were aggressive. They came at them. The pitchers were aggressive. The defense was outstanding. At-bats were good all night. Even when the score got out of hand, I thought our guys still maintained an edge at the plate.”

– Tony Lira, serving as the DH, had Arizona’s other home run. Freshman left-hander Tommy Pascanu followed Hickman and also threw two shutout frames.

– Shortstop Ariel Antigua batted leadoff and went 3 for 4 with a pair of walks. “Six quality at-bats,” Hale said. “I think he can hit. He didn't get a chance at Tennessee with all the people they were running through there and some of the injuries he went through. ... It's exciting. He's a go-getter and he's a leader, and it's been fun to watch.”

– Infielder Cash Brennan was held out because of a shoulder injury. Hale expects Brennan to be back next week.

– Freshman infielder Lyndon Lee is out for the season because of a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in the Mexican Baseball Fiesta on Oct. 1. The injury “was really unfortunate because he had had, up to then, such a good fall,” Hale said. “He and Jory (Crocker) were really fighting for that second base job. It's one of those things. It's sad. But knowing Lyndon and how he works, he'll make the best of it.”

– Hale on the inaugural “Sonoran Series” game vs. Hermosillo that drew a crowd of about 7,000 to Hi Corbett Field on Oct. 9: “It was awesome. We proved we can do it. We put that together in a month. So we're gonna go hard over the whole 12 months to get that thing even bigger and more fun, get some sponsorship(s) and make some big money for Arizona baseball.”