While ASU baseball's outfield is expected to be young, the infield is full of experience.
Senior Jordan Aboites, juniors David Greer and Colby Woodmansee and sophomore Andrew Snow will be returning for the Sun Devils.
Despite the strength of these returners, head coach Tracy Smith said the infield lacks depth.
Aboites has been practicing at third this preseason as well as throwing in the bullpen with potential to start some games, but he said there hasn’t been a lot of discussion with Smith on what his role will be.
“I think he kind of knows that I’m just on my toes (and) ready for anything,” Aboites said.
Smith said he loves Aboites at third base, but if the team needs him to pitch, the concern of depth comes into play.
“His defense at third base is why he’s playing, and he’s got tremendous feet, tremendous arm strength,” Smith said. “He’s key for us.”
In the first couple weeks of practice, Greer has been at first after playing primarily at third last season. The move across the field, however, hasn’t been much of an adjustment for the junior. Greer said he grew up playing shortstop, then switched to third and has moved around while at ASU.
“You just learn a few different priorities,” Greer said. “Holding runners, hopping off and being able to turn the double play, that’s probably the toughest thing so far. Other than that, just being able to read bat paths like at third base has been pretty much the same.”
Woodmansee was named to the Baseball America 2016 Preseason All-American third team and the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American second team, but he said the honors don’t mean anything unless he is at the All-American at the end of the year.
Snow has matured as a player from last year to now, but Greer said he saw the biggest maturity leap from the sophomore going from fall 2014 to spring 2015.
“He came back, I’ll say a new player, but as the player he always knew he could be,” Greer said. “He’s a gamer; he comes out and plays hard.”
Smith said Snow stabilized his position at second last season even though he was not in the lineup at the beginning. Despite this, Smith would like to see more consistency.
“I like how he’s comfortable in how he plays the game, but we do need a little more consistency out of him,” Smith said. “That’s the biggest challenge.”
Snow has been helping freshman Jeremy McCuin at second base, Aboites said.
Smith said McCuin will most likely be the infield’s “swing guy” this season. He noted that because McCuin is one of the only utility players in the infield, he hopes the veteran players stay healthy.
In the lineup, Aboites said the experienced infield will play a big role again this year.
Last season the four returning starters combined for 192 hits, 85 RBIs and 76 runs scored, with Woodmansee leading the way in all three.
“I think if we do what we do, we’ll be fine,” Aboites said.
Related Links:
Replacing aces: ASU baseball pitching positional preview
Fresh faces: ASU baseball outfield position preview
Reach the reporter at haley.stesiak@asu.edu or follow @haley_stesiak on Twitter.
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