AU BASEBALL: Tigers dealing with injuries
Just three games into the 2010 season, the Auburn baseball team has just as many injured players.
Fortunately for the Tigers, as they head into this weekend’s Auburn Classic at Plainsman Park, coach John Pawlowski recruits for situations just like this.
Auburn has been without its centerfielder, Trent Mummey, and shortstop Casey McElroy — the only two players who started every game in 2009 — and is now down another outfielder, Justin Fradejas, who severely injured his hand in Friday’s season opener.
“We’re kind of in a scramble mode,” Pawlowski said. “With our three guys out we’ve kind of had to do some different things.”
The “different things” haven’t exactly meant different settings for those players who have had to pick up the slack. Pawlowski said the majority of his recruiting targets played either shortstop or center field at some point in their high school careers.
“If a guy can play shortstop in high school, he can play pretty much anywhere on the field,” Pawlowski said. “If you recruit centerfielders, they can usually play both of the corner outfields. It just gives you more options with shortstops and centerfielders and makes you more athletic.”
With McElroy and Mummey’s fates sealed before the season opener, Pawlowski opened with freshman Jordan Neese at shortstop, Creede Simpson in right field and Fradejas at center. That entire rotation was scrapped after Fradejas went down and Neese committed two errors, forcing Pawlowski to put Simpson in center, bring Justin Bryant out of the bullpen to play at shortstop and move backup catcher Tony Caldwell into right field.
That lineup stuck both Saturday and Sunday and will likely be in place tonight at 6 p.m., when Auburn opens the three-day invitational with Boston College. The Tigers follow with a 3 p.m. game Saturday against Missouri and a 3 p.m. series finale Sunday against Florida Atlantic.
Auburn will honor four of its all-time greats — Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas, Gregg Olson and Tim Hudson — 40 minutes before Saturday’s game as members of the inaugural Auburn Wall of Fame.
“A lot of what we’re doing is playing some old-school, backyard baseball,” Pawlowski said. “Just putting some guys out there and saying, ‘Hey, go play some defense.’ Until we get everybody back, that’s what we’ll do.”
McElroy (hand) is much closer to returning than Mummey, who severely sprained his ankle and was still on crutches with a plaster cast during last weekend’s series. Pawlowski said the shortstop swung the bat at practice Wednesday and, best-case scenario, could be available to pinch-hit this weekend.
“We’d certainly like to have his bat in the lineup,” Pawlowski said of McElroy, who was named a Freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger after he hit .286 with seven home runs and 35 RBI in 2009.
Auburn appeared in OK hands with Bryant at the plate. He went 3-for-7 with a double, two runs and two RBIs in two games, giving the Tigers a solid presence at the bottom of the order.
Bryant, whom Pawlowski is hoping can get some work as a reliever this weekend because of his strong breaking ball, took his first groundball as a shortstop the day before Auburn’s season opener.
“It’s kind of hard living up to Casey McElroy and the stuff he did last year,” Bryant said. “I’m just trying to fill a hole we have and hopefully he can get back. Maybe I won’t mess up too bad for him.”
Wednesday’s game time moved up
Auburn’s game against Davidson on Wednesday has been moved to a 3 p.m. start in order that fans may attend both it and the last men’s basketball game in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum at 7 against Mississippi State.
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