Ducks begin fall practices

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UOducksTK1
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Ducks begin fall practices

Post by UOducksTK1 »

http://www.goducks.com//ViewArticle.dbm ... OEM_ID=500

Irvin should be ready for the start of the season, that's good news.

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Re: Ducks begin fall practices

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Do Not Fear. Isaiah 41:13
uosportsguy01
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Re: Ducks begin fall practices

Post by uosportsguy01 »

I'll be curious how some of the positional battles are shaking out come alumni weekend. They are scrimmaging that weekend (Oct 18th I think), correct?
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Re: Ducks begin fall practices

Post by oregontrack »

me too. lots of bodies in certain spots. if i had to hazzard a guess:

cf heineman, sr (.278/.346/.400)
dh catalano, jr (.250/.438/.321)
3b tolman, jr (.315/.438/.470)
c chase, sr (.283/.352/.634)
lf balta, so (.242/.328/.370)
rf packard, sr (.290/.375/.435)
1b cuddy, fr
2b ?? houston, a new face?
ss karaviotis, so (.254/.369/.411)

heineman was horton's pick to lead off last year, not sure why that would change. catalano gets my nod at DH and the 2-hole namely because he's a high OBP guy, and anything that helps stack the deck for tolman and chase is a good thing. horton has seemingly given him the nod over some other guys in years past, so i would imagine he's high on him. tolman will again be our best hitter, and 2015 will, in all likelihood, be his last in eugene. enjoy him. nobody improved as much as chase last year. as he continues to round to form that only means better pitches to hit for the guys around him. balta has a bit of power in him, too, and packard very quietly had a pretty solid 2014, both in eugene and in summer league. i'll give cuddy the nod at first for now, and i have no clue at second base. karaviotis hit in the 9-hole last year and horton has always liked a guy who can hit a bit there, getting things in motion for when the line-up turns back over to his lead-off guys.

i think a lot will come down to whether or not cuddy can hack it offensively. if he can't, that opens up 1B, a position chase has played well in the past. that could help with the gluttony of catchers we have. what would be REALLY nice is if, say, heineman, who is always billed as the most versatile player on the roster, could handle 2B. that clears up another OF spot, likely going to austin grebeck (who i thought showed a lot of potential last year). but, i don't know how likely that is.

on the mound, i would be shocked if anyone but irvin/nogesek/peterson/paddon started the first four games at hawaii. i did find it interesting that the article failed to mention spencer, who rebounded quite nicely (mostly out of the 'pen) after a rough few starts.
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