photograph: Emma Crouch/Kansas Athletics
On Friday, September 20, 2024, Head Coachidan Fitzalard, Kansas, during the Lawrence at Hogland Ball Park.
Dan Fitzgerald, a baseball coach in Kansas, said that the baseball world noticed a powerful show in his program in the Big 12 tournament last May, and many of the Jake Hawks selected in the MLB draft after the season.
At first, it was difficult for Fitz Gerald himself to look back on the season after giving up the lead of Oklahoma, a conference champion on May 24, on a trip to the league title game. His staff was able to investigate the accurate scenario that KU lost to OU and notify the building in the future list.
“You get 9 outs and play with the Big 12 titles,” Fitzgerald said. “What is the last work that gets nine outs at the end? We have taken it with a lot of depth.”
Some of the off -season deep construction had a much greater impact than he had expected, and was against Fitzgerald’s will. KU was selected for six players and signed two more ink contracts as a professional team and a free agent. Added qualifications for universities that could have been used by six players out of the eight departure groups.
Instead, Fitzgerald and his staff had to start planning an alternative list and replenish the cupboard with the remittance of the radal that was out of summer. As a result, there is a list of 2025, and there are almost twice the number of newcomers.
“I just meet new men from all over the country and around the world,” said Veteran infielder Michael Brooks. “When all these new people (came), the locker room was not really negative, but to be honest, it was wonderful to know each other.”
Therefore, a veteran like Brooks, a player who has been with Fitzgerald after arriving before the 2023 season, is even more than usual when permanently continues the team culture that supports the improvement of KU year -on -year. It plays an important role (in 2024, 31-23, KU won the most victory since 2019 and matched the best program history).
“There are a handful of people from the beginning,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s solid.”
In this field, it begins with Brooks, a fifth grader senior.
“Last year, for the end of the year, my eldest son asked a man that we couldn’t lose, and I called Michael Brooks,” Fitzgerald was a recent video on Ku’s social media. I recalled. “I have played a very many roles because I said he was one man in this lineup, and a week later he had a broken hand.”
photograph: Bay Retundson/Kansas Athletics
Michael Brooks, an infielder in Kansas, will throw in the fall exhibition game with a shoe held at Hogland Ball Park on Saturday, October 12, 2024.
Brooks missed the last month of the 2024 season, so Brooks may be specialized because Brooks could be a different draft to hear Fitzgerald’s saying it. That’s the only reason that has come back for another year.
“Obviously, everyone wants to play professional baseball, and not to get injured and undergo surgery,” Brooks said. “Yes,, in other words, you need to be positive about everything. As I said, it’s all happened and I’m happy to return here.”
Brooks are like a defender that Fitzgerald wants to hit the ball in all plays, in addition to being a strong bat. Last season, he moved him between 3 Base and 2 Base. This year, he mainly meant the fall in a shortstop.
Brooks regard short stops as “field captains”, but in other cases he plays there is not much change.
“I played everything in high school short,” he said. “I’ve played it in scrimmage since I came here. One of Fitz is doing well, I think he’s moving everyone in all positions, and all infield I think it’s great because I need to play all positions. “
Fitz Gerald expects to occupy the left side of Uchino, a combination of Brooks, a other return person who committed injury in 2024 with Chase Digins, St. Cloud Star Transfera Sou Yasse Miss and Minnesota Transfer Bradic Counsel. I have stated.
“Most of the time they think they did a great job,” said Brooks. “They know a lot of games. This will be a really good infield for us this year.”
The outfield has several return start options with Mike Kochevsky and Thai wisdom, and there is a well -known advanced transfer from East Tennessee in Tommy Bath.
“I think he played a really good play in the fall after coming from DI experience in Etsu,” said Brooks.
However, some of the most enthusiastic praise of Fitzgeraldo are Delexelda, a junior of Dominica (with Dariel Osoria, a different possibilities), who enrolls in KU of Oklahoma State University Western State University. is.
“Derek Serda plays the center field in all teams he plays to move forward,” said Fitzgerald. “I coached some really good things in the center field, and he’s right there.”
On the plate, Fitzgeralard said that Selda did not drive the ball like “in the fall), but is surprisingly consistent.” Ku’s Ace Dominic Voegele said that CERDA and Counsell actually had the most trouble.
Behind the plate is another site with a big change, the tournament Hero Jeik Lish graduates, not only does Ben Hurtar reach a professional, but can also go to AAA by the end of the 2024 season. Freshman Zandishmit and Transferian Francis were added early, but Fitzgerald said, “I’m going to make a big splash,” said Junior Transfuma Soriz Junia.
Solis did not play during the 2024 college baseball season, but was added in late July with an impressive Northwood League in summer.
“I don’t think the catcher is as taller as Max (6 feet-5),” Fitzgerald said. “Max is a monster. He’s actually a profile, like a size, like a Joe Mauer -type man. He is as good as he is. Hold the ball in the strike zone, and it has really improved as the autumn progresses.
The headliner above Ku’s 2025 list is Voegele. Voegele is a large -scale 12 new freshmen this year, a new pre -season pitcher of the year and an all -American.
“It’s pretty cool, but it’s all of the pre-season,” Voegele told Journal-World. “So I had to go there during the season and do real things.”
photograph: Bay Retundson/Kansas Athletics
Dominikvogel of Kans Spitcher is ready to throw in the fall exhibition game with a shoe held at Hogland Ball Park on Saturday, October 12, 2024.
Fitzgeralard is the only second -year student Voegele is “the most mellow man in the world”, but his talent is talking a lot, and he is one of the most feared top -end starters in the league. It will be.
“His Vero is a bit up, physically he looks great,” Fitzgerald said. “Yes, I wish they were all like him. He’s a special person.”
In the off -season, Voegele has been working on building muscles and speed, but for him, the biggest movement in the off -season is his continuous efforts to add the fourth pitch to his repertoire. did. He said it would be useful for left -handed batters, and he found his favorite grip with many trial and error.
“If you can get a change -up, it’s probably the biggest jump I’ve taken in baseball careers, because all the pitches I have now had all of them from the beginning of pitching. Voegele said.
Regarding other options on the mound, Fitzgeralard had previously recorded 4.05 ERA in 29 times as a rescuer in 2024 after the 29 -year -old Oklahoma, as a strong candidate for the second grader, as a strong candidate. 。 Before I underwent Tomee’s surgery in April, I was tears as a Ku Sunday starter last season.
“He is making great progress,” said Brooks. “Honestly, he’s just starting to throw again, and I’m excited to see what he can do to finish the season.”
Jay Hawks has Taniel Troll, one of the most frequently developed rescuers in 2023.
Perhaps, depending on the method of Oklahoma games, the rescue part of the pitching staff has already been accumulated from the four -year level during the summer. team.
As a result, in addition to the staff including Jake Cabuler (USC Upstate), Eric Lin (South Alabama), Connor Maggie (Gardner Web), Maracai Vetoc (Clayton), early in the bluepen backend. Juko’s player Alex BRECKHEIMER, Robbie Knowless, Dalton Smith, which is expected to contribute to I’m not approaching.
Since JAYHAWKS is about to reach the first NCAA tournament since 2014, we want to start a non -conference schedule after several failures last season. Fitzgeralard explained the importance of his opponent’s record and his opponent’s schedule in the non -conference plan.
“I really want to play people who win a lot of games,” he said. “So you try to play some teams that are really going to do well. Basically, you want to clean them and want them to be undefeated in the rest of the way, and they To some of the non -conference games that are really good at the meeting, is it a warm weather so that we can play it? “
KU will open older in the 4 -game series in Texas A & M Colpas Curisty from February 14. The first home game will play against Omaha at the end of February, and the Big 12 play will play Baylor on March 14. It was chosen to get 9th in the 14 team league.
“We have lost some of the Big 12 cornerstones, but we have added Arizona, Arizona, which is a very untouched program, especially for baseball,” said Brooks. “I think it will help you to expand the country or to expand the widespread spread of Big 12 nationwide, but yeah, I’m excited. There is a really good competition this year.”
