Diamond decisions: Five key questions facing Holbrook, staff

Practice begins Friday for the South Carolina baseball season. Here are five story lines Chad Holbrook will need to address before the season starts Feb. 13.

1. SETTLE ON SUNDAY AND MIDWEEK STARTERS

The first two starters are set, of course, by sophomore right-hander Wil Crowe and junior left-hander Jack Wynkoop.

"We feel good about them," Holbrook said.

Sophomore right-hander Taylor Widener is a leading candidate to be the No. 3 starter, but he's also in the mix to be the closer if that looks to be a more pressing need. The staff also will be bolstered in some way by freshmen right-handers Clarke Schmidt, Brandon Murray, and Tyler Johnson.

"Those guys have put themselves in a position to help us significantly," Holbrook said. "We need them to be pretty good to be the team that we want to be."

2. FIND A CLOSER

Holbrook admits that decision will be tied to defining Widener's role. The hard-throwing righty could be the perfect fit unless he goes into the rotation. Last season the team didn't settle on Joel Seddon until just before the first game, and he responded with a superb year before being drafted.

"Right now we're not ready to make that decision, but that's the thing I think about the most," Holbrook said. "It's our most important decision because those last six outs are awfully difficult to get. We need one of our best guys to get them. Who's that going to be? It's going to be a tough call. We're going to have to let the spring unfold a little bit."

Senior right-hander Cody Mincey served as a reliable setup man last season.

3. MUSICAL CHAIRS IN INFIELD

First baseman Kyle Martin, one of the team's top hitters and defenders, returned for his senior season despite being drafted. Second baseman Max Schrock, arguably the team's best player, shortstop Marcus Mooney and third baseman DC Arendas -- all juniors who started last season -- are back, but they are getting pushed hard by sophomore Jordan Gore, who had an outstanding fall, and freshman Madison Stokes.

The experience and depth is a good problem to have.

"The infield may be evolving because when I look at second base, third base and shortstop, I have more than three that deserve to play. I could probably make a case for five," Holbrook said. "That's going to have to be a versatile group and a patient group and a team-oriented group because I may move a couple of guys around. One of the guys may play left field from time to time because I want them all to play."

4. DEVELOP A NEW CATCHER

Grayson Greiner spoiled the Gamecocks for three seasons before he headed to the Detroit Tigers organization, and he left a big void with three players looking to fill it -- sophomore Logan Koch, freshman Hunter Taylor and junior college transfer Jared Martin.

The run-up to the season should be quite a battle.

"That's going to be an interesting competition. These three weekends are going to be very important for those three guys," Holbrook said. "Logan is a little bit ahead of them. If we played tomorrow, Logan would be our catcher. But Hunter has come a long way. He's got a lot of potential, he's strong as an ox, and he's got a great makeup. He's going to be a very good player for us. I certainly want to have two capable catchers as we go into the season."

5. BEST OUTFIELD COMBINATION

Sophomore Gene Cone, who had an excellent summer in the Coastal Plain League, won the center field job in the fall with his steady play. Reliable senior Connor Bright has started 113 games in his career and figures to plant in right field again, although he will be pushed.

Seniors Elliott Caldwell and Patrick Harrington will makes their cases to get on the field, as will talented freshman Clark Scolamiero. But if Holbrook wants to keep Gore's bat in the lineup, he could head to the outfield as well.

"Those are going to be some very difficult decisions," Holbrook said.

Expect hard-hitting freshman Alex Destino to serve as the designated hitter in the middle of the batting order.

This story was originally published January 21, 2015 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Diamond decisions: Five key questions facing Holbrook, staff."