When sophomore center fielder Jonathan Kim went down with an injury earlier this season, the Michigan baseball team’s already inconsistent lineup needed an immediate answer. But instead of healing the wound, it failed to even patch up its bleeding.
Looking towards pinch hitters and subsequent defensive substitutions, the Wolverines found a bandage. However, there was no scab that seemed to form. With too many substitutions at the plate and in center field, Michigan couldn’t establish any consistency on either side of the ball. But after moving players out of batting slots they’ve held all year, the wound might be starting to heal.
“We just figured where we are right now (there’s) no harm no foul in switching it up,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said Saturday.
The Wolverines switched it up once again heading into their series against Maryland, hoping to make an immediate difference. And when the weekend was over, the adjustments certainly worked.
With a revolving door of inexperienced hitters filling in at the plate, Michigan was missing a piece that could put together the rest of the puzzle. So when the Wolverines settled on freshman center fielder AJ Garcia, they rolled the dice on a leadoff hitter.
And that gamble was successful. Instead of struggling like many other freshmen, Garcia’s ability to hit for contact gives Michigan a true leadoff hitter. With a propensity for getting on base, Garcia provides the Wolverines with RBI chances for their most prolific part of the order. Right fielder Mitch Voit follows Garcia, boasting a strong .333 batting average and senior left fielder Stephen Hrustich adds power behind him, making the top third of the lineup primed to do damage early. Batting cleanup is the imposing freshman designated hitter Collin Priest, who can change the course of the game with one swing, wielding a 1.062 OPS.
Garcia’s inclusion at the top of the lineup isn’t the only key change that has led to benefits for the team — senior second baseman Mack Timbrook’s move has as well.
Moving from the leadoff spot to the eight-hole, Timbrook has provided Michigan with much-needed consistency at the bottom of the lineup. Powering a previously weak part of the order, Timbrook’s .365 on-base percentage has helped flip the lineup card over, giving the top of the order additional baserunners it previously hasn’t seen. This past weekend, he was responsible for seven hits, four RBIs and a moonshot home run, helping power the Wolverines to a series victory against the Terrapins.
“I like the lineup now,” Smith said. “Particularly if (AJ) is going to continue to give good at-bats at the top, with Mitch and (Hrustich) what they’re doing behind him, and Collin. And then that will give (Timbrook) some more pitches to hit at the bottom of the order.”
Garcia and Timbrook aren’t the only players to flourish within the new batting order. Junior third baseman Cole Caruso was on a tear against Maryland, working his way out of a slump by going 9-for-13 with four doubles and four RBIs. Senior first baseman Dylan Stanton has also had a strong recent stretch, working his batting average up to a respectable .269.
Against the Terrapins, the lineup changes started to heal a wound. Maryland’s pitching staff is no pushover, and the Michigan hitters attacked that problem proactively while also solving issues in their own batting order.
“We debated (the fact that) I liked the lineup for the first couple of games,” Smith said Sunday. “(But) for the first time all season, (the lineup) felt good. We were athletic where we needed to be athletic and we were power where we needed to have power.”
And with the order moving in the right direction, the Wolverines have set a higher standard at the plate. But this lineup will change. Kim still hasn’t returned from injury, and he’s a shoo-in for Garcia’s spot in center field when he comes back. With his return, the order that is settling in should only get stronger, fueling a lineup that has to carry a weak pitching rotation.
In the meantime, Michigan has a lineup it can feel comfortable with — one that has helped it start to turn the tides on a poor start to the season.