Sophomore English works to become switch-hitter
Much like the rest of the team, the outfield was not spared from changes after the 2012 campaign. This year’s Gamecock outfield returns one of its three starters from last season.
Coach Chad Holbrook removed some of the uncertainty from the outfield by naming sophomore TJ Costen and junior Graham Saiko, a junior college transfer, to starting spots alongside sophomore and returning starter Tanner English.
Originally recruited as an infielder, Saiko found his home in the outfield in his first fall with the team. Holbrook values the experience Saiko brings to the team as well as his talent.
“(Saiko) can really play,” Holbrook said. “He moves the ball. He looks like a prototypical 2-hole hitter. He can run too ... He’s a good player.”
Like Saiko, Costen has impressed the coaches with his athleticism throughout the fall. However, as a still-developing sophomore, Costen must increase his maturity level this season.
“(Costen) is one of our better athletes ... But we have to keep polishing him up a bit,” Holbrook said. “He’s unpredictable at times, but he’s an awesome talent. If we can corral him a little bit and help him stay within the parameters of the game, I think he can have a really good year for us.”
English, the lone returning starter, played in all 69 games for USC as a freshman last year and started 68 of them. This year will have a theme of transition for the sophomore, as he will move to center field and experiment with switch-hitting this spring.
“I’ve never really [switch-hit] before. I’ve messed around with it, but have never really done it seriously,” English said. “Coach Holbrook gave me the opportunity to do it this fall, and he liked what he saw. I felt comfortable and had a blast, and I kind of stuck with it, and it is going pretty good so far.”
English, who will left-handed in the season-opener, has been developing his switch-hitting abilities as a way to give him an extra step on the defense. He said the biggest challenge is establishing the muscle memory to hit in the reverse of what he has been doing his entire life.
Two newcomers to the outfield and the team are redshirt freshmen Shon Carson and Ahmad Christian. Carson is a tailback and Christian is a cornerback for coach Steve Spurrier on the football team, and both made the baseball roster for the first time in their second year on campus. Christian narrowly missed the final cut last spring, as Holbrook has expressed throughout the offseason that he regretted the move to cut him.
“Coach Tanner and I often talked last year about (how) the biggest mistake we made was probably not keeping Ahmad on our team last year,” Holbrook said. “We’re not going to make that mistake again. He’s too talented a kid.”
As multi-sport athletes, both Carson and Christian bring an added element of athleticism to Holbrook’s outfield in addition to posing an offensive threat to the opposition. But the coach said Christian, who is a second baseman by trade, is still learning his new position.
Holbrook has emphasized reducing strikeouts this year and capitalizing with runners in scoring position, so their contributions of speed bode well for the newcomers on the diamond this spring.
“If I get a single I can turn it into a triple by stealing bags,” Carson said. “We really won’t have to use bunts to get us over. We can drive us in once we steal.”