Tim Tadlock would like Kevin Bazzell to 'catch 162 games if he can'
Texas Tech baseball coach Tim Tadlock divided up the Red Raiders' catcher duties last year in something approximating a two-thirds/one-third arrangement. Hudson White started 35 games behind the plate, Dylan Maxcey 27 and usual third baseman Kevin Bazzell two.
White transferred after the season to Arkansas, the Tech staff moved Bazzell to catcher and the job has been almost all Bazzell's this season. That's by design.
"Man, I think right now he's earned the right to catch — catch 162 games if he can," Tadlock said recently, referring to the length of a Major League regular season. "Now, that's probably not feasible."
In Big 12 three-game series last year, Tech's usual plan at catcher consisted of starting White on Friday night, Maxcey on Saturday afternoon and White on Sunday afternoon. At a physically and mentally taxing position, that allows for the shorter recovery time from a Friday night game to a Saturday afternoon game.
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This season, though, Bazzell has started the Red Raiders' first six games and seven of the eight at catcher and started the other at designated hitter. Maxcey's played in three games, starting one, and gotten six at-bats.
Bazzell, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Rockwall-Heath graduate, is draft-eligible after this season, being a third-year sophomore. He's ranked by MLB Pipeline among the top 50 prospects.
Days off aren't in the cards for Bazzell, being the Red Raiders' 3-hole hitter in every game.
"His bat's going to be in there every day, without a doubt," Tadlock said. "You can play him at first. You can play him at third if you wanted. I would never have a hesitation playing him at second base.
"He can play baseball, kind of like you used to see (former Tech catcher) Braxton (Fulford) play second base in intrasquad and Craig Biggio and some of those guys. He's going to catch the ball most of the time and throw them out."
Last year, Bazzell tied West Virginia's J.J. Wetherholt for the Big 12 lead in doubles with 24. He batted .348 with 10 home runs and 62 runs batted in. This year, he's at .406 with 11 RBI and second in the conference with seven doubles.
Texas Tech moved up three spots to No. 19 in this week's USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll. Tech (6-2) hosts Gardner-Webb (2-6) in a three-game non-conference series this weekend at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Tim Tadlock would like Kevin Bazzell to 'catch 162 games if he can'
