The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
2007 Season Preview: The Pitchers
2/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 7, 2007
Each Monday and Wednesday leading up to UAB's first game of the season with Central Michigan on Feb. 16, UABsports.com will preview the 2007 Blazers. We now sit down with UAB pitching coach Doug Kovash and preview the team's pitching staff. Our final preview will be posted on Monday when we sum things up with an overall outlook of first-year head coach Brian Shoop's club.
On June 12th, 2006 a change was made atop the UAB baseball program with the hiring of head coach Brian Shoop and along with that came the addition of assistant coach Doug Kovash who serves as the team's pitching coach.
Kovash brings 16 years and more than 400 career victories worth of head coaching experience to UAB. Kovash has previously served as the head coach at Susquehanna (Pa.) University, Emory University and Presbyterian College before joining Shoop at Birmingham-Southern in 2005. He is now in his third season as Shoop's pitching coach and is in his first campaign at UAB.
"Doug has a huge job because pitching is such a huge percentage of the game," Shoop said. "We're trying to get to the point where we throw more strikes and he and our staff are working hard to take steps in the right direction. Doug does everything he can to make that happen."
UAB's pitching staff is the least experienced of all areas for the Blazers, however might possess the most depth. Junior right-hander Jimbo Crew threw the most innings on the staff last season (77.1) with junior Ben Styes having thrown the second-most innings of the returnees at 36.2.
Throughout spring training, Kovash has been working diligently to separate four starters from his deep bullpen to be used in the team's first week of games.
"We're trying to identify four starters right now, three for the Central Michigan series and then one for the Alabama A&M game that following Tuesday," Kovash said. "We have a number of guys making progress and are starting to stick out and do things that are necessary for us to put together a staff. We hope eight to 10 guys are going to be consistent and be able to be everyday performers whether they are a starter, reliever or a closer. That's slowly starting to emerge, although it's still wide open in a lot of ways."
Kovash has had several points of emphasis throughout fall and spring camp. Among those focal points have been consistency, confidence and aggressiveness.
"The philosophy is to attack the strike zone and work ahead and keep your pitch count down," Kovash said. "We're just going to keep showing up everyday and keep working on it. We have some guys that are making some progress but the staff as a whole has a lot of work to do so we just keep going out there and keep on working."
Coming off a season in which the Blazers finished 19-38 and had a team ERA of almost a run-and-a-half more than their counterparts, the confidence level of the staff is something that has a focus of the coaches throughout camp as well.
"We're trying to attack that (confidence) on a day-to-day basis. Mentally and emotionally they need to react to the game and certain things that happen," Kovash said. "They need to be in control and they need to be confident, be intense, show composure and just show the things that it takes. We are trying hard to get them to deal with the distractions, the bad calls, couple of walks in a row, wild pitches, just some of the things that they've done that became who they were as a staff and to change that and do things differently."
When looking to see who will round out the staff, Kovash believes that a platoon of players could be used to aid the team in shutting down opposing offenses.
"I think a number of guys will see time for us," Kovash said. "Mitch Kloskowski is one of our top guys. We've talked about using him in a closing role because I think we're going to be in a lot of close games this year but there is a good chance we slide him into a starting role. Kyle Roberson and Jimbo Crew will see time as well. Jimbo has the most experience of the guys coming back and Kyle had the best fall."
Crew finished 2006 with a 6-4 record to lead the team in wins and boasted an ERA of 4.07, also a team-best. He topped the team in strikeouts with 49, however issued 60 walks. Styes was also impressive as he held an ERA of 5.40 while earning two victories. 
The Blazers hope to benefit from a late transfer in junior right-hander Dustin Colburn, who came to UAB from Shelton State Community College for the spring and has been cleared to play for the green and gold this season. Colburn brings more than 51.0 innings worth of collegiate experience to the club. Another late addition to the pitching staff has come in the form of a position change, as sophomore Robert Brewster has converted to the bullpen from third base.
Junior right-hander Brandon Flaherty was the teams leading closer last season, finishing with three saves in 14.2 innings of work in which he struck out 13 batters. Sophomores Roberson and Kloskowski also impressed the coaches during fall camp and on into the spring. Roberson is coming off a season in which he threw for 18.2 innings and struck out 14 batters.
Senior right-handers Grant Addison and Kasey Croft bring quality experience back to the UAB staff. Addison logged 20.2 innings of work last season, earning one victory and making two saves, while Croft put in 10.2 innings of work.
Some new arms will also aid the depth of the bullpen this season as Birmingham-Southern transfers, junior left-hander Paul Jones and sophomore right-hander James Oliver join a lengthy list of capable arms that includes junior lefty Rodney Wodson, junior right-hander Brandon Wallace, sophomore right-hander Mikael Saway and freshman right-hander Bradley Myer.
A standout freshman in left-hander Shay Crawford has also caught the coaches' eyes and is expected to play a vital role on the mound. Crawford joins the Blazers after an impressive career at Harding Academy in Bartlett, Tenn., where he was an all-state selection.
Pitching Staff
- Grant Addison (Sr., RHP) Won one game last season while pitching 20.2 inning and striking out 21 batters.
- Robert Brewster (So., RHP) Converted to the bullpen after playing 16 games as a third baseman last season.
- Dustin Colburn (Jr., RHP) Transfered to UAB from Shelton State CC.
- Shay Crawford (Fr., LHP) Comes to UAB after a standout career at Harding Academy in Bartlett, Tenn. Was a two-time Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State selection.
- Jimbo Crew (Jr., RHP) Led the team with six wins, 49 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.25 in 2006.
- Kasey Croft (Sr., RHP) Gained 10.2 innings worth of experience last season, recording four strikeouts.
- Brandon Flaherty (Jr., RHP) Led the team with three saves in 2006, a season in which he threw 14.2 innings and registered 13 strikeouts.
- Paul Jones (Jr., LHP) Transfered to UAB from Birmingham-Southern. Won two games last season with a 4.87 ERA.
- Ryan Keedy (Jr., RHP) Will play primarily in the infield, however could be used in a closing role as well.
- Mitch Kloskowski (So., RHP) Appeared in one game in 2006.
- Bradley Myer (Fr., RHP) Helped lead Baker HS to back-to-back 6A State Championships in 2005 and 2006.
- James Oliver (So., RHP) Transfered to UAB from Birmingham-Southern. Earned one victory with the Panthers last season.
- Kyle Roberson (So., RHP) Pitched 18.2 innings in 2006, totaling 14 strikeouts.
- Mikael Saway (So., RHP) Did not play in 2006 after coming to UAB following a successfull career at John Carol Catholic HS in Birmingham.
- Ben Styes (Jr., RHP) Boasted an ERA of 5.40 for the Blazers last season. Gained 36.2 innings of experience and struck out 19 batters.
- Brandon Wallace (Jr., RHP) Transfered to UAB from Shelton State CC.
- Rodney Wodson (Jr., LHP) Transfered to UAB from Wallace State CC.
