FORT WORTH — In the home dugout, a picture of TD Ameritrade Park was tacked next to the lineups for TCU’s first fall scrimmage.
“Begin with the End in Mind!” read the caption.
The baseball stadium pictured is the one in Omaha, where the College World Series is played, where the Horned Frogs, who began fall practice Tuesday, hope/expect/aim to return in 2020 and end, for them, a mild drought of trips to the Midwestern capital of college baseball.
“And it’s not just Omaha, but a national championship,” said infielder Austin Henry, an Ann Arbor, Mich., native who watched friends with the University of Michigan play for the national title just three months ago. “You’ve got to have something to work towards. That’s our standard here — to get to Omaha. We want to keep that standard, and not just get there but do something and win.”
TCU has won plenty in Omaha, reaching the national semifinals in 2016 and ‘17 during a streak of four consecutive visits to Nebraska. But the majority of those teams is long gone. Pitcher Chuck King and catcher Zach Humphreys are the only players remaining who had significant roles on the last CWS squad, both as freshmen.
“That’s just a reminder for us that we need to make sure that every single person on the field knows exactly what it takes,” King said. “I know what it takes. I know what a season looks like, I know how thin the line is, how close it can be between making the postseason and not making it. For me, it’s a constant reminder. I know how to get there, and I need to make sure that every single guy on this field is staying the course to get where we need to go.”
But the season is months away. The Frogs are in the earliest stages of figuring out what they’ll be when it gets here.
King returns as the likely lead of the rotation, and Humphreys is penciled in to catch. Henry is back, possibly moving from second base to first. Also returning are infielders Conner Shepherd, Bobby Goodloe and Hunter Wolfe, who’s going to get a shot at center field.
Sophomore left-hander Russell Smith threw off a mound for the first time when the team scrimmaged Tuesday. Sophomore right-hander Caleb Sloan is expected to be ready in time for the start of the season in February. Both are coming off Tommy John surgeries.
Designated hitter Porter Brown is ready after recovering from a shoulder injury that cut short his freshman season. “He’s a way more physical player,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “A lot thicker, stronger. Still has the speed going. But he lost a lot of experience. Hopefully he’ll catch up quick from a baseball standpoint. He’s a dynamic player, no doubt.”
Shortstop, second base, right field — where Josh Watson made all but two of his school-record 253 starts over four years — and left field are open.
Freshman catcher Kurtis Byrne won’t sit much, although Humphreys is the front-line player.
“Right now, he’s showing as much hitting and power as anybody on our team,” Schlossnagle said of the new backstop from Chesterfield, Mo. “He can really throw. He certainly doesn’t have the experience that Humphreys has. But yeah, he’s going to play a lot and benefit from being around Humphreys all year.”
At shortstop, junior college transfer Tommy Sacco has been “super consistent,” Schlossnagle said. “And we have a couple of freshmen that we’ll take a look at. Every good baseball team has a good catcher, a good shortstop and a good center fielder. That’s why we’re having fall practice, to figure out if we have the right guys there.”
Another reason for fall practice: games. On Oct. 1 at Globe Life Park, TCU will play a 12-inning contest against players in the Texas Rangers Futures Camp. Near the end of fall practice, the Frogs will play Texas State at 1 p.m. Oct. 27 at Lupton Stadium in a free exhibition.
“This is where you put your team together,” Schlossnagle said. “Half of it is evaluation of who you have and what they can do. The other half is just putting together your team and a lot of your teaching — your team defense, team offense, getting guys used to how we play. It’s not rocket science. It’s pretty fundamental baseball. This is my favorite time of year, especially the month of October, because it’s baseball and teaching without the pressure of having to win and lose games. I love it. It’s exciting.”
(Photo by TCU Athletics)
