Coach Kevin O’Sullivan could only watch in amazement as his star freshman Austin Maddox peppered five straight batting practice pitches off the right-center field scoreboard last week. Maddox’s raw power isn’t the surprise. It’s the adjustments he has made during his time on the University of Florida campus that has him on track to be one of the top freshmen in the SEC this season.
When Maddox first arrived on campus in the fall, he had a lot of high school in him, which is to say he was trying to hit everything hard as he could to make a bit impression. The only problem was, trying too hard created holes in his swing and the power shows were less than impressive.
He’s starting to show the kind of potential that has some experts thinking he can be the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year this season.
“I think he has improved an awful lot,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s really starting to learn how to be a hitter. What happens in high school is there is some pressure on them and they get into pull mode. They want to hit the ball as far to the pull side as they possibly can when they go to all these different workouts. They lose sight of using the entire field.”
Raw power — and not just with the bat — is what put Maddox on the map as a top prospect for the 2009 MLB Draft. In addition to the ability to hammer the ball, Maddox has real power in his arm. His throws to second base to nail base runners trying to steal have been clocked at more than 90 mph. That combination of hitting and a golden arm cemented his spot as one of the top high school catchers in the country last year. At this time last year, no one around the Florida baseball program would have sounded confident about getting Maddox to campus.
But he fell to the 37th round, where the Tampa Bay Rays selected him. Reasons for his fall in the draft have been widely debated. Some scouts thought he would have difficulty staying at catcher because of his 6-3, 230-pound frame. Others might have been worried about the questionable competition he played against at Eagle’s View Academy although he hit .544 with nine home runs and 33 RBI as a senior. Eagle’s View is also the same school where Florida’s junior second baseman Josh Adams played, and he has transitioned into college baseball perfectly.
While no one may ever know the real reason his draft stock tumbled, O’Sullivan knows he has a potential star for the next three years and a hitter with power to protect Preseason All-American Preston Tucker in the middle of the lineup.
Tucker’s record-breaking season last year (.364, 15, 85) solidified him as one of the top hitters in the SEC and those numbers could soar with Maddox in the lineup because it will be that much harder to pitch around Tucker.
Now that he’s past his try to hit everything out of the park stage, Maddox is looking like a complete hitter. He faces the Gators’ top arms every day and has become the talk of practices. But it wouldn’t be possible if Maddox weren’t concentrating on hitting the ball to the opposite field. That allows him to stay back on off-speed pitches better, but also tap into the power he has to all fields.
“I’ve been working hard on hitting the ball to the opposite field,” Maddox said. “In high school, you just get to go up there and free swing because the talent level isn’t nearly as good.”
Putting together an offseason like Maddox has so far would usually come as a surprise to people, but it hasn’t surprised the Florida coaching staff. They knew what they were getting while recruiting him. It was expected that if he made it to campus, he would step into the middle of the order from day one and be a key contributor.
“He has always had nature hitting ability,” O’Sullivan said. “There’s no question about that. He’s worked hard at it. He’s really starting to figure some things out [hitting the other] way. If the season were tomorrow, we’re going to pencil him in the middle of the order. Good, bad or indifferent, we’re going to keep him there. We’ve got an awful lot of confidence in him.”
Hitting comes naturally for Maddox but what he’s doing in the field requires more adjustment. The Gators boast a group of catchers that O’Sullivan said is “as good as anybody’s in the country.” They return sophomore Ben McMahan off a summer where he hit .241 in a pitching-heavy Cape Cod League, the top wood bat league in the country. Besides Maddox, freshman Michael Zunino is also on campus after forgoing the ability to sign professionally. Senior Hampton Tignor also provides leadership.
With that much depth, Maddox is learning some other positions to increase his value to the team. He worked at third base some during the fall, but now that the Gators are working in earnest for a season opener that eight days away, Maddox is getting in some work at first base.
If Maddox can adjust to first base, O’Sullivan could move Tucker to the outfield, while putting either McMahan or Zunino behind the plate with the other one stepping into the lineup as the designated hitter. It gives the Gators their best lineup, and it’s something the Gators will toy with at the beginning of the year.
In order for it to work, Maddox has to be comfortable at first base and it’s not as simple as learning how to field a ground ball. He has had to work on starting double plays, as well as his footwork while receiving a throw on the base. He played “a little” infield in high school, but not enough to make him immediately comfortable at the college level.
“I’ve always been able to hit, so that’s been a blessing for me, but right now my primary focus is on my defense,” Maddox said. “If you can play two positions, you’ve got a lot of extra options.”
The Gators have options when it comes to Maddox’s position, but there’s little doubt he will be a major contributor to the offense from the middle of the order.