This is part three of The Daily’s baseball season preview. This part focuses on the infield.

In a nutshell

The Cardinal infield was a major strength all season in 2017. Stanford was stacked with talented offensive and defensive players in the diamond. Even after injuries to the catching and third base positions, the Cardinal infield kept chugging along smoothly.

It starts with the middle infield where shortstop Nico Hoerner and second baseman Duke Kinamon ended many chances of a ball slipping into the outfield grass. Then, at first base, Matt Winaker was as dependable as you could ask a first baseman to be.

The only concerns last season were the injuries to catcher Alex Dunlap and third baseman Mikey Diekroeger. However, they were replaced more than adequately by Maverick Handley and Jesse Kuet.

The pitching staff couldn’t ask for a better defensive infield around them. Saving runs on defense and scoring runs on offense was the mantra of this infield. Kuet, Winaker and Hoerner all hit above .300. Kinamon was a threat on the base paths to swipe second or third base and Handley had a solid bat but an incredible eye for walks.

In 2018, everyone on the infield, minus Winaker, is coming back.

Stanford head coach David Esquer won’t have much trouble filling out the infield positions before any game this season, and he knows it.

“The quality of the team will be right up the middle,” Coach Esquer said referring to his shortstop and second baseman.“Duke Kinamon and Nico Hoerner will be as good as any middle combination in the county. At catcher with Maverick Handley…we are in pretty good hands behind the plate.”

The only concern is who will replace Matt Winaker at first base, but Esquer already has his guy.

“Andrew Daschbach will start off at first base taking over for Winaker,” Coach Esquer said.

Winaker will be hard to replace, but there is no doubt this infield will be exciting to watch.

Who’s returning?

Nico Hoerner (SS): Hoerner really developed in all levels of baseball last season. On offense, he was fourth on the team in hitting (.307 batting average) and in RBI (33). He was fifth in the Pac-12 with 77 hits. He usually hit leadoff or in the second spot in the batting order.

Hoerner played mostly at second base during his freshman season, but last season as a sophomore, he made the switch to shortstop, and he was fantastic on defense. Hoerner earned a spot in the All-Pac-12 defensive team.

For this season, Hoerner is expected to continue his defensive exploits at shortstop. He has been to named to several preseason All-America teams, which, at times, can mean little, but Hoerner has the talent to be recognized throughout the year.

Duke Kinamon (2B): Kinamon is Hoerner’s middle infield mate at second base. Just like Hoerner, Kinamon is a defensive stalwart with a .987 fielding percentage. The number is particularly impressive because he can get to grounders that most middle infielders would not even think about fielding. A reason for this is Kinamon’s speed and reactions. He was third in the Pac-12 with 15 stolen bases, which is the most for Stanford since Zach Jones in 2009.

Further exemplifying his glove, Kinamon led all players in the Pac-12 with 188 assists. He also wasn’t too shabby on offense. He batted .284 and had a .365 on-base percentage. Another year of perfecting his bat could elevate Kinamon and Hoerner as the best middle infield duo in the Pac-12 or in the country.

Jesse Kuet (3B): Third baseman Kuet was a revelation for the Cardinal last season. He took over the final 17 games at the hot corner after incumbent Mikey Diekroeger suffered an jury. Kuet took the opportunity and ran with it. Kuet was named Pac-12 Player of the Week (May 22) after a week in where he hit .556 (10-for-18), six RBI and a .600 on-base percentage. His hot performance didn’t stop there. He ended the year batting .333 and scoring 12 runners in 30 games played and 18 starts. Kuet had a team-high 12-game hitting streak, and had seven multi-hit games during the streak.

Now, Kuet is fully entrenched as the starter at third base. Replicating his absurd end to the season last year is asking too much, but maybe he can bring the same excitement he brought during his hot streak.

Maverick Handley (C): Like Kuet, Handley wasn’t the starter at the beginning of the season. Alex Dunlap had the starting catching duties but an injury limited Dunlap to 25 games. Handley took over as a freshman and didn’t look back. He batted .257 with 13 RBI and was second on the team with a ridiculous .390 on-base percentage. This means Handley walks an incredible amount (21 times in 39 games in fact). An example of his ability to stave off his swing was during a May 9 game against San Francisco, where Handley went 0-0 and walked four times. His proclivity to walk makes him have incredible value at the catcher spot. He can walk and hit decently, but what else can he do? He literally sacrifices for the good of the team. Well, actually he just led Stanford with 11 sacrifice bunts, which is also ranked fifth in the program’s history.

And he did all this as a freshman! Just what can he do as a sophomore?

Andrew Daschbach (1B): Daschbach has the unenviable task of replacing one of the best players on the team last season in Matt Winaker. Because of Winaker, Daschbach never got to see much playing time as a freshman. He started in 13 games, but played primarily in left field. Daschbach will have the opportunity to confirm Esquer’s confidence at first base this season.

Daniel Bakst (DH): Bakst could have been considered one of the best hitters on the team last year as a freshman. He was second on the team in batting average (.311) and scored 38 runners. He had two hitting streaks of 9+ games, and one streak stretched to as many as 11 games. His performance as a freshman earned All-Pac-12 honors and a spot in the Collegiate Baseball News Freshman All-America team.

One of his many great performances occurred in the NCAA Regional against BYU. A loss would have meant elimination, but Bakst stepped up by going 3-for-5, hitting a homerun and scoring three runners. Stanford won the game 9-1.

The sophomore was the designated hitter for most of last season. He is listed also as an infielder but also has opportunity to play in left field. Wherever he plays, Bakst will give the Cardinal offensive excellence.

Bryce Carter (C): Carter was limited in his junior season to nine games last year due to injury. In his sophomore season, he played in 31 games and started in 22 at catcher. He batted a solid .273, which included six multi-hit games.

Due to Handley’s presence, Carter won’t see much time catching barring any injury to Handley, but Coach Esquer has a solid backup option if needed.

Key Departures:

Matt Winaker (1B): Winaker was an excellent first baseman for the Cardinal last season. As Stanford’s leadoff hitter, Winaker was either in the Top-10 or led the Pac-12 in many offensive statistical categories. He showed power with nine home runs, which was second on the team only to Quinn Brodey’s 11. Winaker was third on the team in batting average (.308), but first in on-base percentage (.423).

Similarly to the other players on the infield, Winaker was good defensively as he was offensively. He joined Hoerner in the All-Pac-12 Defensive team.

Winaker was drafted by the New York Mets in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He batted .268 in Class A-Short, but his on-base percentage was still just as impressive at .402.

Alex Dunlap (C): Dunlap missed 33 games last season which allowed Handley to take over. He batted .274 last season and batted .292 with a .392 on-base percentage in his junior season.

Dunlap was drafted in the eighth round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals. He hit .239 and had a .360 on-base percentage in the Rookie League.

Probable Starters:

C:   Maverick Handley

1B: Andrew Daschbach

2B: Duke Kinamon

SS: Nico Hoerner

3B: Jesse Kuet

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.