2004 Baseball Season Preview: Grooms Brings Experience to Outfield
2/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Transfer provides experience and leadership for Crimson Tide outfield
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
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Matt Grooms has had many options in his baseball career.
Now the versatile junior college transfer from Chipola Junior College, gives the University of Alabama outfield options it did not have this time last year.
The Montgomery, Ala., native is one of eight outfielders on the Crimson Tide roster this spring. Unlike last year, Alabama has a number of options in the outfield with some very solid players to add to the lineup.
Grooms is certainly one of those players.
“We have a lot guys that can play,” Grooms said. “There are two incoming freshman (Michael McCallister and Emeel Salem) that are really good. Then there is another freshman (Brandon Belcher) that is a pitcher and outfielder and he is very good, too.
“(Senior Ryan) Beagle is back. (Junior Chad) White is a solid outfielder. (Junior) Gabe (Scott) is back and can hit. There are a lot of guys out there that can play. Everybody wants to play and everybody might not always be happy, but if we are going to get the job done then we have to put the best guys out there. If someone is struggling then there are others that we can put in and be fine.”
Grooms began his collegiate career at Auburn in 2002, where he played 28 games for the Tigers as a rookie. In those 28 games, he batted .243 (18-for-74) with one home run and 11 RBI. Things did not work out for Grooms on the Plains, so he left after his freshman season and enrolled at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla., where he became a superstar outfielder.
Last year at Chipola, Grooms hit .438 (60-for-137) with seven home runs and 50 RBI. He ranked second in the state of Florida, averaging 1.43 hits per game. He also ranked fourth in the state with 1.20 RBI per game.
A third-team ABCA All-American, Grooms also played in the Alaskan Summer League for the Anchorage Bucs. He signed with the Crimson Tide prior to his sophomore season at Chipola and is now playing for his third team and third head coach in three years.
But that does not seem to bother him at all.
“It’s been a little different,” Grooms said. “I’ve enjoyed everywhere I have played so far. I think Alabama is the most fun I have had. All the guys here have that air about them that we are going to succeed and I like that kind of confidence.”
It’s that type of confidence that has made Grooms one of the three starters in the UA outfield this season. He knows he will be in the lineup everyday, he is just not sure where he will play.
“He can play everywhere,” Alabama assistant coach Todd Butler said. “We can put him in centerfield because he can run. He is just a complete player. He does everything well. He can bunt, hit, throw and play defense.
“The game I think is pretty slow to him as far a seeing the baseball and being able to play. Plus, he is experienced. He is a guy that will definitely have a chance to be there every day. Grooms is really special.”
He can play left field, center field and right field, but has spent the majority of his time in left and, more recently, in center field during the last few intrasquad games. Grooms says there is not much difference between the three positions, but certainly likes one more than the other two.
“The only difference that I can really tell you is that in left and right the ball flairs off differently,” Grooms explained. “When you are in left field they go towards the line and when you are in right they go towards the left field line.
“I think they are three pretty much the same. I enjoy playing center the most because you kind of have the freedom to roam.”
As versatile as he is in the outfield, Grooms can also hit just about anywhere in the Alabama batting order because of his speed, keen eye and athletic ability.
“He can bat lead off because he has such strike zone awareness,” Butler said. “He could hit in the two-hole because he knows how to handle the bat, or he could hit in the three hole for you and be the meat and potatoes in the lineup. Hopefully he can be a guy that hits 20-something doubles and steal quite a few bases. He is kind of a scary guy when he comes up to the plate, because he can beat you in so many ways.”
Grooms is confident in his abilities and hopes to be a table setter for the real power hitters in the lineup this season.
“I am probably more a gap-to-gap hitter,” he added. “I have a little power, but not much. The big guys here like (senior Carlos) Sosa, (junior Zac) Welch, (sophomore Charlie) Lyons and McCallister, they are the home run hitters. I think McCallister is going to have a powerful year.
“I look to be a one, two or five-hole hitter. My job will be to get on base and hopefully have a bunch of doubles and get the other guys some RBI.”
Grooms and McCallister appear to be two of three starters heading into the final intrasquad games of the preseason camp. There are a number of other talented players still battling for the third and final spot in the outfield this spring.
“The one thing about our outfield is they are very athletic,” Butler said. “They can run. The outfield, I think, is pretty solid athletically. You always want an outfield that can throw and we seem to have that. We are working extremely hard and I think the outfield is going to be better that it was a year ago.”
One thing for sure, Grooms will be in the lineup when the Crimson Tide opens its 111th baseball season next Friday, Feb. 13 against the New Orleans Privateers here in Tuscaloosa.
“The one thing with him is he is very confident in his ability,” Butler added. “He is not into change a lot. He know he is a good player, and as a coach, you like that because you know he feels pretty solid about his game.
“He is going to be a very good player. I tell you he can bunt and run, he will be an igniter for our offense.”
Grooms will be a leader in the outfield and he will lead by his example on and off the field this season. The fact that he has had one SEC season under his belt also makes him a more mature player, too.
“(Baseball) is an everyday thing and you can’t let one day bother you and effect the rest of your season,” Grooms said. “You are going to have slumps. You have to shake those off. There is really good pitching here and they are going to get you out more times than you are going to hit them. You just have to face the facts. When you realize that then you will be fine.”
And with an experienced Grooms roaming in center field, the Alabama outfield should be fine, too.
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Editor’s Note: This is the third of four-part season preview on the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball team. Each position will be featured over the next four weeks, giving insight to the upcoming 2004 season, which begins Friday, Feb. 13 against the New Orleans Privateers here at the Joe.
2004 Season Preview Schedule:
Date Preview
Jan. 21 Charlie Lyons (Catchers)
Jan. 28 Zac Welch (Infielders)
Feb. 4 Matt Grooms (Outfielders)
Feb. 11 Brent Carter (Pitchers)
