Not only will the Arizona baseball team look different on the field next year with the departure of seven drafted players, but their stadium has also been given a new look over the summer.
"We're going to get a brand-new scoreboard and playing surface and some type of shade roofing on the stadium," said head coach Andy Lopez. "Our immediate plans include a new playing surface and grass berms in the bleachers near the bullpens."
About 2,000 seats near the bullpens have been taken out to accommodate new grassy seating areas down the left and right field lines. These sections will look much like the outfields of many minor league baseball parks, including Tucson Electric Park.
Keeping the new playing surface untouched will cause the team to move fall practices to Kino Sports Complex, where the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox hold spring training.
APR limits draftee harm
While the early departures of five non-graduating juniors will adversely affect the Wildcats' Academic Progress Rate, a recent NCAA ruling limits the brunt of the results.
The ruling will not punish players who leave school early for the Major League Baseball draft if they leave in "good academic standing," according to Baseball America.
The APR sanctions squads that fail to keep a minimum number of players academically eligible and on track to graduate.
Teams that fall short of a 925 mark, equivalent to 92.5 percent of the possible points and a 50 percent graduation rate, lose scholarships and eventually get postseason bans.
An APR study group report completed this summer recommended this change to the Committee on Academic Performance after a study showed that 320 of the 523 Division I underclassmen drafted in 2004 lost retention points, according to the report.
"They're making adjustments (to the rule)," Lopez said. "The guys that left and signed pro contracts but remained eligible don't lose extra points. That will help, obviously."
While the NCAA has not imposed sanctions until this 2005-2006 school year, the Arizona baseball team scored the lowest of Arizona's five failing squads with a score of 855 in last spring's inaugural results.
"We're going to work through this. The program's okay," Lopez said. "We need to make sure we pay attention to what (players are) doing to take care of their studies."
Ace closer prepping to start
After spending his first two years finishing games, junior pitcher Mark Melancon may spend next year starting them.
With the departures of drafted starting pitchers John Meloan and Kevin Guyette, Melancon said Lopez told him after last season ended that he would be a starter this year.
Having started in high school, Melancon said he's mentally preparing to start after setting a single-season school record with 11 saves and leading the Pacific 10 Conference with 31 games finished last season.
"I absolutely loved closing, but I kind of want to start, actually, and if I don't, it doesn't matter because I love closing," Melancon said. "I'd really like to start because I started all through high school. I just want to see how well I can do starting (and) what my versatility is."
Melancon led the team with a 2.58 ERA out of the bullpen and said that he would have no trouble adjusting to a starting role.
"I think pitching is pitching," he said. "A lot of guys get caught up in starting and closing. It's not a tough adjustment."
While Lopez said he had not decided Melancon's role or that of the rest of his staff, Melancon would likely join sophomores Eric Berger and David Coulon in the rotation. Lopez used the latter duo to tandem as his third starter last season.
In with the new recruits
Arizona is looking to reload with another quality recruiting class, Lopez said.
In three years, he said, he hopes people think of the names of incoming recruits Jon Gaston, T.J. Steele, Mike Colla and Preston Guilmet the same way they think of departed stars like Trevor Crowe, Nick Hundley, Jordan Brown and Meloan.
"Three years ago nobody was talking about them," Lopez said. "Three years ago they were just names on paper, and now you're asking how to replace them."