Tuesday, February 19, 2008
While at Kansas, Ryne Price has gone through all the ups and downs as a college baseball player.
Price, a senior, had a stellar freshman campaign, starting 60 of 64 games for the Jayhawks, collecting 50 hits, five home runs and 40 RBI — phenomenal numbers for a second baseman.
KANSAN file photo
However, a wrist injury derailed his sophomore campaign— forcing him to miss 40 of Kansas’ 68 games. Nevertheless, Price managed to hit nine home runs.
Healthy again in 2007, expectations were high for Price. Whether or not he lived up to these expectations depends on what stats you focus on.
Starting every game for Kansas, Price had a team-high 10 home runs and a .535 slugging percentage. On the other hand, his 62 strikeouts were nine more than anyone else on the team. Still, he had a knack for getting on base, leading the team with 32 walks and getting hit with 19 pitches, garnering a .421 on-base percentage.
On defense though, his 19 errors at second base were the highest on the team by eight. Then again, there were no other worthy candidates to fill in at second, especially to justify taking Price’s bat out of the lineup.
This year, Price will remain in the heart of the Kansas lineup, but he’ll play a couple hundred feet behind second base as Kansas’ new right fielder, a position change he’s welcomed.
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In addition to his new role as a right fielder, Ryne Price will also play catcher on occasion. When he’s behind the plate, freshman Brian Heere is expected to fill in for him. Senior Casey Larson is next in line behind left fielder John Allman and center fielder Nick Faunce.
“I like right field a lot,” Price said. “It’s nice being able to go to the outfield, relax and play, instead of having to worry about doing all this stuff in the infield.”
Able to think less about his glove and more about his bat, it shouldn’t take Price long to threaten Kansas’ all-time home run record. In three seasons, Price has 24 home runs, which puts him in a tie with fellow senior and California native, third baseman Erik Morrison.
Having grown up together in California as best friends, the two are trying to remain civil in pursuit of the record.
“If he breaks it, I’ll be happy for him, just because he’s my boy,” Price said. “There’s not too much competition. We just want to come through in the clutch more.”
Morrison initially shared Price’s sentiments.
“If he gets there first and we make a regional, I’ll be his biggest fan, and if I get there first and we make a regional, I’m sure he’ll be my biggest fan,” Morrison said.
But after some thinking, Morrison’s competitive nature took over.
“I definitely can’t let him outdo me,” Morrison said. “He’s been my best friend since we were 12, 13 years old and we’ve always kind of been in competition with each other, so I can’t let him outdo me.”
Regardless of which slugger hits more long balls this season, Price’s addition to the outfield will give Kansas a jolt to the power potential of the Jayhawks’ corner outfielders.
Opposite Price will stand Mr. Consistency, senior left fielder John Allman. Since his sophomore season, Allman has missed only two games.
Making Allman’s durability all the more impressive is the intensity he brings to the field. In Kansas’ series with Nebraska last season, he made a leaping catch in foul territory but was undercut by the Kansas bullpen fence and toppled over it. Although, not even that fall could take him out of the lineup.
In addition to being a dependable fielder, Allman is also a steady hitter. In 2007, Allman led Kansas with a .333 batting average, 44 RBI and a .449 on-base percentage. His 66 hits were the second most on the team and his 24 strikeouts were the second fewest.
While Allman will be Kansas’ everyday left fielder, there is less certainty about who will roam center field.
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Position — Player — 2007 stats
LF John Allman — .333 AVE/4 HR/44 RBI
CF Nick Faunce — .333 AVE/0 HR/5 RBI
RF Ryne Price — .270 AVE/10 HR/31 RBI
Junior Nick Faunce wasn’t atop the depth chart in center field entering the fall, but he claimed the opening by the end of the fall season.
Faunce appeared in 34 games last season for late-inning baserunning and defense. However, coach Ritch Price will give Faunce the opportunity to prove he’s more than a utility player this weekend against Hawaii-Hilo. Faunce is expected to bat leadoff for the Jayhawks in the series.
Faunce’s sidekick in the outfield, Ryne Price, is confident Faunce will flourish this season.
“Nick Faunce had a great fall. He absolutely tore it up,” baseman Price said. “He’s become a really good outfielder and we were really looking forward to seeing if he could carry over what he did in the fall to the spring. It looks like he has so far.”
—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
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