With construction underway at the Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium, head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle said the completion of the new facility will change the way the baseball program does things in a positive way.
According to the TCU Athletics website, the player development center will be 20,000 square feet. It will include a 9,000-square-foot hitting facility, four 80-foot-long batting cages, indoor pitching mounds, a tee and toss area, the latest video analysis software and a new field-turf practice area.
“Our batting cages right now are very convenient because they’re right behind our dugout, but they’re very small,” Schlossnagle said. “There are some standards that hold up the baseball stadium that go through the middle of [the batting cages], so balls kind of bounce all over the place and it’s pretty dangerous to be honest.”
He said the field turf practice area is a great addition because it will allow both pitchers and position players to practice in any weather.
Harold Leeman, associate director for major projects and facilities planning, wrote in the email that the player development center project has a budget of $2.8 million which was donated to athletics by a donor.
“The majority of the programs in the Big 12 have facilities similar to this – some sort of large batting cage type setup,” Schlossnagle said. “Not many have, I don’t believe, extra turf practice area. So that’s going to be nice. Whether it gives us an advantage over them or not, it’ll certainly allow us to hopefully better develop our players.”
He also said the facility should help the program attract recruits.
“Facilities represent commitment, and the great thing about TCU is they don’t just build something and let it sit for 10 or 15 years,” Schlossnagle said. “They’re always trying to—within our means—improve it, and that’s exciting to a recruit. They want to go somewhere where continually the administration and the program are trying to get better.”
The player development center will be finished at some point in April, he said, and players will be able to enter the facility to practice at any time by swiping their university ID card.
