Roster turnover can be a tricky evaluation of a college baseball team.In one aspect, when you’re sending players to the MLB Draft every year, replacements are going to be necessary. The mind frame is to rebuild and reload. In another very different aspect, roster turnover can create an unstable situation. In that sense, predicting the 2011 Kentucky baseball season could be a bit of a head scratcher. UK lost 15 players from last year, nearly half of its team, many by way of graduation, some by the MLB Draft and a few by roster defections.That meant head coach Gary Henderson had quite the recruiting haul to master this offseason, bringing in 18 newcomers to fill holes across the diamond. Although it wasn’t Henderson’s most highly touted class he’d inked since he’s been at Kentucky, this one may have a larger impact than any of his previous top-25 classes if only because it will have to play a much bigger role than any of his prior recruiting classes.Significant playing time at right field, third base, second base and in the bullpen are all up for grabs, and many of the newcomers are not only expected to compete for the jobs but to take hold of them.”Some of them are definitely going to have to step up into a role,” junior infielder/pitcher Braden Kapteyn said. “That’s our job as (veteran) leaders to help come into that role. We need all 35 guys on board and ready to go.”The roster overhaul will be a potentially scary situation for a team that is light on veterans but heavy on stiff competition.”It’s going to be interesting to begin with because most of the guys don’t really know what college ball is about or even the SEC,” senior shortstop Taylor Black said. “It’s a big thing for us to get out there and win early so the guys know how we do it.”Kentucky’s infield will need an immediate injection of help and talent from its newcomers, particularly at second base.”I’d love to have a guy that was outstanding defensively that led us off and hit about .380,” Henderson joked at UK’s media day.But John Shelby isn’t walking through that door, so Henderson will take a solid defensive second baseman if he can get it.”I’m really, really pleased to have some options and who can hit right-handed or left-handed pitching and who’s going to pick it up in the eighth inning to turn the double play that gets us the win,” Henderson said. “Those things we’ve got to wait and see and see how it plays out.”The favorite at second base heading into Friday’s season opener at College of Charleston appears to be freshman Matt Reida of Russiaville, Ind., because of his reputation as an advanced defender. Reida also has top-of-the-order potential after hitting .429 with 32 runs and 10 stolen bases his junior year at Western High School.But a guy that is “forcing (UK’s) hand” because of his offensive ability is freshman J.T. Riddle, Kentucky’s 2010 High School Mr. Baseball honoree. Riddle batted .514 with seven homers, 62 RBI and 32 runs in addition to a .973 slugging percentage last year at Western Hills High School in Frankfort.Although Henderson isn’t sure where Riddle will play – second base, first base and right field all remain options – he looks to be Reida’s primary backup simply because he can put the bat on the ball.”He keeps hitting line drives, and you don’t have to be very smart (to figure out that) if they keep hitting line drives, you tend to find a spot for them,” Henderson said. “He’s a quality offensive player.”Junior Thomas McCarthy has likely nailed down the job at third base based on a prolific junior-college career. As a sophomore in 2010 at Feather River College, McCarthy hit .415 with 39 runs, three homers and 36 RBI. Behind McCarthy will be freshman Dallen Reber, who arguably possesses the most raw power on the team.”McCarthy is kind of an unusual story in that he’s hit .400 two years in a row in college baseball,” Henderson said. “I’m not going to suggest he’s going to do it for three in this league, but he’s a good hitter. … He’s going to be able to get a hit.” Right field is anyone’s guess right now. Senior Neiko Johnson, used primarily as a utility man and pinch runner his first three seasons at UK, may have a slight edge on the job right now, but Riddle and Lexington native Lucas Witt are pushing him hard. Witt, a freshman out of Lexington Christian High School, was a first-team all-state honoree as a senior and a second-team honoree as a junior.The most exciting of the newcomers and potentially the most important could be pitcher Corey Littrell out of Trinity High School in Louisville. Last year’s Louisville Slugger Kentucky High School Player of the Year not only brings in talent, he fulfills two very big needs.For one, Littrell will add depth to a UK bullpen that was in serious need of some arms last year. And two, Littrell gives UK a bona fide left-handed option of the ‘pen, a luxury Henderson didn’t have last year when injuries started to pile up.”It’s really tough to get where you want to go in this league if you’ve only got one option left-handed down there,” Henderson said.Littrell (8-3, 1.90 ERA as a senior) has been compared to former UK pitcher Chris Rusin and will likely be a weekend starter down the road. For now, though, he provides the Cats with a potential middle-inning reliever to get the game from UK’s dynamic starters (Alex Meyer, Jordan Cooper and Taylor Rogers) to its shutdown closers (Kapteyn and Nick Kennedy).Junior-college transfer Alex Phillips (1.52 ERA at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash.), another lefty, could be used in a similar role. Hard-throwing freshman righty Trevor Gott, last year’s Gatorade Kentucky High School Player of the Year, has really received rave reviews in his bullpen work this winter.”We’ve got six or seven guys down there (in the bullpen) that I’m confident can throw strikes,” Henderson said. “For the fans of college baseball, that’s about as simple as it gets right there in the bullpen.  If you’ve got guys that can come in, they like to compete and they can throw strikes, then you’ve got a shot.”Throwing newcomers into the fire maybe isn’t how Henderson envisioned it a year ago when entered the 2010 season with a collection of veterans, but he’s bullish on this signing class. Of all the classes he’s signed at UK, if there is one that can step in and contribute immediately, this is the class, he believes.”It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a group of freshmen that was as accountable and responsible as this group, so I’m really pleased with the kids that we’ve got in the program,” Henderson said.