2018 UConn baseball fall ball season | Page 3 | The Boneyard

2018 UConn baseball fall ball season

Woodworth gets another exhibition start in center field. Also, Colby Dunlop gets another starting pitching assignment. I have to think at this point Dunlop is the main competition to Jeff Kersten for the weekend Sunday starting role.
 
That was easily the least entertaining of the four games this fall. Middle of the game turned into walk ball, partially due to mediocre pitching and partially due to mediocre umpiring.

Anyways here is my quick random thoughts after the fall series... both of our freshmen two-way players (Lucas and Schwartz) are impressive and will be interesting to see how they are utilized. Santos pitched in every game and looks the part of a back of the pen reliever with a heavy low 90s fast ball. Looks like Woody will be primarily playing in CF this year. Avery Point transfer looks the part of an everyday outfielder in RF and possibly has the second most imposing forearms on the team behind Maycock (. Patrick Winkle is every bit as good as advertised, solid at the plate and exceptional behind the plate. Gozzo is also very solid in both aspects. Phillips will be hard pressed to find time behind the plate, he may primarily be slotted at 3B and Designated Hitter. Dunlop has looked sharp running the fastball up to 94 with very good movement on breaking pitches. The team will be deeper than ever this year with many good hitters to fill a limited number of spots, I imagine the Designated Hitter spot will be a revolving door between Phillips, Langer, Boadnansky, Pallisco, Bonvincini and others possibly slotting in.
 
BaseballDog said:
That was easily the least entertaining of the four games this fall. Middle of the game turned into walk ball, partially due to mediocre pitching and partially due to mediocre umpiring.

Anyways here is my quick random thoughts after the fall series... both of our freshmen two-way players (Lucas and Schwartz) are impressive and will be interesting to see how they are utilized. Santos pitched in every game and looks the part of a back of the pen reliever with a heavy low 90s fast ball. Looks like Woody will be primarily playing in CF this year. Avery Point transfer looks the part of an everyday outfielder in RF and possibly has the second most imposing forearms on the team behind Maycock (. Patrick Winkle is every bit as good as advertised, solid at the plate and exceptional behind the plate. Gozzo is also very solid in both aspects. Phillips will be hard pressed to find time behind the plate, he may primarily be slotted at 3B and Designated Hitter. Dunlop has looked sharp running the fastball up to 94 with very good movement on breaking pitches. The team will be deeper than ever this year with many good hitters to fill a limited number of spots, I imagine the Designated Hitter spot will be a revolving door between Phillips, Langer, Boadnansky, Pallisco, Bonvincini and others possibly slotting in.
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In terms of your analysis of the players, I had been developing pretty much the same feelings about what may happen. A possible move of Woodworth to center field is predicated on the idea that UConn has better prospects in the infield (the two Fedko's and Will Lucas in particular) than they do in the outfield, so even though Woodworth played an excellent second base last season, there is probably more of a need for him in center field now. No question that Avery Point transfer Mike Chiovitti has been getting a big look in the outfield as well.

The emergence of Dunlop as a possible weekend starter is a big thing, as it would enable Kersten to move into middle relief where I think he would be very valuable. Avery Santos did not have a good spring at UConn, and he had a less than stellar time in summer ball, but he was also just coming off Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the previous season. Maybe he is finally getting over the injury and coming into his regular pitching form. As for Lucas and Schwartz, I find them intriguing as well. While they may have more of a future as position players, I expect that in their freshman season they will likely have more of an impact on the mound, especially given all the youth UConn has with its pitchers.

I have to think that Pat Winkel will get the bulk of the time behind home plate, with Gozzo as his main backup. Given all the other options in the infield, I have a hard time imagining Phillips will start at 3B. Still, he got a goodly amount of time at that spot this fall. Designated Hitter may start as a revolving door, but I doubt it will end that way. In years past, Penders has always had the tendency to ride a nine player lineup, making changes to the lineup only when players are not producing or due to injury. If the Fedko's end up starting in the infield, then it would seem that Phillips has the best shot at getting time at Designated Hitter.
 
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No where in these fall ball exhibition game reports did I see anything on Conor Moriarty. Like Prato, perhaps he is nursing an injury. At any rate, while Moriarty is very good defensively, he has not done much with the bat either in his time in Storrs or during the summer ball season. With the influx of young talented infielders such as the Fedko's and Will Lucas into the program, it is quite possible Moriarty is in danger of losing his starting status at 3B. Given his solid defensive skills, it would not surprise me to see him get playing time late in games as a defensive replacement. Not a big stretch there, as Moriarty has been used that way in the past.
 
dbmill said:
No where in these fall ball exhibition game reports did I see anything on Conor Moriarty. Like Prato, perhaps he is nursing an injury. At any rate, while Moriarty is very good defensively, he has not done much with the bat either in his time in Storrs or during the summer ball season. With the influx of young talented infielders such as the Fedko's and Will Lucas into the program, it is quite possible Moriarty is in danger of losing his starting status at 3B. Given his solid defensive skills, it would not surprise me to see him get playing time late in games as a defensive replacement. Not a big stretch there, as Moriarty has been used that way in the past.
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I was told he was shutdown for the fall exhibitions (if I remember correctly it was due to Lasik surgery).

I agree, defensively he is huge for us but has had spurts where he has struggled at the plate. I concur he may be a spot start here and there but probably mainly used as a defensive sub probably for one of the Fedkos at 2B or 3B.

On the contrary if Morriarty can consistently light a fire with his bat as we have seen in isolated times over his first two years he will be hard to move out of the lineup. Last year we possibly get swept at Cincy instead of taking the series 2-1 without his bat.

Regardless of wether Morriarty starts or sits I am very excited about the options we will have off the bench. We will have a good team 1 thru 9 no matter who we roll out there. And will have a plethora of capable options on the bench.

I can't wait until February to cut down to 35 and see this year's squad in action.
 
BaseballDog said:
I was told he was shutdown for the fall exhibitions (if I remember correctly it was due to Lasik surgery).

I agree, defensively he is huge for us but has had spurts where he has struggled at the plate. I concur he may be a spot start here and there but probably mainly used as a defensive sub probably for one of the Fedkos at 2B or 3B.

On the contrary if Morriarty can consistently light a fire with his bat as we have seen in isolated times over his first two years he will be hard to move out of the lineup. Last year we possibly get swept at Cincy instead of taking the series 2-1 without his bat.

Regardless of wether Morriarty starts or sits I am very excited about the options we will have off the bench. We will have a good team 1 thru 9 no matter who we roll out there. And will have a plethora of capable options on the bench.

I can't wait until February to cut down to 35 and see this year's squad in action.
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Thanks for the info on Moriarty being shutdown for the fall.

Moriarty's career average at UConn is .224, and he hasn't hit any better in summer ball (just looked it up, he hit .208 with the Mystic Schooners this past summer). With his defense, he would clearly stay in the lineup if he could get his batting average up to .270. Whatever the case, with his defense, his ability to play multiple positions, and occasional offensive spurts he clearly has a spot on the 35 man roster next spring.
 
One additional fall ball exhibition game observation. Among the freshmen pitchers, both Jake Sanderson and Tyler Briggs got in multiple appearances on the mound. I would guess Sanderson will get a long look and may end up getting middle of the week starts come the spring.
 
Today is Halloween. Hopefully UConn Baseball will post video of their Halloween Lift soon. That is always a fun thing to watch.
 
huskymedic said:
Ask and you shall receive:
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Excellent!! Good to see that oddball tradition continue. The next big event for UConn baseball is usually the naming of the team captains in the cemetery just prior to Thanksgiving break.
 

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