Midseason grades

[uconnbaseball]

Okay, so the title is misleading as we are only about a third the way through in terms of regular season games...but this team is starting to take shape enough to evaluate them.

I will not give out individual grades, as I would never single out an 18-22 year old kid on a public message board over a children's sport, unless it was in the heat of the moment on a game thread in which case they're fair game.

Offense

Apart from a couple of duds (game 2 against Charleston and the last two Texas State games) the offense has been good to great all year. Even in the first Louisville game, I thought we came to battle; we are still the only team to score off Detmers. We are averaging 6.59 runs per game without the benefit of facing weekday starters, against a top 40 SOS.

Woodworth is playing like an All-American, with Prato, baby Winky, Gozzo, Phillips, and Toppa all batting above .300. Christian Fedko is batting very close to .300 while providing power, while Chris Winkel sits at a respectable .264. That's 7 good to great hitters along with a decent albeit streaky one in Chris Winkel.

The last spots in the line-up have been shaky, but not as bad as you might think. Kyler Fedko is batting .450 since an 0-21 start, while Nucerino has an on base percentage of .500 due to his ridiculous walk rate. Apart from Will Lucas (freshman), the main issue has been third base. Moriarity and Langer are a combined 10/60 for a ghastly .167 batting average. One needs to step up soon, or Phillips may take over at 3rd.

A-

Defense

Winkel has thrown out 4 of 7 baserunners, so our #1 catcher has played like it. Gozzo and Phillips have combined to throw out only 3 of 17, but to be fair both have had bang-bang plays not quite go their way all year. I am very comfortable with our catching situation.

We have an acceptable fielding percentage of 96.7%, tying us with Coastal Carolina. That is slightly above average nationally. Considering the fact that we are a northern school I am pretty happy with where we are at, although corner outfield and bunt defense remains a concern for me.

Moriarity and Langer have both struggled defensively at third this year. We know this is a fluke for C-Mo, but Langer will need to play great defense for him to start.

B

Pitching

I won't evaluate Feole because he is still recovering from an injury, but when he returns you have to think we will be much stronger here.

To put it bluntly, our non-Kersten starters have struggled in terms of length and effectiveness. We need to find a Sunday starter going forward. All of us know that.

With that said, we successfully bullpen gamed Louisville, Michigan State, and Illinois (Feole didn't last long in that one). Our relief core looks as strong as I have seen since following this program 15 years ago. All of Wurster, Dandeneau, Wang, Johnson, Polonia (small sample size but still) and Wallace throw hard and keep their composure. We don't have anyone we rely on in the pen that can't throw 92+, and as we know Wallace consistently throws 98. Velocity isn't everything, but there's a reason why SEC teams have flamethrower after flamethrower in their bullpen. I am estatic where they are at...without pitching a single game in Connecticut.

Whichever one of Simeone or Dunlop that don't start midweek games offers an inning eater in blowout games at minimum. Still not sure what to make of Gardner yet.

The lack of a reliable 3rd starter holds this grade back, but I still have to grade us favorably here.

B+

Coaching

Lineup and bullpen management have generally been excellent, and we don't make as many boneheaded mistakes on the basepaths as we used to. Also, the way we have snuck in Winkel, Gozzo AND Phillips into the lineup at times is a bit of managerial genius. I have minor nitpicks about the overuse of certain players but I am thrilled with Penders and his staff overall.

A

Chris Jones

A+

 

[gtcam]

Great write-up THANKS
I agree with 99%
The mistakes are far less than last season, that in itself, if continues this way, should produce at 3+ more wins
Feole is my biggest concern but I am always concerned over pitching injuries...........................

 

[dbmill]

I just wrote this on another thread, but it fits in here as well.

This is purely a guess, but based on his solid performance this past weekend I think Haus will start this Sunday. Jimmy Wang also did very well in his first start, but I'm inclined to go a little slower with him and not throw him to the wolves in a starting role against conference opponents. Wang is still very new to college baseball, and just hasn't pitched all that much since high school.

Of course, Coach Penders definitely has a tendency to try to stick young talented pitchers into the weekend starting rotation as quickly as possible, but in Jimmy Wang's case, I think he needs some time to develop and grow into this role. Obviously, we'll see in which direction Penders goes on this.

After this weekend, two weekday starters will be needed. Assuming he doesn't blow up in his presumed start against Virginia, I would think one will be Colby Dunlop, who has done well with his last two relief stints. I think the other will be Jimmy Wang. The weekday starting assignments are a great little training ground for future weekend starters, and I think that is where Jimmy Wang will eventually land, whether it is later this season or next season. Joe Simeone returns to the bullpen where he sounded very comfortable in his relief stint this past weekend.

As I have said before, the starting rotation is a work in progress, but after this past weekend, I'm encouraged that it is heading in the right direction. It may not be great, but I expect it to be at the very least serviceable. Both Haus and Wang got into the 5th inning in their last starts over the weekend, hopefully they just need to build their arm strength to be able to go a bit longer than that.

 

[dbmill]

A few words on the relief pitching. I agree with @uconnbaseball, the bullpen corps is developing nicely and is as deep as I have seen since I started following UConn baseball. This season both Jacob Wallace and CJ Dandeneau have developed into top notch relievers who are incredibly dependable. I expect that the redshirt freshmen will have their bad moments mixed in with success, but overall Wang, Wurster, and Johnson are all looking better as the season progresses. We'll see what happens with Randy Polonia, but that first appearance sure was nice.

At the beginning of the year I figured Chase Gardner would be used for an inning or two out of the pen, and that the coaching staff would avoid using him for longer stretches. Instead, it seems to be evolving that Gardner is being turned into a lefty specialist who will be used to get a couple guys out, and then he will come out of the game. In games where he has his control (and that can be iffy), I think he is capable of more than that, but there are already a bunch of guys coming out of that pen capable of doing well for a couple of innings.

And to that bunch of guys, I think we can add Joe Simeone. Last season Simeone played with a hip injury that helped to hamper his effectiveness. He had the hip operation over the summer, and missed fall ball. He was just really getting back pitching in preseason when he was thrust into a starting role, probably because Penders didn't want to do that to any of the freshmen. With no built up arm strength and just coming off the injury, the result was not good. His solid 2 inning relief appearance over the weekend left me encouraged that he can join the effective masses of pitchers coming out of the bullpen for the Huskies. At the very least, he seemed like he was back in his comfort zone.

The only bullpen guy who has really had a bad time of it is Avery Santos (some might include Angus Mayock as well, but being a redshirt freshman he has plenty of time to grow out of it). At the beginning of the season, it seemed like the coaching staff felt that they had the big three out of the pen (Wallace, Dandeneau, and Gardner), and that Santos would be the next guy in line, being the bridge between the starters and the trio in back of the pen. Instead, in between fits of wildness, Avery Santos has had a tough time getting guys out. As a result, a whole bunch of guys have leaped over him in the bullpen hierarchy, and that is not a good place to be when you are a senior. Unlike Angus Mayock, time is not on his side, but is starting to count down rapidly on his UConn career.

 

[businesslawyer]

Thanks for the good write up. So we were worried about bullpen depth after the first two weeks, but it has gotten better and better and was beyond phenomenal last weekend. Not counting Feole as a question mark yet, I only have two questions for the staff. One is can we get something out of Gardner. The guy was our second starter for most of last year, and while he wasn't great he was fine. They have to figure out how to use him. The second is whether Dunlop and Simeone can throw like they did out of the pen, and not like they did when they started. If so, the pitching depth will not only take us a long way this year, but will make us very tough to beat in any tournament.

At this point, the only question in the lineup is 3B. It would be great if C Mo can hit .250 and cut down the errors (which is how he played the second half of last year), and then we can pinch hit for him if behind in late innings. Lucas will run out of chances relatively soon, but that doesn't mean he won't be fine next year.

I'm excited about this team's possibilities. Pitching depth is what wins conference tournaments and NCAA regionals.

 

[dbmill]

Coach Penders said in a recent postgame interview if that his team took a poll on who the best player on the team was, an honest result would produce Mike Woodworth. I concur with that opinion, Woodworth can play fabulous defense in both the outfield and infield, and he has been a fabulous offensive player as well so far this season. Anthony Prato isn’t too far behind Woodworth, another terrific player both on defense and offense.

John Toppa took last summer off from summer ball took work on his swing, and so far the results have been very positive. Toppa is hitting for a higher average, more power, and getting on base more often. He is a much improved offensive player.

Christian Fedko is another player who took the summer off from playing to work on his game, and while he is not hitting for as high an average as Toppa, Fedko is also hitting for a higher average, more power, and is a completely different player in his strike zone judgement, having already surpassed his walk total from last season. It’s great to see year to year improvement like that. Fedko is a better defensive player than last year, but Coach Penders still feels a need to have a defensive replacement for Fedko at 2B in late innings. That is a bit of a worry, since you never like to see this sort of thing happen in the middle infield. Still it is obvious that Fedko takes working on his game seriously, so hopefully he will continue to show more defensive improvement in the future.

Freshmen Pat Winkel and Kyler Fedko are doing fine with the bat their freshman season. Kyler is also another Fedko who is willing to take a walk. I would think both players will be the cornerstones of the team in the field in a year or two.

Defensively, UConn is well above average at four positions: center field (or wherever Woodworth happens to be playing), shortstop, first base, and catcher (both Winkel and Gozzo). I’m not going to include 3B, not with the merry go round going on with that position at this time.

 

[Pudge]

I think the important component of this thread is ... we are 1/3rd into this Baseball schedule. Justifiably, we should be hopeful of great results as the games matter more.

Woody? This time last year - as I recall - he was marginally above the Mendoza line in his first exposure to this level of baseball. Therefore ... through the magic of transitive properties ... there are current hitters (and maybe some pitchers) that will take these weeks of growth and boom - go to a higher level.

Candidates? The Frosh. Pat Winkel & Kyler Fedko obviously are skilled and getting their sea legs. Both may explode the rest of the arc of schedule. Chiovitti & Brodnansky obviously have some hitting skills. With this demanding collegiate program, both may show a far different career from these first 4 weeks. I think we have 6 solid hitters and need to make all the lineup - 1 thru 9 - potent; this year we have the depth to think that’s possible. Our baby catcher is clearly a defensive savant. Our pitching will improve with all three C.

There’s so many good things to say about what we saw on or pitching staff last week; however, many need to step a few platforms higher for UConn to get to a remarkable year. Wang. Haus. Wurster. Johnson. Polonia. Then Simeone + Dunlop. That’s great for the 1/3rd mark. One guy needs to emerge to be a solid 5 inning Starting P. But we are well situated for the standard week of college baseball ⚾️

 

[uconnbaseball]

Candidates? The Frosh. Pat Winkel & Kyler Fedko obviously are skilled and getting their sea legs. Both may explode the rest of the arc of schedule. Chiovitti & Brodnansky obviously have some hitting skills. With this demanding collegiate program, both may show a far different career from these first 4 weeks. I think we have 6 solid hitters and need to make all the lineup - 1 thru 9 - potent; this year we have the depth to think that’s possible.

I would argue baby Winkel, who is batting over .300, is already there.

I like Brodnansky as a potential breakout player. The guy has flashed nice power and shows the ability to take a walk. I was shocked when I saw hitting batting average; he has been more useful than the .211 average would belie.

 

[dbmill]

I would argue baby Winkel, who is batting over .300, is already there.

I like Brodnansky as a potential breakout player. The guy has flashed nice power and shows the ability to take a walk. I was shocked when I saw hitting batting average; he has been more useful than the .211 average would belie.

A freshman catcher with Pat Winkel's defensive abilities is a nice commodity indeed. That a freshman is also currently hitting .300+ has its own value, as it is a good starting spot from a developmental standpoint. If and when Pat starts to hit for some power and develops more of an eye for balls and strikes and thus gets on base more, he will be quite an offensive player. The good news is that the .300 foundation seems to be already there. For a freshman catcher with his defensive abilities, I'll certainly take that for now.

 

[businesslawyer]

I would argue baby Winkel, who is batting over .300, is already there.

I like Brodnansky as a potential breakout player. The guy has flashed nice power and shows the ability to take a walk. I was shocked when I saw hitting batting average; he has been more useful than the .211 average would belie.

Look at the number of at bats. It's not large enough that you can read anything into averages. Same with Nucerino. He didn't go from a .250 hitter to a .150 hitter overnight. It's just that there are not enough ABs yet where the averages tell you a whole lot.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Look at the number of at bats. It's not large enough that you can read anything into averages. Same with Nucerino. He didn't go from a .250 hitter to a .150 hitter overnight. It's just that there are not enough ABs yet where the averages tell you a whole lot.

Yeah that's fair, for some reason I didn't even look at his actual number of at bats when taking note of him - my mistake there.

Nucerino's OBP will be good regardless of whether he hits .200 or .260 on the year. I love that guy in the 9 spot.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I still believe C Mo will get back to what he was last year. His D will be very important. Bodnansky and Phillips as well as Nucerino and Chiovitti will have a big role to play. But the key moving forward is the pitching depth. If everyone trends up like they did this weekend, we will be well prepared for a deep run in both the AAC and the NCAA regionals.

 

[dbmill]

Yeah that's fair, for some reason I didn't even look at his actual number of at bats when taking note of him - my mistake there.

Nucerino's OBP will be good regardless of whether he hits .200 or .260 on the year. I love that guy in the 9 spot.

I've written on Nucerino's value before. At the very least, Nucerino is a valuable guy coming off the bench. It is too early to tell, but Chiovitti may share some similarities to Nucerino as well. Both guys seen to be solid defenders in the field as well.

Weird thought. If either Nucerino's or Chiovitti's bat got going a bit, and the 3B situation doesn't improve, Woodworth could move to 3B and Nucerino/Chiovitti could take over in center field. Woodworth did play some 3B for the Huskies last season, I believe mainly during the time period when Moriarty hit the bench due to his lack of hitting.