Men UConn 2024 Opening Weekend @ USF Tournament (Friday 2/16/24 Dblhdr vs. Louisville @2p & USF @6p and Saturday 2/17/24 vs. Indiana State @Noon).

[huskymedic]

 

[MarkyMark]

Trip Report - on and off drizzle but game moved at a quick pace.
Good
1) Pitching - Squigs battled and gutted it out w/o his best stuff. Gave them a chance. Velo didn’t look like fall Ball. 92-93 early dipping to 89-90 by the 6th and it was noticeable from the jump. Assuming everything is ok but ball didn’t have that zip that I saw in October. Gutsy effort. Quinn and Correa battled And threw well. 6 runs over 3 games you would have taken that on Thursday.
Bad
2) ABs - quality ABs few and far between as counts weren’t even worked. every batter was in 1-2 0-2 hole b4 you blinked. Tammaro and Studley only guys making semi decent contact, While Kron is a D1 CF for defensive purposes he’s not yet ready for D1 pitching, He needs to work on it and when ready it’s a go. Not sure the defense justifies that bat in the lineup. bats came alive in 9th (see Studley/Tammaro above). Minick hit one to RF wall almost got out. Garbo battled but tying run left on 3B.
3) Simmons got picked off for the 2nd time this weekend, When team isn’t hitting those hurt. only rally outside the 9th was early 1st/2nd nobody out minick grounded into DP.
4) defense was fine today with Daniels leading the way he plays a professional level 2B. Impressive.

scoring only 7 runs over 3 games nice to get out of there 2-1 with the pitching saving the weekend. approaches at the plate need to be worked on as I don’t think anyone is over .200 other than Jake/Paul. Full week to get it sorted.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

 

[Bomber36]

Trip Report - on and off drizzle but game moved at a quick pace.
Good
1) Pitching - Squigs battled and gutted it out w/o his best stuff. Gave them a chance. Velo didn’t look like fall Ball. 92-93 early dipping to 89-90 by the 6th and it was noticeable from the jump. Assuming everything is ok but ball didn’t have that zip that I saw in October. Gutsy effort. Quinn and Correa battled And threw well. 6 runs over 3 games you would have taken that on Thursday.
Bad
2) ABs - quality ABs few and far between as counts weren’t even worked. every batter was in 1-2 0-2 hole b4 you blinked. Tammaro and Studley only guys making semi decent contact, While Kron is a D1 CF for defensive purposes he’s not yet ready for D1 pitching, He needs to work on it and when ready it’s a go. Not sure the defense justifies that bat in the lineup. bats came alive in 9th (see Studley/Tammaro above). Minick hit one to RF wall almost got out. Garbo battled but tying run left on 3B.
3) Simmons got picked off for the 2nd time this weekend, When team isn’t hitting those hurt. only rally outside the 9th was early 1st/2nd nobody out minick grounded into DP.
4) defense was fine today with Daniels leading the way he plays a professional level 2B. Impressive.

scoring only 7 runs over 3 games nice to get out of there 2-1 with the pitching saving the weekend. approaches at the plate need to be worked on as I don’t think anyone is over .200 other than Jake/Paul. Full week to get it sorted.

Great stuff. Thanks!

 

[MarkyMark]

Great stuff. Thanks!

I’ve been tough on Van Emon but I thought he threw very well today and was more aggressive. Omitted that in my prior post and need to give him his due. Will be interesting what his role is once midweek games start.

 

[Rdkid]

These first 17 are a true test. That’s not even taking the travel into account. You need depth and competition on the offensive side of the ball. That lineup will look a lot different by March. The pitching, health of the 3 weekend starters being there, looks to be fine. Pen seems deep from stuff and versatility perspective, D is solid. Expectations for another solid run firmly and fairly in place.

 

[MarkyMark]

My 2 cents playing around w/ lineup just throwing ideas into the pot (probably worth much less, opinions welcome):

Daniels
Tammaro
Studley
Broadhurst
Dalena
Morton
Minick /Padilla
Simmons/other CF
Garbo

Assumptions: Luke is available to DH ; Morton is tough to slot but like him down lower so more production down there. Daniels‘ approach is like a leadoff hitter might as well put him there.

 

[dbmill]

My 2 cents playing around w/ lineup (probably worth much less, opinions welcome):

Daniels
Tammaro
Studley
Broadhurst
Dalena
Morton
Minick /Padilla
Simmons/other CF
Garbo

Assumption: Luke is available to DH ; Morton is tough to slot but like him down lower so more production down there. Daniels‘ approach is like a leadoff hitter might as well put him there.

One thing I have noticed in the past about Coach Penders and his lineups is that he rarely has 2 lefty hitters in a row in the batting order.

 

[scotty0330]

My 2 cents playing around w/ lineup just throwing ideas into the pot (probably worth much less, opinions welcome):

Daniels
Tammaro
Studley
Broadhurst
Dalena
Morton
Minick /Padilla
Simmons/other CF
Garbo

Assumptions: Luke is available to DH ; Morton is tough to slot but like him down lower so more production down there. Daniels‘ approach is like a leadoff hitter might as well put him there.

I like it. Morton has moved up and down in lineup but generally like him down.

 

[MarkyMark]

One thing I have noticed in the past about Coach Penders and his lineups is that he rarely has 2 lefty hitters in a row in the batting order.

Agreed and also he likes speed in the 9 hole (Daniels/Kron this weekend) and dont quote me but I think he had Morton there last year too.

 

[businesslawyer]

Pro baseball players get a month of practice games before they’re asked to perform, and they are practicing in warmer weather. This is not the first opening weekend where we’ve seen the pitching be far, far, far ahead of the hitting. Our pitching was good enough that we took 2 out of 3 competitive games. I wouldn’t be analyzing anything this early in the season — just counting wins. Talk to me about optimal lineups and who needs to be replaced in the lineup in a month.

 

[dbmill]

As far as the lineup goes, Broadhurst and Padilla were out with injuries this past weekend. Hopefully they will be back soon. That would be certainly help things out having them back.

 

[dbmill]

Also, I was a bit surprised that Matt Malcom did not get any playing time during this opening weekend.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[MarkyMark]

Also, I was a bit surprised that Matt Malcom did not get any playing time during this opening weekend.

Malcom picked up a bat Friday but didn’t pinch hit. I definitely hear ya (especially with Broadhurst out as DH) but I can also see there is a balancing act with pinch hitting. This is the first series of the year and pinch hitting for guys out of the gate might damage confidence. i believe he only pinch hit for Kron this weekend which was an obvious one. Also Hyde appears to be Coe’s personal catcher so that doesn’t help Malcom‘s quest for playing time. I think next weekend if the bats stay this way Malcom will (and should) get a shot. He’s a contact bat and can help.

 

[MarkyMark]

Pro baseball players get a month of practice games before they’re asked to perform, and they are practicing in warmer weather. This is not the first opening weekend where we’ve seen the pitching be far, far, far ahead of the hitting. Our pitching was good enough that we took 2 out of 3 competitive games. I wouldn’t be analyzing anything this early in the season — just counting wins. Talk to me about optimal lineups and who needs to be replaced in the lineup in a month.

100% agree on pitching ahead of hitting esp. at NE schools. However put aside the results for a minute. Put aside 7 runs in 3 games, 16-95 with 28Ks. Put all that aside. Not sure if you were able to catch any of the games but the cause for concern is the poor quality of the ABs. Given the fact a watch item going into this year was the offense (losing smitty, ben, dom) I think it’s a real Issue given Auburn , UCSB and UCLA are around the corner. On the plus side this coaching staff will figure it out and id rather have this than the pitching being in a shambles. Also for college baseball waiting a month is too long and Penders won’t wait that long unless he wants to aim at winning BE auto bid. As always we’ll see how it plays out should be fun.

 

[businesslawyer]

100% agree on pitching ahead of hitting esp. at NE schools. However put aside the results for a minute. Put aside 7 runs in 3 games, 16-95 with 28Ks. Put all that aside. Not sure if you were able to catch any of the games but the cause for concern is the poor quality of the ABs. Given the fact a watch item going into this year was the offense (losing smitty, ben, dom) I think it’s a real Issue given Auburn , UCSB and UCLA are around the corner. On the plus side this coaching staff will figure it out and id rather have this than the pitching being in a shambles. Also for college baseball waiting a month is too long and Penders won’t wait that long unless he wants to aim at winning BE auto bid. As always we’ll see how it plays out should be fun.

You think the quality of the ABs is unrelated to pitchers being way ahead of the hitters? O.k.

 

[MarkyMark]

You think the quality of the ABs is unrelated to pitchers being way ahead of the hitters? O.k.

When every pitcher they faced over 3 games looks like Gerrit Cole they have to look in the mirror and make the necessary adjustments. BTW I’m not a panic button guy but gotta face the hard facts.

 

[businesslawyer]

When every pitcher they faced over 3 games looks like Gerrit Cole they have to look in the mirror and make the necessary adjustments. BTW I’m not a panic button guy but gotta face the hard facts.

The only "facts" you ever learn about baseball over 3 games is what happened. On a predictive basis, you've learned almost nothing.

 

[MarkyMark]

The only "facts" you ever learn about baseball over 3 games is what happened. On a predictive basis, you've learned almost nothing

St John’s scored a bunch Friday night against #2. Rutgers layed it on this weekend, ditto for Northeastern on Saturday and BC against Ohio st. All NE teams. Not impossible. Fully agree pitching is a step ahead but it’s not THAT far ahead given what these other teams did. Small sample size I get it but February isn’t a free pass. I sat through all 3 games and it was alarming. Bats need to get going.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]