UConn Baseball 2017

[huskymedic]

Lot of multi-positional players...

 

[uconnbaseball]

Massey ranked us 47 in the country, above both Texas and Boston College. Interestingly, they think more highly of our offense (ranked 50th) than our defense / pitching (ranked 59th). I would put the latter in the 30-35 range and the former somewhere outside the top 100, but we shall see where this season takes us.

www.masseyratings.com

The Texas series will tell us a lot about our team.

 

[dbmill]

The batting practice before the storm...


UConn Baseball
@UConnBaseball
Earlier today the Huskies were getting hacks in on J.O. Christian Field.#9Days pic.twitter.com/GQgUtLZjEr
1:28 PM - 8 Feb 2017 from Storrs, CT

 

[dbmill]

Lot of multi-positional players..

This is a must listen, a piece that really gets me excited about the coming season. To sum up the interview, the incoming freshmen position players (including Lambrecht) according to Coach Hourigan, this is a hardworking, speedy, athletic group. As is noted above by Huskymedic, it seems that almost all of them can play multiple positions.

As far as positions go, Hill, Yahn , Susi, and Toppa seem set at their respective positions. Prato at this point appears to be ahead of Moriarty at shortstop. Everything else is a big scramble, and it could be several weeks into the season before positions become more set.

 

[dbmill]

Dom Amore is writing about UConn baseball again with a season preview article in the Hartford Courant. Among other things, read about Willy Yahn playing in the Cape League with a broken bone in his hand and literally chasing after pheasants in northwestern Connecticut.

Hartford Courant

 

[scotty0330]

I have given up that a roster is going to be up before first pitch against Umass Lowell...

 

[dbmill]

The season starts next weekend with a series against UMass Lowell in Florida. It sounds like that for the early part of the season the weekend rotation will be Cate, Montgomerie, and Domnarski. Since the first weekend has four games, an additional starter will be needed. It would seem that the candidates to fill that spot would be Andrew Zapata, Sam Nepiarsky, and Mason Feole. Even though I am eager to see what Feole can do and it seems likely that Feole will become a starter at some point in the future, in the past Coach Penders has usually given talented freshman pitchers relief assignments early in the season as a way to see what they can do before handing them a weekend start. It was true for Anthony Kay and Tim Cate, and I expect it will be true for Feole as well. My guess is that the senior Zapata will be the fourth starter next weekend. Given how inconsistent Zapata has been over the years, how he does could very well determine how many midweek starts Zapata gets the rest of the season.

 

[zls44]

Ugh.

 

[huskymedic]

Ugh.

Wonder if he reinjured/rebroke his sesamoid bone in his left hand that was discussed above?

> "He said, 'I have some bad news, I have a broken hand,'" Huskies coach Jim Penders said. "I said, 'where did it happen?' I figured he did it in the Cape League playoffs. He said, 'no, no, I did it against Florida.'" Played all summer with it. And then, 'I can't miss fall ball, it's too important.' Most kids would say, 'I'm going to take advantage and keep my feet up in the fall. He wanted to be out there for his teammates."

Yahn didn't miss an inning of the autumn practice sessions and finally had surgery in October, getting out of the cast and recovering by late December.<

 

[Stainmaster]

Damn. I surmise we'll end up seeing two freshmen starting in the infield now? Not an auspicious way to start the season.

 

[Baseballguy]

Wonder if he reinjured/rebroke his sesamoid bone in his left hand that was discussed above<

 

[dbmill]

Ugh.

Ugh is right. With Yahn out, assuming the report from the Daily Campus is correct about Jack Lambrecht being out for the beginning of the season, that would leave Conor Moriarty to play 3B. Good think the coaches seem to be high on Moriarty. I'm thinking they would want to leave John Toppa in left field for now.

 

[huskymedic]

View attachment 19697

Guess not...

McGrath is saying 4-6 weeks.

 

[Stainmaster]

Ugh is right. With Yahn out, assuming the report from the Daily Campus is correct about Jack Lambrecht being out for the beginning of the season, that would leave Conor Moriarty to play 3B. Good think the coaches seem to be high on Moriarty. I'm thinking they would want to leave John Toppa in left field for now.

I would assume that Toppa is definitely replacing Yahn at the top of the order.

 

[Baseballguy]

Looks like under the worst case scenario we'd have him back in time for conference games

 

[dbmill]

I would assume that Toppa is definitely replacing Yahn at the top of the order.

Aaron Hill is another possibility.

 

[Baseballguy]

Wills came inside with a fastball that got Willy in the hand. Husky on Husky crime.

 

[dbmill]

UConn Baseball
@UConnBaseball
#UConn OF/1B Chris Winkel (@cwink97) gets a shout out at #58 of Top 100 Freshman prospects. #UConnNation


D1Baseball.com
@d1baseball
Fantastic Freshmen! Who are the Top 100 Freshmen prospects entering 2017? Find out
Top 100 Freshman Prospects | D1Baseball.com

 

[dbmill]

Roster is finally up.

UCONNHUSKIES.COM :: Official Baseball Roster :: University of Connecticut Huskies Official Athletic Site :: Baseball

Players no longer on the roster are:

Davila
Sand
Santos
Stimpson
Maycock

 

[dbmill]

UConn baseball preview articles (infield and outfield) from the UConn Blog. The articles contain a number of interesting quotes from Coach Penders, especially about Chris Winkel. Also contains information on Jack Lambracht's injury, an issue with a bone in his arm that will keep him out for at least six weeks.

UConn Baseball Preview 2017: Outfield

UConn Baseball Preview 2017: Infield

 

[dbmill]

UConn Baseball
@UConnBaseball
6h
ICYMI: Probable Starters for #UConn Fri: LHP Tim Cate Sat (GM 1): RHP Wills Montgomerie Sat (GM 2): LHP Mason Feole Sun: LHP Doug Domnarski

 

[UConNick]

Roster is finally up.

UCONNHUSKIES.COM :: Official Baseball Roster :: University of Connecticut Huskies Official Athletic Site :: Baseball

Players no longer on the roster are:

Davila
Sand
Santos
Stimpson
Maycock

Darn, was really hoping Avery Santos would make it. We played AAU baseball together in high school. Great dude, his father's hilarious!

 

[dbmill]

First Jim Penders interview for the new season:



First interview is a bit of an injury update. In addition to Willy Yahn, Jack Lambrecht is out until March/April with a hammate(?) bone problem. John Toppa is also questionable for this weekend with a shoulder issue. It's possible he might be limited to DH, or he may not even play.

 

[huskymedic]

First Jim Penders interview for the new season:



First interview is a bit of an injury update. In addition to Willy Yahn, Jack Lambrecht is out until March/April with a hammate(?) bone problem.

Hamate bone - outer lower edge of hand/wrist. When Yahn posted his right hand pic - Lambrecht responded w/ #brokenhandgang - lol.

 

[Baseballguy]