UConn Baseball 2018

[Stainmaster]

College Top 50 MLB Draft Prospects 2018 | BaseballAmerica.com

Tim Cate checking in at No. 24 (4th among LHPs).

 

[dbmill]

>>3. Tim Cate, UConn - Armed with potentially the best true curveball in the 2018 class, Cate can locate effectively and miss bats with a deep, quality arsenal. He doesn’t have the prototypical size of a front end arm but his 91-93 mph heat, long limbs and good plane make up for some of that. Lefties who can rack up strikeouts and throw quality strikes will always be highly valued.<<

>>19. P.J. Poulin, UConn - The strongly built 6-foot southpaw continued to show high quality stuff throughout the summer, but it’s been this fall where he’s truly taken his stuff to the next level. Working from a tough three-quarter angle, Poulin has shown 90-93 mph heat with good life and movement this fall. His tight breaking ball is also a potential swing and miss offering, and hitters have a very difficult time picking up his fastball.<<

This write up helps to confirm the feeling that I've had concerning PJ Poulin's prospects in the upcoming 2018 MLB draft that I expressed earlier in this thread. Poulin had a breakout second half of the season for the Huskies last spring, and followed it up with an outstanding summer out of the bullpen in the Cape League. In addition, Coach Penders showed great confidence in going to him in all sorts of situations late in games towards the end of the season. Assuming that Chase Gardner is being targeted to become the third weekend starter, Poulin will play a big role out of the bullpen, very possibly as the successor to John Russell as the Husky closer. That will certainly give him a highlight role for the scouts to look at.

 

[Baseballguy]

This write up helps to confirm the feeling that I've had concerning PJ Poulin's prospects in the upcoming 2018 MLB draft that I expressed earlier in this thread. Poulin had a breakout second half of the season for the Huskies last spring, and followed it up with an outstanding summer out of the bullpen in the Cape League. In addition, Coach Penders showed great confidence in going to him in all sorts of situations late in games towards the end of the season. Assuming that Chase Gardner is being targeted to become the third weekend starter, Poulin will play a big role out of the bullpen, very possibly as the successor to John Russell as the Husky closer. That will certainly give him a highlight role for the scouts to look at.

Poulin is absolutely in Penders good graces. As far as his role, I expect him to be used in a role similar to what Andrew Miller has been used as in the MLB, as well as some week day starts. He has shown he can get it done in any situation he is put in from starting, high stress middle innings or closing. The player I expect to be the regular closer is Jacob Wallace. In the few times I’ve seen him pitch this fall he has been absolutely dominant. He has constantly thrown his fastball in the 93-95 MPH range from a three-quarters/side-arm delivery. With the weekend staff and those two as the most clear roles out of the bullpen, I expect great things from the pitching staff this year. This is arguably the most deep pitching staff UConn has ever had.

 

[dbmill]

Poulin is absolutely in Penders good graces. As far as his role, I expect him to be used in a role similar to what Andrew Miller has been used as in the MLB, as well as some week day starts. He has shown he can get it done in any situation he is put in from starting, high stress middle innings or closing. The player I expect to be the regular closer is Jacob Wallace. In the few times I’ve seen him pitch this fall he has been absolutely dominant. He has constantly thrown his fastball in the 93-95 MPH range from a three-quarters/side-arm delivery. With the weekend staff and those two as the most clear roles out of the bullpen, I expect great things from the pitching staff this year. This is arguably the most deep pitching staff UConn has ever had.

Excellent news on Jacob Wallace. I recall that just before the season started, the coaching staff was talking about Wallace as a possible closer candidate. Of course, that was before John Russell ran away with the job, and Wallace ending up having a UConn season with more lows than highs. Of course, Wallace than had a stellar summer in the Futures League. So it sounds like he is emerging one UConn season later. Combined with Poulin, that could be a wonderful one-two lefty-righty combination coming out of the bullpen.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Polonia has great stuff - he could be a massive wildcard for us going forward if he recovers fully from his surgery.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

Interesting bit from the article on CJ Dandeneau:

<Since returning to the Storrs campus, Dandeneau has made the most of his fresh start. He’s been touching the low 90s with his fastball and shown much better command than what Penders saw in the spring when he issued 11 walks. His changeup has been solid and he’s gravitating more towards throwing the slider as his breaking pitch.

The goal for this fall is to build up Dandaneau’s stamina in anticipation of pitching multiple innings out of the bullpen in 2018.>

Sounds good to me, hope Dandeneau can continue this into the spring. Like many college pitchers, when Dandeneau has his control and has command of his pitches, he can be an out machine. Of course, control and command is a frequent issue for many college pitchers, and Dandeneau is no exception to this. There was a period during Dandeneau redshirt freshman year where he was lights out when he came into game. Of course, there have been extended periods during his UConn career where he has becomes a walk machine to opposing batters, and that period seemed to take up a good chunk of last season with the Huskies. It really limited the amount pitching time that Penders gave him this past season when he only pitched about 15 innings during the season.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

Truly one of the big events of the fall ball season. I just love the annual Halloween lift video.

 

[dbmill]

This morning UConn baseball had their traditional final work out of the fall season in the cemetery. As part of the tradition in Storrs, the captains were named today as well, and they are Zac Susi, John Toppa, and PJ Poulin.

 

[huskymedic]

This morning UConn baseball had their traditional final work out of the fall season in the cemetery. As part of the tradition in Storrs, the captains were named today as well, and they are Zac Susi, John Toppa, and PJ Poulin.

UConn Baseball (@UConnBaseball) | Twitter

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

Official announcement of the baseball captains is now posted. Considering that the selection of the captains is done at the gravesite of university founders Charles and Augustus Storrs, I sure hope they approve. I'm not suggesting a seance to find out.

Baseball Captains Announced As Fall Workouts Conclude

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

UConn Baseball‏ @UConnBSB 2h2 hours ago
Former Husky and @Rockies reliever Scott Oberg stops by to talk to the guys. #Pillar4 #UConnNation

 

[dbmill]

Another college baseball writer who thinks UConn will be very good this coming season. Personally, I would be quite pleased just to see UConn back in the NCAA tournament.

Aaron Fitt‏Verified account @aaronfitt
FALL REPORT: @uconnbaseball has its most talented roster since its watershed 2011 club, and the #Huskies should vie for AAC supremacy this spring:
Fall Report: Connecticut | D1Baseball.com

 

[huskymedic]

Receiving votes:

 

[dbmill]

Receiving votes:

That's a lot of teams also receiving votes.

 

[huskymedic]

That's a lot of teams also receiving votes.

Shhhh.... better than not being listed.

 

[dbmill]

Shhhh.... better than not being listed.

That's certainly true.

 

[uconnbaseball]

A strong opening weekend would likely put us in the top 25!

 

[huskymedic]

 

[uconnbaseball]

I cannot find the link, but college baseball daily ranked us 3rd in the American and projects us to make a regional. It was a solid preview, although written before the Nepiarsky transfer.

What happened to Brian Foley? He used to post here but I haven't seen him in ages.