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UConn Baseball 2019

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A very quick summary of the pitching newcomers is this. The freshmen newcomers all have talent and good stuff, but at this beginning stage of their careers, they have their good days, and they have their bad days. They do some stuff well, and other things not so well. Just have to see how these pitchers develop over time.

Coach MacDonald leads off by saying that freshmen redshirts Angus Mayock and Caleb Wurster could see time on the mound this weekend.

California JUCO transfer Kenny Haus sounds like another Jeff Kersten type. He throws strikes, and he could see time both starting and as a reliever.

Two freshmen pitchers are coming back from Tommy John surgery. Leif Bigelow will not be ready to pitch this season, so he got redshirted, and they will see what he has next year. Tim Pfaffenbichler just got cleared to face batters. He isn’t ready to pitch in a game yet, but it is possible he could see game time sometime during the season.

Adam Schwartz and Will Lucas are both two way players. Lucas is being geared more as a position player, but could get the occasional shot at pitching in a game. Schwartz at this point is much more likely to see mound action than play in the field.

By far the most interesting and intriguing story is Jimmy Wang, and it is worth listening to the first half of the interview just to get that tale. UConn baseball had never heard of Wang until Wang contacted them about becoming a walk on prior to the 2017 fall semester. Wang got himself a walk on tryout, and the coaching staff liked what they saw. Wang got invited to play in the 2017 fall ball season, but ended up quitting the team because his school course load was too heavy to also play baseball. Still, he had left an impression on the coaching staff. In late September of 2018 Wang contacted the coaching staff about walking on to the team again for fall ball. The coaches are really impressed with his stuff. The upshot of it all is that even though Wang has barely pitched since playing high school ball in Michigan, the coaches think Wang has a chance to turn into something really special.

You’re the best!

Honest question; with the amount of effort you put into writing a post in the Boneyard, have you ever thought about starting a blog devoted to UConn baseball?
 
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UConn should soon get a boost when Feole returns to action. Penders said Feole is already champing at the bit to return and will face live hitters in practice Tuesday. There is a chance he’ll be back in action this weekend at the College of Charleston, but Penders said they may hold their ace back another week out of caution.”
 
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I see another advantage to Feole either taking the Charleston series off or coming out of the bullpen that weekend. Both Colby Dunlop and Joe Simeone would get another start that weekend, and the weekend after that in the Coastal Carolina tournament, a weekend where UConn has four games scheduled to play. Presumably Feole will be back starting in that third weekend no matter what assuming he doesn't suffer a setback. That way both Dunlop and Simeone would have two weekend starts to further their development and to potentially show what they can do. Whoever shows to have the better of the two weekend series would possibly be given the Sunday starting spot, the other would either get weekday starts or move to the bullpen.
 
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I see another advantage to Feole either taking the Charleston series off or coming out of the bullpen that weekend. Both Colby Dunlop and Joe Simeone would get another start that weekend, and the weekend after that in the Coastal Carolina tournament, a weekend where UConn has four games scheduled to play. Presumably Feole will be back starting in that third weekend no matter what assuming he doesn't suffer a setback. That way both Dunlop and Simeone would have two weekend starts to further their development and to potentially show what they can do. Whoever shows to have the better of the two weekend series would possibly be given the Sunday starting spot, the other would either get weekday starts or move to the bullpen.

LOL. Remember how close we came to getting home field for the tourney last year but feel just short? There is no advantage to playing a second weekend without your best pitcher. You take wins whenever and however you get them.
 
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LOL. Remember how close we came to getting home field for the tourney last but feel just short? There is no advantage to playing a second weekend without your best pitcher. You take wins whenever and however you get them.

I suspect that if Feole is available for the Charleston it will be in relief for next week. If that is the case, I think the positive (if you can call it that) that comes out of it is that UConn hopefully comes a bit closer to finding out who their Sunday starter might be for the rest of the season as well. That can help you get some wins in the future as well. Whatever the case, the coaching staff is not about to rush Feole back if there is any question that he might not be ready. The season is for the long haul, not just one game.
 
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I suspect that if Feole is available for the Charleston it will be in relief for next week. If that is the case, I think the positive (if you can call it that) that comes out of it is that UConn hopefully comes a bit closer to finding out who their Sunday starter might be for the rest of the season as well. That can help you get some wins in the future as well. Whatever the case, the coaching staff is not about to rush Feole back if there is any question that he might not be ready. The season is for the long haul, not just one game.

I have no interest in rushing him back. If he's not ready, we have to go down there and win the series anyway. I'm just saying that you would rather have him ready for as many innings as he can give you than not. Dunlop and Simeone will have plenty of time over the season to demonstrate that they do or don't deserve to be the Sunday starter. If Dunlop ever pitches like he pitched on Saturday, others will have plenty of time to show that as well.
 
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A scout who was at the Louisville series had this to say about UConn:

>UConn
“Jacob Wallace was up to 96 for me. He’s a really good college closer who could be an elite prospect if he can consistently find his breaking ball. If he doesn’t find the breaking ball, at least for me, he’s just in the bucket with a bunch of hard-throwing relievers.”

“I thought the pitchers minus Wallace were just okay. They’re just guys for me, but they all know how to pitch. Colby Dunlop is an interesting guy. I’ve seen him very solid before. He was 88-91 mph with his fastball over the weekend. It wouldn’t shock me if he bounces back and shows more electric stuff moving forward. The biggest thing about Connecticut’s pitching staff is all of them really, really compete.”

“I really can’t say enough for what Jim Penders does at UConn. He’s not really working with too many premier prospects up there. Yet, those guys are always good, and they always seem to get better and better once they’re on campus. They’ll continue to get better this year, too, I think.”

“UConn has a bunch of good hitters, but they aren’t loaded with prospects. I do really like John Toppa, Anthony Prato and Chris Winkel. They are guys. The thing that constantly stands out about the Huskies is they play the game the right way and they always seem to get the most out of their guys.”<

Weekend Insider: Week Two • D1Baseball
 

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