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UConn Baseball 2020
- Thread starter huskymedic
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2021 Top 150 College Prospects • D1Baseball
With the college baseball season finally here, it's time to take an in-depth look at the nation's Top 150 2021 prospects, led by Vanderbilt righthander Kumar Rocker.
Pat Winkel comes in at No. 113, which is pretty good for someone who won't be able to play this season.
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Confirmation that Joe Simeone followed his terrific summer with a terrific fall ball season. We also get teased with the possibility of what Randy Polonia might provide in support of the bullpen. Biggest glowing report is for Ben Casparius, who sounds like he will have a huge role on the UConn pitching staff when he becomes eligible to play. Casparius is the only newcomer to the pitching staff who merited a mention in this very short interview, so that is a little disappointing.
I have not followed this closely.....but is this all or nothing??? Meaning if he is not affirmatively cleared before today’s game is he out for the season or could he be cleared later?
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We don't know nothing. The last the team/school said anything was that they were waiting a week or two ago. A new poster said he was out for the year, but didn't give a source.
In basketball, players do get cleared after the season has started -- don't know if the process works the same way in baseball.
On Monday, the Hartford Courant had on its website a column about Reggie Crawford, in which it mentioned that the NCAA had ruled against Ben Casparius being eligible. UConn had filed an appeal and was waiting for he result of that. In one of the Chris Jones interviews posted during this week, it was mentioned that there was no decision yet with Casparius. However, we don't know when that interview took place.
I suspect this is something Chris Jones will touch on during the game broadcasts this weekend. Of course, there is the possibility that with Casparius listed on the roster that he is eligible to play.
It is also possible that no decision has yet come in on the appeal. Faced with this and the fact that UConn had to post the 35 man roster before the season started, UConn made the decision to put Casparius on the roster and just wait for the NCAA ruling. If it happens that Casparius is unable to play this season, him being on the roster doesn't really cost the Huskies anything. Every season there are usually a couple of freshmen pitchers on the 35 man roster who end up being redshirted (last season there were three freshmen pitchers who were on the 35 man roster who were redshirted). With Casparius on the roster, one of these freshmen pitchers is now on the redshirt "taxi squad" of players not on the roster but still considered a part of the team.
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Chris Jones with an interesting tidbit during today's game. Players being redshirted on the "taxi squad" not on the 35 man roster can meet with coaches and practice with them. However, these taxi squad players cannot practice with players on the 35 man roster. I knew they could not practice or go to team meetings, but I didn't know that they could practice and meet with coaches.
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Sharing an article from Jim Fuller w/ UConn Baseball mentions
State’s Division I baseball programs eager to tap into the Amity baseball pipeline
State’s Division I baseball programs eager to tap into the Amity baseball pipeline
This might be a little late, but just found this season preview written by Jerry Trecker for the Willimantic Chronicle. A few good tidbits in it.
theChronicle.com
>Pitching is a major question mark, especially the status of a potential ace, Ben Casparius, a transfer from North Carolina, who is still awaiting a waiver from the NCAA to compete this spring. Anyone who follows college sports knows there’s no way to predict how that will turn out.
If Penders has Casparius in Arizona, fans will see him against Michigan on Sunday.
“He has Friday-night stuff, but just the way we have been working with him means his turn would fall on Sunday next week,” Penders explained.<
>Another contender for a rotation spot, Jimmy Wang, has been limited by a back issue so will work from the bullpen early on.<
>Crawford, who can also pitch, is so highly regarded that he already has a Cape Cod League summer placement before playing his first college game.<
theChronicle.com
>Pitching is a major question mark, especially the status of a potential ace, Ben Casparius, a transfer from North Carolina, who is still awaiting a waiver from the NCAA to compete this spring. Anyone who follows college sports knows there’s no way to predict how that will turn out.
If Penders has Casparius in Arizona, fans will see him against Michigan on Sunday.
“He has Friday-night stuff, but just the way we have been working with him means his turn would fall on Sunday next week,” Penders explained.<
>Another contender for a rotation spot, Jimmy Wang, has been limited by a back issue so will work from the bullpen early on.<
>Crawford, who can also pitch, is so highly regarded that he already has a Cape Cod League summer placement before playing his first college game.<
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Welp...
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The next time the NCAA does something positive for UConn will be the first.
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I really despise throwing facts at your posts, but I would note that (i) the NCAA already granted us clearance on two transfers for this season, and (ii) I haven't heard anything from UConn about the grounds for him being granted a waiver so I don't know why anyone would think we've been screwed here.
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Dom Amore @AmoreCourant 2h
Next option for Casparius would be to file for a “reconsideration.” So case not done yet.
So the next question is, if Casparius does not get a waiver to play, does he have to stay on the roster and can a player who is not on the 35 man roster take his place? Casparius is not on the roster that is included in the game notes for the Michigan series this coming weekend.
Casparius still has two years of eligibility to play at UConn. As with most every college baseball player, he is eligible for the MLB draft after his junior year whether he is able to play this season or not. As for where he may go in the draft, who knows at this point.
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I could be wrong but I believe he's eligible for the MLB Draft after this season. This is the MLB eligibility rule, and he turned 21 last week.
College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old;
Maybe I did not write as clearly as I thought I did, but what you wrote is more or less what I meant.
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Yeah I see that now, re-reading it. In my head I had him as a RS sophomore this year if he's not playing but it would still be his junior this year
That's the thing, these days I automatically assume redshirt sophomores are eligible for the draft, as they are really college juniors.
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The Michigan series forum is locked, so here goes. How about the left side of the infield? Top ranked Michigan's highly touted left side had 3 errors on the books, or at least 4 if you listened to Jonesie (sometimes big reputations cause Es to be "reconsidered" so the narrative can be perpetuated). Our left side played a completely clean series by comparison. The playing surface made JOC look like artificial turf. It's easy to overlook those flood-gates-would-have-opened, two-on-two-out tough hop grounders when looking at box scores. Penders is way too smart a coach to disrupt that. Zach and Andy each committed one error the first time that they touched the ball this season (vs CalPoly, we are a northern school, first game jitters etc) and have been lock down six full games since. As far as offense is concerned, remember Woody. He struggled mightily at the plate for quite a while, but Penders was smart enough to see what many, many people didn't and, by the end, he had become the best position player on the team. Just thought I'd point out something less obvious that Reggie, Kyler etc. They were, of course, phenomenal!
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Since the other forum is locked, I noticed that Kyler is listed as a Junior in the Honor Roll. Great series for him.
The only issue that I can recall with the infield is when the pop up dropped between Zach and Cole. IMO, Zach should have taken charge of that ball. But that was just a communication issue like we saw in the outfield as well on Sunday.
The only issue that I can recall with the infield is when the pop up dropped between Zach and Cole. IMO, Zach should have taken charge of that ball. But that was just a communication issue like we saw in the outfield as well on Sunday.