UConn Baseball 2020

[dbmill]

The UConn Blog writeup on the Michigan series:

UConn Baseball wins weekend series against No. 1 Michigan

The Huskies took two out of three from the No. 1 team in the country.

www.theuconnblog.com

The writer of this piece is Luke Swanson. @huskymedic, wasn't he one of the baseball writers for the Daily Campus last season? If so, the UConn Blog could have a lot of good stuff on UConn baseball if Swanson continues to write for them. The baseball coverage in the Daily Campus isn't the same without him.

 

[navery12]

The UConn Blog writeup on the Michigan series:

UConn Baseball wins weekend series against No. 1 Michigan

The Huskies took two out of three from the No. 1 team in the country.

www.theuconnblog.com

The writer of this piece is Luke Swanson. @huskymedic, wasn't he one of the baseball writers for the Daily Campus last season? If so, the UConn Blog could have a lot of good stuff on UConn baseball if Swanson continues to write for them. The baseball coverage in the Daily Campus isn't the same without him.

He was the writer for the Daily Campus last year, he's great

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Riverballer]

I just went on the New Orleans web site on the baseball schedule and it shows video on their home games. Just wanted to put that out there fyi

 

[huskymedic]

 

[scotty0330]

I just went on the New Orleans web site on the baseball schedule and it shows video on their home games. Just wanted to put that out there fyi

I saw that too cautiously optimistic that I am understanding that correctly and we will be able to watch games through their free website.

 

[lukefrom11]

Did anyone happen to listen to the Penders interview on the Rob Dibble Show?

 

[HCCForever]

Did anyone happen to listen to the Penders interview on the Rob Dibble Show?

I listened to the interview. He talked about Reggie of course and the new arms. I believe he said that Willis could start pitching soon. He mentioned the pitchers that pitched well this weekend but did not mention Lucas or Leif. He said that Krauth has various pitches and has a calm approach and is very poised. BTW, I was at the game behind the scouts and noticed that nobody had the speed gun on Krauth. I think he might touch 90. Blake Beers, the starter for Michigan was in the 90-94 range and everybody was watching him.

Concerning Reggie, he said that he would let Reggie decide if he wanted to keep playing first base as well as pitch. Penders does not want to put limits on anyone. He wants the players to decide. He talked about Vance coming to him and told Penders that he wanted to concentrate on pitching and forget about DHing. He also brought up Ahmed and said that most people would have kept him as a pitcher and not allowed him to play short.

He was also asked about Springer and the whole sign stealing situation in Houston. He said that Springer is a big boy and needs to own up to whatever happened. He talked a little bit about the new field but that is about all that I remember.

 

[dbmill]

I listened to the interview. He talked about Reggie of course and the new arms. I believe he said that Willis could start pitching soon. He mentioned the pitchers that pitched well this weekend but did not mention Lucas or Leif. He said that Krauth has various pitches and has a calm approach and is very poised. BTW, I was at the game behind the scouts and noticed that nobody had the speed gun on Krauth. I think he might touch 90. Blake Beers, the starter for Michigan was in the 90-94 range and everybody was watching him.

Concerning Reggie, he said that he would let Reggie decide if he wanted to keep playing first base as well as pitch. Penders does not want to put limits on anyone. He wants the players to decide. He talked about Vance coming to him and told Penders that he wanted to concentrate on pitching and forget about DHing. He also brought up Ahmed and said that most people would have kept him as a pitcher and not allowed him to play short.

He was also asked about Springer and the whole sign stealing situation in Houston. He said that Springer is a big boy and needs to own up to whatever happened. He talked a little bit about the new field but that is about all that I remember.

Good to hear Justin Willis might be back soon. Willis has done very well pitching in summer ball, and it sounded like he was doing well in fall ball at UConn before his injury. With his return, potentially deep UConn bullpen gets potentially even deeper. Willis might become the right hand man to Caleb Wurster, so to speak. It certainly looks like Wurster has nailed down the closer spot, but I suspect Willis will get a lot of pitching time late in tight games as well.

One thing I haven’t heard anything on is when David Langer might be back to play. I’m inclined to think his injury might have him on a week by week evaluation for a possible return to the lineup, but still it is always good to know what sort of timeframe your looking in terms of when a player might be available to play again.

As for Nick Krauth, Coach Penders has been saying in recent interviews that he definitely knows how to pitch, and he knows how to compete. The implication from the interviews and such is that Krauth may not have the super stuff such as a big fastball that the scouts are looking for, but he knows how to move the ball around the zone and how to set up hitters with his pitches. To me he sounds like a souped up version of Jeff Kersten, which is not a bad thing at all to have as a Sunday starter.

 

[lukefrom11]

I listened to the interview. He talked about Reggie of course and the new arms. I believe he said that Willis could start pitching soon. He mentioned the pitchers that pitched well this weekend but did not mention Lucas or Leif. He said that Krauth has various pitches and has a calm approach and is very poised. BTW, I was at the game behind the scouts and noticed that nobody had the speed gun on Krauth. I think he might touch 90. Blake Beers, the starter for Michigan was in the 90-94 range and everybody was watching him.

Concerning Reggie, he said that he would let Reggie decide if he wanted to keep playing first base as well as pitch. Penders does not want to put limits on anyone. He wants the players to decide. He talked about Vance coming to him and told Penders that he wanted to concentrate on pitching and forget about DHing. He also brought up Ahmed and said that most people would have kept him as a pitcher and not allowed him to play short.

He was also asked about Springer and the whole sign stealing situation in Houston. He said that Springer is a big boy and needs to own up to whatever happened. He talked a little bit about the new field but that is about all that I remember.

I appreciate it, guys

 

[housekeys]

An article from the U of Mich / Ann Arbor community newspaper.

"Through the last 14 days, the Michigan baseball team has grown familiar with UConn. The Huskies weren’t the toughest opponent it faced in that time. It wasn’t even the best team the Wolverines played — that title is reserved for the likes of Vanderbilt and Arizona State. But there’s something special about UConn, ..."

University of Michigan perspective

 

[businesslawyer]

An article from the U of Mich / Ann Arbor community newspaper.

"Through the last 14 days, the Michigan baseball team has grown familiar with UConn. The Huskies weren’t the toughest opponent it faced in that time. It wasn’t even the best team the Wolverines played — that title is reserved for the likes of Vanderbilt and Arizona State. But there’s something special about UConn, ..."

University of Michigan perspective

So we were OUTMATCHED?

 

[scotty0330]

This was not even funny the second time now it’s just dumb. People who aren’t funny go back to the same crap over and over again. I now know which category you fall into

 

[uconnbaseball]

An article from the U of Mich / Ann Arbor community newspaper.

"Through the last 14 days, the Michigan baseball team has grown familiar with UConn. The Huskies weren’t the toughest opponent it faced in that time. It wasn’t even the best team the Wolverines played — that title is reserved for the likes of Vanderbilt and Arizona State. But there’s something special about UConn, ..."

University of Michigan perspective

We've been more impressive than ASU up to this point - they lost to frigging Nova FFS. Sweeping BC in 3 competitive home games does not make them better than us.

Our lowish strikeout numbers against that team are encouraging. Versus weaker competition, our contact, speed, and aggression should make for some mistakes by our opponents. Let's smack NO.

 

[Deuce]

This was not even funny the second time now it’s just dumb. People who aren’t funny go back to the same crap over and over again. I now know which category you fall into

I laughed so add me to whatever low brow comedy category you are looking down on him with. The guy said in the first inning of a baseball game we were outmatched. He’s clearly a great Husky fan and great UCONN baseball fan but he deserves a little ribbing.

Relax comedy police.

 

[navery12]

This was not even funny the second time now it’s just dumb. People who aren’t funny go back to the same crap over and over again. I now know which category you fall into

I'm sure it'll get to that point eventually. But right now, it's funny every time

 

[Pudge]

Yup ... funny every time

 

[Samoo]

overmatched sense of humor

 

[HOOK C FAN]

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!

I stand corrected

 

[dbmill]

I stand corrected

In college baseball it is best to measure progress over a period of time, and not just from one weekend to the next. Anyway, the starting left side of the infield was reconfigured last night as Bushling shifted to shortstop and freshman Todd Petersen had his first start as a Husky in the game last night at 3B. Petersen had a couple of nice plays in the field last night, but then he had defensive problems that were part of the bad 8th inning for the Huskies. Because Petersen is regarded as having some good potential, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him in the infield this season, he will probably get more looks before the start of AAC conference play. As for the left side of the infield, that could change again once David Langer is healthy enough to play 3B.

 

[dbmill]

I certainly don't expect Reggie Crawford to hit .400 for the whole year, but it is indeed a great way to start your college career:



Also, Kyler Fedko batting average so far in this young season is .471, which isn't too shabby either.

 

[dbmill]

IHeartMedia To Broadcast 14 UConn BSB Games - University of Connecticut Athletics

STORRS, Conn. – IHeartMedia, the home of the UConn Huskies, has announced coverage of 14 UConn baseball regular season games during the 2020 season.

uconnhuskies.com

I plan on sticking to listening to Chris Jones on WHUS. I don't care much for Crispino doing UConn baseball games, but I will say that before Chris Jones started doing games on WHUS, Adam Giardino was doing them. Giardino was a terrific student broadcaster during his years at WHUS, and he remains one of my favorite WHUS sports broadcasters. In particular, I thought Giardino and his frequent WHUS broadcast partner Eli Pearlstein were a wonderful WHUS broadcast team. Giardino had been broadcasting minor league baseball games before his current stint of doing various UConn sports.

 

[dbmill]

I suspect most followers of the UConn baseball team would probably agree the most unsettled part of the team at this point going into the Presbyterian series this weekend is the starting pitching. Nick Krauth has been better than anyone could have expected, he has been terrific. So much so that Coach Penders in the last postgame interview in New Orleans indicated that Krauth was probably going to get shifted to starting games before Sunday. It would not be a surprise if he gets to start the Saturday game this weekend. He could very well keep moving up all the way to Friday. I suspect that one of the reasons Penders likes to have his best starter going first in a weekend series is that it makes it a bit easier to manage the innings the guys out of the bullpen get the rest of the way in a series.

After being very good in his first Saturday start this season, Colby Dunlop has been pretty poor the last two games, getting hit all over the field in those two contests. Coach Penders said twice in weekend postgame interviews that the coaching staff thought Dunlop was tipping his pitches, and that the problem was correctable. We'll see how that goes.

Based on how he performed in summer ball this past year, I have some confidence that Joe Simeone can become a quality and consistent pitcher for the Huskies. Of course, he still has to perform. In his first start, Simeone was quite good in a 4 inning stint in his first start. In his second start, Simeone pretty much showed such a complete lack of control that he could not get out of the 1st inning against Michigan. In his last start, even though it seemed that Simeone struggled through 4.1 innings, giving up 3 hits, 4 walks, and a hit by pitch in that time, but he also only gave up 1 run, so it wasn't all that bad after all. Still, I would like to see him improve on this and be able to through 5 innings consistently. I like to think it can happen with Simeone, but that doesn't mean it necessarily will happen.

After this weekend UConn will start playing midweek games, so midweek starters will be needed. Obviously a guy who does well in the midweek could potentially move up to a weekend starting spot if Simeone and/or Dunlop keep having more problems. One midweek starter will be need next week, and two the week after that. I'm not sure who at this point is slated to get these starts, but I would think one candidate would be Jimmy Wang, even though he had a tough time this weekend after coming back from a sore back and an illness. I had the impression that Wang did well during fall ball, so that could impact the decision. Among the other returning pitchers on the staff, another candidate could very well be Kenny Haus, who at this point has emerged as something of a fixture of the in the bullpen in the early season. Still, it seems UConn's bullpen depth could be pretty good this season, and with the highly regarded Justin Willis slated to return soon, it seems that Haus could be spared from some bullpen duty and get some starts as well.

One thing I've always liked to see is that the midweek starter be one of the youngster on the staff, sort of a guy in training for one of the weekend starting roles in the next season or two. Given that he had some good outings in summer ball including a couple as a starter, it is possible that someone like Patrick Gallagher could be a candidate to start as well. Obviously, anyone who has success in the midweek start could end up moving up to the weekend if the need is there.

 

[businesslawyer]

The one stat that jumps out at me -- we've given up 50 walks and drawn only 21. Yuch. That can't go on if we are going to have a good year

 

[Riverballer]

I suspect most followers of the UConn baseball team would probably agree the most unsettled part of the team at this point going into the Presbyterian series this weekend is the starting pitching. Nick Krauth has been better than anyone could have expected, he has been terrific. So much so that Coach Penders in the last postgame interview in New Orleans indicated that Krauth was probably going to get shifted to starting games before Sunday. It would not be a surprise if he gets to start the Saturday game this weekend. He could very well keep moving up all the way to Friday. I suspect that one of the reasons Penders likes to have his best starter going first in a weekend series is that it makes it a bit easier to manage the innings the guys out of the bullpen get the rest of the way in a series.

After being very good in his first Saturday start this season, Colby Dunlop has been pretty poor the last two games, getting hit all over the field in those two contests. Coach Penders said twice in weekend postgame interviews that the coaching staff thought Dunlop was tipping his pitches, and that the problem was correctable. We'll see how that goes.

Based on how he performed in summer ball this past year, I have some confidence that Joe Simeone can become a quality and consistent pitcher for the Huskies. Of course, he still has to perform. In his first start, Simeone was quite good in a 4 inning stint in his first start. In his second start, Simeone pretty much showed such a complete lack of control that he could not get out of the 1st inning against Michigan. In his last start, even though it seemed that Simeone struggled through 4.1 innings, giving up 3 hits, 4 walks, and a hit by pitch in that time, but he also only gave up 1 run, so it wasn't all that bad after all. Still, I would like to see him improve on this and be able to through 5 innings consistently. I like to think it can happen with Simeone, but that doesn't mean it necessarily will happen.

After this weekend UConn will start playing midweek games, so midweek starters will be needed. Obviously a guy who does well in the midweek could potentially move up to a weekend starting spot if Simeone and/or Dunlop keep having more problems. One midweek starter will be need next week, and two the week after that. I'm not sure who at this point is slated to get these starts, but I would think one candidate would be Jimmy Wang, even though he had a tough time this weekend after coming back from a sore back and an illness. I had the impression that Wang did well during fall ball, so that could impact the decision. Among the other returning pitchers on the staff, another candidate could very well be Kenny Haus, who at this point has emerged as something of a fixture of the in the bullpen in the early season. Still, it seems UConn's bullpen depth could be pretty good this season, and with the highly regarded Justin Willis slated to return soon, it seems that Haus could be spared from some bullpen duty and get some starts as well.

One thing I've always liked to see is that the midweek starter be one of the youngster on the staff, sort of a guy in training for one of the weekend starting roles in the next season or two. Given that he had some good outings in summer ball including a couple as a starter, it is possible that someone like Patrick Gallagher could be a candidate to start as well. Obviously, anyone who has success in the midweek start could end up moving up to the weekend if the need is there.

I know that Ben Casparius lost his appeal to the NCAA, but I thought that I read he still had one final appeal. Is that true? Do we know he is ineligible for the season for sure? And if we dont when would he/we find out?