Men - UConn Baseball 2022 | Page 5 | The Boneyard

Men UConn Baseball 2022

huskymedic said:
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Very nice and informative interview. The main thing that strikes me from this interview is the potential position player depth on the team.

Catcher - The coaching staff just loves Matt Donlan. Terrific defensively, and they think he is going to hit as well, his bat started to come on towards the end of the Cape Cod summer season, and it continued in fall ball. Also pretty high on the skills of freshman Matt Garbowski. Both Donlan and Garbowski (a lefty bat) are potential D.H. candidates when not behind the plate. Also some very nice words for third string catcher Ryan Hyde, who the staff was really getting to like before a hip injury caused him to miss all of last season.

Ben Huber - A middle of the order power guy at 1B. Sounds like his glove is pretty solid in the field as well.

Christian Fedko - Could see time at 2B or at D.H., depending what happens with how the rest of the team develops.

David Smith - 2B/OF - Could see time at multiple positions, including 2B and CF. A switch hitter with speed who could get 30+ stolen bases in the lead off position.

Zach Bushling - Penciled in at SS, but can play any of the infield positions.

Chris Brown - Could be a potential draft pick in the MLB draft if he continues to grow his game at 3B.

As for the other young infielders, Bryan Padilla is starting to come along nicely. Jackson Ferrigno and Todd Pedersen also got some positive comments, but they both seem to be behind Padilla at this point.

Erik Stock - Coaching staff loves having him back, that's for sure. No mention of him being a potential CF candidate, or any other spot as well. I would assume he anchors the outfield from his spot in left field.

Kevin Ferrer - His defense in the outfield has improved quite a bit from his freshman year. Coaching staff loves his bat, the main thing for him is to stay healthy.

T.C. Simmons - Coaching staff loves his defense in CF. They think his bat isn't bad either. Suspect if he hits, he plays CF, and from what was said in the interview, he has been hitting.

Casey Dana - A corner guy in the outfield, seems like the coaching staff has a spot reserved for him in RF (he was new to the outfield last season at Seton Hall). Another middle of the order power guy.

Korey Morton - Love his athleticism, he potential as a power/speed guy. He has really worked on his swing. Suspect he will get some time coming off the bench.

Outfielders Phoenix Billings and Zach Stephenson also get positive mentions, something to keep in mind for the future. Billings as a corner outfielder, and Stephenson has really come on. He is a potential future CF who can play any of the outfield positions.
 
businesslawyer said:
I was able to get through it. I don't pay much attention when he tells me how good guys that won't be playing will be, because everyone says that. But interpreting what he said makes me think that what I was assuming was correct: we have ten candidates for nine spots in the lineup -- Dunlop, Huber, Fedko, Bushling, Smith, Brown, Dana, Stock, Ferrer and Simmons. The most likely subs to make a contribution sound like Padilla, Grabowski and Morton.

But, as I say all the time on the other boards, I never assume that when a coach says something his goal is to make a truthful statement, so we'll see. But my guess as to an opening day order:

Bushling, Fedko, Stock, Huber, Dana, Brown, Ferrer, Dunlop, Simmons.
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I'm still inclined to think David Smith gets into the lineup at either 2B or CF, but we'll see what happens. Other than that, I pretty much agree.
 
huskymedic said:
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I'm not really surprised that Enzo Stefanoni gets the Sunday starter spot out of the gate. Stefanoni sounds like a Jeff Kersten type of pitcher, and starting Stefanoni allows freshmen Ian Cooke and Jack Sullivan to get settled in without big pressure on them right away. Suspect that the other grad transfer pitcher Cole Chudoba will be a mainstay in the bullpen this season.
 
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CtBaseball said:
By Dunlop I believe you mean Donlan.

My guess is Ferrer gets some pinch hitting opportunities while Smith is an everyday player due to his sheer athleticism and versatility.
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Ferrer is a righty hitter, while Simmons is a lefty hitter. I'm thinking an oddball platoon might develop with the two of them, with Ferrer in the lineup against lefty pitchers, and Simmons in against righty pitchers. This sort of platoon would also get David Smith playing time at both 2B and CF depending on who is in the lineup, with Fedko moving to D.H. on the days that Smith is at 2B. In the Chris Jones interview, it really does sound like Smith is going to be the full time leadoff hitter, but we will see what happens.
 
huskymedic said:
Sounds like (P) Brendan O’Donnell will be unavailable the first few weekends…

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O'Donnell is potentially an important piece of the UConn pitching staff this season, so him missing the first few weekends is disappointing.
 
Enzo is a definite pitch to contact guy so defense will have to be ready. He pounds the zone so Penders isn’t kidding in that if defense plays well and he can keep them off balance quick, efficient innings will follow.

The pen is where im interested to see who gets what. The lineup is same as what was overwhelmingly used in fall the same 10 guys as BL pointed out. But pen im clueless as to who Penders has most confidence in for opening weekend….
 
scotty0330 said:
Enzo is a definite pitch to contact guy so defense will have to be ready. He pounds the zone so Penders isn’t kidding in that if defense plays well and he can keep them off balance quick, efficient innings will follow.

The pen is where im interested to see who gets what. The lineup is same as what was overwhelmingly used in fall the same 10 guys as BL pointed out. But pen im clueless as to who Penders has most confidence in for opening weekend….
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I would think for the opening weekend, guys coming out of the bullpen would include Justin Willis, Cole Chudoba, Ian Cooke, and Jack Sullivan among others. O'Donnell would likely have been in this group as well if he were available. However, no question that the bullpen, as well as the weekday starting roles have a lot of question marks at this point.
 
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Devin Kirby’s Juco numbers from CA were off the charts. Has he not fully recovered from last year’s injuries yet?
 
Lots of pearls: Huber and Stock can be 2 ways if need be. Alejandro seemed to impress. Lots of good freshmen but that don't need to be relied upon.

Looks like it will take time for guys to carve out niches. Competition is good but that also means ups and downs with guys.
 
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hardcorehusky said:
Lots of pearls: Huber and Stock can be 2 ways if need be. Alejandro seemed to impress. Lots of good freshmen but that don't need to be relied upon.

Looks like it will take time for guys to carve out niches. Competition is good but that also means ups and downs with guys.
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I got the impression that what he’s really thinking is that he has a lot of talented arms, and frankly very little idea of what to expect from any of them. Hopefully we get quality starts out of our weekend rotation from the get go while they figure the rest out.
 
@dbmill is roster finalized or are there a couple more heads that will be moved to taxi squad or inactive list? Thought I counted 42 and when I looked it up quickly I thought 40 was max roster size however I could be wrong…
 
scotty0330 said:
@dbmill is roster finalized or are there a couple more heads that will be moved to taxi squad or inactive list? Thought I counted 42 and when I looked it up quickly I thought 40 was max roster size however I could be wrong…
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I read that it is indeed a 40 man playing roster this season. The online UConn baseball roster has 42 players on it. However, in their online bio section, freshman pitchers Ramsey Collins and Joe Wozny have a note listed next to the 2022 season as not being on the 40 man roster. You have to click on their names to see it. UConn has done it this way the past few years, so this is nothing new. So essentially Collins and Wozny are the two player taxi squad this season. But by being on the online roster, they are still considered part of the team, even though they are not on the official 40 player roster.
 
huskymedic said:
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This is what this story says about Erik Stock:

The outfield features one of the Huskies’ most experienced starters. Erik Stock is the returning leader in several statistical categories for UConn, including batting average (.364), slugging (.556), and on-base (.426). He has a nice, even swing with power to all three fields, and is a defensive presence in center with a laser arm.
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So it would seem that Stock could very well see playing time in CF. This is news that did not get tweeted out during the fall ball season, but this is the second preview article to mention the possibility. I would think it would certainly help Stock in terms of getting picked in the upcoming MLB draft if he is able to show he can play a key defensive position as well as hit like he has during his time at UConn. Have to wonder if this thinking has entered the minds of the coaching staff for this season.
 
businesslawyer said:
I got the impression that what he’s really thinking is that he has a lot of talented arms, and frankly very little idea of what to expect from any of them.
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I got that impression as well. Also, it could take some time figuring out what roles all these talented but inexperienced young pitchers will end up doing on the pitching staff.
 
huskymedic said:
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Here's a hopefully quick summary of the interview with Josh MacDonald. As mentioned by others, a lot of talented young arms, but it will take time to see who is the most effective and what roles they are best suited for. MacDonald pretty much said that with the exception of Peterson and Gallagher as weekend starters and Justin Willis as the closer to start the year, there are a lot of roles that need to be figured out, and it could take some time.

Anyway, MacDonald said that he thinks there are 8 to 10 pitchers who could potentially see time as a starting pitcher on this team. Peterson and Gallagher are obviously at the top of the list. Enzo Stefanoni will get the first shot at the Sunday starting role. A couple players mentioned as pushing Stefanoni and could take over the role if Stefanoni doesn't pan out are Cole Chudoba (who is also mentioned as possibly playing a very prominent bullpen role) and freshman Ian Cooke.

Other pitchers mentioned as possible starters, either of the weekend or weekday variety were Garrett Coe and redshirt freshman Hector Alejandro.

As for the bullpen, Justin Willis and Cole Chudoba were most prominently mentioned, with Willis starting off in the closer role. Others who got prominent mentions were Coe, Alejandro, and freshman Jack Sullivan. Sam Favieri and Bobby McBride were also given good mentions.

There are three guys who could get time out of the bullpen who are not available at the start of the season for at least the first weekend or so. Brendan O'Donnell, Devin Kirby, and redshirt freshman Leo Socci. I'm inclined to think O'Donnell and Kirby especially could be potentially significant contributors to the pitching staff.

Josh MacDonald says he is very excited about the freshman pitching class. He just doesn't know how soon they will be able to contribute to actually winning games. Ian Cooke and Jack Sullivan are the headliners here. The next three mentioned were Ellisen, Quinn, and Afthim, as well as redshirt freshmen Alejandro and Socci. Mitchell Pascarella also got a mention here as well. A number of guys who could turn into solid contributors.

MacDonald took a wait and see attitude on whether position players Erik Stock and Ben Huber might see some time on the mound.

Now that I've mention the pitchers that Josh MacDonald talked about for almost 20 minutes, there are a few who did not get mentioned at all. This includes freshmen Ramsey Collins and Joe Wozny, who are redshirting and are not considered part of the active 40 player roster.

Other pitchers who didn't get mentioned at all were Kenny Campbell, incoming California JUCO Curren Larson, and Jimmy Wang.
 
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The whole Jimmy Wang trajectory is bizarre. He walked on and was our Sunday starter his first year. He wasn't consistent, but he held down the role for a few months. And since then, just fading more and more into oblivion.
 
businesslawyer said:
The whole Jimmy Wang trajectory is bizarre. He walked on and was our Sunday starter his first year. He wasn't consistent, but he held down the role for a few months. And since then, just fading more and more into oblivion.
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I watched Jimmy Wang a lot pitching for Norwich in the Futures League this past summer. He was an older player in a league that has a bunch of young players early in their college careers. He did not do well, and continued to have control problems. At that point I pretty much wrote him off for making any significant contribution for the coming college season for UConn.
 
businesslawyer said:
The whole Jimmy Wang trajectory is bizarre. He walked on and was our Sunday starter his first year. He wasn't consistent, but he held down the role for a few months. And since then, just fading more and more into oblivion.
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He wasn’t mentioned by Coach MacDonald in the preview video either
 
dbmill said:
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I find being on this list offensive, as should East Carolina. My national Flag blue colored glasses are all steamed up at the moment. Can it be true? Are we really considered <gulp> a mid-major?
 
Fairfield_1st said:
I find being on this list offensive, as should East Carolina. My national Flag blue colored glasses are all steamed up at the moment. Can it be true? Are we really considered <gulp> a mid-major?
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In baseball, the Big East is not a major conference. That's not an insult. It' s just an acknowledgement of reality.
 
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