What are any thoughts of their 2023 pitching?
Will not be as strong as 2022 but definitely have some solid arms. Biggest factor may be how Cooke and other returning arms perform. Cooke, for example, was brilliant at times last year, against solid competition (eg BC, USC), but not so great against slightly higher level teams. If he can level up this year, we will have at least one very solid weekend starter a la Peterson. At least that’s how I see it. Not as confident about newer arms but I’ve been proven wrong on that before!
I posted the following on the Fall Ball thread a few weeks ago. I have modified it slightly here.
Prior to the start of last season, to me, the depth of the UConn pitching staff was a big question mark on the team. Overall, things turned out quite well in that department last season. The one advantage was that UConn had both Peterson and Gallagher returning to the team as weekend starting pitchers, and it would be safe to say that they both probably turned out to be better than any of us fans were expecting. I would expect Willis to be the chief closer out of the bullpen again, but other roles in the bullpen could shift around depending on who ends up being a starting pitcher this spring.
At this point for the coming spring season, it would be safe to say that there are more questions about the pitching staff than there are about regular lineup. While there are certainly questions at this point on who will fill the starting pitching roles, I do think there appears to be plenty of depth to the UConn pitching staff for the coming season. At worst, I think the pitching will be okay for next season, even though the starting pitching needs to be sorted out. On the other hand if UConn baseball gets a few breaks, the pitching could end up being quite good as well. although I have to admit that it would be hard to match up with what Peterson and Gallagher did last season. Just going to have to stay tuned in to see how things develop as the next spring season approaches.
Given what has gone on in the fall season so far, at this point I would expect Ian Cooke and Andrew Sears to be in the spring weekend starting pitching rotation at the start of the season. Not sure at this point who else on the UConn pitching staff is truly competing for starting pitching roles this season. Also important to remember that 3 of the first 5 weekends of the coming season will require 4 starting pitchers. To me one of the most interesting things that go on in the early part of UConn baseball seasons is how the pitching staff develops.