UConn @ Coastal Carolina - Tuesday 3/13 @4p

[huskymedic]

Glad Coach thinks about us listener @ home

 

[dbmill]

The UCONN pitching staff throws alot of breaking balls which are good pitches to steal bases.

And they throw them in the dirt to get swinging strikeouts. I think Penders is a big proponent of this tactic.

 

[BigJim84]

And they throw them in the dirt to get swinging strikeouts. I think Penders is a big proponent of this tactic.

I agree it just makes it tough on the catchers.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[gtcam]

It's still a little early to be paying attention to RPI, but UConn is back up to 37 after the Coastal win. They do have some nice road wins, and today is one of them, and that plays big come NCAA tourney selection time. So UConn is in pretty good shape so far provided they can go out and get into the routine of winning 2 out of 3 and the weekends and win a goodly number of the New England games.

It's those pesky New England games that will bite you - sure did last year

 

[kris1]

Chris Jones has talked about this some during the game broadcasts. Some of this may be on the pitchers as well, but UConn catchers have thrown out 4 out of 31 chances before this game. Not very good. The catchers had a really tough time early in the season last year as well in this department, but did get a bit better at it later in the season. We'll see if there is any improvement as this season progresses.

Most stolen bases are off the pitcher. I'm not sure what Susi's pop-time is but his throws (to my eye) seem to lack velocity. And as @BigJim84 said, we have a lot of guys that throw off-speed stuff, so that's not a good mix. Teams are going to continue to test our catchers (until Winkel arrives). Winkel not only has a 1.89s pop-time, he also has an 80+ throwing velocity. For reference, 1.95s or below (pop-time) and 80 or above (throwing velo), are desirable for a D1 Catcher.

 

[Baseballguy]

Most stolen bases are off the pitcher. I'm not sure what Susi's pop-time is but his throws (to my eye) seem to lack velocity. And as @BigJim84 said, we have a lot of guys that throw off-speed stuff, so that's not a good mix. Teams are going to continue to test our catchers (until Winkel arrives). Winkel not only has a 1.89s pop-time, he also has an 80+ throwing velocity. For reference, 1.95s or below (pop-time) and 80 or above (throwing velo), are desirable for a D1 Catcher.

Susi has a 1.9 pop

Here’s a snippet of Susi from D1;

If you’re looking for a catcher with a rounded skillset, look no further than Susi. He posts pop times between 1.94-1.99 behind the plate, receives and blocked extremely well and quietly had one of the most consistent summers at the plate of any player in the Cape Cod League.

 

[UCCornelius]

Agreed. Susi is not the problem. Yadier Molina could be behind the plate and it wouldn't matter if the pitchers can't keep the runners somewhat close to the bag at first. While we have had good success picking off runners this year, in my opinion most of the steals have been off the pitchers due to the location of the pitches (off-speed & down) or failing to keep the runners honest.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I remember calling games for WHUS for the 1 year Roberto Hernandez was here as a catcher. He fired lasers to second base regularly. I never saw a college catcher shut down a running game like he did.

 

[BigJim84]

Most stolen bases are off the pitcher. I'm not sure what Susi's pop-time is but his throws (to my eye) seem to lack velocity. And as @BigJim84 said, we have a lot of guys that throw off-speed stuff, so that's not a good mix. Teams are going to continue to test our catchers (until Winkel arrives). Winkel not only has a 1.89s pop-time, he also has an 80+ throwing velocity. For reference, 1.95s or below (pop-time) and 80 or above (throwing velo), are desirable for a D1 Catcher.

I agree, Winkel is a stud, concerned he will be drafted in top 3 rounds and sign a MLB contract.