An additional note on Maddix Dalena. I've mentioned before that he did not have a good summer with the bat with the Mystic Schooners. However, it should be noted that Mystic's home field this summer was Dodd Stadium in Norwich, a place where power hitters have a difficult time since home runs are not easy to come by at Dodd Stadium.
Men UConn Fall Ball 2023
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An additional note on Maddix Dalena. I've mentioned before that he did not have a good summer with the bat with the Mystic Schooners. However, it should be noted that Mystic's home field this summer was Dodd Stadium in Norwich, a place where power hitters have a difficult time since home runs are not easy to come by at Dodd Stadium.
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I would say that the competition is wide open with only 2 guys having any success as starters in the uniform. Cooke was not good last year, Quigley was solid but far from dominant. For some guys mentioned, it is now or never, especially the juniors. Returnees struggled in midweek games and if you can’t come out and shove against midweek schools as an underclassman, you won’t have an impact on the program.
The upside, the lineup will score a bunch and play good D.
The upside, the lineup will score a bunch and play good D.
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Regarding the weights on the fall roster, these are usually pretty accurate as they are taken in the weight room by the strength coach for fall strength/fitness testing and metrics.
Another thing about having older playerslike this on the team. Unless they have a truly break out season, the less likely they are to get picked in the MLB draft. One of the big factors in getting picked is your potential for improvement, and in terms of potential, the younger the better.
;ko
1) Agree on wood bats 100%. I believe Daniels hit ~.270 in a very limited time this summer which was the highest Uconn player BA (I could be wrong). Nobody hit. For summer I don't care about stats (results) they are meaningless based on sample size as mentioned by dbmill. Summer is about working on improvements identified during the spring season (i.e. process). Hopefully, they execute those identified improvements and enter fall ball better than they exited the spring.
2) I like Brini and Kron. My honest take is if Morton could play CF (they had to move him back to LF and put Smitty in CF late last year) Kron/Brini would be serious contenders for playing time in the OF. Tough discussion, but I don't think they should have a long leash with Simmons (if he turns out to be a starter). They're carrying 6 OFs so it's a #'s game. Kron is very interesting because of his speed and Brini, while not looking like a prototypical OF, has skills. We'll see in 2 weeks the starting OF which will provide an early framework for what Penders is thinking. Also, I don't want to sell Shpur short I just haven't seen him at all to comment.
3) Pitching - they have 20 arms on the fall roster. Out of that funnel, a short-term goal (2024) is developing a staff that can consistently get guys out at the D1 level (i.e. live arms turned into successful pitchers). Long-term (25/26) it's developing a promising freshmen class that can significantly contribute. I do think Coe has an inside track of being a weekend starter unless Van Enom excels and wins the slot but agree with your comments. Ideally, I'd like to see Sully and/or Ellisen turn into quality mid-week options. Appears the depth/funnel is there this year, more so than last year. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. You can pop on the gun but have to get guys out at this level (develop movement/location). Interesting to see what happens. For 2024 I'd obviously like to see a staff with improved structure and defined roles which translates to success and stability.
This is a good post. My comments:
1) Agree on wood bats 100%. I believe Daniels hit ~.270 in a very limited time this summer which was the highest Uconn player BA (I could be wrong). Nobody hit. For summer I don't care about stats (results) they are meaningless based on sample size as mentioned by dbmill. Summer is about working on improvements identified during the spring season (i.e. process). Hopefully, they execute those identified improvements and enter fall ball better than they exited the spring.
2) I like Brini and Kron. My honest take is if Morton could play CF (they had to move him back to LF and put Smitty in CF late last year) Kron/Brini would be serious contenders for playing time in the OF. Tough discussion, but I don't think they should have a long leash with Simmons (if he turns out to be a starter). They're carrying 6 OFs so it's a #'s game. Kron is very interesting because of his speed and Brini, while not looking like a prototypical OF, has skills. We'll see in 2 weeks the starting OF which will provide an early framework for what Penders is thinking. Also, I don't want to sell Shpur short I just haven't seen him at all to comment.
3) Pitching - they have 20 arms on the fall roster. Out of that funnel, a short-term goal (2024) is developing a staff that can consistently get guys out at the D1 level (i.e. live arms turned into successful pitchers). Long-term (25/26) it's developing a promising freshmen class that can significantly contribute. I do think Coe has an inside track of being a weekend starter unless Van Enom excels and wins the slot but agree with your comments. Ideally, I'd like to see Sully and/or Ellisen turn into quality mid-week options. Appears the depth/funnel is there this year, more so than last year. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. You can pop on the gun but have to get guys out at this level (develop movement/location). Interesting to see what happens. For 2024 I'd obviously like to see a staff with improved structure and defined roles which translates to success and stability.
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I quite like TC Simmons. I'm inclined to think if he is healthy that his offense would also be productive, and that he would certainly get the first call in getting playing time in CF. But if he doesn't hit, there will be other players looking to get playing time.
I've mentioned before that I watched Drew Kron play summer ball in Norwich. Love his defense in CF, has good speed, and he seems to have good base running instincts. If his bat and offense is at all productive, he could end up being quite a player at UConn.
I saw Shpur play a few games with the Mystic Schooners, but I have to say he didn't make an impression on me, positive or negative. We'll have to see how he performs in fall ball.
UConn has 26 pitchers on the fall ball roster, plus a couple more freshmen position players (Oates and Minick) who are also marked off as pitchers on the roster. Plenty of arms for the UConn coaches to look at this fall, that is for sure. Seems to me at the beginning of fall ball it is very difficult to predict who will end up being starters, especially since no one clearly established themselves in that role last season.
I would think Garrett Coe is very likely to be effective whether he ends up being a starter, or a big guy out of the bullpen. It may be the question of whether he starts depends on how other potential starters perform, but I certainly expect Coe to get plenty of time on the mound, whether he ends up starting or coming out of the bullpen.
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I plan on being at The Doug on Friday. The main areas of focus will be the starting lineup, who gets playing time, and how the arms look.
Not too concerned with the results as Avery Point isn't a D1 team. LIU will be a bit more results-focused but only a bit. Will post trip report.
Not too concerned with the results as Avery Point isn't a D1 team. LIU will be a bit more results-focused but only a bit. Will post trip report.
I plan on being at the exhibition game on Friday as well. From what I've seen from exhibition games in previous years, the starting lineup in these games does give a pretty good indication of who will start in the spring season. Also interested to see who the starting pitchers are in these preseason games as well.
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Any idea when the early schedule will be disclosed?
Early schedule - do you mean 2024? Or fall? If fall, it's posted. Fall roster posted but appears to be only returning players at present.
2024 schedule usually posted in late October if I remember correctly.
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I should have been clearer. 2024 is the schedule that I am concerned about.
Yep late October timeframe.
My wife and I have been going to the UConn baseball Alumni Game for a number of years. A preliminary spring schedule is almost always available at that event. Of course, in the past the Alumni Game was held in late September, the Alumni Game this year is in mid October.
The fall ball roster has not yet been posted on the UConn Athletics website. As you know, paper copies of the fall roster were available at Scout Day, and it included incoming freshmen and transfers.
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Has been posted but only with returning players. Bios updated ,etc. however, no new additions that should be coming soon.
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That is a new posting as of this morning. However, it seems to include everyone who was on the roster this past spring season, even players who did not return to the team this fall. I am guessing that in a short while that roster will be edited to remove players who did not return to the team, and to add in the new recruits.
dbmill - How many pitchers do they normally keep? Does it vary slightly from year to year? Not the travel roster just the normal home spring roster. thanks
Up until the Covid pandemic started in 2020, the regular spring season roster size was 35 players in D1 baseball. That roster size has varied since the start of the pandemic. For instance, it was 37 players last season. I read somewhere on the internet that the roster size for D1 Baseball this coming spring season is 40 players. The expansion of the spring roster is at least partly due to some players getting an extra year of eligibility due the affects of Covid on the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Anyway, I counted 18 position players on the UConn baseball 2023 fall ball roster. If the 40 man roster is correct for this season, I am kind of expecting all 18 position players to be on the roster. That would mean 22 pitchers would be on the roster as well. When spiring rosters limited to 35 players, usually there would be somewhere around 18 pitchers on the spring roster.
I have noticed in the past that UConn baseball fall ball rosters usually have about 45 players on the roster. It really hovers around this number every fall.
This fall ball season there are certainly more pitchers on the UConn fall ball roster than there normally would be. Guessing that is because of the generally inconsistency of the pitching staff last spring season. Guessing because of this the UConn coaching staff wanted to look at a few more arms this fall ball season.
Well, I just did some checking around on the UConn Athletics website, and did some clicking on around on the baseball roster. Yes, I did come across the Fall Baseball Roster. As @MarkyMark said, only returning players are currently posted, the incoming freshmen and transfers will no doubt be added soon.
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Thanks for the information. Very helpful. Looking forward to seeing some of the arms tomorrow night.
Last fall I went to several exhibition games and scrimmages. It seemed that Sears was often a starting pitcher when I went, and he spent most of last season as a starting pitcher. I'm quite interested to see which pitchers end up getting used as a starting pitcher in these games. Of course, the starters only go a few innings in these games. Certainly interested to see who else pitches in these games as well.
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Garrett Coe. Weekend Rotation.
It could happen. However, this summer Coe was used out of the bullpen while playing in the Cape League. Anyway, whether Coe is used as a starter or out of the bullpen, assuming he is not hurt, I expect that he is going to see plenty of time on the mound during the spring season in key situations.
The online roster now includes the players new to the team this fall ball season.
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