A. Marrero looked like he had the arm, secondary pitch and command to be a heavy contributor as a freshman pitcher.
R. Crawford is as physically imposing a UConn freshman as I can remember in recent years. I was very surprised by how fluid he was making plays at first base and was tight on the fundamentals- not something you should usually expect from a young two-way guy. On the mound, the arm is there as he was 94 from the left side. Control will be the issue and something that might end up tweaking his delivery. Similar to Okajima for the sox, he does not consistently pick up homeplate until after the ball is on the batter.
As mentioned above, the freshman Newtown SS Petersen is very interesting. At first glance 6’6, tall and lanky, not a guy youd typically line up at short stop. He quickly set the record straight making a play deeeeep in the hole followed by a hop throw across his body from basically the third baseline in left field. (Yes, probably wouldve been beaten out by an active college player, but still a great demonstration of his talent nonetheless)
Last notable from my perspective at the alumni game was Jimmy Wang. He started, and while he hasnt pitched summer ball its clear he was working out. Not a guy by any means that you looked at last year and would peg as out of shape, but he was noticeably leaner and more muscular last weekend. Also seems to have worked on maintaining consistent arm slot and speed from his fastball to off speed offerings that plagued him at times last yr.
Once Marrero got settled in, he did very well in summer ball in Bristol. Coe and Gallagher also had very good summers pitching in the Futures League.
As for Jimmy Wang, I think it is important to remember that except for the very brief time he spent with UConn baseball during the Fall of 2017, he hadn't done much in the way of baseball related activities since high school before rejoining UConn baseball during the 2018
fall ball season. Before last fall, Jimmy Wang pretty much dabbled in pitching on occasion. Wang has now been engaged in baseball related activities and training for almost a solid year now, no doubt under the watchful eyes and guidance of the UConn baseball coaching staff. The difference between last season and the current fall ball season is perhaps showing up in the observations of @dantheman.
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