UConn v. University of Rhode Island Rams (Friday 3/26 @3p & Saturday 3/27 Doubleheader starting @1p @ Elliot Ballpark). Updated Times!

[ATLDYKA]

Yup Pat and the kitchen sink it feels like were the only ones that didn’t pitch this weekend.

no surprise from Penders interview. You can really hear the frustration in his voice considering the complete lack of consistency from this team. Nothing they can hang their hat on except it’s gonna be a high stress competitive game. Offense was really disappointing today and Reggie has the yips that Kyler did early this season. He looked like Serano from the Major League movie and needs Jobu to help him hit a curveball all of a sudden.
Also if you are a pitcher and still have not seen action yet guys with 27 plus ERAs continue to get opportunities you must be an even worse alternative.

And that's what I say doesn't make sense. How can Lucas and Mayock be that far down on the depth chart that they can't sniff the field. These were fairly reliable guys last year and haven't even been mentioned as options. That's why I wonder if they are hurt perhaps?

 

[dbmill]

And that's what I say doesn't make sense. How can Lucas and Mayock be that far down on the depth chart that they can't sniff the field. These were fairly reliable guys last year and haven't even been mentioned as options. That's why I wonder if they are hurt perhaps?

That's the thing, while Chris Jones and the coaching interviews can inform us on a number of things, we don't get to hear or know absolutely everything. While we hear about some injuries, I have never supposed we hear about all of them, so it is possible that is a factor. We also are not privy to how some players performed in fall ball or in practice. If they didn't do well during that time, we don't necessarily hear about it.

As far as performance about last season, Will Lucas did do well last season, having a 2.89 ERA in 5 appearances and 9.1 innings of work. Not bad at all. I do recall from preseason interviews that Will Lucas was being considered as a starting pitcher, but haven't heard anything more on him since.

As for Angus Mayock, your memory from last year is a little off. In 2 games and 2 innings of work, he had an ERA of 13.50. I'm inclined to vaguely recall that he may have been coming off an injury at the time, but I can't say with any sort of certainty.

 

[businesslawyer]

That's the thing, while Chris Jones and the coaching interviews can inform us on a number of things, we don't get to hear or know absolutely everything. While we hear about some injuries, I have never supposed we hear about all of them, so it is possible that is a factor. We also are not privy to how some players performed in fall ball or in practice. If they didn't do well during that time, we don't necessarily hear about it.

As far as performance about last season, Will Lucas did do well last season, having a 2.89 ERA in 5 appearances and 9.1 innings of work. Not bad at all. I do recall from preseason interviews that Will Lucas was being considered as a starting pitcher, but haven't heard anything more on him since.

As for Angus Mayock, your memory from last year is a little off. In 2 games and 2 innings of work, he had an ERA of 13.50. I'm inclined to vaguely recall that he may have been coming off an injury at the time, but I can't say with any sort of certainty.

Mayock showed promise and some reliability in 19. Last year, he was hurt at the start and only able to pitch right before the shutdown. The two innings of work shouldn’t have been a big enough sample set to override what he did in 19.

In 2019, while they were by no means great, Dunlop, Simeone and Wang all had their moments as our 3, 4 and 5 starters. Their combined inability to give us absolutely anything this year is killing us. If we could count on these guys to go twice through the order at a 4.5 to 5 ERA clip, the season would be totally different.

 

[scotty0330]

Checking in on an old friend Paul Gozzo is hitting .353 for San Diego. Just hit a 3 run bomb yesterday. His leadership and consistency is certainly missed.

 

[businesslawyer]

Checking in on an old friend Paul Gozzo is hitting .353 for San Diego. Just hit a 3 run bomb yesterday. His leadership and consistency is certainly missed.

He wanted to catch every day. Not catch one out of 4 games and DH the other 3. Absolutely nothing you can do about a young man who wanted the year to best prepare him for a pro career.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Any update on Devenney? Who is the back up catcher if he is out for a while?

 

[huskymedic]

Who is the back up catcher if he is out for a while?

Penders

 

[dbmill]

Any update on Devenney? Who is the back up catcher if he is out for a while?

Ryan Hyde is also a catcher, but he is out for the season with a hip injury. Chris Jones confirmed during the broadcast of one of the Rhode Island games that freshman David Christoforo has left the team.

I recall listening to a game either last season or the season before where Chris Jones was talking about David Langer being a possible emergency catcher if the other catchers were hurt. I would guess that might still be the case.

 

[dbmill]

Mayock showed promise and some reliability in 19. Last year, he was hurt at the start and only able to pitch right before the shutdown. The two innings of work shouldn’t have been a big enough sample set to override what he did in 19.

In 2019, while they were by no means great, Dunlop, Simeone and Wang all had their moments as our 3, 4 and 5 starters. Their combined inability to give us absolutely anything this year is killing us. If we could count on these guys to go twice through the order at a 4.5 to 5 ERA clip, the season would be totally different.

Before this season got going, I really thought in the past that Joe Simeone would turn into a very useful part of the pitching staff. He seemed to be making some slow progress last season in his starting role, and two summers ago he had a terrific stint as a starter in collegiate summer ball in the NECBL. Coach Penders had some interesting things to say about Simeone during a postgame interview prior to Simeone’s start at Saint Joseph’s. It is an interview that is worth listening to if you haven’t done so, I believe it was after the Friday game. In it, Coach Penders was talking about how Simeone has brilliant stuff in between starts when he is doing his work in the bullpen, but somehow it just doesn’t carry over to games. Penders indicated that Simeone needed to relax more during actual games and not get so worked up. I thought it was very interesting stuff.

I have my own theory on Jimmy Wang. The guy simply needs a lot more game pitching experience than he has gotten so far. This is a guy who did not pitch much in high school (he did not pitch his senior year), had a very brief fall ball fling with UConn baseball the following year, before he totally committed to joining UConn baseball the year after that. I don’t believe Wang has ever pitched in any of the summer ball leagues. To me this is a guy who is really still learning the craft. Problem is, with his current effectiveness, it isn’t as if the coaching staff can commit to using him more and give him the game experience he needs.

I can’t add much more on Colby Dunlop, but of the these three he has had the widest fluctuation in effectiveness. He has had some absolutely terrific outings, but you just never know when they might pop up. In the preseason pitching interview, Coach Mac said that they were moving Dunlop to the bullpen because they thought that with his stuff he would be effective in shorter stints.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Before this season got going, I really thought in the past that Joe Simeone would turn into a very useful part of the pitching staff. He seemed to be making some slow progress last season in his starting role, and two summers ago he had a terrific stint as a starter in collegiate summer ball in the NECBL. Coach Penders had some interesting things to say about Simeone during a postgame interview prior to Simeone’s start at Saint Joseph’s. It is an interview that is worth listening to if you haven’t done so, I believe it was after the Friday game. In it, Coach Penders was talking about how Simeone has brilliant stuff in between starts when he is doing his work in the bullpen, but somehow it just doesn’t carry over to games. Penders indicated that Simeone needed to relax more during actual games and not get so worked up. I thought it was very interesting stuff.

I have my own theory on Jimmy Wang. The guy simply needs a lot more game pitching experience than he has gotten so far. This is a guy who did not pitch much in high school (he did not pitch his senior year), had a very brief fall ball fling with UConn baseball the following year, before he totally committed to joining UConn baseball the year after that. I don’t believe Wang has ever pitched in any of the summer ball leagues. To me this is a guy who is really still learning the craft. Problem is, with his current effectiveness, it isn’t as if the coaching staff can commit to using him more and give him the game experience he needs.

I can’t add much more on Colby Dunlop, but of the these three he has had the widest fluctuation in effectiveness. He has had some absolutely terrific outings, but you just never know when they might pop up. In the preseason pitching interview, Coach Mac said that they were moving Dunlop to the bullpen because they thought that with his stuff he would be effective in shorter stints.

Colby appears to be a decent to really good NCAA pitcher when the team needs him. I agree with your comments he is a 1 inning and done guy right now. Something changes when he comes out of the dugout as opposed to the bullpen.
I also agree about Wang - his stuff is better than his performance and he was starting 2 years ago. It appears he is just behind everyone else like he started later this year as opposed to on time with everyone else.

A max effort guy like Simeone can be great or lose it quickly - we have seen that every start. He isn't an opener but the wheels do come off too quickly and he can't slow himself down. A sports psychologist would help here because if this is happening with virtually no one watching, what will happen in a packed house or televised game?

 

[HuskyHawk]

We lost too many games during the interregional part of our season to settle for 2 out of 3 against northeastern opponents. We need better starting pitching if we're going to have any chance to get to the NCAAs without needing to win the conference tournament

To that point, I confess that my knowledge of Big East baseball is limited. Is there any team clearly better than us? Or does UConn have a legitimate chance to win the conference tournament?

 

[huskymedic]

To that point, I confess that my knowledge of Big East baseball is limited. Is there any team clearly better than us? Or does UConn have a legitimate chance to win the conference tournament?

UConn has been favored by most media who follow college baseball to win the Conference this year. They also were #1 in pre-season poll voted on by the coaches (Creighton was #2).

Where teams stand currently:

https://www.bigeast.com/standings.aspx?path=baseball

If they don’t clean up the little things that have been tripping them up it will be closer than it should be.

 

[businesslawyer]

To that point, I confess that my knowledge of Big East baseball is limited. Is there any team clearly better than us? Or does UConn have a legitimate chance to win the conference tournament?

We are probably the best team in the conference. But in baseball, even more than in basketball, pinning your hopes to a conference tournament sucks because the best team loses a higher percentage of baseball games.

 

[businesslawyer]

UConn has been favored by most media who follow college baseball to win the Conference this year. They also were #1 in pre-season poll voted on by the coaches (Creighton was #2).

Where teams stand currently:

https://www.bigeast.com/standings.aspx?path=baseball

If they don’t clean up the little things that have been tripping them up it will be closer than it should be.

Maybe, but at some point you have to ask yourself if this team, collectively, and not to be harsh, is a bunch of losers. It's barely statistically possible to be 9-12 when you're outhitting your opponents over that time .270 to .226. You can't be 9-12 when every hitter who comes up is likely to get almost one more hit every 20 at bats than your opponent. But this team finds all sorts of ways to lose. That goes from the creative ways, like allowing key steals of home and having the same runner thrown out at home 3 times in a game and a half, to the recurring ways, like being the worst team I've ever seen at moving runners from 2d to 3rd with no one out.

I'm sure we'll win more games when we lose now that we're only playing conference and regional opponents, but it's hard for me to believe that this is a team that will transform itself to play winning baseball such that we're a threat to get out of the first weekend of the NCAAs.

 

[UCCornelius]

Very harsh to refer to them as a "bunch of losers". They lost a lot of close games to very good teams. A break here or there and they could have been 10-4 instead of 4-10. All those games were away. They could easily have gone 2-2 or 3-1 against Texas Tech the #7 team in the country at their park. Yes they need to get their starting rotation straightened out, but to give up on them this early is disgraceful and insulting. If they make the NCAA's as a 3 or 4 seed, I'm not sure many coaches are going to be happy to see them in the first round.

 

[huskymedic]

Very harsh to refer to them as a "bunch of losers". They lost a lot of close games to very good teams. A break here or there and they could have been 10-4 instead of 4-10. All those games were away. They could easily have gone 2-2 or 3-1 against Texas Tech the #7 team in the country at their park.

I just read a D1 Baseball blurb about Texas Tech:

“Texas Tech has been on quite a tear over the past month. The Red Raiders have won 19 of their last 20 games, and their surge continued over the weekend at home against South Florida. Tech outscored South Florida 31-10 in the three games, and lefthanded pitcher Patrick Monteverde was terrific again, striking out nine with no walks in seven shutout innings.”

They are up to #4 in both D1Baseball & Baseball America Top 25 polls.

 

[Tmill15]

They’re just kids, things happens, sometimes the bounces don’t go our way but they r still a super talented him, I’m not worried. Still a lot of season left

 

[businesslawyer]

Very harsh to refer to them as a "bunch of losers". They lost a lot of close games to very good teams. A break here or there and they could have been 10-4 instead of 4-10. All those games were away. They could easily have gone 2-2 or 3-1 against Texas Tech the #7 team in the country at their park. Yes they need to get their starting rotation straightened out, but to give up on them this early is disgraceful and insulting. If they make the NCAA's as a 3 or 4 seed, I'm not sure many coaches are going to be happy to see them in the first round.

The language is harsh but I don't know a better way to say it. Look, in any sport, sometimes the team is greater than the sum of its parts and sometimes the team is worse than the sum of its parts. When the team is worse than the sum of its parts, use whatever language you want but it's disappointing and it reflects on whether team is made up of players who know how to make winning plays or players who don't. When you're out hitting your opponents over 20 games by as much as we are, and you're struggling to get up to .500, it does reflect on folks. Not on whether they're great young men, but whether they know how to use their talent to win athletic contests.

 

[businesslawyer]

I just read a D1 Baseball blurb about Texas Tech:

“Texas Tech has been on quite a tear over the past month. The Red Raiders have won 19 of their last 20 games, and their surge continued over the weekend at home against South Florida. Tech outscored South Florida 31-10 in the three games, and lefthanded pitcher Patrick Monteverde was terrific again, striking out nine with no walks in seven shutout innings.”

They are up to #4 in both D1Baseball & Baseball America Top 25 polls.

But that's the point, isn't it. If TTU clubbed us by 21 runs over 3 games, you don't learn about whether your team can or can't gut out a win. All you learn is that the other team is way better than you. When you lose games because you can't handle a steal of home, or make a proper slide with the game on the line, or moving a runner to third with no one out, what you're learning isn't that you don't have the talent to win. It's that you do have the talent to win but aren't getting it done.

But I'll leave it be. Someone forgot to send me the rules that the baseball team wasn't to be subject to the same kind of analysis and expectations that the football and basketball teams are. And that if you are harshly criticizing a team, that means you're "giving up on them." My bad.

 

[JeannoCT]

When was it acceptable to call student-athletes "losers" on the football and basketball teams?? It's not acceptable at all and it was "your bad."

 

[businesslawyer]

When was it acceptable to call student-athletes "losers" on the football and basketball teams?? It's not acceptable at all and it was "your bad."

I named no player. I called no individual a name. My post would not have been out of place at all on other boards. The team is playing below its talent level. When the basketball or football teams play below their levels (not that the football team can any more), the players and the teams get destroyed in the Boneyard. Sorry if you missed that all, but it's there. So do I feel a need to give a non-facetious apology? No. This team has the talent to have a much better record than they have to date. If your view is that we're all great but yet we keep losomh but there's nothing wrong with that -- well, I don't agree.

 

[dbmill]

The UConn baseball team to date has played the 10th strongest schedule, according to the Warren Nolan website.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I named no player. I called no individual a name. My post would not have been out of place at all on other boards. The team is playing below its talent level. When the basketball or football teams play below their levels (not that the football team can any more), the players and the teams get destroyed in the Boneyard. Sorry if you missed that all, but it's there. So do I feel a need to give a non-factious apology? No. This team has the talent to have a much better record than they have to date. If your view is that we're all great but yet we keep lose but there's nothing wrong with that -- well, I don't agree.

Your point on lack of execution is correct. To me, it isn't that simple. Some guys just haven't performed as in the past- Wang, Dunlop, Chris Winkel. Some guys haven't been consistent- Reggie, Kyler. I look at the early season as a time to work out the wrinkles and then get start to smooth them out over the conference season and have them worked out by tournament time. There is time for this team and I still think it is more than capable of putting together a run. I would rather see that run during the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament than in March or April.

If you ask me, Texas Tech won't want to see us again in the NCAA tournament.

 

[businesslawyer]

The UConn baseball team to date has played the 10th strongest schedule, according to the Warren Nolan website.

And has done so outhitting their opponents by 44 points in team batting average.

 

[huskymedic]

UConn’s Stock, Villanova’s Kingsbury Earn #BIGEASTbase Weekly Honors

Villanova junior righty Jimmy Kingsbury and UConn utility player Erik Stock earn BIG EAST baseball honors for the week of March 29.

www.bigeast.com

-> Player of the Week - Erik Stock, UConn, Jr., Utility (Virginia Beach, Va.)

Connecticut junior Erik Stock batted .471 (8-for-17) in a 3-1 week for the Huskies which included a 2-1 series victory over Rhode Island and a midweek win over Central Connecticut State. Stock led the league with eight hits last week and was in the top four in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs, runs batted in and doubles. He was second RBI with five. Stock played the outfield in all four games for UConn last week and did not commit an error but made 10 putouts. He had a multi-hit game in all four, crossing the plate a total of four times with a double and a triple. He also stole three bases. His slugging for the week was .706, his on-base percentage was .500. <-

-> Honor Roll: Patrick Gallagher, UConn, Fr., RHP
Second-year freshman starter Gallagher had a career outing in a 2-0 win for UConn over Central Connecticut. Gallagher pitched five scoreless innings with a career-high nine strikeouts. He allowed just one walk and three hits. <-