What can we expect from Tim Cate? | The Boneyard

What can we expect from Tim Cate?

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Casual UConn baseball supporter who’s wondering what type of impact he can have in the Coastal Carolina regional? What are his limitations at this point?
 
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Casual UConn baseball supporter who’s wondering what type of impact he can have in the Coastal Carolina regional? What are his limitations at this point?

Until the Houston series and the AAC tourney, Cate had not pitched since late March. To be the type of starter he was before he was sidelined, he needs to build up his arm strength. During the AAC tourney, Cate had a relief stint where he went 3 innings. At this point, I would not expect him to be able to go 7 or 8 innings like he was able to before being sidelined. If he were used as a starter, I would think Cate would be able to go maybe 5 innings at this point. If he is used as a reliever, not sure how quickly he could bounce back and be available after being used in a game.
 
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He's got $1 million arm. He'll be protected. I heard Penders say about that in an interview.

Expect him in the middle relief, especially with guys on base or a close game late. Maybe he gets 40 pitches and at least a days rest.

But ..... Maybe they have been nursing him along and expect more in NCAA's.

At some point they will need him. Nice to have in your pocket.
 
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Until the Houston series and the AAC tourney, Cate had not pitched since late March. To be the type of starter he was before he was sidelined, he needs to build up his arm strength. During the AAC tourney, Cate had a relief stint where he went 3 innings. At this point, I would not expect him to be able to go 7 or 8 innings like he was able to before being sidelined. If he were used as a starter, I would think Cate would be able to go maybe 5 innings at this point. If he is used as a reliever, not sure how quickly he could bounce back and be available after being used in a game.
He pitched three innings last Thursday. Is it possible that he can get 4-5/50-60 innings/pitches simulated yesterday or today, and then be ready as the third starter on Sunday?
 
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This is the million dollar question. I definitely love our team and think we can have a deep run regardless of Cate. But any contribution he can give would increase our chances of winning.

Personally I don't want him starting games unless he's able to pitch deep into them. I'd rather use him as a bridge when Gardner or Kersten pitches, have Cate go 2-3 innings to get us to Wallace/Poulin like he did in the AAC tourney.
 
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Likely to be a one appearance regional for TC. Velocity in AAC tourney appearance as was crispness was down as compared to his prior three inning stint & he didn't feel as good physically which is not surprising when 1st coming back from his type of ailment. The plan is to use him for an inning or so in a critical situation & go from there. After that it will be up how TC feels, what the numbers show & an eye test from the coaching staff. On the hope side, if he feels good & looks good, he may give us more but he will be on a short leash. It's a fine line for Jim to balance & I'm sure he will error on the side of protecting TC. Go HUSKIES......the east coast ones!!!!!
 
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I was hoping for "A College Baseball World Series" answer. :(
 
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Obviously Penders understands how healthy he is, and I don't, but based just on his appearances since coming back I'd expect him to start game 2 or 3. Even if he only can get you 4 innings, we only have one starter who you can count on going further than that anyway.
 
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Obviously Penders understands how healthy he is, and I don't, but based just on his appearances since coming back I'd expect him to start game 2 or 3. Even if he only can get you 4 innings, we only have one starter who you can count on going further than that anyway.

The question that came up after his 2nd appearance is that while he was effective, he didn't come out of it feeling as good as after his 1st outing which is always going to be an issue until he has the opportunity to really rebuild his arm strength. While his appearances looked good to us, the staff & TC know how it actually was. There is a question as if he is really ready to go more than an inning or two at this time. The question that comes up is do you hold him for a critical juncture that could never come so you never get to use him or give him a start knowing it could be one inning, two innings, three innings & accepting that. It's going to come down to how TC feels & what to what level he can convince JP that he is ready to go. As a former head coach on the collegiate level, I can tell you that he will be watched very closely, even while warming up.
 
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The question that came up after his 2nd appearance is that while he was effective, he didn't come out of it feeling as good as after his 1st outing which is always going to be an issue until he has the opportunity to really rebuild his arm strength. While his appearances looked good to us, the staff & TC know how it actually was. There is a question as if he is really ready to go more than an inning or two at this time. The question that comes up is do you hold him for a critical juncture that could never come so you never get to use him or give him a start knowing it could be one inning, two innings, three innings & accepting that. It's going to come down to how TC feels & what to what level he can convince JP that he is ready to go. As a former head coach on the collegiate level, I can tell you that he will be watched very closely, even while warming up.

You know more of the situation than I do. But I repeat -- if you expect that he can give you 4 quality innings -- as he did two weeks ago -- he's starting game 2 or 3.
 

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You know more of the situation than I do. But I repeat -- if you expect that he can give you 4 quality innings -- as he did two weeks ago -- he's starting game 2 or 3.
Down 1-0 after a loss to UW he best be.
 
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What starters are available for the first 2 games other than Tim, that will have had enough recovery time from AAC Tourney?
 
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What starters are available for the first 2 games other than Tim, that will have had enough recovery time from AAC Tourney?
All of them. Penders specifically didn’t pitch them in the AAC Championship game so they’d be well rested
 
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Hartford Courant article talks about Tim Cate being used in relief this weekend. We'll see how much.

NCAA Baseball: Hawks, Huskies And 10 Things To Know

>>Who’s Pitching?
Huskies will probably start lefty Mason Feole (9-1, 2.50 ERA) against Washington. Feole struck out 114 batters in 93 1/3 innings. UConn’s next two starters, Chase Gardner and Jeff Kersten, are JuCo transfers from California. Coach Jim Penders’ “secret weapon” is Tim Cate, UConn’s No.1 starter when the season began, who missed nearly two months with a forearm injury but is now available for multiple innings in relief. Righthander Jacob Wallace and lefthander P.J. Poulin close games for UConn.<<
 
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Hartford Courant article talks about Tim Cate being used in relief this weekend. We'll see how much.

NCAA Baseball: Hawks, Huskies And 10 Things To Know

>>Who’s Pitching?
Huskies will probably start lefty Mason Feole (9-1, 2.50 ERA) against Washington. Feole struck out 114 batters in 93 1/3 innings. UConn’s next two starters, Chase Gardner and Jeff Kersten, are JuCo transfers from California. Coach Jim Penders’ “secret weapon” is Tim Cate, UConn’s No.1 starter when the season began, who missed nearly two months with a forearm injury but is now available for multiple innings in relief. Righthander Jacob Wallace and lefthander P.J. Poulin close games for UConn.<<

So this is the disadvantage of being denied the #1 seed. If you played LIU, you could pitch Kersten on Friday and save Feole for Coastal. But you can't take the chance against the Pac XII runner up -- especially with our lack of pitching depth -- of getting thrown into the loser's bracket and having to win 5 games, instead of 3. So it's almost certainly Feole in game 1, where they not only need a win, but as many innings as humanly possible to save the bullpen.
 
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So this is the disadvantage of being denied the #1 seed. If you played LIU, you could pitch Kersten on Friday and save Feole for Coastal. But you can't take the chance against the Pac XII runner up -- especially with our lack of pitching depth -- of getting thrown into the loser's bracket and having to win 5 games, instead of 3. So it's almost certainly Feole in game 1, where they not only need a win, but as many innings as humanly possible to save the bullpen.

So if you lose throwing your two vs. Coastal the next day ( a likely scenerio) are you not playing 5 games anyway? Therefore, wouldnt your chances be better throwing your 2 vs. Washington and then your one vs. Coastal?

The object as you said is playing 3 games. Especially teams short on pitching depth like ours.
 
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One could argue that the injury to Tim Cate that is keeping him from starting looms larger in the post season than the regular season. If Cate were healthy, Cate and Feole would pack quite a 1-2 punch in a regional, and give UConn a better shot at staying in the winners bracket in those first two games. In the regular season, on a weekend you end up playing 3 games no matter what.
 

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