- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 457
- Reaction Score
- 3,408
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?
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?
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?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.
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.
Down 1-0 after a loss to UW he best be.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.
All of them. Penders specifically didn’t pitch them in the AAC Championship game so they’d be well restedWhat starters are available for the first 2 games other than Tim, that will have had enough recovery time from AAC Tourney?
Down 1-0 after a loss to UW he best be.
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.
Rhetorical. What if. Let’s blow these teams out.UW will have to face Feole so we will see about that.