Men Wins needed for a 2023 NCAA At - Large bid

[dbmill]

The Portal changes the calculus on roster building. This staff has shown over the years that they can identify, attract and keep quality pitchers - my sense is this year just hasn’t panned out as Penders/McDonald had in mind.

The other thing is that UConn did not have any weekend starters from last season coming back to the team this season. Usually you have 1 or 2 returning starters to build off of.

And Ian Cooke, who everyone figured would be a fine starter didn't pan out as everyone hoped. I've mentioned this before, but Cooke did have injuries last year, first around the time of the Stanford tournament game, and he missed a good chunk of fall ball ball as well recovering from an injury. He also did not play in summer ball last year, perhaps also due to injury. While Cooke may have recovered from his injury(s) physically, it would seem that the quality of his game to game performance has not yet recovered, I have have to believe this is a possibility.

I'm inclined to think UConn's recruiting is improving due to the success in the program over the last decade plus, and also due to the new baseball facilities. Hopefully in the coming seasons this will help the pitching.

Overall, this is a very unusual season for UConn baseball. The starting pitching is usually one of the main strengths of the team, and this year it probably the most inconsistent I have seen it since I started really following UConn baseball. Hopefully this season will just prove to be an anomaly in that regard. Still, it is nice that while the starting pitching has not performed to its usual standards, UConn seems to be considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

 

[huskymedic]

The Portal changes the calculus on roster building. This staff has shown over the years that they can identify, attract and keep quality pitchers - my sense is this year just hasn’t panned out as Penders/McDonald had in mind.

Im thinking it's a lot harder to succeed moving up from Div.3 as a pitcher than it is for a hitter. Just a guess.

I know McDonald is highly respected as a pitching coach at this level and he has done a tremendous job. The thing is there is only so much that a coach can do. We need to find a way to increase the number of quality arms on the roster or the hump we're trying to get over (spot in the CWS) will always be a mountain.

That’s kinda my point… Penders/McDonald have street cred when it comes to pitching talent (both high school & transfers) - did they just swing and miss this year on talent, did the kids not develop as projected, did staff makeup/roles/supporting staff fall short or did injuries take the wind out of the sales - combo of all of the above?

 

[businesslawyer]

Based on what they accomplished as true freshman last year, there was no reason to think Cooke and Sully weren’t both going to be solid weekend starters. And then you needed one other arm to grab the brass ring. Stuff happens. Frankly, given what we lost from the lineup from last your and our inability to get quality starts very often, finishing the regular season in the top 25 RPI and winning the Big East regular season was an amazing accomplishment that the team should be proud of. Whether it can be overcome from here on it is another matter, but we know from the season that hitters won’t quit grinding for 27 outs.

 

[MarkyMark]

That’s kinda my point… Penders/McDonald have street cred when it comes to pitching talent (both high school & transfers) - did they just swing and miss this year on talent, did the kids not develop as projected, did staff makeup/roles/supporting staff fall short or did injuries take the wind out of the sales - combo of all of the above?

Pitching I lump into 2 buckets: 1) Transfer and 2) Legacy.

Transfers: They brought in Sears, SQuigs, MQuigs, Fogell, and Nowak. Out of the five they hit on two (SQuigs/Fogell) and missed on the other three. I don't blame them at all for taking a shot on Sears. Was worth the risk. I liked what they were trying to do here. If you hit on three you're doing well. So they almost got there if Sears delivered. But he didn't.

Legacy: Cookie and Sullivan have not worked out. That's 50% of your opening day 4-man rotation (see Ohio St) and it's huge. Kirby has not stepped forward this year. Afthim has been good but hasn't thrown a lot. Willis has been Willis, ditto for Coe so that's good. Expected more from Ellisen but I think there's a future for him if they work on movement. So my point is the legacy side has hurt them as much if not more than the transfer side. Legacy side only Willis and Coe held their ground or made a step forward in 2023 with Afthim and Ellisen being potential future bright spots.

Given what they lost last year (entire weekend rotation and two were drafted) I like the approach they took in building the starting staff. It was a mixture of Cookie and Sullivan (who showed signs in 2022) taking a step forward along with transfers primarily Sears and SQuigs. We all knew it had risk as far back as Fall ball and it just didn't work out. It happens. In hindsight easy to criticize the approach. Hopefully, there are lessons learned that they can take and improve the staff going forward.

 

[HookC22]

Based on what they accomplished as true freshman last year, there was no reason to think Cooke and Sully weren’t both going to be solid weekend starters. And then you needed one other arm to grab the brass ring. Stuff happens. Frankly, given what we lost from the lineup from last your and our inability to get quality starts very often, finishing the regular season in the top 25 RPI and winning the Big East regular season was an amazing accomplishment that the team should be proud of. Whether it can be overcome from here on it is another matter, but we know from the season that hitters won’t quit grinding for 27 outs.

Well put. If this is a "bad year" for us, there is still a lot to be proud of.

 

[dbmill]

Well put. If this is a "bad year" for us, there is till a lot to be proud of.

Anytime you make the NCAA Tournament and finish first in the regular season in your conference, it is not a bad year. You may have weaknesses, but you are still doing other things right. Must also be doing good stuff if for a good chunk of the season your team is under consideration to host an NCAA Tournament regional.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm not knocking what has been accomplished. all things considered we've done very well going back more than a decade and a half. The thing is, the CWS is an obvious goal and Penders has stated this often.

We had very bad luck due to the draw in 2011, I still believe the entire difference in the series against SC was their experience (and I believe with any other matchup in the super regionals we make the CWS). Last year (yes, not having Crawford hurt badly) and a few years ago we fielded teams that are normally very good by our expectations yet we were eliminated when we ran out of arms whole being in a good position to advance.

In baseball, arms are more important than pretty much anything. What we need to do is figure out how to get enough of them on our roster where we won't run out of then as we have in a couple of critical situations over the past few years.

I remember about 3 1/2 decades ago Don James, at the time a very successful head football coach at the University of Washington stating that if they were ever going to win a championship he needed to change the way he built his teams and start adding a lot of speed on defense. A few years after he said this his team won the title.

With the success we've had, we may need to slightly alter our roster building approach to ensure that we have enough arms. I don't expect it to be easy but there has to be a way to accomplish this.

 

[MarkyMark]

I'm not knocking what has been accomplished. all things considered we've done very well going back more than a decade and a half. The thing is, the CWS is an obvious goal and Penders has stated this often.

In your opinion, how are they building the roster at present (specifically pitching)? What's the approach?

 

[hardcorehusky]

The approach of D3 kids is to ensure a kid gets on campus as opposed to the HS kid who becomes a highly rated recruit. Kellington a few years ago was a nasty surprise for UConn because they counted on him and then the Pirates picked him higher than he was slotted. The MLB draft has caused schools like UConn to work the portal in order to make up for the unknown high profile HS kids that could have come here but get drafted above slot.

When your goal is Omaha, there is a fine line between the really good HS kids and who comes out. I have heard the SEC and ACC schools have programs beyond baseball scholarships that allows them to attract enough talent. Guess it was NIL before NIL.

 

[MarkyMark]

The approach of D3 kids is to ensure a kid gets on campus as opposed to the HS kid who becomes a highly rated recruit. Kellington a few years ago was a nasty surprise for UConn because they counted on him and then the Pirates picked him higher than he was slotted. The MLB draft has caused schools like UConn to work the portal in order to make up for the unknown high profile HS kids that could have come here but get drafted above slot.

When your goal is Omaha, there is a fine line between the really good HS kids and who comes out. I have heard the SEC and ACC schools have programs beyond baseball scholarships that allows them to attract enough talent. Guess it was NIL before NIL.

Take Florida (the most talented team I've seen this year) for example. They have guys coming out of the bullpen in the 5th/6th inning throwing 94-95 with movement. Uconn's program is not (yet) at a point where they are getting those guys and can bank on that type of depth. At present won't happen. Uconn has to project more on ceilings (which means taking more risk) than say, Florida, Tennessee (had an off year but pitching is great and the defense has stunk), etc. Yes, you're going to get guys plucked by the draft that happens to most good programs. When you don't get the blue chippers coming out you have to improvise and get creative. And Uconn has done a good job. Hence my question to FlfdCntyFan.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

When you don't get the blue chippers coming out you have to improvise and get creative. And Uconn has done a good job. Hence my question to FlfdCntyFan.

I don't expect us to bring in the talent that any of the SEC schools do (off the top of my head I can't think of one that doesn't qualify at least as a solid program). We have gotten creative and improvised but if (as the coaching staff has often said) the goal is Omaha, more creativity is necessary.

If you want me to spitball ideas start a new thread as this had already been derailed. If you believe that outside of some miracle, where we hit the jackpot on a number of improvised additions to the roster, we really can't expect anything more than what we've seen over the past decade in terms of pitching, you may well be correct, but then we shouldn't view Omaha as a goal but rather a dream.

 

[MarkyMark]

I don't expect us to bring in the talent that any of the SEC schools do (off the top of my head I can't think of one that doesn't qualify at least as a solid program). We have gotten creative and improvised but if (as the coaching staff has often said) the goal is Omaha, more creativity is necessary.

No. I was asking you about their present approach since you're saying it should be tweaked. Which you didn't answer. However, you don't expect to bring in the talent of SEC schools...but want to go to Omaha by bringing in better players....got it.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Don't expect to bring in the talent of SEC schools...but want to go to Omaha by bringing in better players....got it.

This may be beyond the scope of your thought process but there is some middle ground between the two.

 

[MarkyMark]

This may be beyond the scope of your thought process but there is some middle ground between the two.

Answer my original question. Which you have yet to do. If you're going to criticize at least describe the current approach. Or if you can't no worries. What is their present approach to building the roster in regard to pitching?

 

[uconnbaseball]

We recruit pretty well y’all! Our recruiting class for 2024 is around 40 or so, comparable to the lower echlons of the SEC and upper echlons of most other power conferences.

 

[navery12]

Transfers: They brought in Sears, SQuigs, MQuigs, Fogell, and Nowak. Out of the five they hit on two (SQuigs/Fogell) and missed on the other three. I don't blame them at all for taking a shot on Sears. Was worth the risk. I liked what they were trying to do here. If you hit on three you're doing well. So they almost got there if Sears delivered. But he didn't.

 

[businesslawyer]

We have become the dominant program in the northeastern U.S. We are using that leverage to be bringing in better and better players over time. There is no reason to think we won’t continue talent improvement as more and more people realize that if they want to stay in the Northeast, we’re their best bet to be playing in the NCAAs every year.

That having been said, money for NILs wouldn’t hurt, but until as many people follow UConn baseball as follow SEC and ACC teams, that’s not realistic.

 

[huskymedic]

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[huskymedic]

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[huskymedic]

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[MarkyMark]

We have become the dominant program in the northeastern U.S. We are using that leverage to be bringing in better and better players over time. There is no reason to think we won’t continue talent improvement as more and more people realize that if they want to stay in the Northeast, we’re their best bet to be playing in the NCAAs every year.

That having been said, money for NILs wouldn’t hurt, but until as many people follow UConn baseball as follow SEC and ACC teams, that’s not realistic.

Exactly. I'm sure if you talked to Penders/Mac they'd say: "No we're not trying to get the best guys available. No we're not trying to be creative in getting guys". Haha. Of course they are. When you are where Uconn is at on the recruiting food chain you're going to miss on guys. You're going to experience variance. There's no way around it. The year hasn't been optimal on the mound but over the long haul nothing to be ashamed of. Just look at the list of arms drafted.

 

[Punkbo]

I’m very excited about CT baseball this weekend. UConn, Fairfield, Central and Sacred Heart are all still alive in their conference tournaments with the possibility of being in the NCAA Tournament. All of these teams have their work cut out for them to win these tournaments, but hopefully we’ll get multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament. Fingers crossed.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Answer my original question. Which you have yet to do. If you're going to criticize at least describe the current approach. Or if you can't no worries. What is their present approach to building the roster in regard to pitching?

Again, if you want to start a new thread on the topic I'll add to it. This one is getting derailed and I am not going to derail it further.

 

[MarkyMark]

Again, if you want to start a new thread on the topic I'll add to it. This one is getting derailed and I am not going to derail it further.

Yes. But if you're going to quote football coaches quote Saban, Belichick, or Lombardi. Not Don James. Haha

 

[huskymedic]

D1Baseball Field of 64 Projections: May 26 • D1Baseball

The latest NCAA postseason projections are out, and while the top eight and the hosts remain chalky, there's one new at-large team in the field.

d1baseball.com

Sure

WINSTON-SALEM

1 Wake Forest* (1)

4 Maine*

2 Connecticut*

3 UNC Wilmington*

BOSTON

1 Boston College (14)

4 Loyola Marymount*

2 South Carolina

3 Northeastern

D1Baseball Field of 64 Projections: May 27 • D1Baseball

The latest projections are out, and while Clemson continues to gain ground in the top eight, there's some shifting when it comes to bubble teams.

d1baseball.com

Where’s Waldo today?

BOSTON

1 Boston College (15)

4 Fairfield*

2 Connecticut*

3 Washington