Men UConn Baseball 2023

[huskymedic]

UConn enters the Baseball America Top 25 poll @ #24:

College Baseball Top 25 Rankings

Wake Forest remains atop the Baseball America Top 25 after another series win. The Demon Deacons won all 10 of their ACC series and didn’t post a losing weekend throughout the regular season.

www.baseballamerica.com

-> Notes:
Previous Ranking: NR
Last Week: 4-0
Overall: 16-5, 0-0 in Big East (0-0 vs. Top 25)
Weekend record: 4-0-2
Results
March 22: Massachusetts: W 7-3
March 24-26: Rutgers: W 6-5, W 9-8 (11), W 9-7
Upcoming
March 28: (13) Boston College
March 31-April 2: Maryland-Baltimore County

UConn has won 10 of its last 11 games as it enters the Top 25 for the first time this season. The Huskies this week got to play at home for the first time this season and celebrated by going 4-0, including a sweep of Rutgers, which came in on a hot streak. UConn still has one more week before it opens Big East play. <-

 

[huskymedic]

UConn enters the D1Baseball/NCAA Top 25 Rankings @ #20:

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

 

[huskymedic]

UConn @ #20 in the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll:

NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

Weekly results from the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Baseball coaches poll, conducted weekly using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools.

www.usatoday.com

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

 

[MarkyMark]

3 areas to monitor that I have noted are:

1) Starting pitching - was a ? coming into the season and it's played out that way. No starter is averaging 6 innings per start and Sears is at 4. By way of comparison LSU and Wake (the present gold standards) have 2 starters avg. at least 6+ innings per start. This puts continuous pressure on the bullpen when you can't get starters into/through the 6th inning AT ALL. For them to really compete later this year the starters are going to have to stretch out more. A lot to ask of a bullpen every single game.

2) Morton/Smitty are hitting sub .270 - Avg/OBS Morton is down (.150)/(.108) and Smitty is down (.062)/(.033) versus last year. With their speed that's a real drop in production. The additions (Freeberger, Studley, and Broadhurst) have performed nicely. So getting Morton/Smitty going gives the offense some upside which is a plus. Padilla also sub .270 but I don't think the upside is as great there. A lot to ask of Morton to duplicate last year but the dropoff (so far) is severe.

3) When Tammaro starts at 2B they really don't have a right-handed bat coming off the bench thus they are seeing a lot of lefty/lefty matchups in the latter half of games (See Dalena AB yesterday). When Daniels starts at 2B at least you can pinch-hit Tammaro from the right side. I don't know who on the roster can fill that role outside of Tammaro or if can it be developed. They don't have that Kevin Ferrer type (playing at Northwestern this year) who can come off the bench from the right side.

 

[Shortking98]

It would be nice if Chris Brown could grow back into at least that RH bench bat role however he does not seem to be on the radar at all currently.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

A tale of two midweek games, plus UConn major leaguers start their season

UConn baseball's contests against Hartford and Boston College could not have gone more differently

hookcbaseball.substack.com

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

-> Notes:
Previous ranking: No. 24
Last Week: 4-1
Overall: 20-6, 0-0 in Big East (0-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend Record: 5-0-2
Results
March 28: (13) Boston College: L 6-3
March 29: Hartford: W 17-7 (7)
March 31-April 2: Maryland-Baltimore County: W 9-4, W 11-2, W 11-0
Upcoming
April 4: @ Columbia
April 6-8: @ St. John’s

The Huskies lost a close game against Boston College to open the week, but responded nicely with four comfortable victories over Hartford and UMBC. UConn’s weekend rotation was particularly impressive, as it allowed four earned runs across three games played. The Huskies will take on Columbia, the Ivy League favorite, before opening Big East play at St. John’s. <-

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

Sitting @ #18:

NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

Weekly results from the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Baseball coaches poll, conducted weekly using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools.

www.usatoday.com

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Rdkid]

Hook C logo was everywhere in Houston this weekend. as the kids would say.

Fire as the old guy would omit

 

[huskymedic]

Midseason Catch-Up: Five players to keep an eye on

The Huskies are off to a fast start in 2023. Here are the guys leading the charge.

hookcbaseball.substack.com

 

[HuskyHawk]

Damn, UConn in the ACC would be amazing for baseball.

 

[huskymedic]

Big East standings heading to Xavier next weekend:

 

[MarkyMark]

Big East standings heading to Xavier next weekend:

View attachment 87135

Xavier has quietly won 10 in a row and that will be a big series next weekend. Pitching is still the issue for Uconn with starters not going deep enough into games. Tough to bridge from 5th to 9th inning in the college game as these middle relief guys aren't professionals they are college pitchers. The offense is coming together and working nicely. Defense (other than CF) has been very good also. Morton doesn't have those OF instincts which is something new to me this year. Dana went through that last year but he wasn't really an outfielder, Morton is. Obviously, Morton is better in LF/RF. The season is going to continue to ride on pitching. Need starters to work deeper.

 

[dbmill]

Xavier has quietly won 10 in a row and that will be a big series next weekend. Pitching is still the issue for Uconn with starters not going deep enough into games. Tough to bridge from 5th to 9th inning in the college game as these middle relief guys aren't professionals they are college pitchers. The offense is coming together and working nicely. Defense (other than CF) has been very good also. Morton doesn't have those OF instincts which is something new to me this year. Dana went through that last year but he wasn't really an outfielder, Morton is. Obviously, Morton is better in LF/RF. The season is going to continue to ride on pitching. Need starters to work deeper.

Also have to remember that St. John's currently might be the best offensive team in the Big East this season. Nothing wrong with taking 2 out of 3 on the road against one of the better teams in the conference.

Always liked Simmons better in CF, but I was not expecting Morton to have the some of the problems he is having out there. Morton also needs to pick up his offense as well. One thing that he is doing better is that he is taking more walks then he did last season.

 

[MarkyMark]

Also have to remember that St. John's currently might be the best offensive team in the Big East this season. Nothing wrong with taking 2 out of 3 on the road against one of the better teams in the conference.

Always liked Simmons better in CF, but I was not expecting Morton to have the some of the problems he is having out there. Morton also needs to pick up his offense as well. One thing that he is doing better is that he is taking more walks then he did last season.

My guess is now Simmons (when ready) will return to CF, Morton slides to LF and Smitty goes back to 2B. I don't think Daniels or Tammaro have done enough to unseat anyone (it would be most likely Morton if it occurs) although both filled in admirably during Simmons' absence. In any event, post-Simmons return they'll have better depth coming off the bench in pinch-hit roles and these guys have gotten their feet wet defensively (both have not committed an error this year so great job). Simmons' injury happened on March 3rd so should be getting close to returning over the next 1-2 weeks. Also, can always DH Daniels against tough righties and give Luke the day off. Morton and Smitty start hitting consistently and the offense starts to get scary good. Will be at the CCSU game tomorrow which will be a good weekday test. CCSU I believe got spanked big by LSU but that's the elite of the elite. CCSU is always a respectable program.

 

[huskymedic]

UConn @ 29:

 

[dbmill]

My guess is now Simmons (when ready) will return to CF, Morton slides to LF and Smitty goes back to 2B. I don't think Daniels or Tammaro have done enough to unseat anyone (it would be most likely Morton if it occurs) although both filled in admirably during Simmons' absence. In any event, post-Simmons return they'll have better depth coming off the bench in pinch-hit roles and these guys have gotten their feet wet defensively (both have not committed an error this year so great job). Simmons' injury happened on March 3rd so should be getting close to returning over the next 1-2 weeks. Also, can always DH Daniels against tough righties and give Luke the day off. Morton and Smitty start hitting consistently and the offense starts to get scary good. Will be at the CCSU game tomorrow which will be a good weekday test. CCSU I believe got spanked big by LSU but that's the elite of the elite. CCSU is always a respectable program.

Have to admit that last season certainly turned me into a fan of Simmons, I really like the contributions he has made to the team both on offense and defense in the past. I would agree that Simmons would likely return to CF when he is ready to play again. Problem is, no one (including Chris Jones) seems to know when Simmons might be ready to play again. He has also missed quite a bit of time, so who knows what his offense will be like when he does return. If it is similar to last season or how he was playing before he got hurt, he will certainly get playing time. However, if his bat slumps, who knows what will happen.

 

[huskymedic]

UConn drops a spot to #20:

D1Baseball Top 25: Traditional Powers Join Rankings • D1Baseball

Arizona State, USC and TCU moving into the latest D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings is the main headline as we release our latest rankings.

d1baseball.com

UConn drops 2 spots to #25 in Baseball America Poll

College Baseball Top 25 Rankings

Wake Forest remains atop the Baseball America Top 25 after another series win. The Demon Deacons won all 10 of their ACC series and didn’t post a losing weekend throughout the regular season.

www.baseballamerica.com

-> Previous ranking: No. 23
Last week: 2-2
Overall: 22-8, 2-1 in Big East (0-1 vs. Top 25)
Weekend record: 6-0-2
Results
April 4: @ Columbia: L 19-14
April 6-8: @ St. John’s: W 7-5, W 8-3, L 9-7
Upcoming
April 10: vs. Central Connecticut State (Hartford)
April 11: Bryant
April 14-16: @ Xavier

UConn’s week got off to a rough start with a 19-14 loss at Columbia, a game in which the Huskies blew a 12-run lead. They would bounce back nicely with a conference series win at St. John’s, although they couldn’t quite pull off the sweep as they dropped the finale. It’s a busy week as after a pair of midweeks, UConn hits the road for a series at Xavier, in a matchup of the two best teams in the Big East.<-