Four UConn baseball players who could make "the leap" in 2023
These returners could make a splash when they step on the field at Elliot Ballpark this season
Although UConn baseball utilized transfers a fair amount in Jim Penders’ tenure as head coach, the Huskies have been, at its core, a team built around developing local talent.
For every star transfer Michael Woodworth, Ben Huber or Austin Peterson, UConn baseball has had an Anthony Prato, a John Toppa and a Reggie Crawford, local talents who entered the program as freshmen and developed along the way.
The Huskies might have some future star transfers making an impact on the 2023 season, but four home-grown players are poised to make the leap and provide a big impact on the upcoming season.
Ian Cooke’s rise through the UConn pitching staff ranks has been precipitous. The sophomore from New Milford started the season as an impact reliever and quickly proved his worth to the coaching staff.
Cooke first showed flash as a starter during UConn’s spring break California trip, starting against USC and throwing 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball. He was utilized out of the bullpen in high-leverage situations for much of the year but stepped up as a starter as needed, throwing 13 shutout innings in starts against Yale and Boston College.
But spot starts on weekdays aren’t exactly comparable to the spot Cooke finds himself in heading into 2023.
Friday starters set the tone for the whole weekend, and a win in the first game means that you don’t have to beat a team twice in a row to get something from the weekend. Cooke has been placed in that role, at least for the first weekend, and now he has to back it up.
The good news is, he has the stuff to do it, according to the UConn staff.
“When you start your rotation off with Ian Cooke, you’re in a good spot,” pitching coach Josh MacDonald said preseason.
Cooke comes over the top with a fastball approaching 95 mph and a wipe-out slider and has immense control, striking out 54 and walking just 17 in 2022. If the UConn coaching staff is treating the four-game Ohio State series as a test run for the starting rotation going forward, Cooke has as good of a chance as any to seize that opportunity.
Jack Sullivan started the 2022 season in a similar position to Cooke, but flew under the radar, comparatively. Sullivan pitched less than half the number of innings as his freshman counterpart did, but made a similar impact on the Huskies’ success last season.
“He doesn’t seem like he’s affected by what’s going on around him. There’s a real calming feeling when he’s on the mound,” MacDonald said.
Sullivan allowed just two earned runs in 22 2/3 innings last season, striking out 26 and allowing just seven walks. But the UConn coaching staff is confident we haven’t seen the best out of the youngster, who never fully adjusted to life as a reliever, according to MacDonald. In a more familiar role, Sullivan could be poised to be a big contributor with the Huskies.
Where position players are concerned, there’s not a player that fits the breakout potential bill better than Korey Morton. It could be argued that his real breakout season was in 2022, when he led the team in average (.411), on-base percentage (.451) and slugging (.661). But while the big outfielder came on strong near the end of the year, he also missed 25 games with a hamstring injury.
Heading into 2023, Morton will have the chance to prove that his absurd numbers last season weren’t a case of small sample size with a full season as an undisputed starter in the outfield. A full season under his belt also could put some of the few flaws in his game under the microscope. 26 strikeouts in 136 plate appearances is not awful by any means, but Morton only walked seven times in 2023. That could rear its ugly head over the course of a full season, but if he can improve his pitch selection, that would go a long way to sustaining his ridiculous results at the plate, and cement his status as one of the stars of the team.
Other breakout candidates:
Matt Garbowski, catcher: UConn’s new starting catcher hit .294 in 51 at-bats last year, but his season was mired with injuries. He’ll get plenty of plate appearances this year to make his mark in the UConn lineup.
Bryan Padilla, shortstop: The Brooklyn native is quick and rangy at shortstop, and didn’t acquit himself too poorly at the plate either, hitting .282 in 2022. Padilla has been putting in the work in the offseason according to the coaching staff, and could return to the top of the lineup if he starts the season hot.
Brady Afthim, pitcher: Afthim is a flamethrower with a fastball in the mid-90s, and played the role of middle reliever for much of 2022. With Cooke and potentially Sullivan moving into the weekend rotation, Afthim will have an opportunity to show his worth as a weekday starter for the Huskies.