UConn Baseball Weekly: Portal time and summer ball
Some big names are due to leave Storrs. Plus, a look at Huskies in the summer leagues.
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Offseason underway
The transfer portal has been open for three days. Since the season ended on May 21, a host of Huskies have put their names up on the transfer market.
Some have only reportedly entered the transfer portal, though no official announcements of their anticipated departures or new destinations have been confirmed.
At least 10 are known or have been speculated thus far, after 14 portal exits last year:
C Gabriel Tirado (announced May 23)
UTIL Anthony Belisario (announced May 25)
INF Maddix Dalena (announced May 29)
INF Peyton Jemison
INF Tyler Minick
LHP Cayden Suchy
RHP Sean Finn (announced May 29)
RHP Ryan Tatar (announced June 1)
RHP Matt McDowell
RHP Kyle Peters
Starting with the infield: a few departures are understandable — like that of Tirado. Splitting time at catcher and DH, the rising junior played in a little more than half of UConn’s games. Fellow underclassmen Chris Cancel and Cam Righi hit more consistently, leading to a split time share behind the plate. Penders is bringing in another left-handed hitting catcher in Alex Cantwell, meaning Tirado would have to compete just for one-half of a platoon job. Among 14 qualified hitters on last year’s roster, Tirado’s .216 average ranked last.
Dalena and Minick are two extraordinary bats to lose. They hold down corner infield positions defensively and supply tremendous power on offense.
Jackson Marshall’s emergence pushed Dalena and Minick off first base, but with the two plus Jemison outgoing, third base becomes a bit of an unknown. Bryce Detwiler, who made a few starts at the hot corner early in the season, could be in contention. Perhaps one of the two infielders in UConn’s 10-player freshman class could snag the spot, the way Rob Rispoli claimed shortstop on Opening Day in 2025.
With Rispoli looking poised to continue his residency at shortstop, it leaves second base the next concern. A battle for the starting spot would be sure to feature Evan Menzel, Detwiler, and more, but not an out-of-position Dalena or Minnick. It is in Jim Penders’ best interest to improve defensively rather than shoehorn players into unnatural alignments. The Huskies committed 64 errors last year, the third-highest mark in the conference.
It was just a few months ago when Penders penciled Minick into the Opening Day roster in center field, an attempt to build his best offensive lineup at the cost of defense, though that experiment did not last. Minick mostly DH’d when he was on the field, appearing in just 30 games due to injury. He played just one game after April 18, a May 8 contest vs. Seton Hall.
Dalena, a redshirt junior, still brims with potential despite losing 2025 to injury and a down 2026 campaign. He was named the Preseason Player of the Year prior to 2025 and will have one season of eligibility remaining.
Minick, a 2025 All-Big East First Team player, remains a 20-homer, 1.000+ OPS threat when healthy. A ceiling that high will lure plenty of suitors. He’ll be a big fish to catch, and one motivated to improve his future pro draft stock.
Belisario, a Second Team All-Big East selection in just 26 starts, looks ready to parlay his recognition into a full-time role elsewhere. The utilityman needed some time to get his season off the ground — hitting under .100 nearly through the second week of April — but rebounded to finish at .283 after going .435 in Big East play, leading all hitters in the conference.
Jemison falls into the same category. He stuck his Division I landing in a part-time role, received all-conference honors, and now departs for a permanent lineup spot elsewhere. Both are comprehensible exits.
On to the elephant in the room. Suchy is simply an irreplaceable loss. His intent to transfer is also listed on Baseball America’s tracker of notable portal entries. A left-handed starter commanding a 2.72 ERA, over 100 strikeouts, and nearly 90 innings was sure to attract the sport’s upper echelon. He pitched like a Power 4 arm all year and likely now has his pick of the litter to make it a reality.
With two years of eligibility remaining, Big 12 or ACC feels like his floor, and the Big Ten or SEC is definitely within the realm of possibility. The bidding for Suchy’s services will surely feature some serious dollars.
After a 2025 in which Finn proved one of the Huskies’ most reliable arms, he mostly watched from the dugout in 2026, logging eight innings with an ERA north of 12. His recruiting film will feature mostly highlights from a season prior, when he made 21 appearances, threw over 30 innings, and boasted a 3.00 ERA, the third lowest on the team.
Tatar and McDowell enter the portal with a full collegiate lifespan of eligibility, with the former throwing just one inning in 2026 as a freshman and the latter none at all. Peters logged 6 1/3 innings with an ERA over 12.
Suchy, Minick, McDowell, Peters and Jemison are all listed in D1 Baseball’s transfer portal tracker.
Around the summer ball circuit
Can’t wait until next spring to tune into Husky baseball? UConn’s guys will be active in summer league action this year. You can check out these leagues to see the Huskies on the diamond.
New England Collegiate Baseball League
The biggest contingent of Huskies is expected to play in the NECBL, with 11 UConn players currently listed on rosters. Five are staying in-state, rostered across two of the NECBL’s three Connecticut-based organizations.
Both swingman Tristan Aasland and Detwiler will play for the Mystic Schooners. Aasland, a former transfer from Bellevue CC (WA) entering his senior season, and Detwiler, a rising sophomore, both face a similar situation entering the summer.
Suchy’s departure will leave his weekend rotation spot in need of filling in 2027. Aasland was used four times in 2026, three times as a midweek starter. The righty pitched best when he put five shutout innings on display against New Haven on March 4. He did not appear in a game after March 18.
Detwiler saw some starts at the hot corner before fading into the background behind Dalena and Jemison in April. With both due to leave, his path into the starting lineup is clear. A strong summer would surely help his cause.
In Bristol, Menzel is one of two Huskies set to play for the Blues. The sophomore ended the year with a .232 average, collecting just five knocks over his last 46 at-bats (.109). After a demotion during the season, he’s looking to re-establish himself this summer.
Reliever Frank Spirito IV, who tossed 9.1 innings to a 3.86 ERA this spring, will look to pick up more innings this spring in search of a late-inning role to replace the graduating Greg Shaw III, Austin Trumpour, and Paxton Meyers in 2027.
The Keene SwampBats feature the most exciting UConn contingent of any summer ball roster. In addition to starting right fielder Chris Polemeni and reliever Rob Gilchrist, the reigning Big East Player of the Year, Marshall, will head to New Hampshire to play for the reigning champions.
Marshall doesn’t have much of anything left to prove to the UConn coaching staff. This summer will serve as a personal opportunity to show pro scouts that he can maintain his power production with a wooden bat without sacrificing his elite contact-based approach.
Polemeni, like Menzel, started the season better than he finished. One of the team’s most reliable hitters through the first half of the season, Polemeni’s on-base numbers took a nose-dive after March. From April 1 to the end of the regular season, the redshirt junior’s batting average dropped 67 points.
The bright side was that five of Polemeni’s nine home runs on the season came over that span. Aside from improved routes in right field, finding a blend between contact and power this summer would bring Polemeni back to campus as a more complete player.
Gilchrist pitched just 11 innings this past spring after transferring to UConn as a former Pace standout, working to an 11.45 ERA. The biggest goal for the right-hander this summer will be accumulating more innings.
Further north, Husky fans can catch Cancel behind the plate for the Valley Blue Sox. Cancel took the bulk of the playing time at catcher down the stretch, finishing the regular season with 60 at-bats and a .233/.356/.367 slash line after — admirable performance for someone who had just two collegiate at-bats coming into the season. The Huskies are likely hoping Cancel can raise his offensive bar next season with Tirado set to move on and Righi able to shift around the diamond.
Nater Wachter, Charlie Hale, and Drew Smith will all suit up for the Sanford Mainers.
Having led the Big East in games played at 58, Wachter is another player who has a chance to show scouts that he can hit with wood. His bat-to-ball skills could use a tune-up, given he led the Huskies in strikeouts (67) by a convincing margin. A .300 average is within reach (.273 in 2026) if he can slim down his Ks.
Hale is the clearest candidate to make the jump from the bullpen to the weekend rotation. Splitting his time between being a weekday starter and a high-leverage bullpen arm, the right-hander maintained a 2.89 ERA across 62.1 innings of work in his first year with the Huskies. Don’t be surprised to see Hale working as a starter for much of the summer, unless the Huskies are looking to limit his innings after a bulky workload in 2026.
Smith threw just 6.2 innings this spring and is another guy in search of innings this summer.
Cape Cod Baseball League
Over in the CCBL, the most prestigious among the many summer collegiate leagues, the Chatham Anglers rival the SwampBats for the most exciting group of Huskies. The Anglers’ roster will feature both Sunday starter Oliver Pudvar and Rispoli. Both UConn standouts will have the opportunity to show scouts that they can hang with the best talent in the country.
Pudvar’s elite control and ability to get ahead in counts brought reliability to UConn’s rotation in 2026. He upped his innings from 58.1 to 74.1 from 2025 to 2026, making four more starts. And yet, his strikeout numbers dipped, recording 10 fewer this year than last. Rediscovering a putaway pitch, while maintaining his low walk rate, is on Pudvar’s to-do list as he gets set to see some elite hitters this summer.
Having now started 110 games over his first two seasons, Rispoli looks to maintain his consistent approach on the Cape. Friday starter Charlie West is also expected to pitch for the Brewster Whitecaps. West was the best pitcher in Big East play by far, carrying an ERA lower than any other arm (1.49 across seven starts). He also threw the second-most innings of any pitcher in conference play (48.1) and could face a similar situation to Hale.
Futures League
Two-way lefty Brady Ericson and incoming freshman Zach Duke will be teaming up on the Worcester Bravehearts. Ericson did not see any action as a freshman last season but could be in line for some innings, and or plate appearances, in 2027 with a strong summer. He is a fun watch on the bump — a 6-foot-6 southpaw delivering a right-over-the-top release, paired with a loopy curveball that can ride in the 60s. This clip, now two years old, still impresses.
Duke, a 19-year-old native of Ontario, Canada, will spend some time in the States before heading to Storrs in the fall. It will benefit him and his right arm to face some collegiate-level hitting prior to his first fall and winter camp. He’s thrown three innings thus far with a 3.00 ERA, while Ericson has yet to appear.
Another pitching duo, Joe Pitts and Sam Hutchinson, will pair together on the Norwich Sea Unicorns.
Pitts saw one outing during his redshirt sophomore season. The righty failed to record an out, surrendering two hits, two walks, and four earned runs against Arizona State.
Hutchinson, much like Finn, saw his playing time evaporate in 2026. Eighteen appearances in 2025 paved the way for just one in 2026, in which the lefty walked two and struck out one in a scoreless two-thirds of an inning vs. Boston College. In his only outing thus far for the Sea Unicorns, he allowed seven earned runs on five hits over two-thirds of an inning.
The New Britain Bees will roster Garret Garbinski and incoming freshman Amato Civitello. Garbinski saw the most action of any Husky stepping into this league in 2026, throwing 16 1/3 innings with a 7.16 ERA. The righty allowed more than two hits per appearance (29 hits allowed, 11 appearances) but kept walks at a minimum (five). Civitello, listed as a 5-foot-9, 155-pound shortstop, compares on paper to Rispoli. The 18-year-old can play all over the diamond but seems best suited up the middle.
MLB Draft League
No Husky will appear in this eight-team league this summer. Cooke was excellent here last summer, making 14 appearances, posting a 2.84 ERA over 19 innings. He awaits the draft, which starts July 11.
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