Virginia opens College World Series defense with plenty of new faces
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Version 0 of 1. CHARLOTTESVILLE — Pavin Smith remembers the moment he realized he had a lot to learn. It was the first day of his Virginia baseball career, and the first baseman was already getting an earful from Cavaliers Coach Brian O’Connor for some rookie misstep. A year later and a championship ring richer, Smith understands that’s just how things work in Charlottesville: Breaking in a horde of new players is nothing new. “We got a lot of new faces,” O’Connor said at the team’s media day on Tuesday, sounding like an echo of himself from a year ago. Last season, Virginia defeated Vanderbilt for its first College World Series title with 14 freshmen on its 29-player roster. This year, the Cavaliers have 15 true freshmen and a redshirt freshman on a 35-man roster. Practices and workouts have been intense, both to get the newbies up to speed and to remind the veterans that expectations haven’t changed. The Cavaliers were ranked No. 4 in the Baseball America preseason poll for the second straight year and were picked second, after Miami, in the Coastal Division in the ACC preseason coaches’ poll. That’s thanks in part to the returning talent — there are two Baseball America preseason all-Americans in junior pitcher Connor Jones and Smith, who last season had 83 hits to become the first freshman in 31 years to lead the team in that category . Jones, along with junior catcher Matt Thaiss, were two of 50 players nationwide named to the watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the country’s best amateur baseball player. But O’Connor acknowledged that turnover is just how college baseball works for a program that has four trips to the College World Series in the past seven seasons. Virginia lost five juniors to the MLB draft in June. The accelerated rotation of players through the program is becoming normal, with the new players expected to make a difference right away. “I think they might be a little bit more prepared,” O’Connor, who’s entering his 13th season, said of this year’s freshmen. “I don’t know if the caliber of recruit has changed for us at all. I just think the way high school baseball and travel baseball is now, they’re more exposed to things on more of a national level and more competitive level, which is good. I think that makes them more prepared to be successful right away. “Every year, programs that compete on our level are looking at those first-year players to make an immediate impact.” One of those freshmen is Daniel Lynch, a 6-foot-4 left-hander from Henrico, Va., who will take the mound this weekend when Virginia starts its season with three games in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Lynch, who will face Appalachian State on Saturday as the No. 2 starter, is the first freshman in the starting rotation since Brandon Waddell, a fifth-round draft pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates in June, was in it in 2013. “I feel like he’s a very mature player,” O’Connor said of Lynch. “He’s shown a lot of poise out there. . . . He’s a pretty special, talented guy that, I think, is really going to grow throughout his time for us and has a chance to really be one of the greats in our uniform that’s ever pitched for us.” Jones is in the No. 1 spot for Friday’s season opener against Kent State, and sophomore Tommy Doyle is slotted as the No. 3 for Sunday’s game against host Coastal Carolina. O’Connor hasn’t yet decided on a closer. The rotation doesn’t feature the veteran depth of last year, but Jones returns after pitching an ACC-high 1152 /3 innings last season and striking out 113 batters, the third most in the league. The 6-foot-3 right-hander went 7-3 with a 3.19 ERA in 18 starts and struck out at least seven batters in five of his last nine starts before shutting down for the summer, when he worked exclusively on strength and conditioning. “I worked out a lot with being more explosive in the bottom half, with my legs,” Jones said. “That was my main focus moving on from last year. . . . I think [it helps] velocity a little bit, but also just maintaining your strength throughout the game. You don’t wear down in the fifth or sixth inning. You’re able to sustain yourself a little longer.” Aside from Lynch, three positions could be manned by freshmen: O’Connor is considering Ryan Karstetter or Andy Weber for third base, and in the outfield two yet-to-be decided freshmen will flank sophomore center fielder Adam Haseley. With the exception of two fall exhibitions that were meant to bond the team as much as they were to test their talent, the Myrtle Beach tournament will be Virginia’s rookies’ first game experience. Thaiss said the entire team is looking forward to the first test. “As for importance, we’re finally starting games. It’s going to be great to not face our guys every day. It’s getting kind of old. But it’s going to be an important weekend for us. We’re going to see what we’re made of. “It’s not going to define the season, but it’ll be good to see what the rookies have.” |