New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Former Husky standout Casparius moves up in Dodgers’ organization
Someday, Ben Casparius hopes to make his majorleague debut at Dodger Stadium. It would mark the culmination of years of hard work.
It would also be a whole lot better than his most recent visit to the Dodgers’ home ballpark.
Back on Jan. 4, Casparius, the Westport product and fifth-round selection by the Dodgers in the 2021 MLB Draft, flew out to Los Angeles to join about 30 other young players in the organization for about a week of hands-on developmental work.
Casparius walked into Dodger Stadium through the right field entrance and went to get tested for COVID-19. He sat in a lobby for about a half-hour before being told he had tested positive, and that he had to head straight back to his hotel room.
And that’s where he stayed for the next 10 days, unable to join his organizational teammates in workouts. Even his roommate, close friend and fellow Connecticut product Emmet Sheehan, had to go find a new room.
Safe to say things have gone a lot better for Casparius since then.
The former Staples High star who was among the nation’s leaders in strikeouts during his one season with UConn last year, began this season with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and was terrific. In nine outings (seven starts) for the Quakes, Casparius struck out 43 batters in 29.2 innings and posted a 2.73 ERA. Opponents hit a mere .146 against him.
His best memory was on May 20, when he held Fresno to one run over five innings, striking out eight in the Quakes’ lone win in six games against the Grizzlies.
“That was a really cool day,” Casparius recalled. “They were all over us (that week). It was a must-win for us. It felt good that I stepped up and got us that win.”
His following start may have been even better, nohitting Visalia over five innings, striking out seven in an eventual loss. That proved to be his final start for Rancho Cucamonga.
Two days later, Casparius was promoted to High-A Great Lakes and made his debut with the Loons on Thursday night.
“You look at it as any other day,” he said by phone, prior to his first start with Great Lakes. “It’s still the same reports, pretty much the same players. You’ve just got to execute and things go well. It’ll come with time. But it’s been really cool to see what’s been going on and how the numbers have matched up, all the data and analytics, over the past 3-4 months. Especially in-season.”
Casparius allowed two runs and four hits over three innings in his first start with the Loons. Still, his first full season as a professional has gone quite well so far.
“Everything’s good,” he said. “I love all the staff members. They make communication very important, a big aspect of the organization. The culture is great. It’s hard to not really enjoy it. They do a really good job with everything and making sure everybody’s doing what they need to do.”
Of course, the Dodgers organization has always been considered one of the best in baseball, and certainly has proven so in recent years with its onfield success, as well as its development of players.
“It’s really special,” Casparius added. “It was a perfect fit for me, because they know what they’re doing with development. There was a lot I needed to learn, and they’ve done a really good job so far.”
After being selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round last July, Casparius, the 2017 Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, went down to the club’s spring training complex in Arizona and built up his arm strength after not having pitched since UConn’s season had ended a month earlier. The 6-foot, 208pound righthander joined Rancho Cucamonga for the final couple of weeks of the season, making a couple of appearances out of the Quakes’ bullpen.
Casparius then pitched in the instructional league in Arizona, where he worked almost exclusively on shaping and designing his pitches during bullpen sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays. He finally went home on Oct. 22 for a few months before his ill-fated trip to Los Angeles in January.
When he was finally able to leave L.A., Casparius went straight to the spring training complex to make up for lost time. His firstever spring training experience belied the idea of spring training as a leisurely time for players.
“It was an absolute grind,” Casparius reported.
He’d be at the complex at 7:30 a.m. each day, and essentially have until about noon to get everything he needed done — weightlifting, throwing, conditioning, live batting practice.
“It was a really good test to see, ‘Am I equipped for this? I know this is probably going to be the hardest part of the year,’” Casparius said. “It definitely set me up for the season.”
Indeed, while he had a few hiccups early on at Rancho Cucamonga, he soon got into a groove.
“After the first couple of weeks, I started having a really good build-up for the week and a routine that I’d established with my pitching coach,” Casparius said. “And things started taking care of themselves on gameday. And it went really well.”
It certainly did. And now, Casparius is up another level in High-A in Midland, Michigan, on the road to making his next visit to Dodger Stadium a little more memorable.
I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE, MAN
Well-traveled former UConn standout John Andreoli is with yet another organization.
Andreoli was traded from the Phillies’ organization to the Minnesota Twins on Monday and has reported to Triple-A St. Paul.
Andreoli, 31, was drafted in the 17th round by the Cubs in 2011. He spent seven years in their organization, getting as high as Triple-A, before signing with the Mariners prior to the 2018 season. He made his big-league debut that season with Seattle before being designated for assignment and picked up by Baltimore, where he played 23 games for the Orioles.
That offseason, Andreoli was waived and claimed by four different teams and wound up playing in Triple-A for both the Orioles and Mariners. He spent the 2020 COVID season in the Red Sox’ organization, got released in August and spent 2021 in the Padres’ organization, playing seven games with San Diego.
He signed with the Phillies this off-season and was hitting .154 for Triple-A Lehigh Valley before being traded to the Twins.