The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Summer Campers
Eighteen with state ties are getting ready for season
The 2020 Major League Baseball season has begun its restart, with players convened at their various home ballparks for what’s being called “Summer Camp.”
The games won’t begin until July 23. Until then, each team has announced 60-man player pools from which to draw during what amounts to Spring Training 2.0. That number will be whittled down to 30 by Opening Day, though teams can keep an additional ration of players from that 60-man pool as a sort of taxi squad for the remainder of the season, since there will be no minor leagues from which to bring up players due to injury, etc.
Most teams haven’t completed their entire 60-man player pool, and more moves can happen throughout the summer. As of Monday, there were 18 players with Connecticut ties currently in big-league camps.
Some are superstars that we all know: New Britain’s George Springer with Houston, former Barlow High star Charlie Morton in Tampa Bay, Hebron’s A.J. Pollock with the Dodgers.
Bethel’s Matt Barnes, the flame-throwing reliever for the Red Sox, and former UConn teammates Scott Oberg, a reliever with Colorado, and Nick Ahmed, a Gold-Glove shortstop for Arizona. Sean Newcomb, a firstround draft pick out of the University of Hartford in 2014, is in Atlanta’s bullpen.
But not all of the Nutmeg State’s current big-league representatives are established major-leaguers whose roster spots are secure. Nearly every team has populated its expanded rosters with a mix of veterans with big-league experience who could help out the team at some point in the event of injury, along with some highly-touted prospects who may not see any big-league action this season but will do well to continue training at the team’s facilities throughout the summer.
Norwich’s Jesse Hahn, who made a brief return to the majors last year after spending all of 2018 in the minors, is fighting for a job in Kansas City’s bullpen. Curt Casali of New
Canaan is looking to retain his job as backup catcher with Cincinnati.
As for younger players with more upside, Anthony Kay, a first-round pick out of UConn in 2016, could be in the mix for the starting rotation in Toronto. And East Windsor’s Aaron Civale, impressive in 10 starts with Cleveland last season, is looking to crack the rotation.
The above players are all on their respective teams’ 40-man rosters. But a batch of players with local ties are in “Summer Camp” as non-roster invitees, hoping to stick around at least as taxi-squad players who would be able to help out the club in a pinch.
Wallingford’s P.J. Higgins, who hit a solid .281
with 10 homers last season between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, is a non-roster invitee with the Cubs. Higgins is one of four catchers currently among the 39 players working out at Wrigley Field. Although he’s not on the Cubs’ 40-man roster, there’s a good chance he’ll stick around this summer, at least on the taxi squad, given the need for catchers. In fact, when teams go on the road, they make take three players who are not on the active roster — one of whom must be a catcher to serve as bullpen catcher.
That could present opportunities, as well, for former Yale star Ryan Lavarnway and former UConn standout Max McDowell, a pair of catchers who made the 60-player pool for Miami and the Yankees, respectively.
Another former UConn
standout, John Andreoli, is fighting for a spot in the Red Sox’ outfield. Norwich’s Dominic Leone looks to continue his well-traveled pro career out of Cleveland’s bullpen. Southington’s Sal Romano, who spent much of 2018 in Cincinnati’s starting rotation, is fighting for a bullpen job with the Reds.
Then there’s former UConn ace Tim Cate, Washington’s second-round draft pick in 2018. The lefty was very impressive last season between Class-A Hagerstown and High-A Potomac, going 11-9 with a 3.07 ERA in 26 starts. Cate isn’t going to battle Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg for a spot in the world-champion Nationals’ rotation. He almost certainly won’t pitch with the big-league club at all this season.
But he is one of the Nats’
top prospects, and he’ll get to continue to work out and develop under the watchful eye of the organization, rather than back at home in Manchester.
WAITING ON A CALL
Some other players with local ties could find themselves in their respective teams’ 60-player pool at some point this season. Monroe’s Thomas Milone had a terrific spring training with the Yankees and was recently told by GM Brian Cashman that the organization still held him in high regard. Milford’s Joe Zanghi could still be an option out of the Mets’ bullpen, and former Sacred Heart shortstop Zack Short is an option for the Cubs.