Tough Break for Huskies’ Crawford
The Story: Reggie Crawford, UConn’s power-hitting two-way player with a 100 mph fastball, will miss his final college season in Storrs after he injured his pitching arm in the final fall scrimmage.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Crawford will have what is commonly referred to as Tommy John surgery in his left arm after a tear of the UCL was found in the elbow. The timeline for recovery is typically 12 to 18 months, meaning his time at UConn is virtually over.
HOW DOES THIS IMPACT CRAWFORD? Crawford is one of the hottest players in amateur baseball and was considered a top-10 pick in the MLB Draft. He was stellar as a pitcher in the Cape Cod League this summer with his fastball topping out at 101 mph. He also is a high-level power hitter at first base and in this era of Shohei Ohtani, he was a prospect as a pitcher and a position player. There was some talk, depending on how his season went, that he may have even been a candidate to be the No. 1 pick. Crawford likely won’t be the No. 1 pick and will slip, but it won’t be too far as teams will have patience with his rehab assignment. He won’t begin throwing until next fall at the earliest.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE TEAM? UConn was going to start Crawford on Sundays and have him play first base or be the DH when he was not pitching. Crawford probably could just DH this year with the arm injury, but coach Jim Penders doesn’t think that is an avenue he will encourage. There is too much at risk with Crawford’s signing bonus expected to be in the millions. What do the Huskies lose? A potential ace and their cleanup hitter. He batted .295 with 13 home runs last season.
WHAT DID PENDERS SAY? “He’s really been the buzz of the scouting community and Major League Baseball, and there is no reason he shouldn’t be one of the top guys taken still in the draft next year,” Penders said to the Hartford Courant.
Phommachanh won’t come to the rescue
The Story: The football team has a week off after Friday’s 44-13 loss to Middle Tennessee State, and don’t expect any major changes when the Huskies return after the bye week to play at Clemson, including a change at quarterback with Tyler Phommachanh‘s return.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn was drubbed and the combination of Friday night high school football and the ALCS game between the Red Sox and Astros buried this game in the minds of Connecticut fans. Thank goodness. The Huskies were terrible in most aspects of the game and watched the 10-10 tie ballon to 24-13 at the half. Steven Krajewski passed for 237 yards and a touchdown but also had two interceptions. The Huskies miss Phommachanh’s game-breaking ability as a runner and coach Lou Spanos said the freshman won’t play in two weeks against Clemson, which is where his older brother, Taisun, is the backup quarterback.
PLAYING OUT THE STRING: The Huskies need to heal and get through the next three games healthy, then reset the program once again. The Huskies should have clarity about the head-coaching position in early December and can regroup for the spring and the future. UConn is 1-8 and has Clemson, UCF and Houston to close out the season. The Huskies are averaging a paltry 16.6 points per game and giving up 36 points per game. The caliber of play isn’t going to improve down the stretch and now is the time to reorient to the future. Behind the scenes, the wheels are in motion. All that is left are three more games in what has become an interminably long season.
Morning Reads
• Ray Allen is great, and UConn’s favorite son and Hall of Famer was named to the NBA’s Top 75 list. (The UConn Blog)
• The women’s volleyball team swept DePaul to improve to 15-7 on the season (UConnHuskies.com)
• The UConn women’s soccer team fell to No. 17 Xavier 1-0 yesterday. (UConnHuskies.com)
• On the men’s side, UConn fell to Providence 2-1 on a late goal from the Friars. The Huskies are 6-5-2, 2-4-2 on the season. (UConnHuskies.com)
