It has been a while since Brian O'Connor had to wait until late June to get started on his off-season to-do list.
Virginia's long-time baseball coach has recruiting to catch up on, a roster to manage, and program development to tend. The MLB Draft is weeks later than usual and the transfer portal brings a new wrinkle in the whole process. O'Connor calls it "a summer that has never existed in college baseball."
The UVa coaching staff is getting a late start on those off-season tasks because the Wahoos were still on the field a week ago as one of the last eight teams standing after having reached the College World Series for the first time since 2015. Prior to this postseason, the Cavaliers hadn't been beyond the regional round of the NCAA Tournament since that championship season and hadn't been part of the field of 64 since 2017.
O’Connor, who in 18 seasons has coached the Cavaliers to all five of the program's College World Series appearances, believe there’s nothing like a mid-June visit to Omaha to recharge the batteries heading into a busy off-season.
"Oh my gosh," he said said. “You get out there and you get fired up and you're like, 'All right, let's go. Let's keep pushing this and keep getting better, and what do we need to do to get back there.'"
But while the Wahoos and 15 other teams were extending their seasons into Super Regionals—and half of teams even deeper into June by getting to Omaha—the rest of the programs around the country had already turned their attention to recruiting. Travel ball teams start playing as early as the beginning of June.
Adding to the importance of this summer's evaluation period is the fact that it's been 18 months since college coaches were last allowed to see prospects in person. Baseball went into a quiet period in mid-October 2019 that spanned through last March. Just weeks after the start of that contact period, the entire sport shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting recruiting dead period didn't end until May 31.
That leaves the Cavaliers with some ground to make up on the recruiting trail this summer. O'Connor is confident that the selling point of another UVa run to the College World Series can make up the difference for the time lost with prospects.
"Guys are racing out to see as many players as we possibly can," he said.
O'Connor also has a program to manage. He'll spend time this summer evaluating every facet, from equipment needs to potential staff changes, renovations in the locker room to tweaks to the team's strength training program. Then there's the roster, a subject that is clouded by uncertainty at the outset of the offseason.
This summer presents a "collision course" of unique challenges when it comes to roster management. Most of the players still have an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There's the presence of the transfer portal, with the added piece that players won't be required to sit a season with a new team. And in conjunction with this summer's MLB All-Star Game, the three-day draft typically held in mid to late June won't start until July 11th.
After failing to get picked in last year's five-round MLB Draft, lefty Andrew Abbott had an All-American senior season and is a lock to be drafted next month. Like Abbott, a pair of UVa juniors, third baseman Zack Gelof and right-hander Mike Vasil, are also ranked among MLB.com 's top 150 draft prospects.
This year's draft will be expanded back to 20 rounds. That could open the door for more than a half-dozen additional UVa veterans to be selected. According to one MLB scout, right-handers Griff McGarry and Zach Messinger and infielder Nic Kent are likely to be drafted; infielder Devin Ortiz, lefty Brandon Neeck, and right-handers Kyle Whitten and Blake Bales are also possibilities. Kent, Messinger, and Neeck just finished their third college seasons; the others were seniors this year.
Because of the season lost to COVID, any of those seniors who aren't drafted will still have a season of eligibility left, though they could choose to move on from college baseball or play at another program. To accommodate that extra eligibility, rosters will still be expanded to 40 players in 2022 (there was no cap on roster sizes this spring) before returning to the standard 35 in 2023.
UVa could also lose a few recruits to the draft. Pennsylvania outfielder Benny Montgomery is projected as at worst a top-15 pick in most mock drafts while New Jersey right-hander Shane Panzini is also among MLB.com 's top 150 prospects.
Like with Virginia's draft-eligible veterans, losing those incoming recruits would create holes on the Wahoos' 2022 roster. Having to wait until mid-July to learn how the draft will impact next season "doesn't help college baseball," O'Connor argued.
"If the draft would have been a few weeks ago in early June, it would have been a lot easier on the players and the coaches, because at least that segment would have been figured out," he said. "But it's an absolute collision course with this."
The immediate eligibility for transfers at new schools provides Virginia with another way to plug those roster holes created by the MLB Draft and other departures. But O'Connor believes that relying on the transfer portal may not be as easy as it sounds.
"The challenge you have here at a high academic institution is they've got to be able to transfer," he explained. "There's plenty of guys out there, but they've got to be able to get into school."
O’Connor concedes that between the draft and other departures, his team "is gonna look a lot different" next spring. The Wahoos will have a nucleus of returning position players led by rising juniors Chris Newell in the outfield and Max Cotier in the infield, who have been everyday starters the past two seasons. Catcher-turned-outfielder Kyle Teel spent most of his freshman season in the middle of the UVa lineup, while first-year infielder Jake Gelof played every day down the stretch and into the postseason.
Rising third-year lefty Nate Savino developed into one of the weekend starters this spring and is spending the summer with the US Collegiate National Team. Right-hander Matt Wyatt staked his claim to a potential rotation spot with his scoreless performances through the NCAA Tournament. Neeck and Messinger are also candidates for the weekend rotation depending on what happens with the MLB Draft.
That leaves the Hoos with multiple potential vacancies at the back end of the bullpen, as well as on the left side of the infield and at either catcher or at least one outfield corner spot, depending on where Teel plays.
O'Connor recently wrapped up a few days of individual meetings with players from this year's team.
"Now they're jacked" about getting back to the CWS he said of the Cavaliers who will be back next season. He added that the trip to Omaha serves as a reminder to the UVa staff of what it takes to reach college baseball's biggest stage and to not only recruits but also the fanbase of what the program is capable of.
It also raises expectations for O'Connor, who signed a contract extension last week that keeps him at Virginia through the 2027 season, and the entire UVa program as the Hoos enter this unique off-season.
"Part of having success is then you've got to deal with it and manage what the expectations are after you have that high level of success," he said. "I don't ever shy away from that. I think it's phenomenal; I think it's great. You want those high expectations."
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