Hawkeyes add to pitching staff

The Iowa Baseball team continues to utilize the transfer portal, as Butler P Connor Schultz announced today vita Twitter that he will join the Hawkeyes as a graduate transfer for the 2022 season.

Schultz is a native Iowan, graduating from Cedar Falls High School in 2017. Perfect Game rated him as the #3 right-hand pitching prospect and the #9 overall prospect in the state of Iowa.

Connor has spent four years at Butler University and has racked up 42 appearances for the Bulldogs. When I talked with Coach Heller just after the season, he said that the addition of a grad transfer starting pitcher would be something they would look for. They got that in Schultz, who was a weekend starter for Butler over the last three seasons.

His best season came in 2019, when he went 6-1 over 13 starts, while posting a stellar 2.29 ERA. Schultz struck out 79, while walking just 21 over 78.2 innings of work. He was selected to the Big East All-Conference First Team and was ranked third in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio. His best start came against Valparaiso, when he went 8 innings, allowing just two hits and no runs, while striking out seven.

This past season for the Bulldogs, Schultz was 2-5, with a 6.22 ERA in nine starts. He struck out 53 over 46.1 innings of work and the walks were low at 11, but he was hit more often than in 2019. His best start of the season came against Evansville when he threw 6 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits, while striking out ten and walking zero.

Schultz will likely come in and be the most experienced starter on the roster, as Cam Baumann has started 26 games to lead the current roster. Baumann can still sign a free agent contract with an MLB organization.

The Hawkeye coaching staff is still awaiting the potential MLB signings for Fullard, Baumann, Probst, Dreyer and Nedved, but the addition of so many recent transfers would suggest that the majority of them will be moving on from Iowa.