With the 2021 season coming to an end, it is time to look forward to next season. I will take a look at who will depart from the current team, who will return and some possible lineups the Hawkeyes could run out next season. There is still the potential of transfers and a handful of players have the decision to return or move on from Iowa, so this roster is not set in stone.

I was able to speak with Coach Heller just after the season ended to talk about next season and get a sense of how the roster will look going into 2022.

“It’s going to be a huge turnover year…I feel really good about the guys we have coming back, and I feel really good about the recruits we have coming in,” Heller said.

PROJECTED ROSTER (subject to change)

Departing Seniors

The Hawkeyes will lose seven graduating seniors and potentially a few more graduating juniors, which is always tough to replace, no matter the team. You can’t understate the things they have done for the program since their arrival. Guys like Ben Norman and Grant Leonard spent five years with the program, while the others made valuable marks on Iowa Baseball during their shorter spans.

“They did what we asked them to do when they came in…Leave the program in better place…Leave the culture in a better place,” said Coach Heller on what kind of mark the departing players left on the program.

Catcher

Iowa is actually pretty set at C, even though they lose Austin Martin to graduation. Tyler Snep and Brett McCleary all have a decent amount of experience behind the plate. Although, Snep missed a good part of the season with a back injury, he was a pretty solid bat early in the season, batting .324 over 37 at bats. The other good thing about them, is that they both can DH, so you can have lineups that include McCleary and Snep. Gehrig Christensen is an incoming freshman out of Urbandale that Coach Heller is excited about saying, “We think he is going to be a really good catcher for us down the road and he will compete next year for innings.”

Infield

The only loss to the infield is 3B Matthew Sosa, however Izaya Fullard has a decision to make, as he graduated this year. His return would give Iowa a chance to put together a solid infield next season, but the upcoming MLB Draft and whether or not his name is called will likely determine his decision.

The right side of the infield in that situation would be Fullard at 2B, while Peyton Williams would stay at 1B. Not only, is that veteran fielding experience, but a huge boost in power to the batting lineup. Fullard and Williams combined for 11 home runs, but Fullard did not get hot until late in the year and Williams was hindered by injuries throughout the season.

The left side of the infield could be covered by Brendan Sher and Michael Seegers, who for the most part are both good fielders. The combined four infielders mentioned so far, combined for a .981 fielding percentage this season.

Dylan Nedved, who played both shortstop and second base, could make a move towards being a more pitching focused player said Coach Heller. He described Nedved’s potential role, as that of Trenton Wallace, where he could predominately pitch, but also fill in on the infield or outfield for a few starts.

JUCO transfer Sam Hojnar is another guy that could crack into the infield lineup. “He is a switch hitter that can play all three of the infield spots. Brings some experience to the mix,” said Coach Heller. Hojnar played at Southern Illinois as a freshman and Heartland CC last season.

The incoming freshman class also includes three infielders, Sam Petersen, Ben Wilmes and Mitch Wood.

The big thing that stands out to me on the infield, is the importance of getting Sher and Seegers going at the plate. Sher had his moments where he drove the ball into the gaps, but batted just .208 on the season. While Seegers hit better late in the year, he needs to build strength, so he can start hitting with more power.

Outfield

The Iowa outfield has the tough task of replacing veteran leaders in Ben Norman and Zeb Adreon and could possibly have to replace part-time starter Trenton Wallace.

Brayden Frazier is going to be the lone returner with good outfield experience, starting 19 games this season. After that, Coach Heller mentioned a lot of names that could crack the rotation. Alec Nigut and Keaton Anthony were hurt this season, so that kept them from getting into the rotation. However, in regards to Anthony, Heller said that he would have been a 50-70 at bat guy if he was healthy and that he will be a big part of the lineup next season. Sam Link is also another guy that saw limited time in the outfield and could see some more time next season.

JUCO transfer Kyle Huckstorf and incoming freshman Coy Sarsfield are names to keep an eye on, as they join the team. Huckstorf is a transfer out of Iowa Western and not only brings in experience, but “plus level defense” says Coach Heller. I personally am very excited to see where he fits in to the outfield rotation. Sarsfield sustained a bad leg injury recently playing for Linn-Mar, so that may set him back a bit depending on the severity, but he is a guy that could come in and make an impact right away if healthy.

Connor McCaffery should not be forgotten about, and Coach Heller brought his name up when talking about the outfield, but McCaffery will have gone almost three years without playing a game when the 2022 season starts. The Covid pandemic and hip surgery have kept him off the field, so the question becomes, will he be able to play at the same level as he could two or three years ago?

Another thing to keep an eye on is the addition of another outfielder through the transfer portal. Coach Heller mentioned it as a possibility saying, “If the chips fall our way and we can go and get a couple guys, we would probably look at another corner outfielder that can really hit.”

Overall, I believe the outfield will be a work in progress to begin next season, as the coaching staff tries to find a lineup that gives them the best chance to win ballgames. The good news is that non-conference games will be back, so that will give the new outfield time to build some game reps, before Big Ten play begins.

Starting Rotation

The starting rotation is the place where the most change could happen over the summer. There is potential for Trenton Wallace, Jack Dreyer and Cam Baumann to all return, which would give the Hawkeyes a very good weekend rotation.

However, all three could get drafted and would then have the decision to come back or continue on with a potential pro career. Coach Heller says that Dreyer is looking to get drafted or signed as a free agent and if that happens, he will likely leave. If that does not come to fruition, he will be 100% ready to go for 2022. The decision for Wallace will likely depend on how high he gets drafted and if he wants to return for another season to potentially increase his draft position.

Both Trenton and Cam Baumann are playing the newly created MLB Draft League this summer.

Drew Irvine and Duncan Davitt will return as potential starters, as well. Both showed promise at times during the season, but also had times where they struggled to keep teams off the scoreboard. In my opinion, these two are better suited as midweek starters or a #3 starter.

Davitt generally does not give up free bases, so when he runs in to trouble, it is because he is allowing hits. If Duncan gets into a groove where he only allows a couple of hits, he is hard to score on because he does not give teams 4-5 walks to work with.

Incoming freshman Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan, assuming they are not drafted high, could come in and potentially make an impact in the starting rotation as well.

“Marcus and Brody are guys who I think can come in and help us right away,” said Coach Heller on the highly touted Iowa natives.

This portion of the roster is the one with the most change still possible, so that will be something to monitor all summer. Depending on how things shake out with the draft and other spots on the roster, I would not be surprised to see Coach Heller attempt to add a grad transfer starting pitcher to help things along.

Bullpen

Coach Heller spoke about the inconsistency in the bullpen this season and how much not having non-conference hurt, specifically those bullpen arms saying, “Not being able to get guys innings. Not just in midweek games, but the first four weeks of non-conference. You can throw a lot of different guys…Basically, you are getting guys out there a number of times and getting their confidence built up before you have to throw them into the fire of a Big Ten game.”

Some guys were going two or three weeks in between relief appearances, which makes it very hard to put together a string of good outings. The loss of Grant Leonard and Trace Hoffman from the back end of the bullpen is going to be tough to replace, as is the loss of Will Semb to the transfer portal. Leonard, Hoffman and Semb combined for the second, third and fourth most innings out of the bullpen this year.

Dylan Nedved figures to be the biggest piece of the Iowa bullpen next season, as he led the team in saves with nine this year. As I mentioned, the coaching staff is looking to focus Nedved more on pitching, which would easily make him the most important part of the entire staff next season.

After that, it is hard to pinpoint a next best arm because a lot of guys were inconsistent due to seldom use. Ty Langenberg threw 6.1 scoreless innings, but allowed six runs in the other four innings. Ben Probst struggled with walks, but only allowed just two hits in 7.1 innings pitched. Those two guys figure to be pretty big pieces next year.

Tyson James and Jacob Henderson, also struggled with some walks, but should be able to become more consistent with more work next year. Jackson Payne struck out 11 and walked just one over 9.1 innings, but allowed eight hits.

As Coach Heller said, it is really hard to judge these guys because of the fact they threw on such an inconsistent basis. I mentioned to coach that sometimes guys would show some promise one outing, but struggle the next time. Hopefully, with more consistent work these guys can become more reliable arms in the Iowa bullpen.

JUCO transfer Casey Day is someone that Coach Heller thinks can be a backend of the bullpen type of guy, which would be big considering the loss of Hoffman/Leonard. He is currently playing summer ball in Clinton, with the LumberKings.

Another name to keep an eye on is Keaton Anthony. Anthony is a dual position player that Coach Heller mentioned, so he could see some time on the mound next season. Ben Beutel, Jack Guzek, Jackson Vines and Rimmy Nemickas are four other pitchers that will fill out the rest of the bullpen.

Overall, I think the bullpen outside of Nedved is a little bit of an unknown in terms of who will fit where because of the inconsistencies. A big key to success for any team is a good bullpen, so working to put together a good group arms will be on the forefront of Coach Heller’s mind this off-season.

Transfer Portal

Coach Heller acknowledged that the transfer portal is something that can be used to sure up spots on the roster, but also knows that scholarship distribution over the next few years can get messed up by adding transfers. With that said, the Hawkeyes could dip into the portal to find a piece or two.

“If we can make one or two really key additions, maybe out of the transfer portal. A one-year guy that can help us on the mound, or even at the plate. That’s where we are at. Just one or two guys away,” said Coach Heller.

He mentioned the addition of a grad transfer that has one year of eligibility, as the best type of addition because it does not mess with future scholarship money, but did also say that if the right guy comes along with multiple years remaining, they would look to add him.

Corner outfield, starting pitching and/or bullpen will be the places on the roster that would be most likely to add a transfer piece.

2022 Non-Conference Slate

The Iowa Baseball team will compete in three tournaments early next season, including trips to Charleston, Corpus-Christi and Friso. The first two tournaments did not have a full opponent list according to Coach Heller, but the tournament to Frisco touts Texas A&M, Wichita State and Washington State. Hopefully, the early tournaments will feature some teams that Iowa can build their RPI against because it is imperative when you are looking to get an NCAA Tournament bid.

After those tournaments, the Hawkeyes will come home to host Merrimack and Central Michigan for weekend series before Big Ten play. The Chippewas will be fresh off an NCAA Tournament appearance, so that series brings some intrigue with it. The midweek games will be filled with the usual teams, including Missouri, South Dakota State, Illinois State, Bradley, Western Illinois and Milwaukee.