With today being the first day of September, it is time to start ramping up talk about the Iowa Baseball team as they take part in fall practice. Coach Rick Heller’s squad is coming off a 36-19 season, including a trip to the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals, but they came up just short of the NCAA Tournament.

Adam Mazur, Dylan Nedved, Peyton Williams, Izaya Fullard and Ben Beutel all depart from last seasons team, but the Hawkeyes got big news from Keaton Anthony when he announced his return to Iowa City for another season. Nine freshmen join the team this fall, while the coaching staff went into the transfer portal to bring in an additional eight players.

The Hawkeyes will play a total of three exhibition games this fall against Mississauga Baseball Academy (Sept 22), Iowa Central (Sept 30) and Des Moines Area Community College (Oct 7), before wrapping up with the Black & Gold World Series (Oct 17-19). All of the games are open to the public. With that said, lets take a look at some of the storylines that follow the team going into fall practice.

1. Who steps up and makes a run at a weekend rotation spot?

Going into last fall the question was, who is going to replace Trenton Wallace and Drew Irvine in the starting rotation? Adam Mazur and Connor Schultz transferred in, while Ty Langenberg made a big jump in the fall to secure a spot.

This fall the question remains the same for the Hawkeyes. Who is going to step up and fill the open spots in the rotation? Mazur, Schultz and Dylan Nedved depart after combining for 63.4% of the weekend starts during the regular season. Ty Langenberg returns after having a stellar season in the Sunday role and is poised to be the premier arm in the 2023 Iowa rotation.

After Langenberg, the battle is wide open, however there are a few names to keep an eye on going into the fall. Long Beach State transfer Zach Voelker pitched well against some good teams last season and was named a Cape Cod League All-Star this summer with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. Jared Simpson had an impressive summer in the Prospect League putting up a 0.67 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 26.2 innings for the Clinton Lumberkings. Hutchinson CC transfer Jack Whitlock is an underrated name to watch, as he quietly put together a 8-3 record with a 4.15 ERA and was a second team all-conference selection in the talented KJCCC.

Then comes the incoming freshman. Cade Obermueller, Aaron Savary, Drew Proskovec and Max Tramontana are all very talented pitchers with plenty of high school accolades. It will be interesting to follow each of them over the fall and see if any of them show the ability to potentially sneak into that weekend rotation.

2. Does the bullpen start to take shape?

Ben Beutel (29 appearances), Dylan Nedved (19 app) and Duncan Davitt (19 app) were all big pieces in the bullpen last season and this year they are gone from the roster. This leaves a lot of sorting out to do for pitching coach Robin Lund.

The Hawkeyes have plenty of arms to stock the bullpen, but the key will be to find some pitchers that can be relied on in big situations, as Beutel, Nedved and Davitt were last season. Will Christophersen battled injury for most of last season, but when healthy he was very effective, racking up 25 strikeouts in 14.2 innings of work. He will almost certainly be a back-end arm for the Hawkeyes if he can stay healthy for the entire season.

Jacob Henderson had the second most appearances out of the bullpen last season, but rarely threw to more than a couple of batters. He had a successful summer with the Arroyo Seco Saints and was named to the California Collegiate All-League team. Henderson will likely see a healthy increase in innings out of the bullpen.

After that, there is a lot to figure out for the Hawkeyes. Luke Llewellyn, Brody Brecht, Chas Wheatley, Casey Day and Marcus Morgan all return, but they combined for 64 walks in 68.0 innings last season. Each player in that group has the talent to push for an important role, which is noted in their 12.57 SO/9 and .191 opponent average as a group, but consistency will be key.

We will also get our first looks at a couple of transfers that could provide some help in the bullpen. State College of Florida transfer Nick Gotilla and Parkland College transfer Jack Young are a couple of Iowa natives from the Quad Cities, while Winona State transfer Caleb Strack just joined the group recently.

The fall session of scrimmages and exhibition games will be very important to see where the bullpen stands going into winter workouts.

3. Does someone stand out at 3B or 2B?

With the departures of Izaya Fullard and Brendan Sher, the Hawkeyes have a couple of holes to fill on the field. Fullard started 25 games at second base after he returned from injury, while Sher started 26 games at third base and 37 games total in the infield.

Sam Hojnar and Ben Wilmes combined for 19 starts at second base last season and figure to be in the lead going into the fall, but true freshman Gable Mitchell is someone to watch. At third base, Hojnar, Wilmes and Andy Nelson combined for 28 starts, while Nelson dealt with hamstring issues for a good portion of the season. The new name to add into the battle at the hot corner is Pasadena City College transfer Raider Tello. He was named a Pacific Association Third Team All-American and was a CCCBCA First Team All-State selection for the Lancers last season.

The cupboard certainly is not bare at the two infield spots with a total of 47 starts returning, plus the addition of Tello.

After Austin Martin started 94 games behind the plate over his Iowa career, the Hawkeyes saw three different players start a game at catcher last season. Ben Tallman and Cade Moss both return after combining for 39 starts, while Gehrig Christensen is back after missing his true freshman season due to injury. Tallman started 26 games, but Cade Moss came on late in the season and started 13 games down the stretch. The fourth option is true freshman Reese Moore who enters the fold after an illustrious high school career with Forest City and Van Meter.

It's fair to assume that Moss and Tallman hold the advantage right now considering they have the experience right now, but this will be an interesting group to watch as the fall unfolds.

5. Outfield the strength of the team?

The outfield for the Hawkeyes could be a big strength next season, as they return a couple of starters and brought in a pair of very talented transfers. Keaton Anthony is expected to move to 1B, which freed up a spot in RF. The coaching staff went to the transfer portal and brought in OF/DH Brennen Dorighi from Wofford and Chase Moseley from Kirkwood CC. Dorighi was a SoCon All-conference selection last season and has plenty of experience as a graduate senior, while Moseley was an NJCAA All-American for Kirkwood. Expect both of them to contribute right away, while Dorighi can be used in a couple of different spots on the field.

Kyle Huckstorf and Sam Petersen both return to the Iowa outfield and both of them should be on the watch list to have a breakout season for the Hawkeyes. Huckstorf steadily improved at the plate as the season progressed, including his 3 HR game against Indiana, while his outfield defense was impressive throughout the entirety of the season. He spent the summer with the Waterloo Bucks and hit .295 with four home runs in 22 games.

Sam Petersen started just 38 of 55 games last season, but was third on the team in home runs and tied for third on the team in doubles. This summer with the Kinsport Axman, Sam batted slashed .328/.478/.592 with six home runs, 11 doubles and 19 stolen bases over 35 games.