Rutgers baseball: Bridgewater-Raritan product Justin Sinibaldi on pro scouts' radar
Justin Sinibaldi didn’t pitch or play first base his senior year at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. That’s because COVID threw the high hard one in the spring of 2020. But that didn’t deter the Rutgers University coaching staff from offering him a chance to play the game at the college level.
Four years later the 6-foot-5 lefthander is now the top pitcher for the Scarlet Knights.
Friday night he went seven innings in a 7-6 11-inning win against Nebraska. He gave up two earned runs on four hits and struck out four.
On the season he has started nine games and is 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA. He has 50 strikeouts in 60.2 innings, given up 48 hits and allowed just 9 walks, and only 18 earned runs.
Rutgers finished the weekend 22-13, 3-6 in the Big Ten. From here the Scarlet Knights have 19 regular season games remaining, 15 in the Big Ten.
In addition to his impressive stats, the past two seasons Sinibaldi has achieved Academic All-Big Ten status.
Not bad for a kid who only made second team All-Skyland Conference.
“At this point, pro ball is definitely in his future,” Rutgers pitching coach Brendan Monaghan said. “When you put up numbers like now, people take notice. Pro scouts are taking notice. If you asked myself and people two years ago if that was the case, I don’t know if it was.”
The 22-year-old spent last summer on campus, committing to the weight room almost daily. When fall ball arrived the results were obvious.
“You could see he was a different kid,” Monaghan said. “He carried himself with a different personality, in a good way. He showed up in the fall and was probably the best pitcher on the team, and hasn’t slowed down since. Over the past 3 ½ years you can really see the change and progress he’s made, the work that he’s put in.”
Taking his lumps his first two years, Sinibaldi is now the weekly starter on Fridays. Big Ten three-game series are every weekend, and he is the go-to guy to get the ball rolling.
“In college baseball there’s a lot of responsibility pitching Friday,” Monaghan said. “There’s also the element to that role within the team. All the players look at that guy to be the rock, the steady piece of your team. He’s taken control of that. It hasn’t consumed him. It hasn’t been too much for him. And that speaks to his confidence and development.”
Said Sinibaldi, “I’ve just been putting my head down and going to work each week, and it’s been paying off for me.”
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The best performance of his career came three weeks ago in a 3-0 complete game victory over Connecticut. He gave up four hits, a walk, and struck out nine. It was the first complete-game shutout by a Rutgers pitcher in eight years. He was then named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.
An unassuming young man, his personality fits in perfectly with his teammates.
“He’s got the ability to kind of intermix into different circles and communicate with different pools of people within our team. He’s one of the guys, like the rest of kids 18 to 22 years old. I would say he’s laid back,” Monaghan said, “but on Friday’s he’s certainly less laid back and more aggressive.”
A Communications major, Sinibaldi’s mom wasn’t sold on him playing ball in college. Academics always came first.
“She definitely pushed me in school, and she always makes sure I’m on top of everything,” he said. “She’s been huge for me; kept me in line, I guess. I’m very thankful for her.”
So too with his father, who introduced him to the sport while making sure the youngster threw with his left hand. He coached him and drove him to all his games, practices and batting cages.
“I’m thankful for him,” Sinibaldi said. “I wouldn’t be anywhere today, and I thank him for all of that.”
Calling himself a family guy, Sinibaldi chose the State University specifically to stay close to home. That way his parents, his sister Gabrielle, his grandmother and cousins could come to his games. Fun fact: A grandfather’s cousin is Tom Sinibaldi, a standout wrestler at Bound Brook High in the mid-60s.
“It was a win-win for me. A no-brainer,” he said about staying close to home.
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His family experienced the 44-15 season of 2022, as well as last year’s 33-23 season. Their support is not lost on the Rutgers staff.
“They’re great people,” Monaghan said. “They’re fully vested in the program and all the other players. We certainly appreciate that. Justin is that kind of personality within the clubhouse.”
Despite their slow start in the conference, there is no lack of confidence in the clubhouse.
“There’s a long season ahead and a lot of good things can happen,” Sinibaldi said. “I think we’re heading in the right direction. I think we’re going to turn it around.”
The Big Ten tournament begins May 21 in Omaha.
“We’ve been going through a rough patch lately, but we have a bunch of grinders, honestly. Nobody has any priorities besides winning. We kind of do all the small things we need to do. We’re not trying to slug balls over the fence or strike everybody out,” he said. We’re just trying to play the simple game of baseball, I guess. Right now, I’m focused on helping this team win a Big 10 championship. I think we can.”
Paul Franklin is a freelance reporter for MyCentralJersey.com.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Rutgers baseball: NJ native Justin Sinibaldi on pro scouts' radar
