How a summer at home renewed Josh Caron — and Nebraska’s offense

Josh Caron was exhausted. He was homesick. And for the first time in his life, he wondered if he had a future in baseball.

The 2022 season ended earlier for Nebraska than most major college teams — the Huskers were never above .500 and missed on even their own conference tournament. In some ways the quick exit was none too soon for the 18-year-old catcher from Wisconsin.

The step up to college baseball had felt more like a leap. Caron just finished hitting .179 across 26 games with no home runs and precious few highlights. NU was scuffling and so was he. Recalling happy moments on the field was harder than corralling a splitter in the dirt.

“I think I almost was a little in over my head,” Caron said. “I had bad thoughts — like maybe I can’t play here — and other anxiety. I just struggled a lot. There were a lot of things factoring in but I think I was just really stressed.”

The backstop smiles at the thought now and shakes his head, his curly blond hair bouncing around. Ask around the team why Nebraska’s offense has gone from moribund to marvelous in the span of nine months, and Caron is always among the first names mentioned. He’s batting .325, fourth best among Husker lineup regulars and good for around top 30 among all Big Ten hitters. His production — which includes three home runs and 14 RBIs in 21 starts — is on par with the top players at his position in the conference.

“He’s just a lot more comfortable this year,” Nebraska coach Will Bolt said. “Not a whole lot’s changed other than that. It’s amazing what confidence can do for a guy.”

Caron found his groove living back in his old room at his parents’ house in Sun Prairie, a suburb of Madison. He’s close with his family — mother Becky, father Steve and older brother Andrew — and relished seeing them daily again.

But this wasn’t a summer off. Caron was on assignment with the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League. His task: to play as much baseball as possible.

Caron began by making an exception to his own personal rule and reexamined his swing. He rarely tweaks his mechanics — he prefers the see-ball-hit-ball approach — but sought out his former prep coaches at his old batting cages for a powwow of sorts. He spent the days before reporting to the Mallards shortening his bat path through the strike zone, helping him square up balls harder and affording him more time to react to off-speed pitches.

“We just ironed some things out,” Caron said. “I got that confidence back within those first few days and then the first few games of summer ball I started hitting better. That got me back.”

Caron knew it when he roped a single up the middle in his second at-bat of his first game that June. It was the best his swing had felt in months and the first of a blur of line drives as he hit .284 with 10 homers, 10 doubles and 51 RBIs. Only eight players in the entire 22-team league saw more than his 62 games.

The summer was part spiritual renewal, part muscle memory. He played during the day and saw family and friends at night. He checked up on Milwaukee Brewers games and slept in his own bed.

“I think that was a really good thing for me, being with my family again,” Caron said. “I think I needed it.”

Nebraska coaches wanted to see if the breakout would stick when Caron returned to Lincoln for fall ball. They told him they wanted him to be the starting catcher and that he needed to live up to that standard daily in practice. He did.

There was still one thing Caron wasn’t sure he could do. His freshman role was as backup receiver to Griffin Everitt, who decided to use his extra year of eligibility to return to Nebraska once more. Now success for the underclassman nicknamed “JC5” would mean unseating a two-time captain who started 41 games at catcher the previous spring. Everitt was a friend and role model.

Caron went to work, letting his play speak for itself. Soon he was ready to compete for the job almost without realizing it.

“I came in wanting to be the starting catcher,” Caron said. “It was kind of nerve-racking for me because I knew Griffin wanted to be the starter again and he’s a guy I’ve looked up to and a guy I respect a lot. But at the end of the day, I wanted that job. I had to get over that a little bit and it’s good that Griffin handled that really well.”

While Griffin still plays — he’s appeared in 18 games, starting 12 at designated hitter — Caron is the man behind the dish at a deep position that also includes Ben Columbus. The sophomore loves catching Shay Schanaman’s wipeout slider, Emmett Olson’s diving curveball and Jace Kaminska’s sizzling heater. He loves being involved in every pitch. He loves wearing the extra gear.

Once an under-the-radar cold-weather prospect who mostly fielded mid-major Division I offers, Caron is batting cleanup of late as a fixture in Nebraska’s top-35 scoring offense. His 22-game on-base streak that ended Tuesday is second longest on the team this spring. He was even intentionally walked in a game earlier this month, something that would have been unfathomable not long ago.

Believe it, says Max Anderson, NU’s best hitter at .411 and a surefire draft pick this summer. Game recognizes game, and Caron has found his.

“I think it’s a mentality standpoint,” Anderson said. “He’s grown up a bunch and put in a lot of work just to be able to be confident at the plate and trust his swing.”