ASU baseball rode into last season on the backs of aces in Ryan Kellogg and Brett Lilek, who pitched a combined 193.2 innings.
Kellogg posted a 3.60 ERA and led the Sun Devils in wins (9) and strikeouts (92) while pitching a team-high 16 starts. Lilek won four games and struck out 66 batters in his 15 starts.
Now, the two are gone. Lilek was selected No. 50 overall in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins and Kellogg was taken in the fifth round by the Chicago Cubs.
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However, one constant from last year's weekend rotation remains: Seth Martinez. Now a junior, he ranked second in innings pitched on the team with 82.2 as he went from a midweek role to the Friday starter.
Head coach Tracy Smith said Martinez is getting his velocity back up to the 88-90 MPH range and is throwing multiple pitches for strikes now.
"He's done a really good job now of locating the baseball," he said. "He does everything else really, really well. Holds runners, controls the running game, understands more than just see fastball, throw fastball. He gets all the intricacies that go along with pitching."
Martinez said he is focused on the consistency needed to excel in a weekend spot.
"I think if you stay even keel, it will help you when adversity hits, so you're just kind of not affected as much, just persist right through it and have a good outcome," he said.
While Martinez is a shoo-in for a spot during the weekend, Smith said junior Hever Bueno is separating himself as this year's Friday starter and is all signs point to him starting on opening night against Xavier at Phoenix Muni.
The jump is seemingly worth the praise; Bueno had a 7.88 ERA and gave up 14 runs in just 16 innings last season.
"He's looking great," Martinez said of his probable weekend counterpart. "His confidence is back, he's kind of figured everything out mechanically. He's going to be huge for us, I can't wait to see him work out there."
The storyline heading into season seems to be the battle for the third weekend and one midweek spot, which could be shuffled throughout the year based on circumstance and performances of the respective pitchers vying for the roles.
One player who could snag the third weekend spot is junior Eder Erives, but Smith said the Sun Devils may need him to be the first man out of the bullpen, a role that Darin Gillies held before being drafted to the Seattle Mariners in the 10th round.
In 2015, Erives posted a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings.
Smith said sophomores Grant Schneider and Reagan Todd are throwing well and are in contention to be the third guy in the weekend rotation despite not getting very many innings last season. He also noted sophomores Ryan Hingst and Tucker Baca could eventually be be in the conversation as well.
The freshman pitchers have not disappointed either, though.
"James Ryan has been really, really consistent for us...I could see him potentially getting some midweek (starts) and push to be a weekend guy," he said. "Fitz Stadler has shown the most in terms of dominant stuff, but it's been a little up and down. If he figures out the consistency part of it, I think he's got a chance to be as good as anybody."
ASU also lost its flame-throwing closer and all-time saves leader Ryan Burr. Predominantly utilizing his fastball that can touch 97 MPH, he tallied 14 saves while striking out 74 batters in 46.1 innings of work.
Burr started the 2015 season strong before sputtering a bit in the middle, including giving up six runs against Arizona in a comeback effort by the Wildcats on April 13 to avoid a series sweep.
Smith said sophomore Andrew Shaps is working his way into the closer role in addition to starting in the outfield.
Just as he watched Johnny Sewald, Jake Peevyhouse and Trever Allen in the outfield, Shaps said he observed and learned from the way Burr handled his rough stretch and is prepared for adversity.
"It's really all mental, you just got to mentally prepare," Shaps said of balancing two roles. "You got to know that when you're closer, it's a little bit different than being a starter. Every single pitch is very important."
Smith said he does not think this year's bullpen has dominant stuff, but he expects them to be productive and earn outs in other ways.
"I think what we're going to have this year as opposed to last year is we'll have more guys that we feel will contribute in a game, but we may not have the power stuff that we had last year."
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3
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