ASU freshman pitcher Tucker Baca delivers from the mound as practice begins during ASU Media
Day on Feb. 11, 2015, at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
(J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)
Historically, pitching has been a strength of the ASU baseball team, and the Pac-12. The starters will make headlines, but it’s the bullpen battle that brings with it the most intrigue as the season approaches.
STARTING ROTATION
1. Brett Lilek: 4-5 / 2.68 ERA / 1.17 WHIP
The staff ace, Lilek enters his junior year primed to go head-to-head with some of the best pitchers in the country. His 84 innings pitched last season, while more than triple his total from his freshman year, were considerably less than that of the workload of some of the top Pac-12 pitchers. Scouts may not drool over his 8.46 K/9 average, but he also was one of just 10 Pac-12 pitchers who allowed one home run or less in 2014. That said, this should open up the coaching staff to be more flexible with his pitch counts and extend him more if need be.
2. Ryan Kellogg: 8-3 / 3.76 ERA / 1.39 WHIP
Perhaps no one turned more heads as a No. 2 starter than the left-handed Kellogg. After throwing a no-hitter at Oregon State his freshman year, the Canada native finished among the top 10 in Pac-12 wins (8), and at 103 innings pitched, was the workhorse of the Sun Devils' rotation. He won’t blow hitters away with speed, but he can pitch to contact effectively, and any time he’s able to pitch seven to eight innings on Saturday nights, he puts ASU in position to win probably better than any other pitcher on the roster.
3. Darin Gillies: 3-4 / 4.90 ERA / 1.42 WHIP
After a season of struggles starting on Sundays, rumors abounded that Gillies would be replaced at the No. 3 spot. Like Lilek, the win-loss record doesn’t tell the entire story of Gillies’s 2014 campaign. Some of ASU’s worst offensive days and error-plagued performances happened to occur when Gillies took the mound. If he can cut down on his 35 walks and hold batters to a lower average than the .278 mark opponents posted against him, then the coaching staff may be comfortable keeping him in his current role.
4. Seth Martinez: 5-0 / 4.32 ERA / 1.32 WHIP
If anyone on this year’s pitching staff should have sky-high confidence, it should be Martinez, one of the top freshman pitchers in the country last year. Martinez’s opponents had a batting average on balls in play of .311, which was just shy of Justin Verlander’s .309. If he returns again to start midweek games, he’ll have a chance to dominate familiar opponents in New Mexico, New Mexico State and UNLV. If everything goes according to plan, odds are he’ll make his first start against Oklahoma on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
BULLPEN
This is where things get fun. ASU experimented with multiple relievers last season, with the biggest move, of course, being that junior closer Ryan Burr had a brief stint as a starter. That’s done, and Burr is the guy who’ll get the ball in the ninth inning. But new pitching coach Brandon Higelin and head coach Tracy Smith are tasked with sorting out a surplus of new and returning relief pitchers that will bridge the gap to Burr. The only glaring issue with this staff is the lack of experienced left-handers, though freshmen southpaws Tucker Baca, Eli Lingos and Reagan Todd may all get an opportunity to provide additional depth at some point.
Middle relievers:
1. Eder Erives 2-1 / 2.82 ERA / 1.25 WHIP
Quietly, ASU may have two of the best middle relief pitchers in the conference, thanks to the emergence of Erives and Bueno as freshmen in 2014. Erives possesses remarkable command, and issued just four walks in 22.1 innings last season. His fastball is consistently in the 90 mph range and could challenge Aboites for a seventh or eighth inning role.
2. Hever Bueno 0-1 / 2.25 ERA / 1.63 WHIP
Another positive with having a reliever like Bueno is that Aboites may not even need to expend his arm out of the bullpen, at least at the same frequency. As Aboites adjusts to taking batting practice and being an everyday position player, Bueno will contribute at a greater clip than his 16 innings thrown in 2014, which will allow his coaches to assess whether or not he can handle such a load in future seasons.
Setup men:
1. Jordan Aboites 5-3 / 3.30 ERA / 1.19 WHIP
Aboites will be Smith’s starting second baseman, but that doesn’t mean he won’t spend any time in the bullpen in 2015. He pitches much bigger than his 5-foot-5 frame would suggest, and was called upon often to get out of jams, often successfully.
2. David Graybill
Smith has said that he’d like Graybill as a late-inning option to precede Burr, but his arm hasn’t been tested at the college level. Although Graybill wasn’t an everyday position player either, ASU would in essence be borrowing a page from the playbook of its rival down south if it chose to use him in this role.
3. Eric Melbostad 1-1 / 4.29 ERA / 1.51 WHIP
Now a junior, it’s safe to assume that the Sun Devils would demand consistency from Melbostad this season. From tossing four innings of near-perfect baseball to walking consecutive batters and blowing a lead, it’s unclear what version of the setup man we’ll see this season. His first few appearances may very well determine if he exceeds or falls short of the 35.2 innings he pitched in relief last year.
Closer: Ryan Burr 3-3 / 3.27 ERA / 1.36 WHIP
It would be difficult to find another player who so quietly handled all the pressure that comes with being the man tasked with shutting the door on a win, with how much adversity Burr faced in a rocky 2014 season. He gained valuable experience with another stint in Cary, North Carolina, with the USA Men’s National Team over the summer, which likely allowed him to get over any jitters that came with switching from closer to starter, and back to closer again. Ultimately, it will depend on which version of Burr shows up in 2015: the one that issued 38 walks over 44 innings, or the one that held opposing hitters to a team-best .149 batting average?
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or on Twitter @StefanJModrich.
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