Arizona State Baseball was the recipient of a fourth Top-10 recruiting class in the last five years, Collegiate Baseball News announced in September.
The class saw a slew of transfers come to ASU, highlighted by junior outfielder Allbry Major from Xavier and redshirt senior infielder Conor Davis from Auburn. In the fall, Davis tore his ACL and will miss the 2021 season, but Major and the others all have the ability to become key contributors to a roster that is hoping to make up for what last year’s couldn’t because of the COVID-19 pandemic: make it to Omaha.
Major came to the Valley of the Sun as an outfielder, but the ASU coaching staff is giving him a look at first base – a position he hasn’t played since his sophomore year of high school.
“It’s been going pretty well,” Major said. “It’s a lot to take in at first but now it’s becoming a lot more comfortable with different types of plays.”
In two years at Xavier, Major hit .285 with 24 doubles and posted a .347 on-base percentage. The 2018 Big East Freshman of the Year orginally came in as a switch-hitter but will assume the majority, if not all, of his plate appearances from the left side of the plate.
“I really liked playing out here,” Major said of ASU. “When we played out here my sophomore year, I loved the environment out here and loved everything about it so when coming here was an opportunity I was really excited about it.”
The feeling was mutual betwteeen the redshirt juinor and the ASU coaching staff.
”I remember when we played [Xavier] two years ago, he made some unbelievable catches and snuck in some hits, but I remembered saying, ‘I’d take that guy on my team,’” ASU Head Coach Tracy Smith said. “That’s really how it all got started.”
Major sat out the shortened 2020 season due to an injury. In 2021, a new coaching staff means additional attention to detail.
“They (ASU) were a little more specific with mechanical issues like fielding balls in the outfield and working with my footwork,” Major said. “Footwork there helped me be a little quicker as well as working on my footwork at first base.”
Major parlayed his two seasons in the Big East at Xavier with experience in the Cape Cod League, arguably the most competitive summer collegiate baseball league in the county. For him, the transition to ASU may not be as different compared to others who come from different backgrounds of college baseball.
The Sun Devils have two former JUCO players who are expected to contribute in a major way in 2021. For redshirt sophomore outfielder Vinny Tosti and redshirt freshman infielder Joe Lampe, ASU is representative of a larger opportunity than their previous stops.
Tosti comes to Tempe from Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif. His time there was unexpected, after the Tubbs Fire destroyed his Nothern California home back in 2017.
Tosti spent his first year of college ball at Oregon before moving to Southern California where he attended Orange County Junior College and eventually Golden West in 2020.
In 21 games played before last year’s season was canceled, Tosti hit .429 with two home runs, 11 RBI and 18 runs scored.
In the final weeks before the season’s cancellation, Tosti had been in contact with ASU coaches and staff about the possibility of coming to play for the Sun Devils.
“I had spoken with them a few times, and they knew I was having a good year,” Tosti said. “We started talking, and we both felt it was a great fit. I couldn’t take a visit out because of COVID-19, but I had been to the campus before and had a good feeling about it.
“I loved the staff. I love Arizona and the school. It’s been great so far.”
So far, Smith has felt as though Tosti will certainly contribute.
“[Tosti’s] athletic, fast and can run,” he said. “Speed shows up every day. There’s always a role for somebody whether it’s to pinch-run or as a defensive replacement, but that’s continuing to evolve as we practice.”
ASU is moving away from a power-oriented offensive approach powered by the likes of now-Major Leaguers Spencer Torkelson, Gage Workman and Trevor Hauver. Now, in 2021, the Sun Devils are leaning on a more small-ball, speed-based approach at the plate.
Lampe fits right in with the new philosophy.
The redshirt freshman spent his prep days at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, Calif., the same school where Torkelson starred before coming to ASU. Lampe spent the fall semester of his freshman year at UC Davis but a personal decision led him back home to Santa Rosa Junior College right before the season began.
“When I got to Santa Rosa, it gave me an edge to get back to D1 baseball because my goal is to play professional baseball,” Lampe said. “I think the best path to that was to go to SRJC and get to a power conference where I could showcase my skills on a higher level.”
He led the Bear Cubs to an 18-2 start, which had them ranked No. 1 among California junior colleges while hitting eight triples, seven doubles and a home run for a .687 slugging percentage. He stole 17 bases, scored 28 runs and drove in 25 runs during the shortened 20-game season.
“That was our style of play,” Lampe said. “It was a perfect fit.”
The games at Santa Rosa Junior College represented a growth period for Lampe.
“I’ve gotten a lot more physical, put on some more weight and put on some more speed,” he said. “I think speed has been the biggest growth in my game. You don’t see a lot of speed any more in the big leagues and I want to bring that aspect of the game back because it adds a lot of value, and it will help me play longer in my career.”
Lampe credits his friendship with Torkelson as to why he ultimately decided to come to ASU.
“I was trying to find a home I can trust, and I was able to trust [Torkelson],” Lampe said. “He was able to give me good insight on the program, and he had a big influence on it.”
Lampe will likely be asked to be a utility option for the Sun Devils. The infielder has taken reps in the outfield and could see meaningful playing time there.
“He’s probably the fastest guy on our team,” Smith said in the fall. “He’s been our swingman, and we like his versatility as a left-handed bat who puts pressure on the defense every time he puts the ball in play.”
When talking about freshman newcomers, it’s not always an easy transition.
Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Ben Greenspan noted that freshmen can get overwhelmed with the experience in the fall of their first year. Even when the season begins in the spring, the game can tend to move pretty quickly for some, while transfers are able to slow the game down a little bit more.
“It’s unique to each guy. Certain guys have played higher levels of baseball than others,” Greenspan said. “Being able to draw on that experience as well as the physicality is the biggest difference.”
Smith said that transfers can help take the weight off the shoulders of freshmen who aren’t quite ready.
“You’ve got guys entering the program who have a year or two of college baseball under their belt already,” Smith said in the fall. “I think that’s really going to help the guys who are young and super talented to grow at a pace that is comfortable for them where we don’t have to throw (freshmen) into the fire right off the bat.”
When the season opens on Friday, there will be a lot of unknowns. Smith has said the only name that’s penciled into the lineup is redshirt junior Drew Swift at shortstop. For the transfers looking to make an impact this year, the uncertainty is nothing new.
