(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
If one was looking for the direct and immediate impact new Arizona State Baseball pitching coach Jason Kelly had in his first 17 games, a case study of junior right-handed pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi would have turned up impressive results.
Vander Kooi was coming off a bad year when Kelly took the opening on head coach Tracy Smith’s staff in June of 2019. The then-sophomore threw the second most innings on the Sun Devils roster and struggled mightily, allowing an ERA of 5.59 over 16 starts. It was a stark contrast from his freshman season, where the second-ranked high school player in the state of Arizona posted a 3.00 ERA across five starts and 10 outings.
The shortened 2020 season saw Vander Kooi right the ship. His role was diversified once again – leading the team in innings across 17 games came in the form of starting just two of the five games he pitched in – but the junior was excellent with 0.70 ERA and a .213 opponent batting average. It was the Vander Kooi ASU signed up for.
The right-hander’s improvement could be seen as a direct result of Kelly’s strategy of pitching to one’s role.
“The goal is development, but it’s got to be development within your role,” Kelly said. “If you’re a left-hander out of the bullpen, then we need to get really good at facing left-handers. That doesn’t mean you won’t be a starter someday at Arizona State, but it means right now you need to be really good at that.”
So far during ASU’s 2020 fall camp, it’s clear Kelly is applying that strategy to the whole staff, and it’s working. The former Washington pitching coach mentioned that every arm in his staff has improved since the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season in March.
“If you go down the list from top to bottom, everyone has gotten better,” Kelly said. “That’s what is important. There’s a lot of same pieces to the puzzle but there’s a little more experience. There’s a little more trust. They have a feel for the system. They know what they need to do to get better.”
Who’s in what role is what Kelly and the rest of the staff still have to figure out. The 2021 season – which hangs on the precipitance of the public health situation – is still months away. Fall ball is the first glimpse into who could play where.
“We made it understood that the slate was going to be cleared and that guys were going to have to come in and earn jobs,” Kelly said. “No matter if you pitched on Fridays last year or if you haven’t pitched an inning. They’ve taken that to heart.”
Even where starters seem set, competition is still being fostered by Kelly. ASU’s rotation would figure to feature redshirt sophomore left-hander Erik Tolman and right-hander Tyler Thornton in addition to redshirt freshman Cooper Benson, all of whom had good 2020 seasons despite the small sample size. The fourth spot is a toss-up between Vander Kooi and redshirt junior Justin Fall.
Fall didn’t live up to what was expected from him in the shortened 2020 season, but Kelly said that the transfer from Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, like everyone, has added new tricks to his arsenal.
“The stuff is elite,” Kelly said of Fall. “It’s just consistency for him, and he’s been more consistent. The thing for him is having a feel for the sinker and trying to use the middle of the plate.
“I think he’s getting better and he’s taken that next step. As he controls his stuff better, he’s going to be a problem for the rest of the league.”
Kelly said Fall has “the chance to be a devastating piece out of the bullpen,” which would indicate Vander Kooi’s positioning as a starter. But the pitching coach’s overall comments Monday suggest the team isn’t committing to anything just yet due to the group’s overall improvement.
“Every guy has added something,” Kelly said. “Whether it’s a new breaking ball, or it’s the changeup cutting or sinking. Almost every guy has done it. That’s not a credit to me, that’s a credit to them wanting to work.”
Whoever the odd man out among Vander Kooi and Fall is enters perhaps an even tighter competition.
Before ASU’s season ended prematurely in the spring, Kelly spoke to reporters after the Sun Devils 8-3 win over Fresno State on March 8 and mentioned that tough conversations were going to be had about the innings distribution among relievers. The Sun Devils had too many options, and not enough innings to distribute the rock.
The 2021 season could see a similar problem for the Sun Devils – and perhaps an even more complicated one.
“There could be four or five guys back there,” Kelly said of the closer role, where ASU has to replace junior right-hander RJ Dabovich. “I had individual meetings with those guys over the last four or five days. We talked about matching up the best case scenario with each guy. It may be [redshirt freshman right-hander] Bryce Barnett on a day, it may be [redshirt freshman right-hander] Cam Dennie on a day. It may be Justin Fall on a day depending on how the lineup is. We also have [freshman two-way player] Ethan Long, who has been great. He fits that role as a presence and how he competes.”
The improvement from the staff as a whole creates a logjam. Pitchers still not named include redshirt freshman right-hander Christian Bodlovich, who was impressive as a freshman despite one bad outing against Nebraska on March 1 skewing his numbers.
Dennie’s name was brought up among others who have made great strides during the time off. Kelly’s mouth almost never stopped moving when listing all of his players’ improvements and adjustments.
“[Redshirt junior right-hander] Brady Corrigan has been great,” Kelly said. “He’s added a curveball and the slider has gotten firmer. He’s been really good. [Redshirt freshman left-hander] Graham Osman has been great. His velocity is up. He’s added a harder breaking ball that is going to help him. Cam Dennie has added a curveball to the slider combination which is going to allow him to disrupt timing.”
Kelly believes he has a solution to the closer and bullpen clutter though. It might be unconventional, but solving a problem like this may deserve that.
“The best case scenario for us is if we have five guys with four saves,” Kelly said. “Mix it around. I think that’s the best case scenario.”
Ultimately, Kelly doesn’t believe he’s going to be the one responsible for the decisions that are made and the strides pitchers are taking. It will be up to the players themselves.
“We’ve instilled some freedom in them to hopefully take responsibility for themselves and get better, and they’re running with it,” he said.
