(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
Bill Mueller, Arizona State Baseball’s new volunteer hitting coach, is expected to join MLB’s Washington Nationals as a hitting coach according to a report from Sun Devil Source.
Mueller was brought in this offseason upon the hiring of head coach Willie Bloomquist along with new pitching coach Sam Peraza and assistant coach Mike Goff. Director of scouting and player development Travis Buck is a perceived favorite to inherit Mueller’s role.
After an 11-year playing career that saw him suit up for the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, Mueller spent time as a scout across a few different MLB front offices before becoming an assistant coach at Hamilton High School in Chandler.
His connection and prior relationship with Bloomquist led him to ASU this past summer.
The Sun Devils now find a vacancy in a position that has previously been occupied by two men over the past year – Michael Earley, who joined Texas A&M as a hitting coach – and Mueller, who once again finds himself back in pro ball.
ASU recently wrapped up its fall camp which gave glimpses at the offense and lineup that retained most of its past contingent from the 2021 season. ASU slashed .287/.362/.456 as a team while scoring 342 runs, good for seventh in the Pac-12 Conference.
With graduate first baseman Conor Davis healthy after sustaining a torn ACL that sidelined him for the 2020 season, ASU figures to be a much more dangerous offense then they were a year ago, but they will now be forced to find a new placeholder at hitting coach.
“Our lineup is going to be pretty solid,” Davis said in October. “I think we’ll be able to throw 10 to 12 guys out there every single day that can compete at the highest level in the country.”
ASU’s 2022 campaign is set to begin sometime in mid-February.
