(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Last season, the underlying theme with Arizona State Baseball’s roster was youth.
The Sun Devils boasted one of the youngest lineups in the nation, with 24 freshmen scattered throughout. This fall and incoming spring provides a much different narrative, particularly within the pitching staff.
Under an entirely new coaching staff, led by head coach Willie Bloomquist, the Sun Devils don’t have a single freshman on the mound.
“That’s gotta be our strength,” new pitching coach Sam Peraza said on Thursday. “Being an older, veteran pitching staff, they’ve been there before. You can’t underrate the value of experience.”
ASU brought in seven transfer arms to substitute the losses of Tyler Thronton, Justin Fall, Cooper Benson and Erik Tolman, all of which departed in the MLB Draft this past summer.
Returners like redshirt senior right-hander Boyd Vander Kooi, who is still rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery, and redshirt junior right-hander Will Levine, who is vying for a spot in the starting rotation next spring, also help fill some of those holes.
“We have a good amount of transfers on the staff and it’s great,” redshirt junior left-hander and transfer from West Virginia Adam Tulloch said. “Everybody is experienced and has been in college ball for at least one year. They all have things that worked for them at their old schools and different ideas and philosophies.”
Following a season of piecing together a weekend rotation after losing Vander Kooi, Tolman and Benson early in the year to injury, ASU feels as if its seasoned staff will make a big difference in not only staying healthy but staying competitive as well in 2022.
“I think our staff is looking better this year than it has in past years,” redshirt sophomore left-hander Graham Osman said. “A lot more talent and a lot more guys coming in ready to play instead of waiting to see if they’re going to get an opportunity.”
Osman in particular has received a lot of praise for his development in the offseason following a spring where he threw 43.2 innings in relief.
Among some of the transfers brought in by Bloomquist and the staff, Tulloch and redshirt junior right-hander Kyle Luckham bring over a good amount of expertise in the starting pitching department. The duo, which threw 96 innings and combined for 14 starts last season, makes them qualified to man a couple spots within the starting rotation come next season.
“Luckham and Tulloch have started over 40 games combined at Division I,” Peraza said. “I think that’s going to help.”
Another two spots could potentially be occupied by Levine and Vander Kooi.
According to Peraza and his teammates, Levine in particular has worked toward controlling his emotions better and maintaining command of the zone for multiple innings at a time since last season ended.
Levine tallied a 3.75 earned run average in 25 appearances out of the bullpen in the spring. In eight of his outings, he tossed two or more frames.
“I think when Will is throwing the ball to the best of his capability, he’s as good as anyone in the country,” Peraza said. “Every once in a while he has a hard time repeating his delivery or he’ll let his emotions get the best of him and he needs to control that.”
Vander Kooi is returning for his fifth season at ASU and while he is still overcoming season-ending surgery, he’s made plenty of progress.
He’s already been steadily working toward throwing off a mound less than eight months post-operation. However, the senior is currently on a six-week shutdown, but Bloomquist and others feel he is ahead of schedule and will likely be ready for opening day.
“He’s been throwing the ball really well,” Peraza said. “Every time I see him play catch I tell him, ‘Hey, opening day.’
“If we can get him out there for an inning on opening day, two innings week two, three innings week three, four week four – guess what, that’s a five inning start for the Pac-12 Conference opener. ”
All of that combined with bullpen that is full of returners like redshirt sophomore right-hander Christian Bodlovich and sophomore right-handers Brock Peery and Jared Glenn give the Sun Devils a solid veteran presence on the mound for the start of 2022.
It will once again come down to health and overall consistency for the Sun Devils moving forward, but one thing is clear with the pitching staff: they’ve all been there before.
“You can’t coach experience,” Levine said. “We come back with a lot of that and I think that’s going to be the strongest part of our staff.”
