(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
At the beginning of this year, a national championship was an attainable goal for Arizona State baseball heading into the season opener.
But times have dramatically changed since then-junior left-handed pitcher Justin Fall threw out the first pitch of the season on February 14 against Villanova. In nine months time, the COVID-19 pandemic dashed ASU’s title hopes and a shortened five-round MLB Draft took five of the Sun Devils best players, including Spencer Torkelson – who went No. 1 overall in June.
With fall practices in full swing for head coach Tracy Smith and his players, it lends itself a very thought-provoking question about the state of the program entering the 2021 season.
How does the team fill the shoes of four key starters offensively and defensively?
“I think we’re going to be a different team,” Smith said, who’s entering his seventh season with the Sun Devils. “We don’t have the Torkelsons of the world that are going to hit 25 [home runs]. I think we’re going to be a more balanced team top to bottom.
“You’re never going to replace those types of guys but I don’t feel like you have to replace [them]. You can still create a new identity with a new skill set. I think we’ve done that. It’s going to be a different style of how we approach our offense this year than we did in the past.”
Hitting coach Michael Earley said that he has kept it honest with the players, telling them he doesn’t think a player will hit 20 home runs this season but that it won’t detract from how effective the offense can be.
“Our motto is that we are going to throw jabs, jabs, jabs and then we’ll throw those knockout punches when they come,” Earley said. “The guys have been super bought in. We’re going to base hit people. I think we’ll hit for power in a different way. Doubles and triples. We’ll pop some here and there and maybe a guy comes out and surprises us.
With the 10th-ranked recruiting class, according to Collegiate Baseball, as well as upperclassmen transfers Conor Davis (Auburn), Allbry Major (Xavier) and junior college transfer Joe Lampe (Santa Rosa Junior College), Smith and associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Ben Greenspan are excited about some of the new guys already competing for starting spots.
“I really like the group,” Greenspan said. “It’s going to be one of those groups that over time you are going to look back and say ‘Alright, that’s a really good class’….I could see a couple freshmen this year getting limited reps and blossoming into really good players in the future.”
Some of the players that have received praise from the coaches so far are infielders Hunter Haas (fifth overall prospect in Arizona by Perfect Game), Jack Moss (second overall prospect in Colorado) and Ethan Long (first overall prospect in Arizona).
Davis, who spent the past four seasons at Auburn and was a career .287 hitter with 14 home runs, figures to step in at first base and is already becoming a vocal leader in a new clubhouse.
“It’s a unique ability for someone to blend in so quickly and you can tell he is a mature kid,” Smith said. “The on-field stuff is certainly a welcome addition but what I mean by the ability to blend so quickly is I’ve not seen a guy come into a program [who was previously] in a pretty good culture and pretty established and just fit in and not miss a beat.
“He’s going to give us contributions certainly in the lineup but also is going to be able to supply some of the leadership qualities and experience that we lost in great numbers with some of those guys last year.”
Davis will be part of an infield that will have a different look with Torkelson, former third baseman Gage Workman and former shortstop Alika Williams off to the majors.
The departures also mean it’s Drew Swift’s turn to lead the infield as the lone starter from last season.
One of the best gloves in the conference, the redshirt junior has moved from second base to shortstop. ASU coaches raved Monday about his leadership on the diamond.
“The influence that he has had on our team has been beyond anything I’ve ever seen in college baseball,” Smith said. “He has embraced his role as a veteran on this team. You saw his play through 17 games. He made a huge jump and was playing at a high level. In fact, he’s better than he was last season.
“He literally is like another coach on the field. He’s helping, teaching the young guys that surround him. He’s been a tremendous influence.”
While there will be several position battles to look out for as the fall season progresses, it’s still early for the coaches to make conclusions. But with many new weapons at ASU’s disposal, they still have high expectations for an offense that could do some damage once again, even without the familiar names from the past couple of seasons.
“As long as we don’t get outside ourselves and stay with who we are, we are going to be pretty relentless one through nine,” Earley said.
