(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
Less than three weeks removed from Opening Day against San Diego State on Feb. 17, there is a palpable sense of optimism surrounding Arizona State Baseball as it embarks on its second campaign under head coach Willie Bloomquist.
Coming off a productive offseason — during which the Sun Devils added 33 newcomers to their roster — multiple players and coaches spoke to the media about positional depth, an impressive freshman class and more last Friday.
Infield depth a perceived strength ahead of season
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Bloomquist’s recruiting has been ASU’s infield. The current crop of infielders is almost entirely different from last year’s — eight of the 11 on this season’s roster are newcomers.
Why is this important?
Adding experienced transfers and talented freshmen to the already-seasoned duo of junior Ethan Long and sophomore Jacob Tobias will provide Bloomquist with more infield depth — a luxury he didn’t have in 2022.
“I hate to keep referring to last year, but you know, we had times last year where we just didn’t have enough bodies to throw out there in the infield,” Bloomquist said. “We weren’t going to have that same problem this year… It’s something that we wanted to do as a staff, get more athletic and more flexible, and be able to move guys around to different positions. And on paper, we’re able to do that.”
After last Friday’s media session, it appears that Nu’u Contrades and Luke Hill — two freshmen Bloomquist spoke highly of — will likely occupy the left side of the infield on Opening Day. Contrades and Hill, both top-20 prospects in their respective states according to Perfect Game, are expected to make an instant impact and see the field frequently this year.
While Bloomquist understands the freshmen infielders will inevitably experience growing pains, he now has the option to replace them if they begin to struggle, once again highlighting the depth acquired through the portal and recruiting.
“As a freshman, you’re going to have some freshman mistakes from time to time,” Bloomquist said. “In the essence of our infielders, when you look at Contrades and Luke Hill, we keep it very simple. Make the routine play, turn a double play. And if you can do that consistently and put together good at-bats, you’re going to play. If you can’t, then we have some older veteran guys Jonny Weaver, Willie Cano, they’re ready to play too.”
Added pitching coach Sam Peraza: “When it comes to our team, we have a chance to have a freshman at short and a freshman at third. So I think we have a good mix of older veteran guys that have done it and some young guys that can build the future.”
A key veteran added to the mix is junior infielder Luke Keaschall, who transferred to Tempe after spending the first two years of his career at San Francisco. Arguably the Sun Devils’ highest-touted newcomer this offseason, Keaschall said he spent most of the fall playing second, reiterating his head coach’s sentiment that nothing is set in stone and positions are always subject to change.
“I’ve gotten the most looks at second probably throughout all the fall,” Keaschall said. “But who knows what it’s going to look like throughout the year. I could be a second, I could be at short. I’ll probably say somewhere in the middle.”
Long is another Sun Devil who could move around the infield this spring. According to Bloomquist, the Gilbert, Ariz. native — ASU’s regular third baseman in 2022 — has been taking most of his reps at first. Long is open to the switch, explaining that he played first base in his youth.
“It was even easier for me to come back to first since I already had a little history with it,” Long said. “But yeah, comfortable with it, taking reps at first. I mean, anywhere they need me to play as long as I’m in the lineup, I’ll do whatever.”
Tyler Meyer out for season
On Friday, Peraza revealed that junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Meyer recently underwent labrum surgery and will miss the entire 2023 season as a result.
“Tyler had labrum surgery,” Peraza said. “So that happened this past weekend. That’s why he hasn’t been out there. So we wish him a good recovery and we’ll have him back next year. But he won’t be available to go.”
Meyer missed a small chunk of his outings last season due to shoulder discomfort that Bloomquist said he never truly recovered from, which led to his season-ending injury recently.
“[Losing] Tyler’s a big blow,” Bloomquist said. “We certainly didn’t want to lose him, but he was dealing with some stiffness last year throughout the year and it just never got better, to the point where we had to get something done with him unfortunately.”
One of the few efficient starters in last year’s rotation, Meyer enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign on the mound in 2022. Throwing the third-most innings on the team, Meyer accumulated a 5.54 earned run average and 54 strikeouts, the most of any returning pitcher on ASU’s roster.
While losing Meyer certainly hurts, Bloomquist believes the talented arms he acquired through the portal will help pick up the slack and improve the Sun Devils’ pitching staff.
“I think we have a lot more options this year,” Bloomquist said. “We’re confident with the guys we brought in. We feel that in the event that we had something extremely negative, like Tyler going down, we still are able to weather the storm a little bit.
“So we’re excited about Ross [Dunn], Khristian [Curtis], Owen Stevenson, Timmy Manning…. Even with him [Meyer] being down, I still feel we have enough depth to be in a much better place for success.”
Hill, Contrades, Jackson among freshmen looking to make an impact
While instantly improving ASU’s roster through the portal was a priority, Bloomquist and his staff faced another test during the offseason: establishing a bright future for Sun Devil Baseball.
So far, they’ve passed with flying colors.
ASU brought in the 34th-best 2023 recruiting class according to Perfect Game, its highest since 2019. And after Friday’s media availability, it appears the future could be impacting the present quicker than expected.
“There’s been some, I don’t want to say surprises because we knew they were going to come in and compete for playing time,” Bloomquist said. “Luke Hill, Nu’u Contrades, Isaiah Jackson, Kien Vu, Reece Beheler, those guys are chomping at the bit to get in the lineup and making it tough on us, which is exactly what we wanted.”
Amid a crowded battle to crack the lineup, it appears Isaiah Jackson, who is perhaps ASU’s highest-touted 2023 recruit, is a frontrunner to start in the outfield on Opening Day. Despite assuming a massive role in his first collegiate game, the Houston Astros’ 18th-round selection in 2022 said he’s willing to play wherever Bloomquist needs him to.
“Wherever coach wants me to play is where I’ll play,” Jackson said. “I think as of now I’ll be out in right field. (UCLA sophomore transfer) Nick McLain has definitely got that center-field spot locked in…. But I’ll do my role, what I can do.”
As mentioned earlier, Hill is a freshman who garnered a lot of praise from Bloomquist. But ASU’s head coach isn’t the only one impressed with the youngster’s skillset. Keaschall spoke on how Hill has progressed since joining the team, saying he has the chance to hit the ground running at the collegiate level.
“Luke Hill has made a lot of adjustments and gotten a lot better throughout this fall and spring, so looking for big steps out of him this year,” Keaschall said. “He looks like he’s gonna be playing a lot of short or wherever we’re gonna need him…. He’s made a lot of adjustments, he’s going to have a good freshman year I think.”
Regardless of the freshmen competing against one another for a spot in the lineup, Hill said the youngest Sun Devils are very close, something he hopes will carry over to future recruiting classes.
“We’re really close, I couldn’t be happier with a tighter bond,” Hill said. “We’re there every day at the dorm hanging out, and we hang out outside, we go eat after practice. It’s really good to have a close freshman class, build that foundation for the next years going forward.”
