After losing five players to the MLB and plenty more to eligibility last season, Arizona State is ready to take on the Big 12 with a head of steam in its inaugural season. With the fall and winter offseason over and Opening Day just two weeks away, the players are hungry to start the season strong and successfully.

“I think we came together as a full family this year,” junior outfielder Isaiah Jackson said. “Everybody seemed like they were on the same page right away and we understood that we have a pretty good chance to do something special with the talent, resources, and coaches we have. I think everybody instantly had that ‘ready to go’ mentality.”

Jackson spent his undergraduate years as part of the rotating carousel of outfielders, but back-to-back All-Pac 12 Defensive teams have helped separate him as a premier outfielder for head coach Willie Bloomquist. While the defense was always there for the junior, he spent the past offseason tuning his offensive output.

“Before, I was just a lot of moving parts,” Jackson mentioned. “It was tough to repeat my swing when my body was feeling different every day, so my swing wasn’t as consistent. With the moves I’m doing now, I can repeat them every day, no matter what I’m feeling, and it’s led to consistency. Making those moving parts more simple and repeatable has got me where I want to be.”

The Sun Devils return three key players in the outfield: Jackson, junior Kien Vu, and redshirt sophomore Brandon Compton. With the addition of redshirt junior Jonathon Hernandez in the portal from UC Irvine, the four of them will give Bloomquist good problems to have when sending out the lineup card.

“I truly believe that we have the best outfield in the country,” Jackson pronounced. “Willie is going to have a tough time writing that starting lineup card because all four of us rake, and we’re good defensively. I don’t know how he’ll go about that, but I’m really happy with where we are and our depth at every position, and I’m excited for this year.”

The departure of key bats like catcher Ryan Campos and outfielder Nick McLain left spots open for the taking. The trio of Jackson, Vu, and Compton, along with senior first baseman Jacob Tobias, will likely be the main batters filling those roles. The returning Sun Devils, combined with the offseason additions, will give opposing pitchers nightmares up and down the lineup.

Sophomore right Derek Schaefer and sophomore infielder Camden Bates are the only two players on the roster that made the regional round of the 2024 College World Series, resulting in a lot of hunger in the rest of the team. Entering his third season, Vu is confident that this year’s squad will be the one to make it to Omaha.

“I think we have a good foundation,” Vu remarked. “We have a lot of returners as well as a bunch of new guys that bought in quickly to what we want to do. Outside of the Tennessee guys, every guy on our team missed out on making a regional last year, so I think everyone is just hungry for that. I’ve been here three years, and this is the team that’s gonna do it.”

Vu is coming off an All-American season after batting .413 but is looking past that at the bigger picture. As a leader on this team, he is more focused on bringing the team success, no matter what it looks like. Whether it’s his bat or his play in the outfield, Vu is honed in on seeing the final score with ASU on top.

“The best thing I can do for myself is just try to win every day,” Vu commented. “I think the way to success is not overcomplicating it and winning each pitch and at-bat. My season goal isn’t necessarily to hit .400 again, it’s to win baseball games, and I think that kind of success will come with that focus.”

With the portal additions and younger arms developing, the pitching staff this year is likely the best in Bloomquist’s four-year tenure. Vu and the rest of the batters certainly noticed once the fall ball rolled around, but it allowed them to compete at a higher level and come into the spring feeling more confident and prepared.

“It’s definitely harder than it has been the past few years,” Vu recognized. “We’re equally as deep in the pitching department as our offense, so it’s been really cool being challenged in that way. The past few falls we just coasted through, and this is the most I’ve ever struggled during the fall. It’s a huge learning opportunity, and I’m excited to see what the pitchers will do this year.”

One of the arms that will see the mound throughout weekends is junior Sean Fitzpatrick. He was one of the go-to guys out of the pen for Bloomquist after transferring from Arkansas last year, leading the team with 27 appearances and striking out 33 batters in 29 innings. Similar to how the batters played up to the competition, the players battling for pitches brought the best out of each other.

“We have a ton of great arms in there,” Fitzpatrick noted. “We compete hard against each other because we’re fighting for spots and innings, but at the end of the day, we’re still trying to make each other better in whatever way we can. I think our competition is great and healthy, so we’re going get better just from having each other there.”

Fitzpatrick is a junior and one of the older arms in the pen, but he has already stepped up to the challenge as a leader. With six freshman pitchers on the staff this year and plenty of sophomores, Fitzpatrick saw himself and the other upperclassmen as the calm in the storm, preparing the younger arms in a bullpen that can get chaotic at times in the regular season.

“Me and the older guys are going to have to help some guys figure things out,” Fitzpatrick voiced. “Sometimes it gets a little hectic in the pen, but that’s why I love it. We’re definitely going to have to work with the young guys a little bit, and we already have, but it’s definitely a learning experience in the bullpen.”

Junior infielder Nu’u Contrades hasn’t seen the field for nearly a year due to a back injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2024 season, and he is itching to get back on the field. With rehab last year taking a toll physically and mentally, Contrades devoted some of the offseason to getting his mind right, but his support system helped him tremendously in the process.

“I definitely have to get comfortable back playing the game,” Contrades expressed. “I try to play the game hard in every aspect, so just trusting myself that I can still play this game was a big thing for me. I feel like my coaches and teammates helped me get over that fairly quickly.”

Contrades is entering his third year with the team and has seen his team barely miss out on the NCAA tournament in the last two years. With the 2025 squad one of the deeper teams in recent memory, it is primed for a run in the postseason, as long as it takes the season day by day instead of looking too far ahead.

“The last two years, we missed out by just a couple of games,” Contrades recalled. “If we were able to look at the game at hand each day, we probably would have made it. This year, it’s important to take the season game by game and put our best foot forward.”

The Sun Devils are historically a successful program, but Bloomquist hasn’t been able to continue that. After not making the postseason in all three of his seasons as skipper, he, along with the rest of the team, is looking to put Arizona State back into the conversation of top teams in the country.

“I want to win a national championship, and I know the rest of the guys do, too,” Fitzpatrick expressed. “It’s been a while since we’ve even been to a regional, so that’s something we’re super hungry for, and we got the time to do it. Winning a national championship is something every kid dreams of, so that’s at the top of my list.”

Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!