As the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic tore the 2020 season apart; it also set the stage for an unusual amount of roster depth in 2021. Despite the most recent MLB Draft being shortened to five rounds, many of the biggest bats in the Sun Devil lineup were selected – including No. 1 overall pick Spencer Torkelson –, leaving Arizona State searching for offensive answers heading into the upcoming season.

Unlike the offense, Arizona State’s pitching staff, returns much of the same arm talent it had in 2020. With experience and familiarity, the Sun Devil coaching staff has a high comfort level on the mound heading into the new season.

“When you look at the staff; I think there’s been a lot of different looks,” associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Ben Greenspan told reporters Tuesday. “I just think there are a lot of options because of the depth of the pitching staff, but obviously, it starts with the guys that are starting the games.

“Pitching is the clear strength of our team,” Greenspan noted.

While the offense searches for answers and perhaps looks in the direction of contact and small-ball, the pitching staff is seemingly more equipped to carry ASU on the diamond. The returning talent presents head coach Tracy Smith with a variety of options for starters throughout the week, even if Smith already has penciled in Cooper Benson as the Friday night starter heading into the year.

“We’ve got some really good arms,” Smith said. “As much as we lost from the offensive side last season… with the addition of some of the young arms, we’re going to have some depth there. That’s going to be – when you talk about the strength of our team and really how competitive it is to get on that dirt or on that mound, that’s going to be tough to get out there.

“We’ve got strike throwers, but we’ve also got strike throwers with good stuff. If you’re not in the zone, you’re probably not going to be pitching.”

During conversations with coaches from around the country, Greenspan said he failed to hear any of his peers talk poorly of their teams. With experienced rosters the norm rather than the exception, Arizona State’s pitching staff will challenge Smith, in his rotation decisions, a dilemma he’s excited to have.

“It’s going to be really, really competitive,” Smith said after all five Sun Devil arms, which started a game in the shortened 2020 season, returned to Tempe for another year. Aside from R.J. Dabovich, who came out of the bullpen for the Sun Devils last spring before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round, Arizona State returns every pitcher who recorded more than 11 innings of work the year prior. “I’m excited about that. I think it’s good. We’re probably in as good of shape as we’ve been on the mound since we got here.”

An offseason of improvement from redshirt freshman Cooper Benson, who posted a 3.60 ERA in four starts last year sets the left-hander to take the mound in Arizona State’s February 19 opener with San Jose State, and continue with Friday starts in the weeks to follow. Still, others with Friday night starting experience remain on the roster, giving Smith the ever-important contingency plans.

In the bullpen, the NCAA’s expanded rosters allow Smith and the ASU staff the luxury to experiment. Smith told reporters the Sun Devils would “let it play out” in regard to the bullpen’s development, yet mentioned Justin Fall, Ethan Long and Cam Dennie as potential contributors to expect things from.

“It’s nice to have those options at the back end,” Smith said, once again noting that while he’s confident in the arms available to him, figuring out how the pieces fit throughout each week will be a process. “Justin has not pitched for us in that role yet when it mattered. So, we need to see if he can do that. Ethan Long has not pitched one inning in college yet, so we don’t really know how he’s going to respond.”

The closer spot for the Sun Devils was occupied by Dabovich before his departure. Early in 2021, a plethora of faces could see chances to get the final three outs for the Sun Devils as Smith works through his bullpen rotation throughout the year.

“We were just commenting like ‘isn’t it nice to have the luxury as you’re trying to groom some of those guys for the quote-unquote closers role that you’ve got dependable guys that you can throw back there as the other guys gain experience and learn,” said Smith after Dabovich was the lone Sun Devil to earn a save in 2020. “I can’t sit here today and tell you if we’re going to be a closer-by-committee or if we are going to have an actual closer, but I can tell you we do have the ability and roster to do both.”

As Arizona State rounds out its final preseason preparations, Smith will enter the 202 campaign with an open mind willing to change his pitching rotation, which may have more depth than any other season of his Tempe tenure.

“We have ideas of where guys are going to be slotted going in, but it isn’t about what I think,” Smith said. “It isn’t about what I think a guy will do; it’s about what they actually do. We say it. ‘They are going to make the lineup. We aren’t.’ So, we’re going to let our closer reveal themselves.”