1. Sun Devils optimistic about team chemistry: Fresh off of back-to-back frustrating, sub-.500 seasons, several players mentioned the cohesion of the locker room as an apparent strength of this year’s team.
According to sophomore pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi, some of the weaknesses of teams past, such as selfishness and poor attitudes, have been weeded out of the program for the 2019 campaign.
“The way we turn it around basically is just getting rid of people, so-called ‘cancers,’” he said. “I think we have a pretty small team but the group is really close.”
As a result, players spoke highly of the locker room atmosphere. According to junior pitcher Alec Marsh, that “he’s never felt closer with a group of guys” in his life.
“I’d do anything for anybody on this team,” Marsh said. “I couldn’t say that the last two years. And I think that’s huge on and off the field.”
“What needed to be changed is changed,” junior Carter Aldrete added. “I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
2. On the hot seat, Tracy Smith not concerned with job security: Smith made it clear in his comments Monday that his focus entering this season is not on his own job security, but on the success of his team and the execution of his long-term plan for the program.
Having received a “vote of confidence” from athletic director Ray Anderson during the offseason, Smith mentioned that, in his eyes, “being employed or not” shouldn’t be the motivation “if you get into this profession.”
“You have a plan, you execute that plan,” Smith said. “When you execute that plan, there’s going to be tough times, there’s going to be good times… I don’t really sit around and think about that. So, I guess if your question is, ‘Do I fear losing my job?’ Absolutely not.”
Multiple Sun Devils, including junior Carter Aldrete, expressed their support of Smith when asked about the head coach’s job security.
“Everyone knows Skip’s on the hot seat, and we know it, too,” Aldrete said. “But we ride with Skip, and until the day he lives this program we’re going to ride with Skip.”
3. Sun Devils getting prepared for moved-in fences
This time last year, visitors walking into Phoenix Municipal Stadium saw two fences. One was behind the warning track, the same one in place for years. The second sat deep in the outfield, marking where ASU’s fences would move to in 2019.
Walking in for Monday’s media day, the former had been removed, replaced with moved-in fences and outfield bullpens.
The move changes the complexity to what used to be one of college baseball’s deepest parks. The dimensions a year ago were 345-390-410-390-345. After the move, they sit at 333-373-390-373-334.
Perhaps the most excited about the change is ASU sophomore slugger Spencer Torkelson, who in his freshman season broke the ASU freshman record and led the nation with 25 home runs.
“I love it,” Torkelson said. “I kind of feel bad for our pitchers now because they’re going to give up some bombs. The fences, I didn’t think they were that far last year but I guess they were.”
Some of the pitchers didn’t share Torkelson’s excitement but pitchers and outfielders alike admitted that the fences won’t impact what they do much.
4. ASU enjoying benefits of revamped facilities: As part of the long offseason, ASU made a couple of significant changes to Phoenix Municipal Stadium, most notably with its brand-new hitting facility. The structure, placed in right field at the Sun Devils’ home ballpark, features three full-length batting cages, a short cage, air-conditioning, and music.
The hope, for one, is that the new facility will make the ballpark a place ASU players frequently want to visit and make part of their daily workout routine.
“For us, I feel like the development standpoint, when guys show up to the yard, to be able to work out in a facility like that is really unique,” ASU hitting coach Ben Greenspan said. “The time away from (coaches) is when that will be utilized the most, quite honestly.”
“We want to create that culture of guys who show up and hit on their own,” he added.”
Greenspan added that he expects the hitting facility to also be a major recruiting tool in classes to come.
“It’s been great,” he said. “We’ve been talking about it with recruits for a long time, but to actually have it and to walk a recruit through it is really nice.”
5. Pitching staff bolstered with newcomers
After a disappointing 2019 campaign that saw ASU’s starting pitchers rotate through nearly every week, a deep recruiting class leaves ASU with options, albeit young options, on the mound.
“It’s nice to have competition,” ASU pitching coach Mike Cather said. “RJ Dabovich, he was a huge pickup for us. He has electric stuff. We heard he had a fastball and could flash a changeup, the breaking ball wasn’t there -- he really showed he could throw the breaking ball in the fall.”
Cather praised Dabovich the most. A junior college transfer, the sophomore will likely grab a weekend starting spot. Sophomore pitcher Boyd Vander Kooi noted how improved ASU’s pitching velocity is, admitting it’s probably between Dabovich and freshman Blake Burzell for who throws the hardest.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound Burzell, who says he last clocked in at 97 MPH, is the Devils’ likely closer.
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that I’ll be closer just to start with but they said if I do well and I can throw my pitches for strikes that they might throw me in as a starter,” Burzell said. “I’m just here to do what role they give me.”
Other names to look for are Chas Sagedahl and Erik Tolman, two lefties that have impressed their coaches and teammates alike in a very short amount of time. Cather said that the two will compete for a weekday starting spot early on.
“Tolman, he’s legit,” Vander Kooi said. “We have some really good guys.”
6. Marsh, Aldrete handling leadership responsibilities: With just one true senior on ASU’s roster, the onus has fallen on several juniors to be the experienced leaders the Sun Devils need to be successful, especially with one of the nation’s youngest teams.
Specifically, as was made clear Monday, Alec Marsh and Carter Aldrete have been the guys to fill those roles.
“Me and him have been here through everything,” Marsh said. “He takes care of position players, I take care of the pitchers, just keeping everybody in check. It’s been easy because everybody’s on the same page, everybody has the same goal, and I think it’s really important that you have those leadership guys because it puts everybody in the right direction.”
Marsh mentioned that quality leadership was something missing early in his career at ASU. According to Marsh, his aim was to follow the example of former ASU pitcher Eli Lingos in terms of being a quality leader.
“I felt like I didn’t have that my freshman year,” he added. “So I’m trying to step up. I kind of took after Eli Lingos, he helped me a lot last year, getting me ready for this role. I think it’s very important.”
Aldrete added that, as a leader, he’s taken on the role of mediator between the players and the coaching staff, with hopes of improving communication among the team.
“Every team issue, every conflict, it kind of goes through me,” he said. “I think we’ve been missing that in past years.”
7. Lyle Lin discusses coming back to school
Lyle Lin was roaming around an Arizona mall when he got a call from a Houston Astros’ area scout alerting the ASU junior catcher that the 2017 World Series Champion had selected him in the 29th-round of the MLB Draft.
The call was nice but there was no celebration. Lin kept shopping, he knew he was headed back to Arizona State.
His decision came after he and his advisor fielded calls from teams picking in the seventh-, eighth and ninth- and 10th-rounds of the draft. Lin had a number he wanted teams to match when offering him a signing.
The Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners made him offers much lower than what he was hoping for and when the Sun Devil told them, ‘Thanks but no thanks,’ they moved on.
To him, returning to school is an investment.
“I want to feel like I got 100 percent,” Lin said. “Last year I feel like I went down to the draft and it was like, ‘OK, come back to school. Get better.’ One more year, I’ll be more mature. I want to help the team turn around and for myself, individually, to be drafted.”
8. Projected starting lineup:
First baseman- Spencer Torkelson
Second baseman- Drew Swift
Shortstop- Alika Williams
Third baseman- Gage Workman
Left Fielder- Trevor Hauver
Center fielder- Hunter Bishop
Right fielder- Carter Aldrete
Catcher- Sam Ferri/Lyle Lin
Designated hitter- Lyle Lin/ Sam Ferri (Whoever isn’t catching will likely DH)
Projected Rotation:
Friday starter: Alec Marsh
Saturday starter: RJ Dabovich
Sunday starter: Boyd Vander Kooi
Possible weekday starters: Brady Corrigan, Erik Tolman, Chas Sagedahl
Setup guys: Brady Corrigan, Colby Davis, Sam Romero
Closer: Blake Burzell
Jordan Kaye and Jeff Griffith contributed to this report
