PHOENIX – Hunter Jump probably didn’t mean for Arizona State coach Tracy Smith to overhear his conversation with freshman pitcher Drake Davis at practice earlier this week.
Jump, a freshman outfielder who had been chained to the bench for most of the season, was razzing Davis about ASU’s pitching struggles and brazenly talking up his own right arm. Jump claimed that even he, a natural infielder, could reach between 85-87 miles-per-hour on the radar gun.
Smith was loitering within earshot of Jump’s babble. He took the claim as truth. So, the Sun Devils skipper approached his seldom-used freshman (Jump had accrued just 27 at-bats in ASU’s first 36 games) with a proposition: If Jump could hurl a pitch at least 86 miles-per-hour, he would start in one of ASU’s upcoming games against Utah. If not, he’d be left off the roster for the series.
Jump obliged. A deal was struck.
Some context: While other ASU freshmen have settled into the starting lineup this spring, Jump – a 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game high school All-American Honorable Mention – has often been left on the shelf. Last weekend was a low point when he was told he wouldn’t be traveling with the team to its three-game series at Stanford.
The lack of playing time hadn’t been sitting well with Jump. Smith could sense a bit of bitterness in his demeanor when the squad returned from Palo Alto, a sharper edge to his game that hadn’t been there before. It was the reaction an old-school coach like Smith loved to see.
So impressed was Smith with Jump’s subsequent week of practice that, prior to making the wager, he had already decided to start him against the Utes. The bet served as Jump’s chance to confirm a spot in the lineup. Only, Jump was unaware of Smith’s future plan. To him, the gamble was a make-or-break moment.
When asked on Saturday if he thought his coach was bluffing, Jump responded truthfully: “I think he’s a man of his word.”
Thus, the show began. Curious eyes watched Jump walk his 5-foot-11, 190-pound frame up the mound after the day’s practice. Though he had been a part-time pitcher in his senior year of high school baseball at Aliso Niguel High, in the southern neighborhoods of Orange County, it had been a few months since Jump had let one fly from the rubber. He was only pretty sure he could actually do it.
“I was a little nervous at the beginning,” he admitted. “I had a feeling I could probably do it.”
His first three tries were too slow. One curl-hopped into the dirt in front of the plate. But by pitch number four, the rust had been knocked off. He unleashed an 87 miles-per-hour stinger over the plate.
Sophomore reliever Chaz Montoya had the same reaction as many others who were watching: disbelief.
“At least he doesn’t have to chill now on the bench” Montoya joked when asked about it on Saturday, fully aware of the playing-time reward Jump had won.
When Sam Romero delivered the first pitch of Saturday night’s game days later, Hunter Jump was standing in left field, his name written into the seven-spot on the lineup card as promised. The freshman went to work too, collecting three base hits and 2 RBIs in his first start as a fielder (he had been a designated hitter on four occasions earlier in the season).
Jump raked again in a Sunday encore as ASU’s left fielder, going 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs to help the Sun Devils complete a sweep of the Utes. By weekend’s end, he had raised his batting average to .371, a boost of over 100 points.
“I try to keep the same approach, I think I’m just seeing the ball really well this weekend,” he said on Sunday, sitting alongside two of ASU’s best players, senior Eli Lingos and freshman Spencer Torkelson, in a postgame press conference. After a career-high weekend, it was a seat he deserved.
Even before his breakthrough against the Utes, Smith had seen improvements in Jump’s game during the past week of practice. In live batting practice drills and defensive reps in the corner outfield spot, the freshman had finally begun to look like a D-I starter. It’s no coincidence his sudden improvements appeared after he was left at home the weekend before.
“That hit me pretty hard,” he said of his exclusion from the Stanford trip.
The way he saw it, he had two options: Sit at home and sulk or rise to the challenge. He picked the latter, inhabiting the batting cages all week instead. It carried over to what he described as a “great” week of practice as well. He successfully passed Smith’s real challenge. The throwing contest was just a superfluous test of Jump’s mettle.
“He thinks in his mind he earned a start with that,” Smith said on Saturday of the mid-week bet, “but I was going to start him anyway.”
Smith has been looking for a consistent starter in left field all season, a spot the coach said has been “up in the air” since opening day. Jump became the fifth different player to man the position this year. Given the results, he might stay there for a while.
“(He) played with a little chip on his shoulder, a little edge,” Smith said.
“If you can produce, you’ll play.”
This weekend was just the first big step forward for Jump. He still has endless room for growth. On Sunday, for example, he smoked a line drive triple into the right-field corner that scored a pair of runs. But after sliding into the bag, he immediately looked down to begin patting the dirt off his pants; it made him completely oblivious to the missed cutoff throw that went all the way to the backstop, a mistake that would have allowed him to score with ease.
During an ensuing mound visit, Smith called Jump to the top step of the dugout and chastised him for the lack of awareness. Smith described the chat as a learning moment. The best part was, it didn’t derail his day; Jump went on to collect two more hits and one run-saving diving catch in the outfield in the top of the fifth.
“He seized his opportunity and produced for us this weekend,” Smith said. “It’s two baseball games but, you know what, I loved what I saw out of him. He gave us a spark this weekend. The thing that (people) don’t see [that he did] to put himself in this position is what I love even more.”
Before exiting the press room on Sunday, Jump was asked one last question about his arm: Would he be willing to pitch in a real game? He laughed before answering.
“I think they were talking about it in the summer if I ever wanted to. But, no, not really,” he said. “Not right now.”
Torkelson jumped in on the response too. ASU has enough pitchers as it is, he reasoned, before turning to Jump with a simple request: “Just keep hitting.”
