Newcomers eager to make an impact for ASU baseball

Following a 2022 season in which nearly everything that could go wrong did for the maroon and gold, Arizona State is nearing the beginning of the 2023 campaign with plenty of new faces and attitudes among the team. Widely regarded as one of the nation’s flagship college baseball programs, a year like last was simply unbecoming of a school that claims five national championships for the fourth-most among division one. With a year of experience under his belt though, head coach and Sun Devil great Willie Bloomquist is ready to turn the page.

“Every day was new last year,” Bloomquist said. “It was the first time I had experienced everything last year. I’ve been through it once now and kinda got an idea of what to expect.”

Having at least some foresight on the season has to be a positive for a team that had to traverse the dangerous waters of unexpectedness. Injuries piled on the first-year head coach for much of 2022, and without the suitable depth to heal the wounds, the Sun Devils bled out to a sub-.500 record for the third time since the turn of the century.

“Last year, we weren’t equipped to weather that storm very well,” Bloomquist said of his depleted 2022 team. “Our situation this year is we have guys that are capable of playing should somebody go down.”

It’s hard to replenish a team that lost two of its weekend starters in, Adam Tulloch and Kyle Luckham, alongside multiple huge bats in the lineup, such as Joe Lampe, Sean McLain, and Conor Davis. It’s these losses that forced Willie Bloomquist to jump right into the transfer portal in his first real chance to sink or swim in the open waters. While he wasn’t Michael Phelps out there, Bloomquist put himself and the Sun Devils ahead of the pack early and often.

“In the recruiting process, getting to know them on a personal level was different than the hand you’re dealt with when I got here,” Bloomquist said. “There are a lot of new faces, and that’s partly by design and partly out of necessity.”

Bloomquist’s approach to filling each position of need one at a time certainly paid off. With pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Sam Peraza by his side and the overarching brand that is Arizona State Baseball, the Sun Devils secured the No. 2 transfer class in the country, according to Baseball America. They especially went to work on the mound, having to improve a pitching staff that didn’t see a single player register a sub-4 ERA a year ago.

Coming in with Bloomquist, Peraza had more than a few headaches last year with his guys, as ASU ranked at the bottom of the Pac-12 in runs and hits allowed, adding up to a staggering 6.76 ERA. To fix the team’s pitching woes, a pair of high-profile transfers come from power conferences where every game is a big game. Left-hander Ross Dunn is the piece de resistance among the fresh arms in town. While he will begin the year slowly following what Sam Peraza called a minor procedure, Dunn showcased great potential at Florida State and with Team USA’s collegiate squad over the summer, where he sat between 91-93 mph with a wipeout slider at a hard-to-hit arm slot.

“He went out and pitched with Team USA and won a gold medal. Peraza said of Dunn. “He’s a proven arm.”

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Khristian Curtis joins the Sun Devil rotation, having thrown 19 innings for Texas A&M last year, serving as a midweek arm on a team that went to the College World Series. While fighting off injuries throughout much of his young career, Peraza has tabbed Curtis to be the Saturday starter. When he’s on the mound, the 6-foot-5 right-hander rides a fastball that tops out at 94 mph to open the door for a devastating changeup, part of a four-pitch arsenal that Curtis feels he is executing at a high level at this time.

“It feels better than ever,” Curtis said. “Everything’s coming out really well. I’m 100 percent healthy. I feel great and excited.”

“We’re excited about him,” Peraza said.

The optimism isn’t limited to the two frontline starters. Unlike last year’s staff, Bloomquist and Peraza raved about this club’s depth in the pitching rotation, even with presumed Sunday starter Tyler Meyer out for the season with a labrum injury.

“Tyler’s a big blow, but even with him being down, I still feel we have enough depth to be in a much better place for success,” Bloomquist said.

“This year, we have the guys that have experienced success in their previous schools,” Peraza said. “We have more options. We can keep guys well-rested and see fresh arms. We have a lot more flexibility and a lot more guys who are proven and capable. When you have that type of flexibility, it makes you feel better than this time last year.”

With the Sunday and midweek rotation spots seemingly up for grabs, a handful of Sun Devils has put their name in the hat.

“We have about three or four guys that are in that slot,” Peraza said. “Whoever doesn’t win that spot is going to come out of the bullpen. We have a lot more flexibility, guys that are proven and capable.”

Among the contenders, junior transfer Timmy Manning and his nasty curveball will certainly be at the forefront of that discussion, alongside Owen Stevenson’s 96 mph fastball. Josh Hansell also made an impression on the staff with a quality fall campaign, and a recovering Austin Humphries is also expected to compete for the rotation when he returns from Tommy John surgery.

Bridging the gap from start to finish on the mound ultimately was the Sun Devils’ downfall in 2022. Getting the ball to Brock Peery was a tall task throughout the spring, but the junior right-hander was able to slam the door shut when he got ahold of the knob, notching a Pac-12-best 10 saves. Christian Bodlovich also returns as the primary fireman, having put together a passable 4.78 ERA while being pushed to multiple innings in a handful of appearances. Through it all, he still managed an impressive 25:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Behind these returners is where the question marks lie.

“We got a couple of roles still up in the air,” Peraza said. “Bod puts out the fire; Brock is competing for the closing role with a couple of other guys. Once we establish who our closer will be, whether it's Brock or Nolan Lebamoff, they’ll serve as a 7th and 8th inning bridge.”

A graduate transfer from Valparaiso, Lebamoff threw over 28 innings last season and was impressive in his command, allowing just ten walks. His work as a bullpen guy who can take two innings will be valuable. Ryan Hanks and his fearless mentality will earn him some innings, too, with the leeway level on Blake Pivaroff unknown at this point.

Despite playing to a record of 26-32, Arizona State swung the bats with the best teams of the Pac-12 last year. While many key pieces like Joe Lampe, Sean McLain, Nate Baez, and Conor Davis are all off to pro ball, coach Bloomquist doesn’t expect the team to take any sort of step back with the sticks.

“We got some firepower,” Bloomquist said. “It’s not like we’re taking a big step back, in my opinion.”

While the 2022 Sun Devils lived and died by the home run, Bloomquist expects the team to take a more contact-first approach this season, with more of an emphasis on executing quality at-bats to get run-scoring opportunities.

“The big emphasis right now is baserunners,” Bloomquist said. “Small ball is not our style, but we are gonna have to execute and situationally hit. I think we’re a better contact-hitting team.”

After an explosive freshman season that saw him shoot up draft boards, junior slugger Ethan Long had an up-and-down sophomore campaign, where he batted .294 in just 42 games. Despite battling through injury all year, Long was still selected with the last pick of the 2022 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. Even with the call to the pros, Long put them on hold to finish what he started at ASU.

“Last year was tough; pretty much hurt the whole year,” Long said. “Outside of baseball, it was a really hard year. That was the reason I wanted to come back and accomplish the goals I set.”

Now fully healthy and transitioning to first base, Long figures to be the big bat in the lineup that teams gameplan around. As the best pure hitter on the team, Long can extend at-bats for his pitch, which he can rope into the outfield for a base knock or send into orbit over East Van Buren Street in left field.

Preceding Long in the order will likely be key transfer Luke Keaschall, who comes to Tempe by way of San Francisco. As a two-year producer, Keaschall was a standout at the top of the order against real competition in the WCC, leading the league in stolen bases and finishing fourth in doubles. His contact-first approach and high-motor on the basepaths fit right into the style of play that made coach Bloomquist beloved in Tempe.

“We’re gonna do a lot of damage offensively, and I think it’s gonna be our strongest part of the game,” Keaschall said.

Long and Keaschall are both making the move from the left side of the infield to the right, with Keaschall getting most of his opportunities at second base to go next to Long’s aforementioned reps at first. On the other side of second, the picture becomes a little less clear. Freshman Luke Hill has been impressive with the glove at shortstop in intra-squad scrimmages, according to Keaschall, and with some sneaky pop in his bat could make himself a force down in the order. Third base is also unclear at this point, but 2022 Hawaii Gatorade Player of The Year Nu’u Contrades swings the bat for contact and power, while Jacob Tobias, a freshman All-American from last season, could see some time in the field when he isn’t the team’s designated hitter.

“There were times last year where we didn’t have enough bodies to throw out in the infield,” Bloomquist said. “We weren’t gonna have that same problem this year. Jonny Weaver, Willie Cano, Drake Varnado, we have options that we didn’t have last year.”

“There’s no final say on whose playing where in the infield,” Keaschall said. “The overall foundation of our team is competitiveness, and that’s the best part of what we have going.”

In Phoenix Muni’s vast outfield, two positions seem solidified. Highly-touted freshman Isaiah Jackson has a sweet lefty swing with some big-time power, which vaulted him to the No. 2 ranking of Arizona recruits in the class of 2022 on Perfect Game. Having been drafted out of high school in the 18th round by the Astros, Jackson’s offensive ceiling is sky-high with plenty of raw tools. Working alongside him in center seems to have Nick McLain’s name written on it. The younger brother of former Sun Devil Sean, Nick didn’t appear in any games last season but is a former nationally-ranked outfielder by MLB as a solid defender with a high floor. He hits for power in the box and loves pulling the ball down the right-field line. The last outfield spot is up for grabs, with Kien Vu and Wyatt Crenshaw likely going for the job.

Last year’s revelation came in Ryan Campos, who returns in better shape this season. After taking over midseason behind the plate, Campos exploded for ASU and batted a fantastic .357 average, the eighth-highest in a single season by a Sun Devil. Campos’s versatility allows him to see opportunities at designated hitter and outfield, anything to keep his bat in the lineup, according to Bloomquist.

While bringing in all of these new players, meshing them together has come much quicker than anticipated for the second-year head coach and his players.

“All the new guys, we all meshed well,” Ethan Long said, one of 12 returning players from last year. “It’s worked out really well.”

“I can’t think of a single guy in there I don’t enjoy spending time with,” Jacob Tobias said while looking like he dropped some serious weight.

“Everyone here wants to win,” Keaschall said. “That’s the common theme. We’re all on the same page.”

While only time will tell if these new faces take Arizona State to familiar places, the most common bonding point among a very diverse group is the will to win and remind the college baseball world what being a Sun Devil means.

“You’re playing for this team and the history of this place,” Bloomquist said. “To reemphasize the fact that every little thing you do is important, representing the program is important. On and off the field, you’re representing something greater than yourself.”

“This year feels different for sure,” Long said. “This year feels special.”

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