When Nick McLain broke his hamate bone in his left hand just about a week before the season opener in February, the most prominent question was who would lead a replacement platoon alongside Isaiah Jackson and Will Rogers in the outfield. Wyatt Crenshaw was the first candidate to get a shot. He made sure he’d also be the last.
All Crenshaw has done in this opportunity is become one of Arizona State’s best and most consistent hitters over the season’s first month. He went from a cross your fingers piece of flex seal to an all-conference level mainstay. He has started all 20 games for the Sun Devils, hitting near the top of the order in nearly every one. Crenshaw is enjoying a .317 batting average, highlighted by four bombs and 16 RBIs. His bat-to-ball skills are one thing, but the power has been a separator. He’s not the biggest or strongest, but his homers leave no doubt when they leave his bat.
“No, I’m not surprised,” Willie Bloomquist said of Crenshaw when asked about his hot start earlier this season. “I’ve known the kid for a long time; he is a worker and a winner.”
It seems fitting that in a year that features a transfer portal haul with plenty of headline names, an addition that flew completely under the radar has been arguably the team’s most valuable asset at the dish and, frankly, saving grace in the absence of McLain. But the days without McLain are about to be over. Bloomquist has always emphasized his desire for players to make his job tough regarding lineup decisions. Crenshaw has done that and more; you can’t possibly take him out of the lineup. So who gets bumped, if anyone, when McLain is fully cleared later this week?
A lot of this will depend on the health of Ethan Long. We still don’t know exactly when his troublesome wrist will allow him to return to the lineup, although there will be more information soon. If he’s out for an extended period, it’s obviously a huge blow to this team, but it does simplify things for Bloomquist regarding the lineup shuffle a healthy Nick McLain presents. Move Crenshaw or Isaiah Jackson to left, stick McLain in his natural centerfield position, and have whoever isn’t in left playing right field. In this scenario, Will Rogers gets the DH slot more often than not, and Wlllie Cano gets bumped.
Cano has been playing well, however, but not quite well enough to unseat an infielder. This is where things start to become a headache and where I don’t particularly envy Bloomquist’s role in this shuffle. Two weeks ago, freshman third baseman Nu’u Contrades would have been on the chopping block. But his recent surge at the plate (two home runs, a double, and five RBIs in his last four games) has pretty much solidified his role, given the elite defense he provides at third base.
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When Ethan Long is back in the lineup, his bat will replace someone’s. Even if he can’t yet play in the field or doesn’t have a fit out there, he will be penciled in as DH when healthy. This is where Isaiah Jackson draws the short end of the stick. Jackson is incredibly talented, and no matter where he ends up in this lineup traffic jam, he will be a great Sun Devil. But as a true freshman, he’s struggled more than most people anticipated, myself included. He’s batting just .213, with an eyebrow-raising .653 OPS. For a five-tool player that has impressive power, the OPS should be closer to .900 than .600. He’s not leaving the yard as much as he wants to, and the gap-to-gap power hasn’t been there as much, either. Many of his early issues can be traced to plate discipline, which can also adversely affect a player’s OPS. Despite playing in all but one game for ASU this season, Jackson has drawn just three walks and has struck out 24 times. That’s a gap that simply must be closed for him to threaten any of the league’s premiere pitching staffs.
“We talked a little bit,” Bloomquist said of Jackson following his really rough series at Mississippi State. “We tweaked some mechanical things; usually, you don’t want to think about mechanics when you’re struggling, but we saw some things. He’s an incredible talent, and he will be a huge part of what we do this year and beyond.”
It’s far from panic time with Jackson, and a reduced role doesn’t mean he’d be relegated to one or two at-bats per series, but in this scenario, he may not be the everyday starter we’ve become accustomed to seeing thus far.
Finding diamonds in the rough, like a Division II transfer in Crenshaw, objectively improves your team. In the span of a month, he’s gone from a nice story getting to put on an ASU uniform to top of the lineup stud who will hear his name called in June. ASU is a better team because of him, and they’ll get even better at the plate with Nick McLain re-inserted. There are only nine spots in the batting order, however, and there will be too many mouths to feed in short order.
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