For the fourth time in six games, Owen Stevenson made the long jog from the bullpen across the outfield to the mound late in a game with Arizona State clutching a lead. He worked through his warm-up pitches with a brief windup before throwing his final few from the stretch. He commanded quiet confidence throughout the infield and into his own team’s dugout, one that had been cultivated all season long. He worked his way through a two-hit ninth inning, not perfect but still in control, en route to another save and another Sun Devil win, this time tying the bow on a remarkable comeback at GCU. Stevenson turned and greeted his catcher with a wide grin, the face of a man hitting his stride in a role he didn’t know he’d have with this team.
Just two weeks earlier, his head coach had declined to specifically name a closer, saying that the committee that resided in the right field bullpen was one that allowed him to pick and choose matchups as he saw fit. Since then, Stevenson has primarily recorded the game’s final outs, and ASU is better for it. He’s thrown 32 total innings for the Sun Devils, 11 of which have come in save situations, where he’s 4-4 in putting the nail in the coffin. As a spot starter during the first few weeks of the season, he would run into trouble in the middle innings seeing hitters for a second time. Now hitters aren’t able to do their homework on him in this brief sample size. It’s made him lethal.
Stevenson’s role is one that has been molded like a damp ball of clay throughout this season. He’s a starter by trade, was a Friday starter during his sophomore season at San Francisco, and figured he’d be getting the ball to start games when he transferred to Arizona State. “I’ve started my whole life, so that’s just what I’m used to,” Stevenson said following another impressive showing out of the bullpen earlier in the season. “But I’m too invested in this team winning and how exactly I can help that to care about where my role is. As long as I have the ball in my hand when Willie thinks is best, I’m happy, and I’m going to compete.”
This attitude is one that’s reflected by the head coach. There can be no egos on a pitching staff with this kind of depth, one that features a number of arms in roles they may not be used to. The robust transfer portal haul of the last offseason has been an insurance policy; Willie Bloomquist would rather worry about who has earned innings and where than worry about how he will possibly fill up a weekend of 27 innings. He’s had to shuffle the deck a lot this year and knows he has the personnel to do it.
“I don’t care if you’re getting the first 12 outs or the last three or anything in between,” Blomquist said flatly last week. “We have out getters. There are guys who I know can start but may be better options for us in the pen. And they know that.”
There are still remnants of his natural ability as a starter. Bloomquist doesn’t like to bring Stevenson in the middle of an inning with men on base. The clean slate of a fresh inning closely mimics starting a game, which helps the mental adjustment of taking on a bullpen role more than anything else. Creating a smooth landing for the right-hander has allowed him to flourish in the eighth and ninth as the season hits the home stretch.
Stevenson has said all the right things about his ever-evolving relief role since day one, even when he may have preferred to be starting, but it’s clear that the back-end role is growing on the right-hander. Closers typically have very distinct personalities. They are often intense, entering the jarring serenade of heavy metal with a withering grimace pasted on their countenance. Fueled by characters akin to that of Rick Vaughn in Major League, the closer has come to represent a psychopathic role that can only be assumed by the type of pitcher that downs a red bull and rips a smelling salt before entering the game. Stevenson is the opposite. He can be found calmly rolling out, chatting up teammates before a big game as though it’s a fall practice.
“My personality doesn’t change much. Even when I was starting,” Stevenson said. “One thing my teammates know about me is I’m always going to be the same guy.”
Even upon entering the game in the eighth or ninth inning, Stevenson’s presence is light. His soft grin is ever present as he reaches the infield dirt and slows to a stride before taking the ball from Bloomquist and receiving encouraging taps from each infielder before their brief meeting is adjourned. Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers blasts through the Phoenix Muni speakers as he warms up, enticing rhythmic sways from his teammates prior to the game’s most decisive moments. A moment that is inherently stressful and tense is allowed to be zen. The team takes on the personality of its stopper in these moments, and in the case of Stevenson, it’s one that brings the temperature down considerably.
There’s a tangible reason he’s also the best option as a closer for this team. Stevenson throws gas. Plain and simple, full stop. He throws cheddar. On a staff with plenty of hard throwers, he consistently peaks the radar guns at Phoenix Municipal stadium. His fastball has been up to a team high 97 mph this spring and typically sits around 94-95. As a starter, Stevenson couldn’t afford to let it loose with the fastball each time he threw it. He had to budget his physicality for the taxing duration of a 75+ pitch outing that would feature the same hitters two or three times through. As the closer, “I can really reach back and let it eat,” he chuckled.
He credits the increase in velocity to the strength and throwing program at ASU. He’s always had a naturally gifted arm, but recent investment in his holistic physical development has yielded the eyebrow-raising numbers that have scouts murmuring.
“I’ve been seeing a slow increase in velocity over the past few years, but since I got here, it’s been a really noticeable jump,” Stevenson explained. “I really dedicated myself to putting in the time in the weight room and my throwing program. It’s been fun to see the results. Throwing hard is fun.”
In 2022, Bloomquist aged ten years in one season trying to identify a reliable path to the ninth inning that never truly materialized. Fast forward a year later, and like many other ailments that played ball and chain during his first season at the helm, the back end of the bullpen has been remedied. During the past month or so, one that’s been incredibly fruitful for ASU, the ballgame's final nine or fewer outs have been generally deserved for Stevenson and set-up man Blake Pivaroff.
Pivaroff was a two-way player who transitioned to pitcher only this season, and like Stevenson, his velocity and the arsenal of throws overall have been much improved. Both right-handers throw gas and have settled in comfortably with their roles in the pen. There was a third stepping stone involved, with Jesse Wainscott having taken the lion’s share of consequential sixth and or seventh-inning work. But Wainscott is now out of the picture after an unfortunate fall from a scooter near campus left him with a broken collarbone. The accident highlights the importance of the pitching staff’s depth. Even when injuries don’t happen on the field, the continuity of a group can be tested.
“I just think in the bullpen, we have a ton of confidence in each other right now,” Stevenson said. “The vibes are great out there. As pitchers, we do a pretty individual job, but it’s always good to have that cohesive feeling in a group like this one has.”
The Sun Devils have grand plans later this spring. From its skipper on down, the whole team has channeled their inner Kobe Bryant 'job not finished' attitude as the wins continue to pile up. Stevenson is no different, but his candid personality allows him to verbalize the natural anticipation that he and everyone in that clubhouse must feel as the calendar barrels toward a decisive May. After all, Stevenson’s new role means he’ll more than likely be on the bump for those big outs if they do happen.
“The ultimate goal for this team is to host a regional, make it to a super regional, and make it to Omaha,” Stevenson said. “So yeah, obviously, I’d love to be on the mound closing those games, and I have thought about it. But I think it’s important to treat every game like they are those games because we’re playing really important games.”
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