The worry seemed to seep through the dark lenses of Arizona State head coach Tracy Smith’s black Adidas sunglasses. He started to talk about the Devils’ Sunday scrimmage, his words flowing with a hint of Déjà vu behind each syllable.
Could the Devils’ season again be defined by pitchers who can’t hit the strike zone? With every blown lead and poor outing, Smith seemed to beat the criticism into the ground a year ago, vigorous in his stance that things needed to improve.
Only they never did, in large part because ASU had no one to turn to, no rainy-day solutions that could cure an inefficient starter. So, the pitching woes marched on -- to the tune of another 23-win season and constant remarks by Smith that ASU was an arm or two away from a far different season.
That remark was debatable.
Regardless, the Sun Devil head coach seems more enthused with his pitching staff this go-around, despite the fact that it offers two fewer arms and five freshmen. In short: If things go south in terms of injuries or inconsistent performances, ASU doesn’t have a truckload of places to turn.
“We’re not as deep, maybe, as we want to be on the mound in an ideal world,” Smith said. “But we feel like the quality that we have through eight or nine guys is pretty good. I just wish that some of those other guys were a little further along, but they’re allowed to be a freshman. Some guys just aren’t ready yet.”
But that’s a down-the-road problem, one the Sun Devils don’t need to fixate their minds onto … yet. For now, ASU has its key pieces in place for the first week of the season when Notre Dame -- a team that went just 24-30 last season -- visits Tempe.
Smith confirmed this week that the Sun Devils will start junior Alec Marsh on Friday, sophomore Boyd Vander Kooi on Saturday and sophomore junior college transfer RJ Dabovich on Sunday, a trio of righties that boasts just 18 combined starts.
Thrust into an unlikely starting role, Marsh became the center of ASU’s control issues. The then-sophomore righty tallied 31 walks in 71 innings, forcing painstakingly long games that seemed to check even the most vibrant and eager players out
But the summer and fall provided him time for improvement. He boasted a 1.58 ERA and almost two strikeouts an inning in the Cape Cod League. He worked out with a few pros in his home state of Wisconsin. Upon his return to Tempe in the fall, too, pitching coach Mike Cather noticed he was taking a proactive leadership role with the young guys.
After a vigorous offseason workout and dietary workout regimen, Marsh’s fastball had skyrocketed from between 87 and 90 mph a year ago to as high as 95 mph in the fall. And along with the development of his slider, changeup and curveball, the coaching staff was more than comfortable naming him the opening-day starter.
Forced to recovery from an injury that hampered his freshman campaign, Vander Kooi didn’t afford the luxuries Marsh did. There was no Cape Cod, instead of a mandated summer break instituted by the ASU coaches.
Come fall, though, Cather noticed the injury’s oddly positive impact on the laid-back demeanored Arizona native who boasts flowing blonde locks that give off the impression he came to the baseball fields after a sun-soaked morning at the beach.
“I think last year was an excellent thing for Boyd,” Cather said. “(He’s told me,) ‘I just didn’t know how to work and I know better how to work.’ It was an eye-opener for him. He’s spending two to three hours in the training room just taking care of his body.”
With a slight tweak to his grip, Cather noted, Vander Kooi’s changeup has dramatically evolved into a secondary pitch that can take him much deeper in games.
By the end of last season, with no solidarity or consistency among ASU’s starting rotation, the young, potential-driven arms of Marsh and Vander Kooi seemed like they were headed to the top of the 2019 starting rotation.
By then, though, it wasn’t even clear that Dabovich would be in Tempe. The Sun Devil coaches aren’t huge fans of plucking junior college kids after just their freshman year. But these were dire times.
Arizona State lost pitching commits Tyler McKay and Connor Van Scoyoc to the draft, Darius Vines failed to qualify academically and Chase Webster and Tyler Woessner weren’t on the roster come the fall.
By early June, the Sun Devils, in desperation mode by this point, had to reach into their recruiting hat, pulling out commitments from junior college freshman Dabovich and Chas Sagedahl, who left the program over a month ago.
Cather knew the right-hander Dabovich had a high-90’s fastball and a solid changeup but had heard his breaking ball was still a work in progress. That notion was quickly proved false.
“He really showed he could throw the breaking ball in the fall,” Cather said. Though the fastball velocity will likely drive the conversation of Dabovich’s abilities, Cather noted his off-speed arsenal includes a slider, changeup and a curveball that averages 10 to 12 mph off his fastball.
“It’s nice to actually have competition to talk about three guys for the Friday starting spot,” Cather said. “I would feel comfortable with any of those guys taking the ball.”
