Enemy Lines: An Opposing Writer Sizes up ASU
'It’s been kind of a role reversal from last year': ASU beat writer Jeff Metcalfe on the Sun Devils' start to the season ahead of a three-game series with BC.
For a lot of teams, a 2-3 start to the year—with two of the losses against ranked opponents—isn’t much to worry about. That’s not the case in Tempe, Ariz., where No. 13 Arizona State is burdened with high preseason expectations and looking to get back on track against Boston College this weekend.
The Sun Devils, pegged by coaches as favorites to win the Pac-12 for the first time since 2010, were once making consistent College World Series appearances. ASU has claimed five national championships and has suffered just three losing seasons in its 60-year history, but two of those (2017 and 2018) have come during the five-year tenure of current head coach Tracey Smith. After winning its first 21 games last season before ultimately falling in the NCAA Regionals, the Sun Devils entered 2020 as national contenders. Thus far, they’ve struggled offensively—scoring 12 runs in five games—and will be looking to right the ship against the Eagles.
BC will have its hands full with a team that features potential top MLB draft pick Spencer Torkelson and a pitching staff that boasts 55 strikeouts in 45 innings and is holding opponents to a .182 batting average against. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET, and the teams will meet again on Saturday at the same time before Sunday’s matinee at 2:30 p.m. ET.
For a little extra background this week, I reached out to Jeff Metcalfe, a longtime Sun Devils beat writer for The Arizona Republic, to answer some questions. You’ll find my Q&A with Metcalfe below, lightly edited for clarity.
You can read more of his work here and follow him on Twitter here.
Q: There were a lot of big expectations for Arizona State coming into this season but it’s been an up-and-down start. What have you seen from them so far?
Well, it’s been kind of a role reversal because they were one of the top offensive teams in the country last year and their pitching was okay, but nothing special. Now, it’s the reverse of that. Their pitching has been exceptional in the first five games and the hitting has been way below what anyone expected. That’s why they’re 2-3. Inside the program, they’re taking more out of the pitching than the shaky offense at this point because they believe that ultimately—and hopefully in the short term—the offense is going to come around and be what it was in the past. The positive side of what they’re seeing on the pitching kind of outweighs
Q: They had Hunter Bishop move on to the MLB Draft but the lineup still has Spencer Torkelson, one of the best players in the country. He's been walked five times intentionally already so what is he bringing to the lineup?
Spencer Torkelson is the No. 1 college prospect in the 2020 MLB Draft and is hitting .308 through five games with two home runs and nine walks—five intentional. (ASU Athletic Communications)
That’s what is going to keep happening until they can find somebody that can come up behind him. Hunter Bishop didn’t always hit behind Spencer Torkelson last year, but they had enough people to hit around him on both sides of him that they could protect him and keep people from doing what they’re doing right now. So far, nobody has really shown that they can do that. [Head coach] Tracy Smith said yesterday that it would be his strategy too—I’m not going to let Torkelson beat me, somebody else has to show that they can.
In the ninth inning against Oklahoma State, the bases were loaded with two outs and Trevor Hauver—the most logical person to hit behind Torkelson—was at the plate after an intentional walk. In theory, you have exactly what you want there. Hauver popped up into short-right field and they had another loss.
Q: Eighteen strikeouts in a midweek game against a ranked opponent (No. 16 Oklahoma State) is phenomenal for a pitching staff. Looking ahead, is the weekend rotation pretty settled and who do you expect to see against Boston College this weekend?
Justin Fall transferred to ASU after two years at Brookdale Community College. The 6-foot-6 southpaw struck out six over six scoreless innings in his season debut. (ASU Athletic Communications)
I think it will be pretty much like it was last week. They played Villanova, but their third game was against Michigan, who was the College World Series runner-up last season. They pitched a junior-college transfer, a big left-handed guy named Justin Fall, in the first game against Villanova. I’m sure that he’ll pitch on Friday. Then there’s a junior named Boyd Vander Kooi that’s been a starter pretty much since he go here. He should be the guy going on Saturday. It could be Cooper Benson in the Sunday slot, but since they only have three games this weekend they might change it up. That’s what I would think for the three guys that
I should say too that they have a new pitching coach Jason Kelly from Washington. They have a big, highly-ranked recruiting class this year with some highly-ranked pitchers but Jason Kelly might have been their best recruiting haul. They’ve been trying to get him here for a while but haven’t been able to do it until now. Just what they’ve shown so far on the mound—it’s hard to quantify how to credit the pitching coach for that—but if nothing else, they’re in the zone, not walking people, letting the defense work for them, and being pretty aggressive in attacking hitters. I’m not just talking about one or two guys, I’m talking about the entire pitching staff. That’s maybe the biggest thing of all when it comes to this pitching improvement.
Q: I watched a few ASU games last year and pitching was definitely an issue at times, so this start has to be both surprising and disappointing that they haven’t made more of it.
Villanova handed ASU a 2-1 setback last Saturday. The Wildcats went just 13-38 in 2019, but pulled off the narrow win at Phoenix Muni Stadium. (Villanova Athletic Communications)
They averaged close to eight runs per game last year but they had a lot of games that they had in hand late that they just couldn’t finish up late. They started 21-0, and you would’ve thought that with that start you would be hosting in postseason but they weren’t. They had to go on the road and lost in the regional, so it was a disappointment especially when you start that well. They haven’t hosted here since 2011 and that’s a long time for ASU to not be hosting in the postseason. That’s certainly one of the goals this year. You’ve got to be pretty much in that 40-win range or above to be a hosting candidate, and when you start 2-3 it pushes you behind that pace right away.
The one that really hurt was the second game against Villanova. They lost 5-0 to Michigan, it was 3-0 into the ninth—that wasn’t a bad game. Last night was a good performance against another ranked team. The one game they lost to Villanova, they’re kicking themselves saying that should have never happened.
Q: Circling back to the hitters—who are the guys that need to step up around Torkelson in the lineup?
Shortstop Alika Williams was an All-Pac 12 selection last season, hitting out of the cleanup spot and piling up 53 RBIs. He’s gone just 1-for-10 in ASU’s first four games. (ASU Athletic Communications)
There’s several guys that are projecting as first rounders in the draft. Alika Williams is the shortstop, he played for Team USA this summer. He’s one of those guys. Hauver is their left fielder and could be maybe a high draft pick and then there’s Gage Workman, the third basemen. Their entire infield, from first to third, is in their third year together so there’s a lot of continuity and experience. Those would be the main guys. Sam Ferri is back as their starting catcher. Right now, they’re a little in flux in the other two outfield positions as they’re trying to figure out who is best out there.
And back to Torkelson—he could be the No. 1 pick. He’s hitting .300 with a couple of home runs, but people are going to just pitch around him. That’s going to be an ongoing thing. He’s not just a home run/strikeout guy, he gets on base. He’s not going to just go up there and wildly swing—that’s just not the way he is. If he’s got to take his base and leave it up to other people, that’s just the way it’s going to be.
Q: We talked about starting pitchers, but let’s shift to the bullpen—who are the names to know on Kelly’s pitching staff?
RJ Dabovich has assumed the closer role for ASU this season after splitting time between the rotation and bullpen in 2019. He already has three scoreless appearances with six strikeouts. (ASU Athletic Communications)
RJ Dabovich started some last year—probably a 93, 94 mile per hour guy—and he’s their closer right now. There’s a freshman—Graham Osman—that has pitched a couple times in late-inning situations and I think they like what they’ve seen from him so far. They have another freshman—Cam Dennie—who can be a spot starter or a long relief guy. Erik Tolman is a left-handed sophomore that was the starter against Oklahoma State and pitched fantastic with 12 strikeouts. I’m guessing that they’ll keep him in that role as a midweek starter but he’s also a two-way guy and was at the plate as a DH. There’s Tyler Thornton, too. He started against Villanova and [while] his role going forward is unsure, he was the National Freshman of the Year (Collegiate Baseball) last season at Saint Mary’s and transferred to ASU. Those are the main guys to look for.
Featured Image Courtesy of ASU Athletic Communications