Long Beach State University Athletics
Season Preview #3: Pitchers And Catchers
2/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 7, 2014
With the season now just one week, we'll finish up our season preview series with a double dose of pitchers and catchers. Read up on this year's team and join the Dirtbags for the season-opener on Friday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m.
Preview #1: InfieldPreview #2: Outfield
Season Preview #3: Pitchers And Catchers
Pitching has always been a point of emphasis for Long Beach State's head coach Troy Buckley. The pitching staff dropped its ERA by over one-and-a-half runs over the first two seasons of Buckley's tenure as head coach
After the entire starting rotation turned over in 2012, the 2013 season saw an uptick for the first time. The 3.64 ERA was the highest under Buckley but still ranked in the top 25 percent of pitching staffs in the nation.
Ryan Strufing and Kyle Friedrichs, two key arms in the 2012 staff that recorded the 17th best ERA in the nation, will climb back on top of the mound in 2014 after missing all of last season. Strufing will jump back into a weekend starter role and Friedrichs will reclaim his spot in the bullpen as the Dirtbags closer.
Strufing went 7-3 with a 2.99 ERA in 2012 to earn All-Big West honors as the Dirtbags Saturday starter. He'll move into the Friday night role this season with a deep pool of pitchers behind him to fill the rest of the weekend roles.
"He's really committed himself to adding strength, which is purely evident by his stature. You know that he has committed himself to getting as a good as he can be from a physical standpoint," Buckley commented on Strufing. "His ability to keep the ball in the strike zone on a consistent basis - he has improved year in and year out with that. He's smart and he knows what he has to do. There is a lot of trust in sending someone like that out and setting the tone for the weekend."
Senior Jake Stassi along with junior Nick Sabo and transfers Andrew Rohrbach, Jason Alexander and Christian Belleque will be competing for the final two starting roles as the season progresses. Stassi had a solid year as a weekend starter in 2013, going 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA, and will have another chance to take a starting job this year. Sabo went 3-3 with a 3.43 ERA in 2013 with five starts and 10 appearances out of the bullpen but had a very productive offseason and looks to be the frontrunner for the Sunday job going into the season.
Rohrbach, Alexander and Belleque also have the potential to be effective starters in their first year with the Dirtbags. Rohrbach has impressed the coaching staff in his short time with the team and could appear in the Saturday role early on. Buckley also sees him being an effective contributor in the late innings depending on how things take shape throughout the season.
The list continues to grow on potential starters as Buckley begins to list the possibilities for starters in midweek games or weekend spots. All-Big West selection Ty Provencher finds himself in that mix, as does senior Ryan Millison and freshman Cody Marshall.
Obviously, there are not enough games in the week to start every option that Buckley has but he is looking forward to finding out which arms fit in certain roles in the bullpen.
"If we have everyone healthy, there are enough pieces to be able to give us a chance every single night," Buckley noted about his staff. "It then becomes our job to figure out the best fits and the best opportunities as we continue to progress through the season."
"Guys like Provencher are competing for a starting spot for us but I also think that we are a deeper staff if he is in a different role," Buckley added.
That depth in the bullpen and in the rotation will prove crucial as the season moves along. It also gives Buckley the freedom to move pieces around throughout the year to find the right mix.
He will also be looking for pitchers to slate into the late inning roles and possibly share some of the closing duties as Friedrichs continues to build up from a surgery that cost him all of last season. Buckley adds in Logan Lombana and Josh Frye to the mix of pitchers ready to take the ball in crucial situations.
"Lombana had a really good fall and really good January. He's been very consistent and he's been pounding the strike zone," Buckley said. "You've got other guys like Frye. He's been here four years and wants meaningful innings."
While Lombana, Frye, Provencher and others will see those meaningful innings throughout the season, Buckley is elated to have Friedrichs back in his bullpen and ready for the majority of save opportunities this year. In 2012, he had 10 saves with a 1.88 ERA and ate up 38.1 innings. He walked just 10 batters while striking out 39.
"You've got some quality arms coming out of the bullpen," Buckley commented on the back end of his bullpen. "You need somebody who pounds the strike zone, has an out pitch and fields his position to close. That is part of the ingredient when looking to fill that role. Friedrichs has done it. There is plenty of trust with him."
No matter who goes in what roles, the key to this pitching staff's success will be limiting the free opportunities and attacking the strike zone. Buckley thinks that this year's staff will be much better at executing that game plan and will only improve as the staff gets healthier throughout the year.
Every game and every play starts with the pitching. Buckley can't wait to fit all the pieces into place and have the solid rotation in place come late March.
CATCHERS
With the pitching in place, it's now time to look at the other end of the battery. Last season, Eric Hutting did the majority of the catching duties as a freshman. He will be the hands-down favorite to be the Dirtbags every day catcher this year as a sophomore.
"I think Hutting is more prepared to handle it this year than he was last year," Buckley commented on his second-year backstop. "He's stronger this year. His leadership skills have improved. His throwing accuracy has improved. I like where he's at."
Hutting hit .270 as a freshman in 40 games with seven doubles and 15 RBI. Runners were 32-of-48 on stolen base attempts against him but Buckley sees that number going down as he notes several improvements to Hutting's game behind the plate.
Behind Hutting on the depth chart there is a dead heat between transfer Alex Bishop and freshman Daniel Jackson. The two have shifted back and forth through the fall and early spring and will continue to compete as the season unfolds.
Jackson looked to be the No. 2 option behind Hutting when the Dirtbags were on the field in the fall, but Bishop has proven to be one of the most improved players on the team as the season has crept closer.
Opening Day is just one week away. The Dirtbags play their first five games of the season at home this season, beginning with a three game series against Vanderbilt, Feb. 14-16. The first pitch will be tossed out on Friday at 6 p.m.
