The season is rapidly approaching for the Husky Baseball team and the expectations are as high as they have been recently for the program. After making their second NCAA Regional appearance in three years and boasting the second-best winning percentage among Pac-12 teams during that same span, national college baseball pundits are expecting big things from the Huskies in 2017.
Β Washington is ranked as high in the preseason polls as 12th by Baseball America and was picked by Pac-12 coaches to finish fourth in the conference. The Huskies return seven starters in the field, plus two starters on the hill, and the newcomers have been ranked among the nation's best. Coach Lindsay Meggs and Pitching Coach/Associate Head Coach Jason Kelly and Hitting Coach Donegal Fergus recently helped break down the Huskies and explain why expectations are so high.
Β Up first, a preview of the UW pitching staff.
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When evaluating the 2017 Husky Baseball team in the preseason, the pitching staff is tough to gauge. On the one hand, the Huskies return their Friday and Saturday night starters in Noah Bremer and Joe Demers, plus lefty specialist Greg Minier, who set a UW record with 34 appearances in 2017. Of 511 2/3 innings logged by the pitching staff, nearly half of that total β 250 2/3 innings β return.
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On the flip side, the aforementioned trio accounted for 93 percent of those returning innings, meaning there are a lot of untested arms in the pitching stable that will have to step up their game in 2017. Gone is unanimous All-American and Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Troy Rallings and his 16 saves and miniscule 0.89 ERA that helped put many games into the Huskies' win column last season. Also gone are Spencer Jones (58 2/3 innings), Alex Nesbitt (44 1/3), Will Ballowe (26), Ryan Schmitten (49 2/3) and Lance Berringer (18), who all made at least 16 appearances in varying roles for the Huskies in 2016.
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Despite the heavy losses, Coach Meggs and Coach Kelly are optimistic about the stable of arms they have to work with in 2017. They believe the mix of veterans and newcomers form the most talented and deepest group of pitchers that they have had on campus in quite some time.
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"I think on the mound we've got 15 guys and I think it's as good as we've been on the back end of our pitching staff," said Meggs, who enters his eighth season as Washington's head coach. "When I say the back end, I don't necessarily mean the end of the game, but the ninth through our 15th guys that we can comfortably put in the game and feel good about."
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The guy who will set the tone for the pitching staff will be the junior right-hander Bremer. The Berkeley, Calif. native has been a workhorse for the Huskies in his first two seasons, and the team is counting on that trend to continue in 2017. He enters his junior year with 31 starts under his belt and a career ERA of 2.73 while posting a 10-8 record.
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Noah Bremer
Bremer has added nearly 30 pounds since arriving on campus two years ago, which should serve him well after he was 4-5 with a 2.98 ERA last season. The added strength and maturity has led to an uptick on the velocity of his fastball, but it is his command of the strike zone that has made Bremer one of the Pac-12 top pitching prospects. But, the main thing that makes him so valuable is his experience.
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"This will be his third year on Friday night," said Kelly. "He has been thrown in the fire. There is nothing he hasn't seen. He has been out there in every situation. He is really ready to take the next step as a leader and not just keep us in games, but win games for us."
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Bremer wrapped up 2016 in stellar fashion, allowing four hits and one run in nine innings against eventual World Series participant UC Santa Barbara at the NCAA Nashville Regional. If the end of Bremer's season is any indication, he could be due for a very special 2017 at Washington.
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After a 2016 season in which DeMers experienced plenty of ups and downs, the sophomore right hander has come back a new man. He arrived on campus as a freshman with heaps of expectations after one of the most storied high school careers of any recruit to ever step onto campus at UW. At times, Demers shined, but he also struggled through some bumps in the road. When all was said and done, he had a 3-5 record and 6.91 ERA, but he remained injury free and was able to make all 16 starts when called upon.
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"It is a big jump," Kelly said about DeMers first season. "He struggled because of a lot of things, but I think most of it was he wasn't quite physically ready for what was put in front of him. That doesn't mean he wasn't in shape, it just means he had a lot of innings logged. He didn't have the time to just sit back and get in the weight room and change the way he worked. We just threw him in there and he was ready for it mentally, but when you're 18-years-old and get beat up a couple of times, it takes a toll on you.
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"Getting that behind him is huge," Kelly continued. "He got through the year. He made every start, which is a big thing your freshman year to not have any hiccups on the health part. Now he just needs to pitch better. He made a couple of mechanical tweaks over the summer, which I think is going to help him. He is throwing a ton of strikes. The velocity is back up to where it was before. Of anybody on our staff, I really expect him to make a huge jump from last year and to be who everybody thought he was."
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Coach Meggs concurred with Kelly. He believes DeMers is ready to show his true self in 2017.
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"I think he might have had the best fall of anybody on our staff," said Meggs. "He's in good shape physically and in a great place mentally. He's our Saturday guy throwing four pitches for strikes. He's locating the fastball better than he did all last year. We expect him to be the guy we know he can be, and that gives us a lot of confidence on Friday and Saturday."
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The next most experienced pitcher on the roster is the senior left-hander Minier. Last year, he was 5-1 with a 3.86 ERA and logged 58 1/3 innings during his record 34 appearances. This year, you can expect to see plenty of Minier, but the coaches are hoping they won't have to call on him as often in 2017.Β
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"There is enough depth and that is a good thing," said Kelly, who is in his fourth season as UW's pitching coach. "What his role is I don't know. I know he can finish games for us. He is kind of the guy hiding in the shadows that people aren't really paying attention to that could come out at the end of the year and go, 'man, that guy had 28 appearances and seven saves and was their stopper.' Not necessarily a closer but a stopper in the seventh inning and that kind of situation, I think him and Alex Hardy are both going to sneak up on some people."
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Alex Hardy
Hardy is among a trio of pitchers that have been on the squad for the last several years and are waiting in the wings for their opportunity. The junior righty is joined by a pair of veteran lefties Henry Baker and Channing Nesbitt that will be vying for increased roles in 2017.
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Hardy only logged 10 1/3 innings in 2016 in eight relief appearances, but after a strong fall and distancing himself from the injury bug that plagued him over the last five years, he is poised for a breakout year.
"He has done everything well since we got back," Kelly said of Hardy. "That is huge for us. He is throwing a ton of strikes and the velocity is back up. That guy is a great story. He has had overcome some really tough injury circumstances."
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Baker made only two appearances in 2016, but has made eight starts during his career, while Nesbitt was 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three appearances last year. The lefty duo has steadily improved and could see some more action in multiple roles during the season. Β
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Besides the six veterans on the staff, Meggs and Kelly are busy preparing nine newcomers to come and make an immediate impact on the staff. While the number of newcomers that will be expected to contribute could be cause for the coaches to lose sleep, Meggs and Kelly insist that they are resting comfortably. The nine newcomers form a nice mix; showing balance with three lefties and six righties, having choices of starters and relievers, and a good selection of power arms and control pitchers. But, most importantly, they have all bought into the culture from the get-go and are ready to embrace early opportunities.
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"They are talented and have developed a pretty good work ethic," Kelly said of the one junior-college transfer, one redshirt-freshman and seven first-year freshmen the comprise the newcomers on the hill.
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"I think all of them understand now what we are asking of them, whether that is to be the left-handed match-up guy, or the long reliever, or to be the Sunday starter. I think those guys have taken to what they think will help them get into the game the most, and that is a good thing."
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Among the newcomers, at least two right out of the gate will be asked to serve as starters. The Huskies open the season on the road at Santa Clara and at St. Mary's and both are four-game series. In year's past, this might have been a quandary for the Husky coaches, but this year there are a wealth of candidates fighting for starting spots.
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Josh Burgmann
Some combination of Josh Burgmann, Jordan Jones, Chris Micheles and Leo Nierenberg will likely get the call as a starter in the first series. The odd men out will not have to fret though, as they will definitely see action out of the bullpen, with Burgmann, Jones and Nierenberg all viable candidates to even be the closer at the end of games.
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"Sunday we've got some good options and the two best options for us right now are Josh Burgmann and Jordan Jones," said Meggs. "They're both freshman, but they're both talented in that they are both hard throwers with plus breaking stuff and they both have good makeup. We're going to see one of those guys in that Sunday spot and likely one of those guys is going to close. Chris Micheles, who for the first two or three weekends where we have four single games, would likely be a fourth starter."
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Each of the young starting candidates brings different intangibles to the table that makes them a viable candidate. Burgmann, at 6-foot tall and 235 pounds, is an intimidating presence on the mound that has an array of plus pitches already. He can reach mid-90's with the fastball and mixes it in a changeup, slider and developing curveball.
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"Josh is kind of the ultimate, quiet competitor," said Kelly. "He is the bulldog. He is no-nonsense, but he brings really good stuff. He is really polished and probably should be a professional already in that regard, but we were lucky to get him."
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Burgmann, from Nanaimo, British Columbia, was drafted in the 30th round by St. Louis, but chose to attend Washington instead. Besides his obvious talent, he has valuable experience under his belt from pitching for the Canadian Junior National Team and proving himself as a winner on the big stage.
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Jones, from Kent, Wash., has both the talent and the pedigree to be successful on the mound. He learned from his brother, Taylor, who was a standout at Gonzaga and was a 19th round draft pick by the Houston Astros in 2016. Jones was 28-2 during a four-year career at Kentwood HS, including 11-0 with a 1.12 ERA as a senior. He has an advanced command of the strike zone and comfortably sits in the high 80's, but has also shown an ability to dial it up into the 90's when needed.
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"He is really confident, so he has the ability to cruise," Kelly said of Jones. "He has the mental makeup of a pro. Like a Roy Halladay or some of those guys, he can cruise through innings and throw some sinkers and get some ground balls in the fourth and fifth so they can have a six- or seven-pitch inning. He doesn't want to strike every person out; he is a little advanced in that. Most freshman don't want the ball hit, but he is not worried about that. As we progress and he becomes more aggressive, I think that he is going to strike more people out than he even realizes."
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Micheles, out of Puyallup, Wash., is also right in the mix to earn some time as a starter. The left-hander has good command of the fastball and changeup already, but once he gets full-command of his slider, batters from both the left- and right-hand side of the plate will have to watch out.
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"He can do a little bit of everything," said Kelly. "He is the one left-hander in that group that has the makeup to be a starter and profiles as a front-line type of starter. Like a Tom Glavine or Jamie Moyer β he has stuff that can be better than that, especially as he progresses β but he's the kind of pitcher that is going to lull you to sleep a little with the changeup."
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Leo Nierenberg
Nierenberg is a swing guy in the fight right now. He could definitely start, but he also projects well as a stop gap in the middle of the bullpen and even has the makeup to be a shutdown closer. The right-hander has a fastball that he can mix with a devastating slider and changeup.
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"Leo's stuff is great," said Kelly. "He does all the other things you need those guys to do: field your position and hold runners. It is going to be tough to bunt and steal on him. It is just gaining experience for him. I think I know who he is, but until he gets out there you just don't know, so I am excited to throw him out there. I know he is a good competitor and I am excited for him to prove that."
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The other first-year freshmen on the roster are righty Harrison Goonewardene and left-handers Tommy Costello and Brendan Ecklebarger. Each will be counted on to log some innings out of the bullpen this year for the Huskies.
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Goonewardene played an integral role in helping nearby Mercer Island win the 2015 Washington 3A State Championship on the both the mound and at the plate. At UW, he will be initially asked to come out of the bullpen and use his great sinker to induce ground-ball double plays.
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Ecklebarger, out of Redmond, Wash., brings an intimidating factor out of the bullpen for the Huskies. He's a solid 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds and throws what Meggs' calls a "wipeout slider." At the minimum, he will give the coaches a solid lefty-against-lefty option out of the pen.
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Costello was a multi-sport athlete and multi-position player on the diamond at Chaminade Prep in Simi Valley, Calif. He shared starting quarterbacking duties on the football team that churns out Division I prospects on a yearly basis, while also playing for the baseball team as a pitcher and hitter. He will focus on pitching at UW and has already showed vast improvements since stepping on campus.
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"He is a very polished, mental athlete," Kelly said of Costello. "He really works hard on his mindset and that was playing quarterback, playing first base, playing in the outfield or pitching. He wants to learn. He has been great and I think we are at the tip of the iceberg with him on the mound. I think that he has got all the parts to be a really good pitcher in the Pac-12."
Β Adam Davenport returns to the Huskies after redshirting the 2016 season. At 6-foot-5, 210-pounds, the Cedarcrest HS grad in Duvall, Wash. has all the tools to be successful at UW. Every day he is making leaps and bounds on the field and Kelly is confident he will contribute very soon.
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"He is night and day from where he was last year," he says on Davenport. "Physically, he has about everything he needs. He is a big, strong kid. It is just getting comfortable with the situation and his surroundings and being able to throw a lot of strikes and bringing the breaking ball every day. He has got a chance to be pretty good, it is just how fast does that development go. He is getting there right now. He could take off."
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Joe Wainhouse
The final piece of the pitching puzzle is junior Joe Wainhouse. The 6-foot-6, 247-pounder arrived at Washington via Bellevue College and spent 2015 at Ole Miss in the SEC. He will also see time for the Huskies as a designated hitter.Β It has become common place for him to launch balls over the right-field light tower from the left-side of the batter's box, but Meggs and Kelly ultimately feel it his power arm from the mound that will one day make him money at the next level.
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"The sky is the limit for Joe," said Kelly. "We are going to get him in there, but I don't know in which situations. He has probably progressed further than anyone that we have had from day one until today. He has really put his nose to the ground and worked on commanding the ball and developing the slider, sinker combination. He has really shown that he is committed to pitching and being good at it."
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The bar has been raised in 2017 for the Huskies and ready or not, the pitching staff is going to have to be ready to compete from the get go. To an outsider, there may be many questions about the Huskies' pitching staff, but those inside the program are confident the group will be a strength of the program.
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"I think we've raised the bar within this building and our expectations are to keep moving forward," said Meggs. "I think we've raised the bar across the campus for our program and in the community. I think people will be surprised if we're not in the post-season and would be really excited if we could take a little bit further.
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"If we're going to be successful, we're going to have to pitch and we have to defend, but I do think our pitching is going to be good, so I am excited about that."
