The Daily Nole

FSU Relies on Young, Thin Pitching Staff Down the Stretch

Larry Novey/FSU athletics

With less than a month until the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament moneyman, No. 17 Florida State (29-12, 11-9 ACC) sits in third place in the Atlantic division. In the coming weeks however, the Seminoles will have the chance to make up ground as they square off with both No. 14 Clemson (29-11, 14-7 ACC) and Atlantic-leading and No. 2 NC State (31-8, 15-6 ACC).

The Seminoles’ season has been full of ups and downs, winning streaks and losing streaks to this point. If FSU wants to be in a position to make a run in the postseason, it will need some key arms to lead a thin pitching staff.

Losing Tyler Holton to Tommy John surgery was a blow that the Florida State rotation could not afford. It has left a hole in the rotation that FSU or any team in the country would struggle to fill.

Cole Sands missed his last Friday start against Boston College with biceps tendinitis all while Will Zirzow, Chase Haney, and Ed Voyles remain on the shelf with injuries that occurred before the season started.

Florida State returned 470 innings pitched from last season. Holton, Sands, Zirzow, Haney, and Voyles accounted for 290 of those innings pitched and have all missed time due to injury. Sands is the only one who has not missed an extended period of time.

This has led to younger arms getting thrown into action earlier and in bigger situations than they are ready for, which in no surprise has led to some blown games. But, it is not just the young arms that have failed to rise to the occasion for Florida State.

When Holton’s season came to an end only 4.2 innings into his junior season, it was Sands, who was next in line to pitch on Friday nights and his season has left a lot to be desired. Despite a record of 6-2 on the year, the Tallahassee native carries an ERA of 4.80 in 50.2 innings pitched. He does have a better than 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Drew Parrish has been the most reliable arm for the Seminoles and the ace of the staff this year. In 152 career innings for Parrish, he holds an ERA of 3.91 and has 158 strikeouts to just 56 walks. Opponents are hitting just above the Mendoza line this year with a .207 average when the sophomore lefty is on the bump.

The Austin Pollock experiment did not go as planned and that is not a knock on the freshman. Andrew Karp was a welcoming addition to the weekend rotation against Boston College and carries an arm that was deserving of a chance when Holton went down.

Pollock (3-3) has made 10 appearances on the season and holds a 5.86 ERA. In 43 innings pitched, the Tallahassee native has given up a team-leading 28 earned runs and 23 walks. Opposing hitters are swinging it at a .275 clip against the lefty, who is projected to be a big arm for the Seminoles in the future.

Karp (7-3) on the other hand, trails just Parrish (60.1) for innings pitched on the season with 59 and has an ERA of 2.75 — the best among FSU starters. All three of Karp’s losses have come while facing the defending national champion Florida Gators this year. In 11 appearances, the redshirt junior righty leads the Noles in strikeouts with 72 and has allowed just 12 walks and 18 earned runs.

When making a move to the bullpen, head coach Mike Martin and pitching coach Mike Bell have been playing the uneasy game of picking which underclassman they want on the mound.

The arms that have been called upon the most this season have been freshmen. Jonah Scolaro (31.2 innings), freshman C.J. Van Eyk (29.1 IP) who has also made two starts, sophomore Clayton Kwiatkowski (25.2 IP), and freshman Conor Grady (20.2 IP) have all played major relief roles. With games in the balance, the Seminoles have been largely forced to rely on kids, who still get lost on campus.

Scolaro and Van Eyk have both been good during their freshman campaigns and should have FSU fans excited about what they will bring to the staff for the next two seasons. Kwiatkowski, a lefty, has made the second-most appearances on the team this year with 17 — just three behind Scolaro’s 20.

But no matter how good these young arms have been, it can be uneasy when a team does not have an established pitcher entering the game late. Redshirt junior Cobi Johnson has been with the program longer than any reliever, but has missed a substantial amount of time due to Tommy John surgery; Johnson has recently turned into the new most-unexpected designated hitter for Florida State.

The roller coaster the Florida State pitching staff has been on in 2018 has led to a lot of questions about how deep this team can go into postseason. The priority will be for FSU to hope for a healthy Sands to return to the weekend rotation. Despite an inconsistent season, he is the veteran pitcher who does have the potential to shut down any given lineup if he can establish his fastball early and work off of his off-speed pitches the second and third time through the order.

Parrish and Karp should give Florida State fans hope as the season heads down the final stretch; those two arms will be the reason FSU has a chance to repeat as conference champions and perhaps earn a chance to host a regional at Dick Howser Stadium.

A young bullpen is obviously not ideal, but it is the hand the coaching staff has been dealt. FSU will prepare for crucial series against Miami (April 27-29), at Clemson (May 5-7) and the final series of the season at home against one of the best teams in the country, NC State (May 17-19).

Martin and Bell will be tasked with narrowing down which arms are called upon in critical situations with the season on the line. The final stretch of the regular season is certainly a daunting one, but it should provide some clarity moving forward as to who FSU can rely on to get the big outs.

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