FSU Baseball: Preseason Pitching Preview

The Florida State Seminoles left a lot to be desired on the mound in 2017, but as a staff, they came around strong late to help propel Florida State to an ACC championship and a College World Series appearance. But it was a few pivotal arms that were able to keep the staff afloat.

As we prepare for the 2018 season, Florida State looks to have a complete staff that fans have not seen in past years. Pitching coach Mike Bell will have a mix of veteran leaders that can throw from both the left and right side of the mound and a few highly-touted newcomers that will look to make an immediate impact.

Starters:

Lefties Tyler Holton and Drew Parrish will lead the Noles into the weekend. We wrote about Holton, and what he is capable of already. He is entering his junior year after coming off a sophomore season that put his name all over the Florida State record books. Parrish is also coming off an impressive freshman season himself as the lefty went 6-3 in his first year of collegiate baseball where he made 19 appearances and 15 starts.

The third spot in the weekend rotation will likely be held down by Tallahassee native and North Florida Christian alum Cole Sands. Sands has spent his previous two seasons in the weekend rotation, but has yet to have the career many anticipated.

Sands has one of the best fastballs on the team the righty can touch the high-90s, but sits consistently in the mid-90s. His lively fastball could be a very nice addition to the weekend rotation if he can throw it for strikes, which would allow him to work off of his offspeed pitches more.

It also breaks up Holton and Parrish having to pitch on Friday and Saturday, both working from the left side of the bump and both depending heavily on offspeed pitches. Sands’ lively arm would be an excellent way to keep hitters off balance throughout the weekend.

The Seminoles will have a platoon of depth when it comes to midweek starters this year as well; upperclassmen Will Zirzow, Andrew Karp, and Cobi Johnson all have very talented arms. One of the bigger competitions going into the season will likely be for those two midweek starter roles.

Zirzow only made four starts last season, but he was the man that kept the Seminoles’ season alive on June 4 against Auburn. Zirzow had not pitched in a game since May 9 before his start against the Tigers. Zirzow threw a complete game 2-hitter, with no walks and 11 strikeouts to send the Noles to a Super Regional.

Zirzow had never pitched more than five innings in an outing before his complete game gem, but that will likely change for the now redshirt senior. Zirzow will be a very reliable arm out of the bullpen during the weekend series, and he also has a real shot at becoming the fourth or fifth starter.

Another candidate throwing his hat in for one of the two possible midweek spots will be Andrew Karp. Karp was the fourth man in the rotation last season and looked like one of the better pitchers on the staff to start the year. In his first four starts, Karp faced three teams that reached a regional at the end of the season and the eventual national champion Florida Gators.

In those four starts, Karp gave head coach Mike Martin 24 innings pitched. He only allowed six earned runs — good for a 2.25 ERA — while giving up just 15 hits and three walks while striking out 33 batters. Karp relies primarily on his fastball that will sit in the mid-90s, and if he can establish the heater, it sets up his offspeed pitches nicely which he has good command over.

After being sidelined for almost two seasons following Tommy John surgery, Cobi Johnson is back and active for Florida State. Johnson has a very good fastball-curveball mix, and he can also work in a changeup. Johnson will sit in the mid to upper-90s with his fastball.

An arm that the Seminoles have missed the last two years, it will be good to see Johnson throwing again at Dick Howser Stadium. He is another guy that will be right there with Karp and Zirzow for the two midweek roles, along with being one of the first names called upon out of the bullpen during the weekend series.

Out of the pen: 

The midweek starters will play a vital role coming out of the bullpen, so be prepared to see a lot of Zirzow, Karp, and Johnson making relief appearances to go along with their midweek duties. Chase Haney and Clayton Kwiatkowski are two other names that stand out when looking at the roster. Both saw a lot of action last season for the Noles last season and will look to build upon recent success.

Kwiatkowski put together a very successful freshman campaign, making 18 appearances, the lefty racked up 22 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched. Kwiatkowski allowed just six earned runs and will hear his name called a lot in 2018.

Haney turned in a 4.26 ERA in his third year on campus for Florida State. He made 33 appearances for the Noles in which he threw 31 2/3 innings. Opposing hitters batted .263 off of him, but most of the damage against Haney came in just five games. Haney allowed 15 runs on the season, but 13 of those came in the five games that he struggled in.

If Haney could somehow erase those five outings where he ran into trouble in, he would have finished the season with a 0.79 ERA, 25 2/3 innings pitched, four walks, and just 16 hits allowed. Martin obviously trusts Haney and that is why he made 33 appearances last season. Expect him to eat a ton of innings for FSU again during the 2018 season.

Newcomers: 

Mike Martin put together a top 10 recruiting class, according to Baseball America. Shane Drohan and C.J. Van Eyk are two freshmen that lead the class. Both Drohan and Van Eyk will sit in the low-90s with their fastball but can ramp it up to the mid-90s if needed.

Tallahassee native Austin Pollock is another freshman that could see some time on the mound. He will sit mainly in the high 80s with his fastball, but the 6-foot-3 lefty will likely see that climb during his time at Florida State. Pollock projects a lot like fellow Lincoln graduate Tyler Holton as both work off their plus changeups which keeps hitters off balance.

Closer:

The closer role was saved for last because yet again, it is the only role that has a question mark beside it. It’s hard to believe looking back over the last decade prior to last season, but it is becoming a yearly trend for FSU to be without a sure-handed closer. Last season, junior Drew Carlton was moved from his Friday night role to become the closer, but Carlton signed with the Detroit Tigers following the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft. 

Martin will likely test more than one arm in this position early in the season. Both Van Eyk and Drohan’s names will be in consideration; Haney and Kwiatkowski will also be in the conversation. The arms are there for FSU to have a very good closer, it is just a matter of the coaching staff finding the right player to handle the role.

Florida State will have a problem that many coaches love to have with too many good arms and not enough innings to go around. Martin has five guys who could start on the weekend and a lot of veteran and underclassmen who can come in late in the game and shut the door. Florida State unquestionably has the talent on the mound to make yet another run at the College World Series and a third ACC championship in the last four years.