Arizona coach Chip Hale said this week that he expected some changes to be made to the pitching staff. Those changes were announced on Wednesday with right-hander TJ Nichols being taken out of the starting rotation for the Wildcats’ upcoming series against Washington that begins Thursday night at Hi Corbett Field.
Nichols had been the Wildcats No. 1 starter this season, but his recent struggles have pushed him out of the rotation for at least this weekend. Right-hander Anthony Susac will start on Thursday to open the series against UW, followed by lefty Bradon Zastrow on Friday and righty Aiden May on Saturday.
After reeling off nine straight wins earlier in the season, Arizona has since lost nine straight Pac-12 games. The Wildcats have allowed at least five runs in all nine losses. That has dropped the Wildcats team ERA to 5.64, which is second to last in the conference.
One issue UA pitchers have not had this season is walking hitters. They’ve allowed 84 free passes, which is the second fewest in the Pac-12. The issue at times throwing too many strikes over the plate in certain instances, which opposing hitters have been taking advantage of over these past few weeks.
“One of our goals going into the year was not to walk people because, especially at the college level, those walks end up being runs,” Hale said. “If you look at Aiden May (in his start on Sunday), he walked two and both of those guys scored.
“When we make our quality pitches, they weren’t hitting them. It’s just we’re making too many mistakes in the zone.”
Arizona pitcher Derek Drees shares how he ended up with the Wildcats after transferring from Butler. Butler spoke on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Video by Ari Koslow/Special to the Arizona Daily Star
Drees ‘doing great’
One of the more consistent bullpen arms for Arizona this season has been senior transfer Derek Drees. He has made 10 appearances and has not allowed a run in seven of them. One of the three in which he did allow a run came on Sunday against Oregon during a weekend where it seemed like every UA reliever was hit hard.
“He is doing great,” Hale said. “That’s part of the reason why we brought him in, in the top of the ninth after we scored the runs, we needed that shutdown inning. We felt at the time, he has been our hottest pitcher and been able to spin the ball. He just made two or three mistakes in that inning, and that’s what we’re talking about. That’s the way things are going, and we just need to turn that around.”
Drees, who spent the past four seasons with Butler, was looking for a change of scenery for his final year of eligibility.
“I just wanted to go somewhere where I had the best chance to win,” Drees said. “I committed to Notre Dame, and then Link Jarrett and his staff all went to Florida State. Trip (Couch) reached out, and I looked into the community here and the team and it felt like a perfect fit.”
One other connection Drees had with the program was that his dad, Tom, who played one season with the Chicago White Sox, played minor-league baseball with Hale.
Butler attempted to turn Drees into a starter. He made two starts last season. Even in those appearances, he prepared for them like he knew best — as a reliever.
“I love the mindset of always being ready to go in the game,” Drees said, “and also that warmup of 10 minutes. I got keen to that ... that was more comfortable for me.”
Drees remains confident in the pitching staff’s ability. As one of the players in the clubhouse with the most collegiate experience, he relayed the confidence the team still has in itself about halfway through the season.
“We all know that our stuff and our ability to pitch is at a really high level,” Drees said. “I think that over the last three weeks or so, we ran into some really hot teams and we’ve unfortunately not been executing like I know we can.
Arizona baseball coach Chip Hale discusses his own involvement in decisions made around the Wildcats' pitching staff. Hale spoke on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Video by Air Koslow/Special to the Arizona Daily Star
“I don’t think mood-wise we’re down at all. We know, especially me, I’ve been doing this for six years now. I know how quickly a season can turn around, and the older guys have gotten that through to the younger guys that we’re one game or two games away from all of a sudden pumping out nine games the other way.”
Inside pitch
Susac missed a couple of starts due to arm soreness before he threw 59 pitches against Grand Canyon on March 28. If he threw closer to 40-45 pitches in that start, Susac could have pitched this past weekend against Oregon, but Hale instead left him off the roster in preparation for him to start in this series.
Susac struggled as a freshmen but expressed optimism before the season, saying: “I feel like everything that was going good last year has gotten even better this year, and all of my weaknesses, I’ve made significantly better.”
Susac has made five starts, compiling a 4.57 ERA across 21⅔ innings to go along with 17 strikeouts and eight walks. He opened the season as UA’s No. 2 starter.
Third baseman Tony Bullard (concussion) hit on Monday with the team. Hale said Bullard is “full-go.” He was expected to play in an intra-squad game on Tuesday.
Arizona outfielder Chase Davis has earned a spot on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, USA Baseball announced Wednesday. Davis is the ninth Wildcat to earn a spot on the Midseason Watch List since its introduction to the award process in 2012. The junior is hitting .316 with 32 runs scored, five doubles, a team-leading 11 home runs, 29 RBIs, a .704 slugging percentage and a .427 on-base percentage.
