ARLINGTON, Texas — Cheers erupted from the visiting clubhouse at Globe Life Field.
At the end of an emotional postgame speech wrapping up his first series as Arizona coach, Chip Hale awarded Sunday’s game ball to starter Dawson Netz, who had pitched five scoreless innings with a career-high six strikeouts in the Wildcats’ third straight victory. The players then gathered in the center of the room.
“Arizona on three ... one, two, three ... Arizona!”
It was a jubilant, triumphant weekend for the Wildcats, who swept through three Big 12 opponents in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown. Arizona averaged 11.7 runs per game, echoing its performance in last year’s Frisco College Baseball Classic, in which the Wildcats won four in a row and averaged 13.8 runs.
But this isn’t that team. Many players have assumed new roles. Hale has a different coaching style than predecessor Jay Johnson.
The Wildcats’ effort was award-worthy, as UA swept the Pac-12’s weekly honors Monday. Tanner O’Tremba was named the Player of the Week, while Netz was the Pitcher of the Week. It marked the first time in 10 years that UA has swept the weekly awards.
Here are five things we learned in Arlington about the 2022 UA squad, which faces Grand Canyon in its home opener Tuesday night:
1. The Wildcats can still mash
New coach, new lineup, same offensive explosiveness.
Despite losing its top five hitters to the pros or transfer — and despite the absence of slugging third baseman Tony Bullard — Arizona scored at least eight runs in every game in the tournament and 35 overall. To put that figure in perspective, these were the total outputs for the Wildcats’ three opponents:
Kansas State — 9
Oklahoma — 13
Texas Tech — 10
The way Arizona went about it was a little different than what we became accustomed to under Jay Johnson. The Wildcats didn’t draw an excessive number of walks over the weekend — 14 in all, or 4.7 per game. They struck out 30 times, although nearly half (14) came in the opener.
Arizona piled up extra-base hits. Exactly half of the Wildcats’ 40 hits went for extra bases. All nine regulars had at least one double. O’Tremba and Nik McClaughry had two apiece; Mac Bingham had three.
This year’s lineup, especially when Bullard comes back, is more power-oriented than last year’s group, which featured work-the-count grinders such as Donta’ Williams and Kobe Kato. It’s more MLB-like in that regard. Both styles can be effective.
2. O’Tremba is headed for a big season
The veteran outfielder with the Barney Rubble body had a monster weekend.
O’Tremba posted an obscene .500/.563/1.214 slash line across 14 at-bats to earn Pac-12 honors. His seven hits included two home runs, two doubles and a triple. The tournament selected him as the player of the game in each of the first two contests.
O’Tremba’s emergence didn’t surprise anyone within the program. Players and coaches had mentioned him as a potential breakout performer after he served as a key reserve and part-time starter in 2021.
O’Tremba worked with new hitting coach Toby DeMello to alter his swing path, allowing O’Tremba to make better contact on pitches that are away and down. The right-handed batter utilized multiple parts of the field: Both of his home runs were hit down the left-field line; he doubled to left-center; he tripled to right-center.
“Whether it’s inside, outside, low, your bat path should be in the zone long enough to stay on the ball,” O’Tremba said after Saturday’s game vs. Oklahoma. “It was good to be able to spray it a couple different times to different parts of the field. That’s definitely helped.”
3. Arizona will play better defense under Hale
The Wildcats committed only one error the entire weekend, and it was made by a player playing a new position.
Garen Caulfield, a shortstop by trade who was set to start at second base, had to move to third because of Bullard’s shoulder injury. Caulfield tried to backhand a grounder in the eighth inning of the opener, and the ball skipped past him.
The only other notable defensive lapse occurred at second base, where Arizona also deployed a relative novice. Tyler Casagrande, an outfielder throughout his career, had been training at second to give the team another option there. Casagrande dropped the ball while transferring it from his glove to his hand on a would-be double play Sunday. The play turned into a 5-4 fielder’s choice.
When Bullard comes back, Caulfield is expected to go back to second. Casagrande likely will make the majority of the starts in right field. The Wildcats should be a top-tier defensive club — something they rarely were under Johnson.
Hale has been tutoring infielders for 20-plus years. He was an excellent third baseman during his playing days. He emphasizes defensive fundamentals daily, as evidenced by the drills the team executes before games.
The Wildcats will take a two-game errorless streak into the home opener — a feat they achieved only three times in 63 games last season.
4. Dave Lawn hasn’t forgotten how to coach
After Arizona’s pitching faltered in 2019, Johnson made a staff change. He hired Nate Yeskie as pitching coach and reassigned longtime confidante Lawn, who spent the next two seasons coordinating the defense and coaching the catchers.
Although no one ever would admit it publicly, the move was a demotion for Lawn. But his experience and wisdom were so valuable, Johnson couldn’t let him go.
When Johnson left last June, Lawn helped keep the program together. When Hale took over, he reinstalled Lawn as pitching coach.
Dawson Netz shut down Texas Tech on Sunday to give UA a perfect 3-0 weekend at the home of the Texas Rangers.
The early results are promising. The UA staff posted a 3.67 ERA in Arlington. Critically, the pitchers issued only 10 walks in three games. Bases on balls were the downfall of the ’19 staff. Arizona’s BB/9 rate dropped under Yeskie. Throwing strikes has been one of Hale’s regular talking points.
There’s a long way to go, of course; three games represent a minute sample size. But the State Farm College Baseball Showdown offered a reminder that Lawn knows what he’s doing, the ’19 results notwithstanding. Remember: He was the pitching coach when the Wildcats almost won the College World Series in 2016. That team posted a 3.18 ERA — Arizona’s lowest mark since 1976.
5. Arizona has some legit flamethrowers
We knew what was coming from Friday starter TJ Nichols. He had touched 99 miles per hour in the fall. His fastball sat in the mid-90s during the opener.
What was new a two-seam version of Nichols’ fastball that had a ton of movement. He struck out at least two right-handed Kansas State batters with the pitch; they had no chance as the ball sailed up and in on them.
“When it was down, it was unhittable,” Hale said. “And then when it was up, it was unhittable.”
If Nichols can command that pitch, it can become another weapon for him.
We had heard good things about freshman right-hander Josh Randall. Players reported that his fastball “played up” because of its high spin rate; if it registered 90 or 91 on the radar gun, it felt like 94 or 95.
Then Randall came out in his UA debut Saturday night and touched 97. He did not allow a hit in two innings of relief.
Hale said the staff wanted to give Randall a “soft landing” for his first appearance; Arizona had a 10-run lead when he entered in the eighth inning. As he gains more experience and confidence, Randall is expected to play a critical role.
“By the time we get to Pac-12 play,” Hale said, “he could figure really importantly at the back of the bullpen.”
