Moments after Arizona’s season ended Monday, Wildcats coach Chip Hale realized what they need more of to thrive in the future:
Pitching.
That probably seems like an obvious takeaway after Arizona lost 22-6 to Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament’s Coral Gables Regional. But that performance wasn’t a one-off; it was the culmination of issues that arose over the second half of the season.
Hale specifically mentioned boosting the bullpen, but the biggest cause of the Wildcats’ demise was a pair of arm injuries to starters Chandler Murphy and Dawson Netz. They happened at different times but had a similar net effect: With fewer starters capable of going deep into games, the bullpen got stretched thin.
The best example came during the regional in South Florida: Right-hander Quinn Flanagan had to pitch in three consecutive games played over two days.
“Quinn Flanagan threw three times in 24 hours,” Hale said. “That’s pretty impressive. (But) that’s something you really don’t want to do to a kid. Now, he’s a senior; we’re hoping he gets a chance to play at the next level. But boy, I would hate for anybody to get hurt.”
Hale and pitching coach Dave Lawn leaned hard on Flanagan and fellow righty Trevor Long to finish games; they made 34 and 31 appearances, respectively, in the Wildcats’ 64 games. (Fun fact: Arizona actually played one more game this season than last — when it reached the College World Series — mainly because of the Pac-12 Tournament.)
Arizona Wildcats pitcher Chandler Murphy (22) fist-bumps his teammates prior to Monday's game against Ole Miss at the Coral Gables regional.
Flanagan and Long were the relievers Hale and Lawn trusted the most. That group wavered over the course of the season. Left-hander Holden Christian began the campaign as the closer before a spate of wildness from which he never fully recovered. Young lefties Javyn Pimental and Eric Orloff and veteran right-handers George Arias Jr. and Chris Barraza all had their moments — as well as bouts of ineffectiveness.
Hale and Lawn recognized the need for more arms well before the season started; the only players they added via the NCAA transfer portal were Christian and Barraza. It’s likely Arizona will go that route again to fill gaps in the bullpen. As the 2022 season showed, it’s hard to make a postseason run when you’re relying on young pitchers.
If freshmen such as Orloff and right-hander Anthony Susac are able to learn from their rookie seasons and improve, the rough patches they endured will be viewed fondly as necessary growing pains.
Orloff has the profile to become Arizona’s next “pitchability” lefty, succeeding JC Cloney and Garrett Irvin in that role. Orloff needs to improve his control after walking 18 batters and hitting seven in 39 2/3 innings.
Susac has superior stuff and is considered a legit prospect for the 2023 MLB draft despite posting an 8.81 ERA as a freshman. But he needs to harness it. Susac gets tremendous movement on his two-seam fastball, but he struggled to throw it for strikes.
Assuming veterans Murphy, Netz and TJ Nichols return and are in good health — and if Orloff and Susac make a leap — Arizona has the makings of a deep rotation. Then again, that’s the way it looked on paper entering this season.
Nichols realizing his potential would solve a lot of problems. As a sophomore, the powerful right-hander led the team in strikeouts (84 in 88 1/3 innings) and tied for the lead in wins (six). But his command was erratic; he finished with a 5.50 ERA and “led” the Wildcats in hit batsmen and wild pitches (13 apiece).
Long likely will enter 2023 as the closer. Pimental showed the potential to be a setup man or left-on-left specialist. Filling in the gaps will require internal development and shrewd personnel acquisitions beyond the ’22 signing class.
By the numbers
Here are some notable numbers posted by UA batters and pitchers this season:
Catcher Daniel Susac led the team in batting average (.366), hits (100), RBIs (61) and total bases (159). He became the 10th Wildcat to record 100 hits in a season and the first since Zach Gibbons and Cody Ramer did it in 2016.
Outfielder Tanner O’Tremba finished second behind Susac in average (.351), hits (91), RBIs (56) and total bases (153). He led the team in on-base percentage (.446), slugging percentage (.591), doubles (21) and stolen bases (nine). His 11 home runs were a career high and ranked third on the team behind Chase Davis (18) and Susac (12).
Davis’ 18 homers tied Gary Alexander (1987) and Alan Zinter (1989) for sixth most in school history. Davis also led the Wildcats with 48 walks.
Flanagan paced the club with a career-best 1.63 ERA — Arizona’s lone ERA under 3.00. He also had a team-best 1.17 WHIP, a 5-1 record and two saves (both coming in Coral Gables).
Irvin was the only other Wildcat to post a WHIP under 1.20, finishing at 1.19. His 3.38 ERA was more than a run lower than his 2021 mark (4.58). He finished his UA career with a 15-8 record.
Long tied Nichols for the team lead in wins (six). Long led the Wildcats with seven saves.
Pac-12 roundup
The three Pac-12 teams that didn’t earn national seeds — Arizona, Oregon and UCLA — failed to advance to the Super Regional round. Stanford and Oregon State, the Nos. 2 and 3 national seeds, did. But both needed to win do-or-die games Monday to move on.
The Beavers were able to slip past Vanderbilt 7-6. Star pitcher Cooper Hjerpe, who started OSU’s regional opener, closed out the Commodores.
The Cardinal pulled off a miraculous comeback against Texas State. Stanford fell behind 3-1 in the ninth inning. Drew Bowser and Tommy Troy then hit back-to-back solo home runs to lead off the bottom half. Stanford won 4-3 on a walk-off single by freshman Trevor Haskins.
Arizona had great familiarity with both opponents. The Wildcats swept a three-game series against the Cardinal during the regular season before losing twice to them in the Pac-12 Tournament. Arizona lost two of three to Texas State in early March at Hi Corbett Field.
