Strength in numbers: Group effort will enable Arizona Wildcats to replace injured starter Randy Labaut

The loss of left-hander Randy Labaut for the season leaves a void in Arizona’s starting rotation.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, they have capable arms to fill it.

Coach Jay Johnson and his staff sought to improve the quality and depth of Arizona’s pitching for 2018 and beyond. They wanted better production, of course, but also to be prepared for a situation like this.

Labaut, a redshirt sophomore, had a 1.71 ERA in seven appearances, including five starts, before requiring emergency surgery for compartment syndrome Sunday in Seattle, where the UA was playing Washington. Labaut had a second surgery Wednesday and was set to return home Thursday, Johnson said.

Labaut had become a weekend starter for Arizona and pitched Saturday at UW. Another left-hander, Avery Weems, will follow righty Cody Deason in this weekend’s series against Washington State at Hi Corbett Field. Right-hander Michael Flynn is scheduled to start Sunday.

“It’s that old New England Patriots philosophy — next man up,” Johnson said. “My disappointment is for Randy. I feel like he was really emerging into one of the best pitchers in the Pac-12 and certainly a mainstay for us in the rotation.

“But we have a number of good pitchers. We’ve pitched well to this point. We’ll use all of them to make sure that those innings remain quality innings for us.”

Pitching has been the strength of the ’18 Wildcats, who take an 11-9 record into Friday’s Pac-12 home opener against the Cougars. Entering Thursday night, Arizona ranked first in the conference and sixth in the nation with a 2.30 ERA.

Weems, a transfer from Yavapai College, has made a team-high six starts, sometimes on short rest. He’s 1-1 with a 2.97 ERA and has attacked every assignment Johnson has given him.

“I’m ready to be called on wherever, whenever and (willing to do) whatever it takes to get the job done,” Weems said. “That’s why I came to play baseball at the University of Arizona.”

Flynn is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA but has had something of an uneven start to the season. He has walked 10 batters and hit seven in 19ª innings.

“When you look at pure arm talent, experience, those types of things, Michael is one of our three, four (or) five best pitchers,” Johnson said. “We want to expand his role. We felt like setting him up (for) Sunday is a good way to do that.”

Flynn pitched in relief of Labaut on Saturday and took the loss in a 1-0 defeat. Juan Aguilera, another righty who had been pitching out of the bullpen, started Tuesday against New Mexico State and has earned a bigger role.

Aguilera shut down one of the nation’s most prolific offenses, efficiently throwing six scoreless innings. Johnson has said more than once that he wished he had used Aguilera more last season. That won’t be an issue this year.

“He’s told me. No hard feelings about it,” Aguilera said. “I know when I get my chance, I just want to take advantage of it.”

That’s the attitude the entire staff needs to have to make up for Labaut’s absence. Catcher Cesar Salazar is confident the group will respond.

“Somebody needs to have the guts to say, ‘I’m going to step on the mound and be the guy,’” Salazar said. “They’ve all been doing a tremendous job. They’ve put us in a great position to win ballgames. We have a lot of guys capable of doing it.”

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Salazar, who is one of Labaut’s best friends, said his teammate was “really down” upon learning he’d be out for the season. Labaut’s outlook has improved considerably in the past few days.

“He’s been joking with me and Alfonso (Rivas III) like nothing happened,” Salazar said. “We just can’t wait to see him back at home.”

Sticker situation

After his team got swept in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Minneapolis earlier this season, Johnson couldn’t sleep. While sitting in his living room at about 3 a.m., Johnson came up with an idea to promote better at-bats.

Inspired by Ohio State’s football program, Johnson started handing out helmet stickers for specific accomplishments. They include leading off an inning by getting on base, drawing a walk, executing a bunt and scoring a runner from third with less than two outs. They’re posted in the UA dugout, giving the players a readily available reminder and extra source of motivation.

“Every time we go up to bat,” Salazar said, “we see that and we have something to focus on and something to strive for.”

Arizona scored just seven runs in three games in Minneapolis. The Wildcats are averaging 7.7 runs per game since. That includes last week’s Washington series, in which the Wildcats scored only three times in three games.

“Once we understood what it was about and the concept of it, it kind of made us think,” center fielder Cal Stevenson said. “Let’s go up there, make it as tough as we can on the pitcher and just compete your butt off. A lot of guys have really taken that in, have had some competitive at-bats and some better swings because of it.”

From Scranton

to Tucson

Baseball players will do just about anything to get out of a slump. Several Wildcats have changed their hair styles or alerted their facial hair this season. Stevenson switched his walk-up song.

The senior, who had been using “Snow” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, went with the theme from “The Office” on Tuesday night. He laced two triples in a 14-0 UA victory.

“I wanted to try it,” Stevenson said. “We struggled on the road a little bit. Felt like I needed something new. I love ‘The Office.’”

Stevenson and teammate Robby Medel watch an episode or two of the Emmy-winning NBC show every night. Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, is Stevenson’s favorite character. So is Stevenson the Michael Scott of the team?

“No. I’m probably the Jim Halpert,” Stevenson said. “Rob’s the Michael Scott.”

Inside pitch

• Both teams’ bats will be tested before the start of Pac-12 series. The procedure already was in place for NCAA postseason games.
• Salazar, who recently missed some time because of a bruised left wrist, served as the DH against New Mexico State. “It’s weird,” Salazar said. “I’ve never done it in my life. But the next day I appreciate it, because my legs (are) feeling fresh. If the point behind it is to keep my bat in the lineup and keep my legs fresh, I guess I like it.”
• Washington State will start three left-handers against Arizona. After struggling earlier in the season against lefties, the Wildcats now have a higher batting average against southpaws (.265) than they do against right-handers (.257).
• The Cougars (4-12, 0-3) rank last in the Pac-12 in batting average (.242) and ERA (5.19).
• The WSU series will be streamed at ArizonaWildcats.com as well as the Pac-12 Plus Facebook page (Facebook.com/Pac12Plus).