One of the tasks Arizona baseball coach Chip Hale undertakes during the season is determining who makes the travel roster.
This year, it’s harder than ever.
Hale said only four or five players — out of 39 — are definitely off the list.
“That’s it,” Hale said. “I can go back and bring up my 27-man roster from 2022, our first year, look at it and go, ‘Wow, it’s a big difference.’ ”
Hale and his staff have built up the Wildcats’ depth heading into the ’24 season. The pitching staff has options galore. Several lineup spots are up for grabs.
Which makes determining a list of 15 players to watch something of a fool’s errand.
But duty calls. With apologies to those who didn’t make the cut, here are 15 Wildcats to keep an eye on as the season gets underway Friday:
CLARK CANDIOTTI
Position: RHP/starter
Year: Fifth-year senior
Notable: The son of former major-leaguer and longtime Diamondbacks radio announcer Tom Candiotti transferred to Arizona from Wichita State. The UA is Clark’s fifth school in five years. He could be on the cusp of a career year. In Arizona’s two most recent intrasquad scrimmages, Candiotti struck out 23 batters in 10 2/3 innings.
GAREN CAULFIELD
Position: 2B
Year: Fifth-year junior
Notable: Caulfield had rotten luck at the plate last season. His BABIP — batting average on balls in play — was just .250. The rest of the team had a BABIP of .366. After finishing the season with a traditional batting average of just .229, Caulfield hit .283 for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod League last summer.
EMILIO CORONA
Position: RF
Year: Fifth-year senior
Notable: One of Arizona’s best RBI producers on a per-game basis last season — 44 in 38 games — Corona is set to move into a middle-of-the-order role. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to build on last year’s promising campaign, which also saw him bat .336 with 11 home runs in 152 at-bats.
Catcher Adonys Guzman, a transfer from Boston College, is known for his defense and arm strength.
ADONYS GUZMAN
Position: C
Year: Sophomore
Notable: Guzman transferred to Arizona from Boston College, where he worked under new Arizona pitching coach Kevin Vance. Known more for his defense and arm at this point, Guzman hit .239 in 82 at-bats with the Golden Eagles. He’ll share catching duties with another newcomer, Blake McDonald.
KYLER HEYNE
Position: RHP/reliever
Year: Fourth-year junior
Notable: Another key acquisition via the transfer portal, Heyne is expected to pitch critical innings out of the bullpen. He excelled at Kansas State last season, going 3-0 with a save in 28 2/3 innings. Heyne posted a 3.45 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings for the Mankato MoonDogs of the Northwoods League last summer.
JACKSON KENT
Position: LHP/starter
Year: Redshirt sophomore
Notable: Thanks to a promising offseason in which he upped his velocity from the high 80s to the low 90s, Kent has gone from spot starter to possible Friday starter. The launching pad was the Cape Cod League, where Kent registered a 2.88 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 25 innings for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.
MATTHEW MARTINEZ
Position: RHP/reliever
Year: Junior
Notable: Martinez struck out a lot of batters in junior college — 100 in 76 1/3 innings in two seasons at South Mountain CC — and that has continued with the UA. Martinez fanned all six batters he faced, including five swinging, in a fall exhibition game against Central Arizona College. Martinez’s parents, Joe and Stacy, graduated from Arizona. Joe played for the baseball team.
Arizona’s Blake McDonald slides into third base in an exhibition against Pima College in October. Over the past two years at Saint Mary’s, McDonald hit .297 with a .392 on-base percentage.
BLAKE MCDONALD
Position: C
Year: Fifth-year senior
Notable: McDonald is expected to share catching duties with Guzman. McDonald played the past two seasons at Saint Mary’s, the alma mater of UA hitting and catching coach Toby DeMello. McDonald batted .297 with a .392 on-base percentage and 39 RBIs in 273 at-bats for the Gaels.
TONY PLUTA
Position: RHP/reliever
Year: Sophomore
Notable: Pluta pitched sparingly as a freshman, logging just six appearances and seven innings. He blew up in the Northwoods League, allowing only six hits and striking out 38 batters in 20 innings with the La Crosse Loggers. Pluta is majoring in aerospace engineering.
TOMMY SPLAINE
Position: 1B/C
Year: Junior
Notable: Splaine is expected to primarily play first base after struggling defensively at catcher last year. It should also help him stay healthy after his body broke down late in the season. Splaine is a career .275 hitter (.373 OBP) but has just two home runs in 291 at-bats. Can he tap into the power his 6-5, 207-pound frame suggests he should have?
Arizona’s Brendan Summerhill posted a .419 on-base percentage as a freshman in 2023 in limited playing time.
BRENDAN SUMMERHILL
Position: LF
Year: Sophomore
Notable: The sophomore is first in line to succeed Chase Davis and roam Hi Corbett’s massive left field. Summerhill proved to be a tough out in limited playing time as a freshman, posting a .419 on-base percentage in 58 at-bats. He recorded a 28-25 walk-to-strikeout ratio in the Northwoods League.
ANTHONY ‘TONKO’ SUSAC
Position: RHP/starter
Year: Junior
Notable: Susac could be on the brink of a breakout after struggling for most of his first two seasons. He did lower his ERA last year by almost three runs, going from 8.81 as a freshman to 6.08 as a sophomore. Several of Susac’s advanced metrics indicate greater success could be on the horizon.
Arizona righty Cam Walty had a K-BB ratio of 6.11 last season in his first year with the Wildcats.
CAM WALTY
Position: RHP/starter
Year: Senior
Notable: Walty had moments of brilliance in his first season as a Wildcat, including a stretch of five games in which he allowed only three earned runs in 27 innings (1.00 ERA). But Walty faltered in the postseason, allowing 12 runs in four frames. He had no trouble throwing strikes — a team-best 6.11 K-BB ratio — but needs to master an out pitch.
MASON WHITE
Position: SS
Year: Sophomore
Notable: The Salpointe Catholic product mashed as a freshman. He slashed .313/.379/.611 with 35 extra-base hits in 208 at-bats. Now, White is moving up in the lineup and across the diamond from second base to short. He’s already on the radar for MLB clubs in the 2025 draft.
BRADON ZASTROW
Position: LHP/reliever
Year: Fifth-year senior
Notable: The transfer from Pima Community College went 6-5 with a 5.28 ERA as a starter last season. He’s expected to assume a prominent bullpen role after a promising offseason in which he lowered his arm slot at the behest of new pitching coaches Vance and John DeRouin.
Third-year Arizona baseball coach Chip Hale and his team are embracing the underdog role heading into the 2024 campaign (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)
