The recent past and promising future of the Arizona baseball bullpen spoke to the media Wednesday, mainly about the present relief corps’ newfound success.
Both have played a part in it in their own ways.
Tony Pluta, the 2025 NCBWA Stopper of the Year who’s out for the season because of an elbow injury, has served as the Wildcats’ unofficial bullpen coach.
Pluta has mentored the likes of freshman Benton Hickman, who has tapped into his immense talent to become a reliable setup man.
It took a good chunk of the season for the relievers to get used to their roles after Pluta was shelved just before the Feb. 13 opener. Arizona (14-22, 5-10 Big 12) has won five of its past seven games. In those wins, the bullpen has a 1.93 ERA.
“I think there was just a shock at the beginning of the year with, one, the pitching that we were missing and, two, just a lot of young guys in the lineup,” Pluta said. “It just took a long time for us to find what meshed and what makes sense for this group of guys. I think we're getting there.”
Pluta isn’t the only reliever who’s battled elbow injuries. Three others — right-handers Nolan Straniero and JT Drake, and lefty Mason Russell — are out for the season or out indefinitely. Arizona has gotten just 4⅔ innings out of that group.
The healthy pitchers were inconsistent and overworked. They let far too many games get away.
Four of the five wins in the recent stretch have been decided by three or fewer runs. The Wildcats were 3-13 in such games previously.
Arizona's Garrett Hicks exclaims after getting out of a jam in the bottom of the 12th inning against UCF on Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Orlando, Fla.
“I think they’re starting to figure out their roles a little bit,” said UA coach Chip Hale, whose team hosts Kansas State Friday-Sunday. “They’re way more rested, and their stuff is showing it.”
Arizona is getting more length from its starters, and that is putting less strain on the bullpen. Friday-night starter Owen Kramkowski has pitched six-plus innings in each of his past three outings. He did that only once in his first six appearances.
Collin McKinney, who began the season as a starter, has joined the bullpen, giving first-year pitching coach Sean Kenny another late-inning option. The others who’ve pitched effectively, especially in recent games: right-handers Hickman, Garrett Hicks, Corey Kling and Matthew Martinez; and lefties Maclain Roberts and Patrick Morris.
Hicks has taken over for Pluta as the closer and has thrived since getting fully healthy and making a mechanical adjustment in late March. Hicks has thrown 11⅓ consecutive scoreless innings since March 24, lowering his ERA from 5.40 to 2.29 while accumulating four saves and a win.
“Garrett Hicks was not 100% to start the year,” Hale said. “He had gotten hurt in the fall. We slow-played it. ... Sean was very careful with how he used him early in the year.
“What Sean has figured out, along with the rest of us, is he is probably better with a lot of work. He likes to pitch. He likes to pitch often. I think his stuff’s better. And I think he has more confidence.”
The same can be said of Hickman, who has lowered his ERA from 6.00 to 3.45 over his past four outings.
Arizona's Benton Hickman gets fired up after wriggling out of a jam in the seventh inning against ASU on Monday, April 13, 2026, in Phoenix.
Hickman’s most recent appearance, at Arizona State on Monday night, showed how far he has come.
Hickman entered in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, runners on second and third and Arizona clinging to a 3-1 lead. He struck out PJ Moutzouridis and got Austen Roellig to ground out with the bases loaded after an intentional walk to ASU star sophomore Landon Hairston.
Contrast that with Hickman’s collegiate debut vs. Oregon State on Feb. 14. Under similar circumstances — slim lead, runners on base, late innings, hostile crowd — the freshman buckled. He hit the first two batters he faced and allowed a two-RBI single.
“It was a good first outing,” said Hickman, who has limited opponents to a .175 batting average. “I got a lot of experience. It didn't go my way, for sure, but that experience led me to go into ASU (with confidence).”
The Sun Devils tied the score in the bottom of the eighth against McKinney. They wouldn’t score again as Hicks — a senior who has served as a mentor for Hickman — threw three shutout innings.
“Everyone knows that we've had a lot of different stability (issues) going on,” Hickman said. “We've had new pitching coaches. But one thing doesn't change: We're all here for a reason. We all have good stuff, and I think we're all believing in it right now.
“We just trust each other and just hand the baton to each other. We're doing great.”
Pluta’s plan
For most of the offseason, Pluta didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary. He felt what he described as “normal tightness.” Then he had, in his words, “one bad day.”
It was sometime in mid-January. Pluta felt the dreaded pop in his elbow.
Arizona reliever Tony Pluta (37) throws in the bullpen as the sun goes down over Hi Corbett Field and the Wildcats get ready to take on Utah in a Big 12 game May 9, 2025.
“Uh-oh,” he thought to himself. “That’s not good.”
Pluta had a torn elbow ligament that would require Tommy John surgery. The procedure was performed on Feb. 12, one day before the opener.
“It sucked,” said Pluta, who had a school-record 14 saves last season. “You knew something was wrong, and when I finally got the information about what had really happened, I was bummed.
“It sucked that I wasn't gonna be able to play. But I was really happy that the coaches let me stick around and keep mentoring the guys a little bit and take care of the bullpen. So that was the silver lining for everything.”
Pluta has served an important role as an aide to Kenny. Arizona has been without an assistant pitching coach this season following Owen Cuffe’s departure for the Colorado Rockies in late January. The program isn’t expected to fill the position until after the season.
“We had a need for it because we had lost Cuff,” Pluta said. “So it was just a good opportunity for me to ... do something positive for the team.”
Pluta no longer is wearing a brace and expects to start throwing in July. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be full go by next season. He has one more year of eligibility and intends to spend it as a Wildcat.
“That's the goal, 100%,” Pluta said. “It all depends on the draft, but obviously that's a long shot. My intention is coming back here next year.”
Inside pitch
– Pluta on Hicks: “He's got the fire, that's for sure. ... When I go out there, I'm pretty mellow, I'm pretty calm. He’s pretty much the opposite of me. So he really takes the energy and gives it to the other team and just destroys them. He's been exactly what we need.”
Arizona's Carson McEntire trots around the bases after hitting a three-run homer in the second inning vs. New Mexico State on April 8, 2026, at Hi Corbett Field.
– Pluta on Hickman: “He's really impressive. His stuff is elite. It's way better than my stuff is. If he keeps doing what he's doing — if he can find a way to recover after the bad outings and just stay in a good mental space — he's going to be absolutely dominant.”
– Pluta on the team’s recent surge: “There's not a lot of quit in these guys. The guys ... understand what the ‘A’ means, what being here means. It's more than just us. It's a tradition. We all appreciate the chance that we have just being here, and we want to keep winning. We want to keep playing.”
– UA center fielder Carson McEntire is expected to return Friday after missing the past two games because of a minor hamstring injury, Hale said.
– The current expectation is that outfielders Sean Barta, Chaz McNelis and Gunner Geile will use redshirt years. Barta and McNelis have been battling injuries, while Geile agreed with the coaches to redshirt this season after being thrust into the lineup as a freshman because of injuries to others.
– Kansas State ranks first or second in the Big 12 in batting average (.321), on-base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.561), runs (354), doubles (101) and stolen bases (68). Arizona ranks in the bottom three in all those categories.
– Arizona ranks fifth in the Big 12 in ERA (5.33) and strikeouts (342). KSU is 11th in ERA (6.07) and sixth in strikeouts (331). UA has allowed the third-fewest home runs in the league (29), while K-State has surrendered the second-most (53).
