Starting Rotation Taking Shape Two Weeks Out From Opener
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
One week into official practice for the 2015 season, and two weeks out from opening day, the Oregon baseball team’s pitching rotation is starting to take shape.
The No. 20 Ducks enter their Feb. 13 opener at Hawaii without pitchers who made 58 of the team’s 64 starts last spring. Rotation regulars Tommy Thorpe, Jeff Gold and Brando Tessar moved on along with spot starters Porter Clayton and Jordan Spencer, and Matt Krook still is recovering from elbow surgery.
As practice began a week ago, UO coach George Horton painted a muddled picture of the rotation’s prospects to open this campaign. With sophomore Cole Irvin still working back from elbow surgery of his own, the candidates to start the four-game series at Hawaii included senior Jack Karraker and sophomores Stephen Nogosek and Trent Paddon – who combined for six starts last season – along with newcomers Conor Harber and David Peterson.
As of last week, none was pitching with enough consistency to please Horton. A week later, including a key scrimmage Thursday, pitching coach Dean Stiles has the group in a better place. “This is been a good week for pitchers improving, and he deserves all the credit,” Horton said following the scrimmage.
The Ducks played 10 innings Thursday, and three of the potential starters threw. Nogosek escaped a bases-loaded jam in his first inning, then settled down to finish with five scoreless frames. Harber also went five, facing the minimum before allowing an unearned run in his final inning. And Karraker threw three scoreless to close out the scrimmage.
“Things are coming together, to where I feel better than I did two weeks ago,” Horton said. “The picture’s starting to get a little more clear, and we’re getting a little more confident.”
The week started well, with a Tuesday workout in which Paddon all but solidified himself a starting job for the series in Hawaii. The big right-hander went 1-1 in three starts as a freshman, relying primarily on his fastball. Now, he’s commanding a three-pitch mix, Horton said, adding that “somebody else would really have to do something special” to unseat Paddon.
Horton also has been pleased with Harber, a junior from Astoria who transferred this year from Western Nevada College. With his long, blond locks, Harber is the spitting image of Thorpe, and while Harber throws right-handed, he also works with a fastball that hovers around 88 mph.
But whereas Thorpe used his breaking pitches to great effect, Harber uses that fastball as his out pitch. Horton compared Harber not to Thorpe but Jason Windsor, who was most outstanding player of the College World Series for Horton’s Cal State Fullerton team in 2004.
“There’s something about his fastball, which we can’t put our finger on, but guys don’t square him up,” Horton said of Harber. “They swing and miss a lot against 88, 89, 90. Out of all our guys, Harber’s got the most swing-and-miss stuff, and Windsor was like that.”
Harber got some help Thursday, facing the minimum in his second inning of work despite two walks, as both runners were thrown out on the bases. A runner reached after an error in Harber’s final inning, and came home on a sacrifice fly after being bunted to third.
“So far it’s been good,” Harber said. “I’m hoping to make a good impression on the coaches, and the defense has been helping me out, making plays.”
Nogosek helped himself after finding trouble in the first. A ground-rule double by newcomer Matt Eureste put runners at second and third to leadoff Nogosek’s first inning, and a walk loaded the bases with one out, but the right-hander buckled down and escaped the jam. As the day wore on he stopped falling behind in the count and was much more effective.
The clutch effort called to mind Nogosek’s two starts of 2014. He threw three scoreless innings against then-No. 2 Oregon State in the final month of the regular season, then left with a 2-1 lead after seven innings in the Ducks’ season finale, an NCAA Regional loss to eventual national champion Vanderbilt.
“He was a little amped up to start the day; you’d much rather have a kid be over-excited than, ‘Aw, this is just a scrimmage,’” Horton said. “He realizes the pressure’s on him, so he’s picked it up. The fact he settled in and got through five quality innings was encouraging.”
Nogosek wasn’t inspiring as much confidence when practice began a week earlier, from himself or the staff. “I’ve been working hard and slowly getting better,” he said. “Couple weeks ago was really bad – really, really bad – but it’s getting better. This outing felt better. I feel like I’m just hitting my stride, which is good right before the season.”
Karraker, who made one spot start last spring but pitched primarily out of the bullpen, threw three innings late in the scrimmage and survived allowing five baserunners. The fifth candidate to start, the highly regarded freshman left-hander Peterson, was slated to get extensive work Saturday.
Not currently in the mix, but certainly on the minds of Oregon’s players, coaches and fans, is the sophomore left-hander Irvin. The UO single-season record-holder for wins, with 12 in 2013, Irvin retired the side in order in both of his innings Tuesday, relying on his fastball and changeup.
Irvin was on a pitch count, and was so efficient in his two innings of work he had to throw extra in the bullpen to reach that 35-pitch limit. He’ll begin working in breaking pitches the next time he throws live.
“It’s just nice to be settled in to a routine of starting again,” Irvin said. “Last week I was racing a lot; I missed some signs, screwed up some signs, typical for a comeback from what I’ve heard from other guys. But today felt fantastic.”
At least in his mind, Irvin isn’t out of the mix to make a start early in the upcoming season. “I’m hoping that’s the case,” he said. “Still gotta have a conversation with my doctor, and depending on how that goes, we’ll see how many pitches I can get in the early part of the season. We’ll see. I don’t know yet, but I’m feeling good – feeling confident my doctor will like where I’m at and let me keep going.”
