Freshman pitcher Brett Lilek flips his wrist back before hurling a pitch in the Alumni Game on Feb. 9. Lilek has missed most of the season due to arm soreness. (Photo by Molly J. Smith)At this point, there’s no denying it.
ASU baseball coach Tim Esmay misses freshman pitcher Brett Lilek on the mound.
Lilek has been sidelined for most of the year due to arm soreness, something Esmay said has affected the pitching staff.
“The whole key is to get Lilek back,” Esmay said. “That’s a bullet we haven’t been able to use and that could change the whole dynamic of this thing.”
Lilek’s presence was greatly missed on Saturday vs. UCLA when the Sun Devils were forced to use eight pitchers after sophomore starter Adam McCreery lasted only four batters.
“That’s been a huge miss for us, obviously” Esmay said. “It’s extended some other guys and not allowed us to settle in on that Sunday.”
Lilek could move into the Sunday starter spot over McCreery, who hasn’t reached the sixth inning yet this season.
Lilek pitched six innings in his only start of the season against then-No. 2 Arkansas.
“This is performance-driven, so that’s a constant evaluation by us,” Esmay said.
Regardless of where Lilek ends up, Esmay just wants the lefty to return to the mound.
“That’s an option that can change our thinking and how we set guys up and how we do things on the weekend,” Esmay said.
For now, Esmay and pitching coach Ken Knutsen are cautious with Lilek’s return, which could happen as early as this week at Wichita State.
“He’s not ready to go out and throw six and go get them,” Esmay said. “It will be a little bit of a stretch for us to get him back, and we will go from there.”
First base battle
The first base competition is continuing to heat up and freshman Dalton DiNatale is the latest one to step in the ring.
DiNatale homered with two outs in the ninth on Saturday off UCLA sophomore closer David Berg to tie the game at 10.
It was DiNatale’s first career home run, and the Parkland, Fla., product entered the game only four innings prior for fellow freshman David Graybill.
DiNatale has been seeing a lot more time recently, virtually overtaking sophomore Rouric Bridgewater as the lefty option.
“I feel honored just to be a part of it,” DiNatale said. “Bridgewater and Graybill are really great players and, right now, it’s just a matchup thing.”
DiNatale started the season off at third base, but with the first base struggles has willingly shifted over to first.
“That’s where I was working earlier in the season and in the fall, but it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I’m playing and helping the team,” DiNatale said.
Notes
-The Sun Devils hit home runs in all three games of the UCLA series, the first time it happened all season in any series.
-The Sun Devil pitching staff allowed two home runs against UCLA. Before the series, it allowed only one in 188.2 innings.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
