Iowa baseball preview: The starting rotation
PROJECTED WEEKEND ROTATION
Friday – Adam Mazur
Saturday – Connor Schultz
Sunday – Expect it to shuffle
Breaking Down the Starting Pitching Options
The Hawkeyes lose Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Trenton Wallace (Blue Jays) and weekend starter Drew Irvine (Pirates) to the MLB, but a pair of strong transfers and freshman has pitching coach Robin Lund working with plenty of options for the starting pitching rotation.
Iowa fans got to watch South Dakota State transfer rSoph Adam Mazur explode over the summer as he tore apart the Cape Cod Summer League. Mazur posted an impressive 1.55 ERA, .83 WHIP, 34 strikeouts and six walks over 29 innings of work.
“It was a lot of fun. I had a great time out there. It was a blessing, just being able to compete against those guys every single day and soak things in from the top talent throughout the country. I feel like I grew a lot out there.” – Adam Mazur
As Adam pitched more and more out east, some bigger name teams began to knock on the door, but Mazur talked about sticking with the Hawkeyes on Media Day.
“I did (have bigger name interest). I just felt comfortable with Coach Lund and Coach Heller. Coach Heller flew out to my very first start in the Cape, which spoke volumes to me, and I was really appreciative of that. That was a big turning point for me. I also had two different zooms with Robin (Lund), so I had a great relationship with him from the start.” – Adam Mazur
He works with a fastball in the mid-90s, up to 96-97, as well as a pretty good slider. Mazur struck out 16 over 10 innings of work during scrimmages this fall. D1Baseball named him a preseason All-Big Ten selection and the expectation is that Mazur will take over for Trenton Wallace in the Friday role. He is slotted to start the opener vs Air Force. By the end of the year, this could end up looking like an A+ transfer addition.
“He’s a great fit. He’s a great teammate. He works extremely hard…The improvements that Adam has made with Coach (Robin) Lund since he’s got here have been pretty dramatic as well and I think anybody that saw Adam pitch last season, when they see him this year, they are going to be like ‘woah’, and I think he’s going to have a great year.” – Rick Heller
Cedar Falls native and Butler graduate transfer GSr Connor Schultz will be in the running for a weekend spot and is set to make the Saturday start vs Ball State. Schultz missed fall practice after having the same hip surgery that Connor McCaffery and Jordan Bohannon have had, but he has gotten back to full health. The big thing with Connor is that he has experience pitching under the bright lights in a Friday role at Butler, so putting him into a weekend role at a new school is not a huge challenge for him to take on.
“I would use the word professional. Everything he does, he does in a professional way. His work habits, his focus, his off the field, weight room…For the first time in a long time, he feels good. He feels healthy. He’s been able to work on things instead of just trying to survive with what he had, and I think when you seem him pitch you are going to be pretty impressed.” – Rick Heller
Back in 2019, he was named to the All-Big East First Team. Connor was 6-1, posting a 2.29 ERA over 13 starts, while striking out 79 and walking just 21 over 78.2 innings of work. Schultz had a down year in 2021 posting a 2-5 record and a 6.22 ERA, but that certainly can be attributed to pitching with two torn hip labrums. His pitch arsenal is about as large they come, starting with a fastball in the 90-92 range followed by four off-speed pitches that he is comfortable throwing at any time.
“He has great command of five pitches, and he has the unique ability to be able to attack any scouting report, any way he wants because he has command of the five pitches. That’s something that you don’t see very often.” – Rick Heller
The Sunday starting role could be revolving door because of the many options that they have at their disposal. Fr Marcus Morgan and Fr Brody Brecht are rated #1 and #5 respectively in the D1Baseball Big Ten freshman rankings. Morgan was tied for fourth in the state in strikeouts as a senior with 108 and has always had a plus level slider that he used to dominate at Iowa City West. However, Marcus has worked hard to improve the spin efficiency of his fastball and the results have been noticeable. A once 89-90 mph fastball at IC West has turned into a consistent 93-94, with the ability to touch a hair higher. Added to that is a cutter, slider and a changeup, with the potential of a slow curveball being added to the mix.
“What Marcus works on is his fastball efficiency, his spin efficiency was pretty low on his fastball and as soon as he got his fastball efficiency in the mid 80s his velocity went up…He can be great, as good as anybody out there. You hate to label guys and put pressure on them, but Marcus is a confident kid, and he works hard.” – Rick Heller
“(I’ve grown) a tremendous amount (since last year). Just understanding how to move better, hand placements, all the little stuff…Working with Robin (Lund) the past few months. He’s a super smart guy and he’s helped me learn a lot. Then watching the older guys like Mazur and Schultz that have all been through it. They’ve been great mentors to me.” – Marcus Morgan
Marcus Morgan will get first crack at being the Sunday starter and take the mound first vs Bucknell this weekend.
While D1Baseball rates Morgan higher than Brecht, the publicity followed Brody all summer as Iowa fans anxiously waited for the projected top five round MLB prospect to make a final decision. Brody has always had the fastball, which got up as high as 96 mph when I watched him pitch last summer for Ankeny. He has since added some weight from the football lifting program and his fastball now has the ability to get as high as 100 mph. The thumb injury that he sustained during football season healed very well and Coach Heller says that there is zero concern there moving forward.
“He put in a lot of extra time on his own to work on things. He didn’t have the ability to be with us, but he would come over sit down, talk to Coach Lund and he would give him some tasks to work on and he did them all religiously.” – Rick Heller
“He’s as good as anybody that has ever walked through these doors potential wise. I’ve done this 37-years and I’ve never seen someone throw 100.7 mph in the batting cage just two weeks into it…the sky is the limit” – Rick Heller
Coupling that fastball with an above average slider, as well as a changeup and he could be a force out of the bullpen if that is where he is called on. Both Brecht and Morgan will be knocking on the door for a starting rotation spot.
Soph Ty Langenberg really seems to have turned a corner over the last six months and worked hard over the offseason to improve on the mound. As a freshman last year, Langenberg was one of the unfortunate pitchers that did not see consistent time on the mound due to the removal of midweek games. He appeared in just eight games with an ERA of 5.23, but his performance during the fall season showed that he is a lot better than his season stats suggested.
“I thought his fall was good, but since October, until now it has been great. He’s taken a jump. His live set this past Sunday (Jan 30) was probably the best of the group. It was impressive and it was dominate.” – Rick Heller
His fastball sat in the 88-92 range last season, but has jumped up into 92-94 range with the ability to touch as high as 96. Pitching coach Robin Lund worked with Ty on some adjustments to his delivery and the change has been dramatic. He racked up 13 strikeouts to just three walks and one run over 8.2 innings of work during fall scrimmages, before his final outing went a little haywire. Langenberg feels like one that will be a good candidate to start some midweek games and potentially hop into a weekend spot if the opportunity presents itself.
The final option is a veteran option on the mound in the form of rSr Cam Baumann. Baumann had a rough start to the season last year, briefly falling out of the starting rotation, but came back and put together a pretty solid season as a Sunday starter. Despite a season 4.19 ERA, Cam put together a five-game stretch where he allowed just five runs over 30 innings, while striking out 19 and walking seven. He also posted a 2.37 ERA and 1.05 WHIP over 19 innings with the West Virginia Black Bears last summer. While Baumann may not be a weekend rotation guy, his experience will be very valuable this season and he will have an important role with this pitching staff.
“It’s a nice problem to have, but trying to get it organized at the beginning can be a challenge because you really don’t know until we get out there and start playing games…We’ll have a great plan and a reason for doing it week one, but it could be completely different in week two and three.” – Rick Heller
With so many options there is also the possibility that the coaching staff scraps the conventional starting pitcher to bullpen strategy altogether and goes with a double starter gameplan. For example, Adam Mazur could start a game, throw four innings and then give way to Cam Baumann who throws four innings before giving the ball to the bullpen for the final inning. The coaching staff has been weighing different options on how to handle all of the arms that they have available. Expect the first month of the season to have a good bit of fluctuations, but it will provide a road map for the rest of the season.
UP NEXT – Bullpen – How the new look bullpen has a number of late inning options to close out games.