Rogers & Canham team up to preview OSU pitching in '23

D1 Baseball's knowledgeable college baseball writer, Kendal Rogers was joined by OSU Head Coach Mitch Canham in discussion and subsequently, in a fall preview of the Beaver's pitching prospects for the upcoming 2023 season. The pitching preview was contained in the Oregon State Fall Report published by D1 Baseball.com.

With 26 pitchers throwing in OSU's fall practice period, where do you even begin? Rogers and Canham began with several returning hurlers and did manage to discuss 18 of the 26 pitchers participating in fall practices. I believe The eight not mentioned in the D1 report were those that did not pitch in Bend or Medford; Cope, Mundt, Case, Townsend, Keljo, Pote, Keyes, Sellers, Miller and Hill. Miller and Hill are also excellent position players that can hit and that might be ultimate destination.

Kendall suggested the departure of Cooper Hjerpe may be felt more than the departure of the three outstanding outfielders. Because this staff does not feature an obvious successor to Hjerpe in terms of a staff ace, it will take a combination of pitchers to make up those innings.

So as with the position player group, Oregon State has plenty of pieces on the mound; it’s just a matter of fitting the pieces together and doing some development. Fortunately, the Beavers have a strong track record when it comes to development, so there’s reason to believe they’ll figure it all out by the time spring rolls around.

JACOB KMATZ: RHP Jacob Kmatz had solid Frosh campaign, Ranked second on team with 77.1 innings in ’22, (8-2, 4.19). Did not miss a ton of bats (65 K and 8.4K/9ip). Lack of a true out pitch allowed hitters to extend at-bats and drive up his pitch count, preventing him from going deeper into games. Coach Canham said - the landing his offspeed stuff is a big emphasis for him this fall - strikes and sharpening up his curveball and slider. Last year pitched heavily off his fastball, which played above its 87-91 mph velocity. Always had feel for his changeup. Has progressed very well this fall.

JAREN HUNTER: Junior RHP Jaren Hunter brings some starting experience. Made 12 starts among his 14 appearances last spring, mostly in a midweek role. Hunter is not overpowering, but offers a funky low three-quarters look and excellent sink on his 84-87 mph fastball. Shows very good feel for a fading, sinking changeup at 78-81. Mixes in a useful slider at 80-81. Slider started to emerge for him last year, giving him a third weapon alongside his sinker and change, but it’s been inconsistent. Finding his feel for it again improves his starting chances.

AARON LATTERY: Big, physical RHP AJ Lattery, made five starts last year and posted a 2.57 ERA.. Like Hunter, he won’t blow hitters away with velocity. Works at 86-88 with some cut action coming out of a simple, repeatable high three-quarters delivery with a deliberate tempo. Has good feel to spin a tight slider at 79-81 and a bigger breaking curveball at 73-76,. He can keep hitters off balance.

“A lot to prove there. He had some really good outings, went down to USC and threw five zeroes. got real sick and had to miss a month or whatever, trying to get back,” Coach Canham said. “Just when you see him make big steps forward, an illness happens or something. I sure hope he’s ready to make those strides. He was mixing four pitches, throwing his slider, which is a new pitch he learned last year, and he was getting a lot of outs with it. It’s not like he’s got overpowering velocity, but when he’s mixing four pitches, he’s gonna get a lot of soft contact, get guys out front. The more he throws, the better he gets. We know he can start too, so that’s a very helpful piece to it.”

IAN LAWSON:  Potential starting candidate who showed promise this fall is junior RHP Ian Lawson, a 6-foot-7, 246-pound righthander with some crossfire action to his three-quarters delivery lending deception to his operation. Shows good velocity at 91-93 with above-average spin rates into the 2400 rpm range, Has flashed a quality three-quarters slurve at 78-83 with tight spin at 2700 – 2900 rpm. Also throws a changeup in the same velocity band that has good action at times but is inconsistent. The biggest thing for Lawson ? Simply throw more strikes, Erratic control held him back last spring.

BRADEN BOISVERT: RHP Boisvert battled control issues last year (issuing five walks in 7.1 innings and posting an 8.59 ERA),. Looks ready to take a big step forward this year. A thick frame with an over-the-top delivery and a heavy fastball at 88-91, Boisvert also showed a quality slider with good tilt at 78-81. He has the look of a useful middle relief piece to me, but Coach Canham did mention him as yet another potential starter. He also included two of last year’s bullpen stalwarts in that starter mix — Ferrer and Brown

RYAN BROWN: “What about RHP Ryan Brown?” Coach Canham mused. “That guy’s got stuff, sits in the low 90’s, was throwing more innings over the summer too, so even putting him as a starter will help that slider really develop, he’s got a plus changeup with some depth, but if we made him a starter could make that slider take a jump. He’s doing really well.

Should Brown and/or RHP BEN FERRER wind up starting, sophomore RHP VICTOR QUINN could be a candidate to assume the closer job. He certainly has the power stuff to dominate in that role if he can harness it. Quinn logged just 2.1 innings over five appearances as a freshman. Posted a 23.14 ERA, but he looked the part of an emerging shutdown reliever at times, pumping 95-97 mph heat and bumping 98. Physical 6-1, 216-pounder with an over-the-top delivery, Quinn also drops a hammer with his 12-6 curveball at 82 mph.

“He’s always had a big arm. We know 95-97 is in there, and it even has more giddy-up, there’s a lot of ride on that. It’s just consistency in the zone,” Coach Canham said. “It is great to see him fill it up, but I want to see that more often.. Hopefully he’ll get better, it just comes down to strikes. He doesn’t even need to throw quality strikes because that thing’s got so much ride. He’s got a big time breaking ball too. I know over the summer he struck out like 40 and walked 30-something. So he’s got strikeout stuff, but it’ll help him K even more if he stops walking guys. I’m good with strikeouts, I just cannot take walks.”

Freshman RHP AIDAN JIMINEZ is in a similar bucket — an intriguing arm-strength guy with upside if he can harness his stuff. He showed 90-92 sinking heat with elite spin rates in the 2500-2600 rpm range against Gonzaga, and he showed the makings of a promising slider at 79-80, but his command remains a work in progress.

No other Beavers showed standout velocity in Bend, but OSU did roll out a number of other arms who offer a variety of different looks and should add depth to the staff. Juco transfer RHP RHETT LARSON impressed with his feel for his offspeed stuff — a 76-77 mph breaking ball and an 80 mph changeup — but sat just 86-89 mph with his fastball.

Six-foot-4, 219-pound RHP COLE NELSON attacked at 88-91 with a solid changeup at 77 and a big looping curveball at 69-70.

Sidearm RHP AJ HUTCHESON featured very good arm-side run and sink on his 82-83 fastball along with a tight Frisbee slider at 70-73, giving him a chance to be a nice matchup piece in the pen.

High three-quarters RHP SAM STUHR stood out for a sharp slider at 82-83 with tight spin in the 2600-2700s, and he leaned on the pitch heavily, mixing in his 88 mph fastball.

RHP KYLE KEYES worked at 86-88 with a developing curve at 71-73. Lanky, super-projectable 6-foot-7 freshman righty

GIBBY MARSHALL-INMAN was 85-87 with plenty of room to add velocity as he fills out his 6-6 frame, but he’ll need to add power to his low-70s breaker.

DAVID GREWE is similarly wiry and projectable, with a loose, slingey high three-quarters arm action that produced 88-91 velocity and a 76-78 sluve with plenty of snap. He could be a “pick to click” as a sophomore this spring.

“There’s so much more in the tank, he even knows it — ‘I know I could throw the heck out of this ball, just gotta let it go.’ Don’t play catch, let it go. Let it eat,” Canham said of Grewe. “and he could be a guy that could make that jump.” My guess is he’s a guy that is going to throw in the mid-90s with some arm-side run and a slider once it clicks. He came here to get a slider and turn the corner. We’ll put some time in with him

From a high three-quarters arm slot, LHP TYLER MEJIA was 84-86 with a very good changeup at 79-80 that he throws with conviction, and a serviceable mid-70s curve.

And big-bodied junior LHP JUSTIN THORSTEINSON was 88-89 with a useful 76-77 mph breaking ball and the ability to land his low-80s changeup for a strike.