There’s no need to ask the Arizona coaching staff to grade the Wildcats’ offense at the halfway mark of Pac-12 play. On any scale, Arizona deserves an A-plus.
The UA pitching staff is a more complex subject. Some would argue the most appropriate grade is “incomplete.” Pitching coach Dave Lawn settled on a B-minus.
Heading into a three-game home series against Utah starting Thursday night, junior left-hander Cameron Ming summed up the staff’s performance to date: some good, some bad, some undeniably positive signs.
“We’ve definitely had our ups and downs throughout the year,” said Ming, who would include himself in that group. “Certain guys are starting to figure out their location and their role, how to throw strikes in certain situations. The talent’s always been there. It’s just figuring out how to pitch.”
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Solidifying the staff is the top task for Lawn and UA coach Jay Johnson between now and June. No. 6 Arizona (26-9, 9-6 Pac-12) has the best offense in the conference and one of the most potent lineups in the nation. So the performance of the pitchers likely will determine whether the Wildcats can make another deep postseason run.
Arizona ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with a team ERA of 4.09. It’s more than half a run higher (4.70) in conference games. But the Wildcats have allowed four or fewer runs in more than half of those games (8 of 15), and several individual performances are cause for optimism.
Relievers Cody Deason, Tylor Megill and Robby Medel have yet to allow an earned run in 16º innings since league play started. The three have surrendered only five hits. Deason has 12 strikeouts in 7º innings and two saves.
“We’re a lot further along in their development than we were two or three weeks ago,” Johnson said of the staff as a whole. “I like the trajectory of the pitchers right now.”
Deason and Megill seem to have settled into late-relief roles after struggling early in the season as starters — although it’s unwise to assume anything under Johnson. He operates on a game-to-game basis. Pitching roles constantly are subject to change.
For example, Ming primarily worked as a starter and long reliever during the 2016 regular season before becoming Arizona’s closer during the NCAA Tournament. He basically swapped roles with Bobby Dalbec, who ended up second on the team in wins and first in saves.
Lawn said all the roles, from weekend starters to late-inning relievers, would be set “in a perfect world.” But that’s not the world in which the Wildcats live. The players are used to it nearly two years into Johnson’s regime.
“The kids know how we do it,” Lawn said. “People get hung up on this thing where you’ve got to have set roles. It always figures itself out.
“If we end up having a good year, and we continue to be what we’ve been to this point, it’ll have solidified itself just like it did last year.”
Regardless of when they’re used, the pitchers know they can’t settle for merely being solid. Although the Wildcats are averaging nine runs per game — and have maintained their high walk rate in Pac-12 play — they’re going to have to win a pitchers’ duel at some point in the postseason. It happened last year. It’s bound to happen again.
“I know our offense gives us a lot of cushion, and that’s great,” Ming said. “But I don’t think it kills the standards of having a good pitching staff.
“We might have to, in a Super Regional, win another 1-0 ballgame (see Mississippi State last year). You never know. We had a good offense last year, but Dalbec had to throw the game of his life to win that ballgame.
“Striving as a pitching staff is always going to be really important for me, and it better be important to the rest of the staff. I think it is.”
Ming’s mechanics
Ming hasn’t been his usual sharp self lately, but he believes he’s on track to rediscovering his form.
Ming has hit seven batters in 13 innings in Pac-12 play, leading to a 5.54 ERA in conference games. A recent film review revealed that Ming has been “flying open” in his delivery, leading to misses on his arm side — i.e., the left-handed side of the batter’s box. He dealt with a similar issue as a freshman.
“I’ve always gotten it cleaned up real quick,” Ming said. “It’s not a big problem. It’ll be a simple fix.”
Ming started this season the way he ended last year. He didn’t allow a run in his first six outings, surrendering only eight base runners (six hits, two walks) in 10 innings while striking out 12.
Ming then began having trouble with his command and experienced triceps inflammation after pitching on back-to-back days against UCLA.
“I feel 100 percent now, and I have for the past week,” Ming said. “I just had to clean some stuff up and get myself back in the strike zone.”
Inside pitch
- Johnson did not announce starters for the Utah series, but it’s likely that JC Cloney will pitch Friday. Cloney missed some time because of tightness in his biceps before returning last Friday against Oregon. Another Friday assignment would afford him full rest between starts.
- The latest NCAA Tournament projections by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com have Arizona as a regional host and the No. 4 overall seed. The UA remains No. 2 in RPI behind Oregon State.
- Pac-12 Networks are scheduled to televise all but one of Arizona’s remaining conference games. The lone exception is the April 29 game at Stanford.
