How about that for a statement?
Until 72 hours ago, it appeared Florida State baseball (16-3, 3-0) did not have the ceiling to make a deep run this season. Sure, the Seminoles had strong pitching, one of the best hitters in the country in Myles Bailey and a trustworthy coaching staff, but that recipe still resulted in losses against their toughest opponents.
After a sweep of No. 12 Wake Forest to start ACC play, those concerns have been put to bed.
Link Jarrett and company flushed their midweek loss
to Florida with a dominant performance on the road, shutting out the Demon Deacons in the first two games of the series and winning all three games by a combined score of 24-6.
The three Nole starters this weekend, Wes Mendes, Trey Beard and Bryson Moore, combined for 32 strikeouts across 19.1 innings with only one earned run between them. Offensively, the power finally came through for as FSU smashed its way to a run-rule win on Friday and put Wake Forest to bed on Sunday with a grand slam from John Stuetzer.
Perhaps no stat better explains the weekend than Florida State having 10 home runs this series, while Wake Forest recorded only 12 hits, of which five came in the latter innings of game three.
The results from this past weekend change the complexion of what Florida State can do this year. Not only will the Seminoles be better off analytically and resume-wise, but their arms also proved that the start to the season was no fluke, and the bats responded to a slow start with a statement in Winston-Salem against formidable arms.
The schedule does not lighten up for FSU, with a three-game series versus No. 10 NC State looming. But these three wins over the weekend provide the template of what Florida State can do when firing on all cylinders.
Three Up
Pitching, power and potential
No. 1: Starting pitching
It took a little while to get all three pitchers going at the same time, but now that they are, it is hard to ignore the potential of what this trio can do.
On Friday night, Wes Mendes continued to do what he does best and undressed the Wake Forest lineup, leading FSU to a complete-game shutout win — the first of his career. What stands out most about the junior from Tampa is the variety of plus pitches in his arsenal. The cutter has been a game-changer for Mendes and pairs perfectly with a wipeout changeup. Throw in a feel for a slider and a fastball that he dots low in the zone, and hitters are clueless about what to look for.
A day later, Wake Forest saw a completely different left-handed arm in Trey Beard, and the FAU transfer cut down the Demon Deacons for the second-straight day, while racking up a career-high 14 strikeouts. As advertised, Beard’s sky-high release point and ability to hide the pitch shape of his pitches until the very end make him difficult to pick up, and leave hitters at a loss. On Sunday, Bryson Moore put up a phenomenal start, going 5.2 IP with only one earned run and seven strikeouts. He worked around traffic in multiple innings and ran his fastball up around 95-96, which is pretty impressive stuff for the third pitcher in the rotation.
There will assuredly be bumps in the road for all three arms later in the season, but the rotation is good enough to carry Florida State to Omaha. It looks like the Seminoles found a way to fill the shoes of Jamie Arnold and Joey Volini.
No. 2: Offensive power
Coming into this weekend, Florida State had just 18 homers in 16 games, with six of those coming from Myles Bailey. In this age of college baseball and baseball in general, long balls need to be in the mix — and this weekend, they sure were.
The Seminoles launched five homers on Friday, one on Saturday, and six in the series finale on Sunday. In the opener, Eli Putnam went deep twice, with his insertion into the lineup after starting the season on the bench giving the order much more pop than it had before. On Saturday, Nathan Cmeyla, filling in for Hunter Carns, went deep for the second-straight day and broke the 0-0 deadlock. Sunday saw a homer from each of the 1-2-3 hitters in the lineup.
Part of the reason for the increase in long balls is getting Brayden Dowd back in the lineup, who seems to be the second-best hitter on the team. Another explanation could be the feast-or-famine style of offense, where the strikeouts are high but so are the home runs. No matter the reasoning, FSU will need to put up these power numbers with the rest of the offense struggling to string together offense and control the game from the plate.
No. 3: Freshman
The rash of injuries to the Seminoles this season provided one silver lining: seeing the dynamic freshman class play early and often.
The trio of Stuetzer, Kelvyn Paulino Jr. and Will Bavaro has helped keep the ship afloat with multiple starters out of the lineup and is now among the first names down on the lineup card. Against Florida, where nobody could get on base, Paulino, Jr. and Bavaro each reached on a hit, including a two-RBI night from Bavaro. The third baseman continued his hot week at the plate with a knock on Friday and Saturday, before the other two first-year players took over on Sunday. Paulino Jr. went 3-4 with a double and an RBI in the series finale, while Stuetzer put the game and the three-game set to bed with an eighth-inning grand slam as part of a multi-walk, multi-RBI day.
Jarrett has ramped up his recruiting in the last few years and is seeing the fruits of his labor blossom before his eyes. Who knows if the freshman wall will catch up, but at least Florida State boasts serious depth and is well-equipped to handle its injury-riddled year.
3 Down
Well, just two
No. 1: Strikeouts
Some say strikeouts are overrated, but the numbers for Florida State so far this season are borderline ridiculous.
During the Seminoles’ 6-3 defeat to Florida, Jarrett’s offense punched out 18 times, including 11 of the final 13 outs with six hitters striking out multiple times. The Gators did run some difficult arms out of the bullpen, but it feels like the strikeout numbers spiral after a few people in the order get swing happy.
Over the weekend, FSU struck out 27 times — including 16 on Saturday, with three players sat down on strikes three or more times. Maybe the numbers will get better over the course of the year as the experience grows, but right now, the Ks are a feature, not a bug.
No. 2: Bullpen
I do not want to cause alarm, as the bullpen has been phenomenal for the early part of the year, including John Abraham turning into a shutdown multi-inning reliever.
However, there were some cracks this week, starting with five runs allowed in the third inning that effectively handed Florida State a loss in the early innings. On Sunday, all three relievers Jarrett used allowed runs, including Kevil Mebil and Chris Knier, who gave up runs on Tuesday.
The main concern holding the bullpen back is the lack of reliable options outside of Abraham. The #2 appeared to be Brodie Purcell, but he is working himself back from an injury. Cole Stokes and Cade O’Leary each have the stuff but struggle with command, while Chris Knier also can be up-and-down with his control. As the year goes on and competition picks up, Jarrett will need more from this group.
