Post 1: Overall State of the program
D1Baseball ranks ASU as the #45 program based on projections for the next 5 yrs. That’s about a 10 spot drop from what Smith left. It feels soooo wrong to see the Devils there but it also seems correct if you know what I mean.
Maybe that’s because Willie has done a worse job than Smith did. Or maybe it’s because D1Baseball thought we just needed to paint some walls after Smith but upon further inspection Bloomquist found some hidden mold and termites that had to be eradicated before he could build.
Of course the Smithites will say the former, the Bloomquist’ boys will say the latter and the fans that are more emotionally attached to the program instead of the coach will likely ask for 2025 ASU to have a better showing than smiths 1-2 record in the 2021 Austin regional to decide one way or another.
The Devils have competitive facilities within the Big 12. We also have program advantages like being in a recruiting hotbed and proximity to spring training.
We lack a well funded annual budget though which is likely why our schedule is a collection of Q4 opponents and our coaches are learning as they go.
If you wanted a “Dillingham” type hire for baseball we probably missed it when we passed on Michael Earley. He was the hitting coach responsible for some monster development at ASU but was a young 32 year old with no head coaching experience when Smith was fired. Hes now the HC for the #1 ranked Texas AM Aggies and has hired former ASU pitching coach Jason Kelly. Like Dillingham he’s highly regarded as a players coach that embraces the new era.
Just like football benefited by moving conferences, so too should baseball. The Big 12 has some “names” in ASU, UofA, TCU, Ok St, and Texas Tech but we don’t have any monster spenders.
D1Baseball ranks ASU as the #45 program based on projections for the next 5 yrs. That’s about a 10 spot drop from what Smith left. It feels soooo wrong to see the Devils there but it also seems correct if you know what I mean.
Maybe that’s because Willie has done a worse job than Smith did. Or maybe it’s because D1Baseball thought we just needed to paint some walls after Smith but upon further inspection Bloomquist found some hidden mold and termites that had to be eradicated before he could build.
Of course the Smithites will say the former, the Bloomquist’ boys will say the latter and the fans that are more emotionally attached to the program instead of the coach will likely ask for 2025 ASU to have a better showing than smiths 1-2 record in the 2021 Austin regional to decide one way or another.
The Devils have competitive facilities within the Big 12. We also have program advantages like being in a recruiting hotbed and proximity to spring training.
We lack a well funded annual budget though which is likely why our schedule is a collection of Q4 opponents and our coaches are learning as they go.
If you wanted a “Dillingham” type hire for baseball we probably missed it when we passed on Michael Earley. He was the hitting coach responsible for some monster development at ASU but was a young 32 year old with no head coaching experience when Smith was fired. Hes now the HC for the #1 ranked Texas AM Aggies and has hired former ASU pitching coach Jason Kelly. Like Dillingham he’s highly regarded as a players coach that embraces the new era.
Just like football benefited by moving conferences, so too should baseball. The Big 12 has some “names” in ASU, UofA, TCU, Ok St, and Texas Tech but we don’t have any monster spenders.
