4/10/2024 baseball Edit

2 FSU starters out for Miami series, testing team's improved bullpen depth

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

The Florida State baseball team just keeps winning.

Unfortunately, pitching injuries keep stacking up for the Seminoles as well.

FSU head coach Link Jarrett shared Wednesday that No. 10 FSU (27-5, 7-5 in ACC) will be without two of its three usual weekend starting pitchers for this weekend's series against Miami (16-16, 6-9) which begins Thursday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.

Friday starter Cam Leiter will miss his second consecutive start vs. the Hurricanes and FSU will also be without Sunday starter Conner Whittaker, who Jarrett said did not bounce back well from last weekend's Saturday start at Boston College.

FSU will turn to Jamie Arnold (6-1, 0.94 ERA) for Thursday's series opener, freshman lefty Brady Louck (0-0, 1.54) for Friday's 6 p.m. game and Carson Dorsey (2-2, 3.91) for Sunday's 2 p.m. series finale.

"Whittaker didn't bounce back at all. Leiter is doing better and I don't think Leiter is ready to go," Jarrett said Wednesday morning. While he'll be out again this weekend, the news sounds positive there in terms of a return at some point down the line.

FSU's schedule of late has certainly not done the pitching staff many favors in terms of consistency. Three weeks ago, Inclement weather pushed the start of FSU's series at Clemson back to a Saturday doubleheader which was followed by a Thursday through Saturday series vs. Louisville. After a regular Friday through Sunday series at BC, FSU is now back on a Thursday through Saturday schedule this week vs. Miami due to a nationally-televised Thursday night game on ACC Network.

"It's just something that we have to face in our sport right now. I wish I had an answer," Jarrett said of FSU's recent pitching injuries. "I hope it's not a long-term thing (for Whittaker). The guys that have had some issues, it's all different stuff. You can't pinpoint it's one thing. It's just different scenarios that create discomfort for them, but they all need care. It's not easy."

Leiter was unexpectedly sidelined last week at BC after feeling less than 100% as he bounced back from his start the previous week vs. Louisville with an undisclosed injury. However, it sounds like his absence isn't expected to be season-ending and he's trending positively towards a return.

FSU may also get some more good pitching news soon as sophomore Ben Barrett, who was viewed as a major bullpen arm entering the season, is also trending well after he's been out with an injury since early March.

"Leiter is trending, we've gotten some real positive news there and Ben Barrett has been real positive with what's going on..." Jarrett said. "But the arm demands certain build-up and ramp-up so when you're down for a little bit, you have to ramp back up."

The prognosis on Whittaker is more uncertain because it popped up more recently after Whittaker last threw Saturday in Boston. In the immediate aftermath, though, it sounds less positive than the news around Leiter and Barrett.

"I don't know the answer as to when or if he'll be back..." Jarrett said. "We don't know enough about Whit's situation right now to know what we're looking at."

While these injuries will test FSU's pitching depth, the absences drive home exactly how much that depth has improved from last season where a season-ending injury to Wyatt Crowell totally tanked the Seminoles' pitching staff.

FSU's 3.66 staff ERA entering the Miami series is the best in the ACC and ninth-best nationally. The Seminoles have nine pitchers this season who have thrown eight-plus innings and have an ERA below 4.00.

"The nice thing about it is we do have a little depth on the mound and it does give you, if you have to bob and weave like we are right now, it still gives you a chance to have some good pieces to navigate this thing, whether they're starting or relieving," Jarrett said. "That's what we're gonna have to do."

Additionally, this weekend is not the worst to have such a depleted pitching staff in terms of the opponent FSU is facing. This season, the Hurricanes are 10th out of 14 ACC schools in hits per game (9.94), 13th in runs per game (7.35) and 11th in slugging percentage (.481).

Having an extremely reliable starter like Arnold to begin the weekend puts the FSU pitching staff ahead of the curve. He's the national leader in ERA (0.94), has thrown five-plus innings in all eight starts this season and went seven innings in two of his last three starts.

Dorsey made his first career FSU start last weekend in Sunday's series finale at BC, allowing one run on one hit over five innings of work. After the first batter he faced had a leadoff double off him, he retired 14 of the final 17 batters he faced and allowed no more hits.

"He's a talented kid. It's just repeating the execution of his stuff is what he has to continue to learn..." Jarrett said of Dorsey. "It's been a nice step forward and the start was good. He clearly started a lot of games in junior college and was very good at it. Would hope he can continue to do what he did last weekend again against the Canes here."

Louck has made a pair of starts in midweek games, allowing two earned runs over 11.2 innings of work. This will be his first appearance in an ACC game this season, but he did appear twice out of the bullpen in wins over Florida, allowing two runs over 2.1 innings with six strikeouts against the Gators.