Ben Barrett returning for FSU this weekend; Whittaker, Leiter progressing

As the stretch run of Florida State baseball's regular season nears, Link Jarrett admits he wishes his pitching staff was a bit more healthy.

The 10th-ranked Seminoles (32-8, 11-7 in ACC) will again be without weekend starters Cam Leiter and Conner Whittaker for this weekend's road series at No. 6 Duke (29-12, 13-8).

"It is what it is. We're going to go lock horns," Jarrett said.

However, he did share a bit of good news Thursday. The FSU bullpen will be getting a boost for this weekend series against the Blue Devils as sophomore righty Ben Barrett is expected to be available for about 30 pitches out of the bullpen after being sidelined since March 2.

"Ben Barrett should be back a little bit," Jarrett said. "Now we have to be smart about how we use him. The guy hadn't been on the mound in a little while and we were conservative with the build up and the pens and the live stuff. It seems like it's time for him to give it a whirl so that helps."

Barrett, who was a two-way player last season as a freshman, entered his sophomore season working only as a pitcher. He was viewed as one of FSU's highest-leverage relievers entering the season and allowed just two runs over 9.2 innings (1.86 ERA) in his first three appearances early this season before he was sidelined.

The FSU bullpen could really use a reliable arm like Barrett considering it will remain depleted this weekend with everyone having to take on larger roles due to the absences of Leiter and Whittaker. FSU's depleted bullpen allowed 11 earned runs and issued 10 walks over 10.1 innings across three games in last weekend's series loss at No. 12 Wake Forest.

"We've just had to dig into that a little bit more often because when you lose 12 to 15 innings out of your rotation, that has to be filled and there's no Triple-A team to call up talented younger guys," Jarrett said. "You have what you have and you hope they can adapt to more usage or a different role."

While Jarrett is still not sharing any real details about where Leiter or Whittaker are in their recoveries, he says both continue to progress towards returns at some point this season.

He said Thursday that Whittaker is "moving along" and that there was some recent "good news with Leiter."

"The good news is everybody is trending back. Whittaker, Leiter, Barrett is ahead of them right now. We've gotten some good news," Jarrett said. "(Carson) Dorsey answered for us last week. I think he's settled into that starting role, which is probably what he's more accustomed to."

Duke's offense will certainly test an FSU pitching staff still working its way back to 100% health. The Blue Devils enter this series sixth in the ACC in batting average (.311) and tied for third among ACC teams with 76 home runs, one off FSU's 77 homers this season.

However, the tougher challenge probably presents for FSU's talented lineup in this second straight road series in North Carolina. The Blue Devils enter Friday with a staff earned run average of 4.22, which is third-best in the ACC and 21st nationally as well as being just below FSU's 4.19 ERA this season.

Duke's pitchers have allowed 286 hits and 38 home runs this season, both lowest in the ACC. They have also amassed 454 strikeouts as a staff, two behind ACC leader Wake Forest and one behind FSU.

The Blue Devils will counter FSU ace Jamie Arnold (7-1, 1.64 ERA) with junior lefty Jonathan Santucci (5-0, 3.38 ERA) in Friday's series opener.

Santucci has prevented runs well this season with a .199 batting average against. However, he was hit fairly hard in last week's start vs. Virginia Tech, surrendering four runs on six hits over four innings. He's also walked at least three batters in each of his last four starts and has issued 34 walks in 48 innings this season.

In fact, that's been a problem for Duke's staff as a whole. The Blue Devils have walked 195 batters so far this season, only one less than Virginia for the most by an ACC team.

Still, it will be another tough pitching challenge for an FSU offense which ranks fifth nationally in batting average (.328) and 16th nationally in runs per game (9.3).

When: Friday, 6 p.m.; Saturday, 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.

Where: Jack Coombs Field, Durham, N.C.

TV/Radio: Friday and Sunday on ACC Network Extra, Saturday on ACC Network/All three games on 100.7 FM in Tallahassee and https://seminoles.leanplayer.com.