With three standout starters and an abundance of capable bullpen arms, the Florida State baseball pitching staff is not lacking in options or stuff this season.

The No. 6 Seminoles (13-0) enter this weekend's three-game series vs. Lipscomb (4-8) with a 2.37 earned run average, which is tied for the fourth-best among all Division-I teams.

And yet, head coach Link Jarrett admitted Thursday he's been unable to resist the occasional what-if inner monologue surrounding how much the addition of a guy like second-year UCF transfer Cam Leiter would take his pitching staff to even another level if he was available at the moment.

"Do you know what I have asked myself throughout the course of the last two years, in terms of if he was available for us, what this might have looked like for us?" Jarrett said Thursday about Leiter. "I think about it every day.

The junior right-handed pitcher began his first season at FSU in 2024 as the Friday starter, with a fastball that got into the high-90s and three high-level offspeed pitches he could work off that.

However, he's approaching the one-year anniversary of the last time he pitched in a game. Leiter's last FSU appearance was March 28 of 2024 vs. Louisville, allowing two earned runs over 5.2 innings. The following week, he was scratched from his Friday start vs. Boston College and was out of action the rest of the season due to injury.

He tried to return late in the season as a reliever during FSU's postseason run, but that possibility was derailed by one throwing session that confirmed his season was over.

While Leiter originally tried to heal from the injury without surgery, that first rehab attempt was unsuccessful and he eventually got the surgery

Asked about his status Thursday, Jarrett still didn't seem very certain as to a timeline for Leiter's return. He did say he's started a throwing program again, but that it's still in the early phase.

"He's out there throwing, but we're just in the early stages of this," Jarrett said of Leiter's progress. "There hasn't been a malfunction or a setback, but the runway to that plane taking off is like we've just turned the taxi and started down that long runway so we're not there yet...

"I know it's a long rehab so it's going to be a challenge for him to be in a position to actually jump out there and pitch until we're at the very end of this. When you're talking about these ramp-ups, there's a calendar that's laid out, but how this goes along the way and the intricacies of what a throwing program looks like, there could be bumps in the road where, in any rehab, you may have to repeat a week or you may have to repeat two weeks or you may have to pause. I wish I could tell you and I wish I could sit here and say, 'Hey, if we get to the end of it, he's got a chance to factor into this.' It's hard to say."

The wild card in this process is Leiter's draft stock. He entered the 2024 season more highly-regarded as a 2025 draft prospect than FSU ace Jamie Arnold was. He had 13 strikeouts over five innings in his FSU debut vs. Butler and racked up 56 strikeouts over 35 innings of work in 2024.

While Arnold has since surpassed Leiter, he's still regarded as a strong draft prospect so long as he's healthy. If he's able to pitch even out of the bullpen in a limited role late this season and has success, that could go a long way for his draft stock. However, if he struggles in his return or suffers another injury setback, that could hurt his stock.

With so much uncertainty about what the rest of his FSU future holds, Jarrett just wants the best for Leiter.

"This guy likes to compete as much as any pitcher I've ever been around so it's hard. He looks back to the what-if last year..." Jarrett said. "I do think of the what-ifs, I think of that for him and his future. This is a lot. He's gone through two rehabs, one to try to get to the point where there was no surgery and then that didn't go well. That's hard enough in itself and now to have the surgery and try to rehab through that, the feelings are deep. I feel bad for him."

While the Leiter news still isn't good, it sounds like FSU could be getting some better injury news here soon in the form of much better outfield depth.

FSU has been limited depth-wise at outfield with only three true outfielders due to injuries suffered last week by Brody DeLamielleure and Chase Williams as well as a preseason injury suffered by Blaydon Plain.

The outfield depth is questionable enough that Jarrett said first baseman Myles Bailey has been working some in the corner outfield spots as an emergency option after he played some there in high school.

The good news is that it sounds like both DeLamielleure and Williams should be available once more at some point in the next few weeks.

"DeLamielleure is close. He took batting practice (Wednesday)," Jarrett said. "Batting practice and even the stuff we do in the cages with machines is pretty intense. The adrenaline and effort in a game is naturally different so we're being cautious there."

As for Williams, while he's not expected to return this weekend, Jarrett says the apparent shoulder injury he suffered last Saturday vs. Georgetown is not as bad as it might have looked at first glance.

However, Jarrett did also say that Plain, a junior-college transfer addition from Pensacola State College, is "not close yet" to making his FSU debut.

No. 6 Florida State vs. Lipscomb

When: Friday, 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at noon

Where: Dick Howser Stadium

TV: ACC Network Extra