Florida State baseball fans are vocal in their belief that Drew Carlton is one of the team's best pitchers.
Seminoles pitching coach Mike Bell agrees.
But while many fans and some in the media have called for Carlton to be moved back into a starting role, Bell and head coach Mike Martin insist Carlton is so valuable that the Seminoles need to leave him right where he is -- anchoring the bullpen.
"One of your top three arms is going to have to be your guy out of the back end," Bell said. "You see the important role, the high-leverage situations in Major League Baseball nowadays where [the stronger pitcher] might be your seventh- or eighth-inning guy over the closer.
"When you look at Drew ... I think he's taken to the role and taken it and run with it."
Although Carlton has had a few shaky moments, he has provided great stability to a bullpen that has helped FSU (36-20) win 15 of its last 20 games. In the Seminoles' ACC Tournament opener Wednesday against Notre Dame, Carlton pitched three scoreless innings in a 12-inning, 5-3 victory.
It is a much different role than the one he held one year ago. As a sophomore in 2016, Carlton led the Seminoles with eight wins and tossed a complete-game shutout against Florida in an NCAA Super Regional.
He entered this season as the Friday night starter but quickly was switched to the team's closer after the bullpen struggled early in the season. Carlton, who is 3-3, is still the closer, but instead of throwing one inning per appearance, there have been games when he's thrown up to four.
