FSU baseball: Major takeaways from Link Jarrett’s first season
By Kelvin Hunt
Pitching
Imagine taking Parker Messick off last year’s team. I guarantee FSU baseball doesn’t make the postseason. Wyatt Crowell only appeared in six games and made one start this year.
He was absolutely dominant, but not having him all season severely hurt this team and forced a lot of guys to step into roles earlier than expected.
However, we saw some positives from several pitchers. Conner Whittaker is someone I said should have been in the weekend rotation before the season began. I know what Link Jarrett was trying to do, but Whittaker proved he could be a Sunday starter at the very least next year.
Jackson Baumeister showed improvement, only walking 29 batters in 69 innings, compared to 20 batters in 27.1 innings last year. He has to continue to hone in on improving his secondary pitches, but we saw some glimpses this year.
Andrew Armstrong saw major improvements over last year. Doug Kirkland found confidence towards the latter part of the season and became lights out from the bullpen. He’s draft eligible, but if he returns next year could be a vital piece in the bullpen.
Freshman Jamie Arnold showed some promise and will only get better with more experience. Freshman Ben Barret was another freshman showing promise. However, notice how I could only name a handful of pitchers. Therein lies the problem Link Jarrett must address.