Going into the season, the Michigan baseball team had high hopes for the pitching staff. Between a strong freshman class and an ace in sophomore right-hander Mitch Voit, options on the mound looked plentiful. But the key word there is looked. Now, going into their first Big Ten series of the season, the Wolverines’ reality is much darker.
Before the season started, Michigan anticipated freshman right-hander Dylan Vigue would contribute immediately. However, Vogue didn’t meet those expectations exiting the game early in each of his first two starts. In those games, he saw the mound for a little over seven innings combined and gave up five runs and 11 walks.
Recently, though, Vigue has begun brushing off some of the freshman jitters. In contrast to the opening weekend, Vigue’s recent start against San Diego looked brighter.
“Dylan took a step forward,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said March 17. “He’s been struggling getting beyond the third (inning) and he got through the fourth this time.”
And though the additional inning may seem insignificant, Vigue held the Toreros to only one run and walked a mere two batters. That may be just small progress, but it is direly needed for the Wolverines. Because besides Vigue, Michigan’s rotation hasn’t found the growth its looking for in his role.
While Vigue has grown, becoming more comfortable on the mound, senior right-hander Chase Allen hasn’t. He continues to falter from his preseason hopes.
Allen was predicted to be an anchor in the rotation for Michigan, but he has only seen a little more than five innings combined in his last three outings. Those innings quickly spiraled out of control for the Wolverines with him giving up 16 earned runs and 14 hits across those starts. His turbulent starts left Michigan with one more struggling arm in an already bleak rotation.
And while, Voit has remained dependable from the beginning, as other pitchers face rocky starts, he can only pitch so often.
Voit is one of the few starters to go routinely past the fourth or fifth inning. The reliance of Voit is considerable, to the point that he pitched Michigan’s only complete game this season against UCLA. He earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the outing. He also leads the Wolverines with 19 strikeouts.
Although Voit provides stability from the bump, his outings are used sparingly to provide one good start per weekend. His arm has helped Michigan win, but he can’t carry the whole team. There continues to be a need for options beyond him.
That secondary support has come mostly from sophomore right-hander Kurt Barr. In both starts and coming out of the bullpen, Barr has found sustained success at the mound. While Barr had struggled last season with finding a rhythm, his confidence has grown with each performance this year.
“I came out in the third (inning) and walked the first guy,” Barr said after the win against San Diego on March 17. “If this was last year, I think they would have yanked me. But the whole coaching staff I think has a lot more confidence in me.”
During the game, his walk in the third inning didn’t spoil his five-inning outing, earning him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. Between that showing and his previous appearance, he gave up only one run over those 11 innings. Ahead of conference play, Barr’s consistency gives hope to the depleted pitching staff.
Even with the support from Voit and Barr, the setback of shaky starts puts more pressure on the Wolverines’ bullpen to execute. Thus far, it often hasn’t.
The bullpen often calls on fifth-year left-hander Jacob Denner as he has shown his ability to escape tricky situations. Yet, Michigan has continued the search for other contributors in the middle innings. Various freshmen have seen the mound in these circumstances such as freshmen right-handers Zach Slayden and Alfredo Velazquez. They’re often the first of many pitchers to be used just to get through the nine innings because of that lack of reliability
An off day from a starter puts demand on the bullpen to avoid the loss. In the blowout defeat against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, sophomore right-hander Ricky Kidd’s performance was a huge setback for the Wolverines, requiring Smith to send in three relievers to straighten it out. After, Slayden and freshman right-hander Sachem Ramos went in, but the outing from Kidd set up the loss and made a recovery unfeasible.
As the Big Ten play begins, more strain is put on the pitching staff to improve. And the Wolverines will need to find the working combination to make their reality brighter.
