TEMPE – Arizona State baseball brings in a bunch of new faces on offense, but the team still faces the same objective: heading to Omaha for the College World Series.
Only six offensive players return from last season. That meant head coach Willie Bloomquist and his staff had to bring in plenty of depth through the transfer portal. They did just that and brought in nine productive bats from the portal.
“Trying to make it Bloomie (Bloomquist) said over time, ‘it's our goal is to try and make it as difficult as possible to make a starting lineup,’” Senior first baseman Garrett Michel said. “I think he's going to have a difficult decision because we have so much depth.”
Three key bats return to the lineup for the Sun Devils: sophomore utilityman Landon Hairston, redshirt junior third baseman Nu’u Contrades, and redshirt sophomore catcher Brody Briggs. Briggs and Contrades are both older players in their respective rooms.
“It's different being the kind of the quote on quote older guy, but it doesn't really feel that way,” Briggs said. “It's just trying to help those guys out on things that I've learned for the last couple years.”
Briggs sat behind Ryan Campos and Josiah Cromwick in his freshman year. He was elevated to a role that saw him catch frequently. This year, he is slated to be the primary catcher with sophomore Coen Niclai, redshirt junior Jonny Garber, and freshmen Cooper Clouser and Tommy Brown in the room as well.
Niclai will likely be the second catcher that sees playing time. He transferred in from Oregon, as Cromwick also transferred from the Ducks in 2024.
In the infield, Contrades is the lone returning starter. He had a bit of a roller coaster season as he was playing well after returning from a back injury in his sophomore season. In the latter portion of the year, he suffered a season-ending injury, and he was not selected in the MLB draft.
Sophomore Beckett Zavorek is the only other returning infielder. He had a productive summer in the Northwoods League. The California native leaned a lot on Contrades last year.
Michel comes in as a potential replacement for former Sun Devil Jacob Tobias, who started at first in all four years of his career. Michel is coming off a season where he missed the back half with injury.
“He's (Tobias) left his mark and it's cool to be able to fill those shoes,” Michel said.
Junior first baseman Dominic Smaldino, is the other potential replacement for Tobias. Smaldino had a productive, grueling summer in the Northwooods league.
Junior shortstop P.J. Moutzouridis comes in from Cal, like Smaldino. He came as he liked Bloomquist because Bloomquist is honest with his players. The California native is looking forward to playing with his old teammate.
“He was one of my best friends from Cal too,” Moutzouridis said. “ I told him that like hey like I'm probably going to go to ASU and he's like, ‘oh me too,’ I was like, ‘woah that’s sick.’”
Junior infielder Dominic Longo comes from Utah Valley a program that upset Oregon last year. He is trusting the process in a deep infield.
Redshirt sophomore infielder Austen Roellig comes from a different Big 12 program, Utah. The Sun Devils swept Utah last year and he wanted to be on the other side. Arizona State has been on his radar for a long time and he looks to call Tempe home.
“When we played them last year, they raked.” Roellig said. “They must be doing something right and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Contrades and Briggs have both been around the program for years, unlike Hairston, who is just a sophomore and the only significant returner from last year’s team. He relishes the development he gets under Bloomquist and the staff.
Graduate outfielder Matt Polk returns after a one-year absence, having spent three years at Vanderbilt. The California native is ready to compete after a year that saw him injured.
It's an amazing experience to be able to finish my career closer to home,” Polk said. “My mom hasn't gotten the opportunity to see me play in college yet.”
Fifth year outfielder Dean Toigo comes from a journey from community college, NAIA as well as a smaller D1 school in UNLV. He is appreciative of that grind.
“It really shows if you want it and it's something you want to do,” Toigo said. “I look back and honestly I don't know if I would change it for any other way.”
Toigo comes in with a former UNLV Rebel in junior right handed pitcher Alex Overbay. The two have a comfortablity with each other.
Junior Sam Myers and sophomore Ky McGary are expected to contend for playing time as well. Myers comes in from TCU, and McGary is coming off a season where he was primarily used as a pinch runner.
Despite a ton of new faces, this team is connected, and the vibes are high. The questions that face the Sun Devils are: Can ASU make it to Omaha under Bloomquist? Can Arizona State stop Arizona’s two-year streak of winning conference championships?
“We've got so much depth, more depth than I've ever played with ever,” Longo said. “Which is awesome for this team.”