SAN JOSE, Calif. – Entering the third season under head coach Brad Sanfilippo's direction, the San Jose State Baseball team is ready to pick up the pieces and get the 2020 campaign started.
A challenge awaits as Sanfilippo and his staff is tasked to replace several key members of 2019 squad, including a trio of MLB Draft picks. Gone are centerfielder and fifth round pick, Kellen Strahm, four-year starter at shortstop, Aaron Pleschner, Friday and Saturday starting pitchers, Andrew Mitchel and Tevin Cadola, and one of the program's all-time great closers in Fineas Del Bonta-Smith. Those are holes that most be filled in order to have a successful 2020. Fortunately, Coach Sanfilippo believes that he has the replacements already in the wings.
For the pitching unit, SJSU signed 10 newcomers to help fill the void. Several of those hail from the junior college ranks and have caught Sanfilippo's eye as potential weekend starters.
"Kevin Kyle was a number one starter at one of the best junior colleges in the state of California, Delta Junior College. He's had a ton of success and he's just super competitive, so we really are going to rely on him to hopefully fill one of the weekend spots," Sanfilippo said. "Spencer Long is an extremely athletic closer that had the ball in his hand at the most meaningful times at El Camino Junior College in Southern California, and they were in the final four last year. Those two guys coupled with Sean Prozell from the College of San Mateo. They all have a lot of experience as starting pitchers at the junior college level, so if we're going to have success on the mound, I think we're going to look to them for some meaningful innings. Jake Hernandez from the College of Sequoias, a left-handed pitcher, is another guy that we feel should have an impact."
Coupled with the newcomers are a handful of returners that saw significant time on the mound last season. Rising junior reliever Wesley Clawson made 17 appearances and touted a 3.62 ERA while fellow junior Nicholas Morales had the most appearances on the team with 24. Sophomore Jonathan Clark made 10 starts in his freshman season and will be relied on again in 2020. Clark was one of just two players on the team to throw a complete game in 2019 (Andrew Mitchel). Fellow sophomore Ben Polack also returns to the mix after making seven starts a year ago.
The good news for the offensive side of the ball is that outside of the loss of Strahm and Pleschner, the majority of last years starters and contributors are back for 2020. James Shimashita is coming off a great freshman season in which he batted .295 with 57 hits and a team-best 34 RBI. Connor Konishi (.273), Troy Viola (.256) and Jack Colette also return and were mentioned by Sanfilippo as the players he expects to see the biggest improvement from last season to this one.
"I think Troy Viola, who hit in the middle of our lineup last year, had a lot of success and also had some growing pains," Sanfilippo said. "Now he's had a year of experience at this level and had a really productive summer in the West Coast League, so we just look for him to continue to make strides with his game. Also if Connor Konishi and Jack Colette can continue to make strides as they get older and get more experience and we can get those guys to improve upon their production, then I look for them to have a big impact for us as well."
Returning from an injury that sidelined him for the back half of the season, senior Johnny Mendoza is back behind the dish for his final year and looking to bounce back in a big way. Entering the season, he is the team's career leader in multi-hit (20) and multi-RBI (17) games. Anders Davidson, Brandon Peterson, Nico Malbrough, Ryan Belluomini, Santiago Cantu and Nik Trapani were also major contributors and starters that return for this season.
Replacing a four-year stud at shortstop in Aaron Pleschner is no easy task, but Sanfilippo is confident that he has found his guy in the form of junior college transfer Ruben Mercado, a Pleasanton native that played for Cuesta College. He will team up with Drew Williams, who sat out 2019 with a redshirt and is expected to hold down the fort at second base this year, and Sanfilippo is excited to have both aboard and feels Spartan fans should be as well.
"We are excited about Drew Williams and Ruben Mercado in the middle," Sanfilippo said. That's our second base and shortstop combination that we are excited about both from a defensive and offensive standpoint. Drew's capable of being a really, really productive offensive player and Ruben is a really, really good defender. We're hoping that Spartan fans are excited about our double play combination up the middle."
Fans won't have to wait much longer to see what the 2020 season has in store as play begins this weekend against cross-town rival Santa Clara beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Excite Ballpark followed by a double-header on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m., also at Excite. The series finale will be played in Santa Clara on Sunday at noon.