Iowa Baseball Season Preview - Starting Rotation

Over the last two seasons, Rick Heller has been challenged in the offseason with his weekend pitching rotation. Going into last offseason, Iowa lost all three of their weekend starters. Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Trenton Wallace, Drew Irvine and Cam Baumann all moved on. Heller brought in Adam Mazur from South Dakota State and Connor Schultz from Butler+, while Ty Langenberg broke into the rotation. Mazur went on to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and was drafted by the San Diego Padres.

Now, for the second straight season, Iowa must replace at least two of their three weekend starters. However, just like last preseason, the weekend rotation looks like it could be pretty darn good despite the losses.

FRIDAY NIGHT – TY LANGENBERG

Is Ty Langenberg the next Iowa Friday night starter to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Year? He might just be. Perfect Game and D1Baseball picked him for the award in their preseason projections for the conference.

Langenberg pitched in just eight games as a true freshman, but made a big jump as a sophomore last year. His breakout 5.0 Inn/10 SO/2 BB/3 H/0 R performance against #12 Texas Tech earned him a full-time spot in the starting rotation and he ran with it for the rest of the year. He went on to finish with a 7-2 record, including a 3.71 ERA and 74 strikeouts to 23 walks in 63.0 innings. Now, he’s ready to move to the Friday spot in the rotation.

“I think the key to Ty’s success is just continuing to improve on his consistency. He would have an inning here or half an inning there, where it kind of went away and that’s when he got in trouble,” said Heller. “It’s always going to be magnified on Friday when sometimes runs are at a premium.”

“He’s worked really hard to improve his arsenal and to make his pitches better and to be more efficient. He’s a guy that is constantly trying to improve and get better…he has all those intangibles to be the Friday guy and step into that role.”

Ty went to play with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod League over the summer and had a successful season. In 12 appearances, Langenberg posted a 3.31 ERA, including 33 strikeouts to just four walks over 21.1 innings. Ty talked on media day about the pitches he has been trying to improve over the offseason.

“With the bullpen sessions, I was really focusing on the cutter. It was a pitch that we thought there’s a lot more potential to and it’s something that we could use to help me pursue left handed batters mostly,” said Langenberg. “Command issues a little bit with the slider. We want to hone that in a little bit more, so the slider and cutter were the main two pieces we focused on.”

SATURDAY – ZACH VOELKER

Rick Heller did not fully commit to who the Saturday and Sunday starters would be. However, if there were betting odds, Long Beach State transfer Zach Voelker would be the favorite to land in the Saturday spot.

Voelker spent two years at San Joaquin Delta College, but had two seasons canceled due to Covid. He finally got his first college action last year with LBSU. He appeared in 14 games, including seven starts. Voelker finished with a 4-4 record and 6.05 ERA, but had some really good performances against good competition. In three games against UConn, San Diego and Pepperdine, Zach had 17 strikeouts to five walks. He allowed just four hits and no runs over 17.0 innings.

“Even though he has a fastball that at times is 93-94, he’s not a guy that sits there,” said Heller. “He has to really be dialed in with his location and be able to execute scouting reports and execute pitches to his strength to be ahead in the count.”

“If you look back at his season last year, I would tell you that when he was doing those things, he was doing well and when he was falling behind or missing the zone, those are the days he probably had bad days. I feel like he’s way more consistent since he got here.”

Voelker, like Langenberg, played in the Cape Cod League and they were teammates on the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. He appeared in 11 games, posting a 1.97 ERA, including 23 strikeouts to seven walks in 32 innings. He was selected to the Cape Cod League All-Star team.

“Really works on his game, committed, self disciplined and a hard worker that wants to be great. He’s worked hard on his stuff, to improve little things here and there.”

Voelker showed a lot of promise against solid competition at LBSU and really put things together in the Cape Cod League. If he can consistently string together good outings, he could be a really good Saturday pitcher for the Hawkeyes.

SUNDAY – KEATON ANTHONY

Keaton Anthony has been working on his pitching behind the scenes at Iowa even though he has appeared in just one game over his first two seasons. He was named the Region 6A Two-Way Player of the Year as a junior at Mill Creek High School in Georgia, so pitching and hitting is not a foreign workload to him.

“I’m ready for it. I did it in high school, so I’m excited to see what happens this year,” said Anthony. “I feel like I can do it at this level. I’m confident in my abilities and I want to help the team.”

“He’s not a high velocity guy, but he’s a guy who can throw four pitches for strikes, with movement, anytime he wants and it’s kind of nice to have a guy like that after (opponents) have seen two days of mid 90s,” said Heller. “He’s throwing 91 mph sinkers that are dropping off the table and he can throw a changeup, breaking ball and slider. He throws the kitchen sink at you in all counts.”

Over four appearances in the fall season, Keaton did not allow a run over 7.1 innings and had 13 strikeouts to five walks.

“What makes him kind of unique is that his makeup for pitching is outstanding,” said Heller. “He doesn’t let things bother him. He gives up a hit or makes a bad pitch and he’s not a guy that dwells on it. He’s just really good at moving on, and making pitches.”

WHAT ARE THE OTHER OPTIONS?

If it isn’t Voelker and Anthony on Saturday and Sunday, the Hawkeyes have a couple of different ways they could go. Senior Jared Simpson has been working to get back to the pitcher he was at Iowa Western CC as an underclassman. Last year, he appeared in 13 games, posting a 4.11 ERA with 23 strikeouts to 13 walks in 15.1 innings.

“We all know that the whiff rate on his fastball is crazy high, but last year Jared struggled to throw anything else for a strike, so teams could kind of wait him out,” said Heller. “Now, we all feel that’s not going to be the case this season. Jared looks to have a big role, whatever that role is and having a lefty option in that group is really important.”

Why is the coaching staff excited for what Simpson could do for the staff this season? He had a great summer in the Prospects League with the Clinton Lumberkings. Jared pitched in eight games with five starts and owned an impressive 0.67 ERA. He allowed just seven hits in 26.2 innings and had 45 strikeouts to just ten walks. Whether it is in the starting rotation or out of the bullpen, Jared Simpson being a reliable lefty contributor would be a huge boost to the Iowa pitching staff.

Marcus Morgan and Brody Brecht are names to keep an eye on as potential guys that could make some starts. Rick Heller mentioned trying to get them into a role that allows them to have the biggest impact.

“How do you use them? How do you get them to be successful and how do you put them in a situation where their role can really develop into a key role,” said Heller. “There are some options to maybe start each one of those and then let Voelker and Anthony come in behind them and be the guy that finishes the game.”

FINAL THOUGHT

On paper, the starting rotation could be pretty good. You have a budding star in Ty Langenberg on Friday night, followed by a Cape Cod League All-Star and Keaton Anthony to potentially close out the weekend. The good news is Rick Heller feels that they have some options with Simpson, Morgan and Brecht. The only thing missing is experience. Langenberg has never started on Friday night, while the other five have combined for just 12 starts in college. If that isn’t an issue, then Iowa could have a pretty solid starting rotation on their hands.

UP NEXT, we move to the group that will follow up the starting pitching. The bullpen lost their top arms from a year ago, which leaves a group of talented, but mostly unproven arms. We will take a look at who may be relied on the most this season.