BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Entering the 2024 season, Indiana's staff of arms is a healthy mix of young and old. 13 of Indiana's 24 pitchers on this year's roster have less than one full season of experience pitching at the college level.
A key for the Hoosiers's pitching staff this season is to stay on the front foot.
"Across the board, the motto is about attacking," head coach Jeff Mercer said of the message to the pitching staff in the offseason. "You have to attack, you have to be the aggressor and be okay when a guy hits a solo homer. You move on and get back (on the mound)."
Indiana is dealing with a couple of injuries to some guys that projected to be big pieces for the Hoosiers in the starting rotation this season. On Wednesday, Mercer confirmed that Lipscomb transfer Matthew Bohnert would receiver a medical redshirt for the 2024 season before returning to the mound in 2025. Bohnert seemed likely to be one of Indiana's top starters heading into the season. Ace Luke Sinnard isn't expected to be available for the Hoosiers this season either.
"I don't forsee Sinnard being able to throw (this season)," Mercer said Wednesday.
Sinnard broke Indiana's single-season strikeout record last year. The 6-foot-8 righty is expected to miss the entire 2024 season.
Between a strong group of left handers, a handful of superb sophomores and a few incoming transfers, Indiana's pitching staff is armed with plenty of talent heading into the season.
Let's get to know Indiana's 2024 pitching staff.
Group of lefties leads staff
Ty Bothwell, Ryan Kraft, Grant Holderfield and Ryan Rushing. That's a lot of left handed talent on the pitching staff this season for the Hoosiers.
During the regular season last year, Bothwell did nothing in particular to standout. The Hebron, Indiana native spent most of last season eating innings during mid-week games against non-conference opposition. Bothwell finished the season with a 6.55 earned run average in 33.0 innings pitched as a fifth-year senior for the Hoosiers.
Despite his regular season struggles, Bothwell stepped up when it mattered most for Indiana season. Bothwell turned in two of his best performances of the year against West Virginia and Kentucky in the Lexington Regional.
Nearing almost 50 career appearances, Bothwell brings a lot of experience to Indiana's pitching staff. The lefty should play a pivotal role either as a starter, or as a long relief guy this season.
Ryan Kraft was probably the Hoosiers' best pitcher a season ago. Last year, as a sophomore, Kraft tossed 61.2 innings -- the second-most on the team -- and finished with a team-best 2.48 earned run average.
Kraft is a lefty sinker-baller. The Mokena, Illinois native thrives by inducing weak contact. Just two of Kraft's 21 appearances last season were starts, as he worked primarily as a shutdown long relief guy. While it's unknown what Kraft's exact role will be on this year's team, expect him to be relied upon in high-leverage situations once again this season.
Two years ago during his freshman season, lefty Grant Holderfield was of the Hoosiers' most utilized arms out of the bullpen. Before he missed the entire 2023 season due to injury, Holderfield made 25 appearances for Indiana as a freshman.
"I'm super fired up," Holderfield said speaking to the media last week. "I've been itching to get back at it for a year now, ever since freshman year. I'm ready to roll. I feel great and I can't wait to get back out there."
Holderfield has one of the more unique deliveries and release points on the team. The Oak Park, Illinois native has the versatility to fit multiple different roles for the Hoosiers this season. Whether it's as a starter, a long relief guy or a back-end reliever, Holderfield will be a key piece to Indiana's pitching puzzle this season.
Ryan Rushing is a freshman out of Bradenton, Florida. During his 2023 season at IMG Academy, Rushing was named the team's pitcher of the year as he helped IMG to a 2023 National Championship. Rushing brings in a low-to-mid-90s fastball that has a lot of life to it.
It may take some time for the young freshman to earn a consistent role in the bullpen, but Rushing has all the tools necessary to contribute right away for the Hoosiers.
Sophomores to fill big roles
Last season, the Hoosiers got big innings throughout the season from their freshman class of hurlers. Now sophomores, those arms look primed to play big roles on the pitching staff entering the 2024 season.
At the forefront of Indiana's sophomore pitching attack is Jasper, Indiana native Connor Foley. Appearing in 20 games, exclusively out of the bullpen a season ago, Foley spent his freshman season overpowering opposing hitters with a fastball that reached the upper 90s. Foley struck out 42 batters, while walking just 21 last season in 29.0 innings pitched. This season, the flamethrower is looking to add an off-speed pitch or two to keep opposition batters honest at the plate.
"Landing a second and third pitch has been the biggest thing (for me)," Foley said after practice in late January. "Last year, I didn't throw much off-speed as a freshman. That's been a big part of this fall, just landing that second and third pitch."
"I've really seen him take a big stride in his game," redshirt sophomore Grant Holderfield added. "This fall he was really working on a slider and a changeup. Those have been really plus pitches."
This offseason, Mercer has spoken about the possibility of some guys who were used primarily out of the bullpen a season ago, getting some opportunities to start games this season. Don't be surprised if at one point this season, Foley is one of those guys.
Brayden Risedorph is another key sophomore for Indiana. Risedorph is expected to start a lot of games on the mound for the Hoosiers this season. A season ago, just five of the Kendallville, Indiana native's 25 appearances were starts.
The then-freshman recorded a team-high six saves last year, while striking out 60 batters. Risedorph finished the season third on the team in strikeouts. For a freshman, Risedorph's command of his pitches stood out last season. He walked just 19 batters for Indiana during the 2023 season. Risedorph didn't walk a single hitter in 13 of his 25 outings last year.
With a handful of injuries to guys who were projected to start a lot of games for Indiana this season, Risedorph figures to headline the Hoosiers' starting rotation heading into the season.
After not filling huge roles as freshmen, the likes of Evan Whiteaker, Ethan Phillips, Cooper Katskee and Ayden Decker-Petty could all potentially step into bigger roles in the bullpen in their sophomore seasons.
Indiana is a team that likes to piece games together from a pitching standpoint. While they may not be shutdown guys this season like Foley or Risedorph, all four of those other sophomore arms are pieces to a much larger puzzle for the Hoosiers' pitching staff.
Strong transfer class fortifies bullpen
In search of depth in the bullpen, Indiana added a handful of transfer pitchers in the offseason. The transfers will look to strengthen what already figured to be a strong bullpen heading into the season.
Julian Tonghini -- a transfer out of Boston College -- is one of the handful of incoming transfer arms. Out of the transfers, Tonghini may have the biggest impact on Indiana's bullpen this season.
A season ago with Boston College, Tonghini made 19 appearances, finishing with a 3.81 earned run average. The 6-foot-3 right hander struck out 34 batters in 28.1 innings pitched during his sophomore campaign with the Eagles.
Gonzaga transfer Jack Moffitt joins the Hoosiers as a redshirt senior. Despite Moffitt preparing to enter his fifth season of college baseball, the 6-foot-7 righty has made just 17 career appearances, all of which came last year with the Bulldogs.
Moffitt is a pitch-to-contact guy. A season ago with Gonzaga the Seattle, Washington native struck out just 22 hitters in 30.2 innings pitched. Moffitt amassed an earned run average of 7.34 last season with Gonzaga. At 6-foot-7, Moffitt's fastball can look like it's coming down the pipe quicker than it is because of his stride length. That fastball is a weapon the Hoosiers will hope to harness this season.
Coming off of a season that was cut short due to injury, Illinois transfer Ty Rybarczyk may not be fully ready to contribute at a high level when the Hoosiers open the season in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Rybarczyk made just one appearance for the Illini last season before he was shut down for the remainder of the season with a torn UCL.
Two seasons ago, as a junior at Illinois, Rybarczyk recorded a 5.30 earned run average, striking out 28 batters in 37.1 innings of work.
In addition to Indiana's returning bullpen weapons, those three transfers give Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers lots of arms to work with throughout a long season.
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