Cal Poly baseball season is about to begin. And the coach’s standout son is healthy again
Cal Poly’s baseball team played 16 games in 2020 before its season was abruptly ended due to COVID-19.
After a long hiatus, the Mustangs will embark on their 2021 season, starting Feb. 19-22 with a four-game series against the University of Nevada.
The team includes a group of core returners and promising newcomers, said Coach Larry Lee, who believes his squad is engaged and prepared to start the season.
“That downtime (due to the pandemic) without being able to practice or play baseball is a challenge,” Lee said. “Mentally, they needed to win that battle, and they did and it shows. I’m just hoping they are rewarded with some success for being able to utilize that time in the right fashion.”
This will be the first fully healthy season for Coach Larry Lee’s son, Brooks Lee, a San Luis Obispo High School standout and highly touted professional prospect who has fully recovered from knee surgery that kept him out of most of the team’s action last year.
“He’s infectious, and he makes everyone around him better,” Lee said. “He makes everybody else accountable. He loves to play and loves to win. We’re happy to have him back.”
Mustangs baseball schedule
Following a three-game series at USC the weekend of Feb. 26-28, Cal Poly will host Utah Valley March 5-7 and UCLA on March 12-14, Cal Poly officials said.
The Mustangs 40-game Big West Conference schedule will be announced once final decisions are made by conference officials in the coming weeks.
Big West play will feature four-game series with doubleheaders set for Saturdays, a change from the traditional Friday through Sunday three-game set.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, fans won’t be permitted at the games, but broadcasts are planned, including on BigWestTV.org, with viewing links on games announced on the team’s website at gopoly.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2021.
Cal Poly is projected to take the fourth place spot in the conference after UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, and UC Irvine. UCSB is ranked nationally, earning a No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and No. 10 by Perfect Game.
“There’s a lot of quality this year, not only in the Big West, but other conferences,” Lee said.
Cal Poly coach likes team work ethic
Coach Lee, who’s entering his 19th season at the helm, noted his players are coming off an unusual offseason amid the pandemic.
“Most of our players really hit the weight room worked hard,” Lee said. “A few of them went out to play summer ball and they took what they did in the weight room to another level. They utilized that time to better themselves and hopefully gain advantage over other teams.”
Last year, facing some of the nation’s top teams, the Mustangs got off to a 5-11 start with games against No. 5 Michigan, Baylor, Pepperdine and top-ranked Vanderbilt, whom they beat 9-8 on Feb. 16.
Their offense produced only one player who hit above .300 — catcher Myles Emmerson, who finished with a .317 average in 63 at-bats in 2020.
This year, Lee’s lineup will be led by Emmerson and Brooks Lee, along with third baseman Tate Samuelson and center fielder Cole Cabrera.
“We should be much better than we have been the last four or five years offensively,” Lee said in a news release. “A number of players have developed their hitting skills from last year and, with the addition of several newcomers, we hope to put together a more (potent) lineup.”
Cal Poly coach’s son fully healthy
Brooks Lee is expected to assume the No. 3 slot in the batting order.
Last year, just having returned from rehab, Lee recorded just two at-bats. He knocked in two runs with a double against Baylor as a pinch hitter in the last game of the shortened season.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound switch hitter uses the entire field from both sides of the plate, looking for the gaps, his father said. Brooks was one of the top hitters in Minnesota’s Northwoods League last summer, finishing with a .345 mark.
“I’ve always wanted him to go that route first and not worry about the power,” Larry Lee said. “His right-handed swing is really coming along.”
Brooks’ left-handed batting is more polished and successful than his right side, which the coach said is normal for switch-hitters.
“He’s been switching his whole life, but you know you usually face a lot more right-handed,” Lee said. “You see a lot more right-handed pitchers and usually your left hand swing’s just a little bit more natural.”
Larry Lee said his son plans to play two years as a Mustang, this season and next, before making himself eligible for the Major League Baseball draft at the age of 21 in 2022.
A projected first-round Major League draft pick out of SLO High in 2019, Lee opted to play for his dad over going pro and earning an expected multi-million dollar signing bonus.
Lee was slated to be picked within the top 50, with the MLB Draft Tracker ranking him as the 37th best available player. The 37th pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates, high school outfielder Sammy Siani, signed for $2.15 million in 2019, according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Cal Poly Mustangs offense
The Mustangs’ projected top of the lineup will feature Cabrera, who hit a team runner-up .274 in 2020, followed by Taison Corio, a switch-hitting second baseman, Lee, and Samuelson (.254 in 2020), who’s switching from first to third and hitting cleanup.
Reagan Doss, a transfer from Boise State, and Emmerson are expected to round out the middle of the order.
One of the team’s keys to success, Lee said, will be production from the bottom of the lineup, which is expected to be filled with Joe Yorke at first base, Lopez at DH and either freshman Sam Biller or junior Nick DiCarlo, both outfielders. Nick Marinconz, who played in 14 games last year, also will see playing time.
“Some of the keys with our offensive lineup are the evolution of Cabrera as a leadoff hitter, creating a stack of quality hitters in the middle of the lineup and the ability to be productive at the end of the lineup,” Lee said. “We’re just trying to get more production trying to get more consistency out of the bottom half of the lineup.”
Cal Poly Mustangs pitching
On the mound, the Mustangs lost their top 2020 starter, Taylor Dollard, who was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round.
Dollard was 9-0 in his Mustang career with a 2.43 ERA and seven saves, striking out 121 batters over 111-1/3 innings.
This year, the Mustangs’ ace will be Drew Thorpe, the Desert Hills (Utah) High School product who was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA as a true freshman a year ago and struck out a school freshman record 13 batters in a win over BYU.
Thorpe and southpaw Travis Weston are Cal Poly’s top starters, Lee said. Weston went 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 16 innings at Boise State last spring.
Weston played one season at Ventura College in 2019 and posted an 8-3 record and 2.63 ERA. He is a graduate of Moorpark High School, where he was 17-5 with a 1.27 in his last two varsity seasons.
Another Cal Poly pitcher, Bryan Woo, is one of the team’s hardest throwers, peaking at 92 to 95 miles per hour. Andrew Alvarez, Derek True and Kyle Scott also figure to play key roles in the rotation.
Other bullpen players who will see action include Dylan Villalobos, freshman Bryce Warrecker from Santa Barbara High School and College of San Mateo transfers Carlo Lopiccolo and Zach Button.
“I’ve always preached you want to pitch and play defense,” Lee said. “It’s a good good place to start.”
Program showcases new clubhouse
The team returns to competition ready to enjoy a major upgrade to its facilities.
Cal Poly completed its Dignity Health Clubhouse project last summer, more than two years after the old clubhouse was demolished.
The new building is located adjacent to the stands down the left field line, a big improvement over the former location beyond the fence in right field.
The $9.4 million project covers 10,679 square feet over two floors and features an illuminated “CP” logo on the locker room ceiling.
The facility features expansive windows and a balcony for outdoor viewing of games. It also has a multi-purpose room for players and donors, with a kitchen, meeting and study space, Cal Poly officials said..
Also included are offices for the coaching staff and managers, dressing room for umpires, a therapeutic cold plunge pool and a full commercial laundry facility, a Cal Poly news release noted.
“It’s a fabulous building both on the outside and on the inside,” Lee said in a news release last summer. “The coaches and players are excited to get settled in.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Cal Poly baseball season is about to begin. And the coach’s standout son is healthy again."
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