Cal Poly baseball preview: With no Lee and Thorpe, it’s a ‘total rebuild’ for the Mustangs

Cal Poly baseball returns 18 players this upcoming season, including standouts Joe Yorke, Ryan Stafford and Colin Villegas, but there’s a two-All-American-sized hole for the Mustangs to fill.

With shortstop Brooks Lee and pitcher Drew Thorpe entering the professional ranks, the Mustangs will have to alter their identity.

“I have no idea,” Head Coach Larry Lee said when asked about what he expects from the Mustangs early in the season. “It’s tough when you lose two players at the caliber (Lee and Thorpe) were. This is a total rebuild. There’s a lot of new faces in the program.”

Lee couldn’t have asked for a better opening night Friday when the Mustangs pounded out 13 hits en route to a 15-5 drubbing of Missouri State at Baggett Stadium.

Yorke, Stafford and Villegas, the three starters returning to the lineup, all three contributed in the win. Yorke went 3-6 with four RBIs, Stafford drove in two runs and scored two, and Villegas walked five times to tied a Cal Poly record, scoring twice. Starting pitcher Bryce Warrecker gave up two runs over five innings to earn the win.

It was a good sign for the Mustangs, who will look to the three returning players to help bring along their younger teammates quickly.

Yorke will man first base with either Stafford or Villegas behind home plate and the other in the outfield to get their bats into the lineup. Lee also mentioned Cal State Bakersfield transfer Aaron Casillas, who had three RBIs on Friday, along with the three returners that “will feel comfortable in the moment.”

“They played at this level. … They have the ability mentally to slow the game down.”

While there may be growing pains, the Mustangs have some promising newcomers that can make an impact from day one. Freshman Tate Shimao and redshirt sophomore Ryan Fenn are poised for starting roles on opening day in the infield.

In the opener, Shimao went 1-for-6 with with three RBIs starting at third base, while second baseman Fenn went 1-for-4 with two RBIs.

“They both bring a totally different dynamic to our lineup that I don’t think we’ve had the past couple years with guys who can run and put the ball in play,” Yorke said.

Yorke has taken freshman and fellow first basemen Evan Cloyd under his wing. “He’s a (designated hitter) first base type. Unbelievable pop. It’s fun to watch him take batting practice. … I’m really excited for him and his freshman season”

A changing identity

Not only is there a high amount of turnover in the starting lineup, but there will also be a shift in the team’s strengths.

“We don’t have that Thorpe at the top end of our rotation who had some swing-and-miss stuff,” Lee said. “When you strike people out, you put the ball in play less, so any deficiencies on your defense are hidden.”

Thorpe led the country in strikeouts with 149, which helped lower opportunities for defensive errors.

“You’re just hoping sooner rather than later enough of (the new players) within a particular game are contributing, whether it’s swinging the bat, getting on base, and playing a high level of defense,” Lee said.

But the team doesn’t have time to get off to a rocky start like they did last season.

“We can’t really afford to start out slow early on and then catch fire and perform the latter two-thirds of the season,” Lee said. “With the addition of two more teams in our conference, it’s really difficult to have a high RPI (rating percentage index) in the western part of the United States.”

RPI is a metric used across collegiate sports to rank teams based on wins, losses and strength of schedule.

“We won 37 games and won nine of 10 conference series (last season). Six, seven years ago … you’re in the regionals,” Lee said.

Despite a strong second half of the 2022 season, the Mustangs failed to qualify for the regional playoffs due to their slow start against opponents with higher RPIs. The Mustangs will need to excel in nonconference play against teams with stronger RPI rankings in order to give themselves a better chance to get into the postseason.

A team-wide effort

Cal Poly is fielding a very different roster makeup that could take some adjusting early on.

“We definitely need to mature as a group a little bit,” Yorke said. “Once we get there, the talent’s gonna show.”

The Mustangs will need to thread the needle of integrating the newcomers and bringing them along to be high-level contributors while also still winning games early.

“Everyone one through nine in the lineup is gonna have to find success and do something to help the team win each and every night,” Yorke said. “I love it because I think it brings more importance into every bat. You can’t just count on one or two guys in the lineup to carry the team.”

According to Yorke, a team-wide effort is “how baseball should be played.”

“The guy who’s hitting eight or nine in the lineup is coming up with big hits just as the guy who’s hitting three or four. I think we’re gonna get some of that this season, which really excites me.”

After Cal Poly’s opening series at home against Missouri State, the team will face San Jose, UC Berkeley and UCONN, before returning home to take on 23rd-ranked Oregon State on March 2.

Tickets can be purchased at gopoly.com.

This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 11:00 AM.