There’s no denying what Jimmie Sherfy meant to the Oregon bullpen.
When the Ducks’ closer made his way to the mound, he brought not only his 95 mph fastball and filthy slider but also a high degree of intensity. Sherfy is now with the South Bend Silverhawks — a part of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization — and Oregon is entering the season looking to revamp its bullpen.
“Jimmie — both talent and personality — is tough to replace,” reliever Darrell Hunter said. “We may have lost Jimmie, but we have plenty of guys at the back end of the bullpen that are going to throw well.”
One of those guys is Jake Reed, who head coach George Horton indicated is the frontrunner to succeed Sherfy as closer. Reed, a junior right-hander, finds himself in unfamiliar territory after spending his first two seasons in the starting rotation. But Horton seems confident that Reed will thrive in the role.
“Jake’s always wanted the ball in the tough situation and not shied from that,” Horton said. “You have to have that mentality if you’re coming in and the game’s on the line every time.”
Reed spent fall ball pitching out of the bullpen and worked with assistant coach Dean Stiles to tweak his mechanics, which Horton claims has “created a little more late life” in his fastball. Reed’s also seen an uptick in his fastball velocity, which he said consistently sits at 93-95 mph and has topped out at 96 after living between 89-92 when he was a starter.
“I feel like I could fill that role pretty well,” Reed said. “You get in there, you’re throwing one inning and you don’t have to conserve any energy. You just kind of go out there and get to pump. I feel like that’s something I’d really embrace and I think I’d do pretty well.”
Sophomore left-hander Garrett Cleavinger is coming off a campaign that was arguably as impressive as Sherfy’s, as he boasted a 1.24 ERA and led the NCAA with a .137 batting average against. Cleavinger is slated to once again assume setup duties.
Another key piece of the bullpen will be Hunter, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA in the fall. The right-hander had a 3.40 ERA in 28 appearances last year and serves as a veteran leader for the younger hurlers.
“We’ve always taken pride in (that) when we get to the sixth inning with a lead, we feel like we’re going to come out of it with a win. Darrell’s a big reason why we’re able to do that,” Reed said.
Despite losing Sherfy and reliever Christian Jones to the draft, the No. 6 Ducks still have the makings of a excellent bullpen, something Horton stressed should play a key role in a potential run at Omaha.
“Whoever is going to win those innings (seventh-eighth-ninth) probably has the best chance of winning the national championship or the conference championship,” Horton said. “You have to start with starting pitching to get there and have a lead, but the back end of the bullpen has become a very important part of college baseball.”
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch