Today’s the day. Or, rather, tonight’s the night. Oregon will kick off the second Pac-12 Baseball Tournament Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. in Scottsdale Stadium as the No. 6 seed, taking on the No. 9 seed, Cal.
With Jace Stoffal out the last few weeks with a finger injury, the Ducks have been turning to Logan Mercado as their defacto ace. But Mercado has struggled, with an ERA above 9.00 since his complete game against Stanford.
So head coach Mark Wasikowski is pulling a move that’s somewhat out of left field. He announced at Oregon’s practice Monday night that freshman left-hander Grayson Grinsell will be getting the start on Tuesday, with no announced starter for Thursday’s matchup against Stanford yet. It will be the first collegiate start for Grinsell after a solid season as a reliever.
“He was a starter in high school. He wants to be a starter here,” Wasikowski said. “We just used him in a role that we felt like we needed, especially early on, and right now the role we need him in is to start for us.”
Grinsell recorded a 3.78 ERA in the regular season, with 46 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings over 24 relief appearances. He was especially effective over his last six outings, giving up one run in 9 2/3 innings.
Wasikowski added that it will be “all hands on deck” as Oregon gets to the must-win portion of its season. Grinsell starting on Tuesday leaves more options for Thursday, which could include Mercado, Turner Spoljaric or Matthew Grabmann.
It could, also, still be Stoffal, though there are no guarantees. Stoffal traveled with the team to Utah and to Arizona, and participated in Monday’s practice. He was out on the field, running around and participating in the same drills everyone else was, though he notably wasn’t throwing.
“I heard through the grapevine today that he was really optimistic again with his day today,” Wasikowski said Monday night. “He feels like he’s definitely trending in the right direction to potentially pitch during the tournament.”
Stoffal’s addition would obviously be huge. In addition to emerging as one of the best pitchers in the Pac-12, he shined against Stanford specifically, throwing a complete game shutout in one of the best performances in Oregon history. But, unfortunately and perhaps frustratingly for the Ducks, Wasikowski still couldn’t confirm his status, despite signs pointing in the right direction.
His counterpart Isaac Ayon, meanwhile, was expected to return before the season ended but didn’t even travel with the team on this trip.
Reliever Matt Dallas should be back in the mix after a brief injury scare, as he looked to be at full health in Monday’s practice. Dallas has struggled lately but should be a valuable piece in the postseason, with his ability to eat up innings if nothing else.
Overall, the Ducks seem to be going into this tournament with a more confident but relaxed presence than they did in last year’s quick exit. Wasikowski could be heard on the field Monday night speaking passionately to the team about how they can beat anybody. And it’s true — they won two out of three earlier in the year against Stanford, which is now the No. 3 team in the entire country.
Plus, if it means anything, Oregon got a more comfortable pre-tournament practice than last year. It was complete chaos last season, with the practice site being changed multiple times before finally settling on a random high school field in the early afternoon with triple-digit Scottsdale heat. This time around, the Ducks had an evening practice at Papago Park Complex, which is used by the San Francisco Giants for minor league spring training. It was a better facility at a better time, allowing the whole affair to feel less rushed and hectic.
That evening practice will be followed by an evening game, with Oregon and Cal playing the third tournament game of the day Tuesday night at 7:00. The Golden Bears will be countering Grinsell with right-hander Christian Becerra. For the second straight year, the action will take place at Scottsdale Stadium, home of the Giants’ spring training.