Cal Poly left-hander Derrick Saito will likely be moved to the bullpen, Mustangs head coach Larry Lee said Monday.
Saito, who was removed in the second inning after facing just five batters during a 10-4 win over Pacific on Saturday due to tightness in his throwing shoulder, has a 5.9 ERA and a 1-2 record through eight appearances, including seven starts.
“We’re probably going to move Derrick to the bullpen,” Lee said. “(Pulling him Saturday) was just precautionary on our part to not overuse him.”
During 2007, all of Saito’s 18 appearances came in relief. In 35 2/3 innings, he went 3-2 with a 3.03 ERA, and his 14.3 strikeouts-per-nine-innings average shattered the school Division I mark en route to an All-Big West Conference honorable mention.
Through 29 innings of work this season, the 5-foot-8, 155-pound junior has struck out 35, but has walked a team-high 24 and thrown eight wild pitches, tied for the most in the Big West.
“He’s better suited to be out of the pen,” Lee said. “Maybe asking him to be a starter was a little too much.”
Saito doesn’t seem to mind the pending re-adjustment.
“It doesn’t affect us too much,” Saito said. “I’ve done well out of the bullpen. If it helps the team out, I’m fine with it.”
Taking Saito’s place as a starter will likely be junior southpaw Jared Eskew, Lee said.
Eskew (2-1), who earned the win in 5 2/3 innings of relief Sunday when the Mustangs edged Pacific 8-5, owns a 3.57 ERA through 11 appearances.
“We’re going to kind of take a little bit different philosophy,” Lee said.
Lee explained the Mustangs would probably “piggyback (their) three starters” with Saito, sophomore right-hander D.J. Mauldin and senior right-hander Brian Grening, who’s “pitched extremely well his last two outings.”
In what Lee called a “new lease” on his pitching staff, Saito’s role could be slightly different than those of Mauldin and Grening, who have a “capability of throwing twice out of three games.
“He’s not very resilient,” Lee said of Saito. “If you throw him once in a weekend, he’s probably done for the weekend.”
Although Saito said he doesn’t quite know how close to fully healthy he is, he said if he had to estimate, he’d say 90 percent.
“This is the first time it’s ever happened to me,” he said, adding he expects to test himself today. “I don’t know what it is – I just strained myself a little bit.”
Also overcoming an injury is Mustangs sophomore right-hander Steven Fischback, who was experiencing a “little stiffness in the back of his shoulder,” before being relieved after pitching for 3 1/3 innings Sunday.
“He struggled with fastballs and didn’t have a secondary pitch,” Lee said. “And that’s not a good equation for success, especially at our ballpark that’s very offensive.”
The Mustangs (13-18, 3-6 Big West) have won four of five and host non-conference Fresno State (20-15) at Baggett Stadium at 6 tonight; the teams have split four previous meetings this season.
Cal Poly will resume Big West play by opening a three-game series at UC Davis (23-11, 5-1 Big West) at 2:30 p.m. Friday.