Pitcher Joe Pistorese benefited by returning to WSU
PULLMAN – Joe Pistorese gave away his leverage with Major League Baseball teams when he decided to return for a senior year of chucking baseballs at Washington State.
But he and his coaches believe that by putting in another year of long toss with the Cougars, Pistorese has made himself more valuable to the pros.
The starting pitcher did consider making himself available for the MLB draft and sought the advice of former WSU teammate Kyle Johnson, a left fielder in the Los Angeles Angles organization.
Pistorese made the decision to spend one more year in college and stick with a new training regimen to see if it could give him a better chance at a professional career.
Last year, pitching coach Gregg Swenson started his players on a pitching program, designed by Alan Jaeger, that is catching on in the pros. It’s a program of extreme long toss, in which his pitchers will play catch and keep moving back, eventually throwing more than 100 yards.
The program is designed to strengthen arms and prevent injuries. In his second year of throwing entire football fields with baseballs, Pistorese has seen his velocity tick up as well.
WSU (21-18, 5-10 Pac-12) has relied on Pistorese (6-3) to ensure at least one winnable game each series. He’s made the young team more competitive by coming back, pitching deep into games and twice earning Pac-12 Player of the Week.
Pistorese was a good pitcher a year ago, the only WSU starter with a winning record (4-3) and a solid 3.31 earned-run average. But with a more fearsome fastball, Pistorese can attack hitters rather than just outsmart them, and is averaging 5.8 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 4.4 last season, and has a 2.70 ERA.
With a fastball that sits just above 90 miles per hour, WSU’s ace is expected to be drafted in the first 10 rounds rather than in the 15th to 20th rounds.
“He is maybe overlooked in the scouting industry a little bit, but he’s also improved to the point where his fastball is at a level that, if he had had his fastball this year, last year, he wouldn’t be with us,” Swenson said.
The money may end up being about the same as if Pistorese had been drafted last season. Without the threat of returning for a senior year in college after being drafted, thus making the team to select him waste the draft pick, Pistorese will likely have to settle for signing at about a quarter of the draft slot value.
While returning to WSU for one more year has made him a better pitcher, it probably hasn’t made him a richer one.
“I knew that, but getting my degree is really important and it’s really important to my family. I was put in a win-win situation,” Pistorese said. “I’ve built a relationship with everybody on this campus and I love it here. As much as I want to play pro ball, coming back has been beneficial.”
Around the region
Gonzaga lost two of three games at West Coast Conference cellar-dweller Portland to fall to sixth place in the conference standings. The top four teams will make the WCC tournament. The Bulldogs have nine conference games remaining, six on the road. … GU closer David Bigelow was named to the Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. Bigelow has a 2.08 ERA in 16 appearances for the Bulldogs and has tallied eight saves, four of which came while pitching two or more innings. … Third-seeded Whitworth travels to the NWC tournament at Pacific Lutheran University on Friday. The Pirates open against second-seeded Linfield at 4 p.m. Coach Dan Ramsay will take over as WSU’s director of baseball operations at the conclusion of Whitworth’s season.