ASU baseball is looking to rebound after a 32-26 season and going winless in the Pac-12 tournament as head coach Willie Bloomquist’s staff has seen a new addition join the Sun Devils who has local ties to the Valley.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!On X (formerly Twitter), Arizona State announced that Mesa native and former MLB pitcher Jeremy Accardo has become an assistant coach for its baseball program.
We got our guy.
A Valley native and 18-year professional player and coaching vet.
Welcome to our newest assistant coach, Jeremy Accardo!#O2V /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/95iKz1MGrN
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) June 28, 2024
If the Accardo surname sounds familiar, it should because his daughter Leighton was an Arizona Coyotes superfan who tragically passed away from germ cell cancer at nine years old in 2020. Leighton was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor in 2021 and remains a special figure in Arizona’s hockey community.
Jeremy played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians), Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants during his eight-year career in the MLB. In total, he pitched in 262 games, recorded 38 saves, owned a 4.30 ERA and collected 205 strikeouts.
After his playing career was coming to an end, the 42-year-old switched to coaching as he started his new role as the pitching coach for the Gulf Coast Mets in the Florida Complex League in 2017. He also was the bullpen coach for the New York Mets’ Triple-A minor league affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s, the Mets’ minor league pitching coordinator and the MLB teams’ assistant pitching coach and most recently the pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds.
“As someone born and raised in the Valley, this opportunity means a lot to me,” Accardo said via ASU’s website. “I got into this game to help kids get better and achieve their dreams and I couldn’t be more excited to do that at Arizona State. I wanted to thank Graham Rossini, Willie Bloomquist, Sam Peraza, the coaching staff and especially the players for welcoming me. I am not taking this opportunity lightly. This is a dream job for me and I am eager to get going and help get this program back to where I know Willie and all of our fanbase envision and expect it to be.”
On the Sun Devils, his role will primarily be working with the pitchers. Peraza will remain with ASU’s staff as an assistant coach and a recruiting coordinator. Former assistant Mike Goff will stick around in a non-coaching position.
ASU football carrying on rich tradition of holding camp in Payson at Camp Tontozona
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HEREÂ to unlock our premium content!*
Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
