Seeing multiple players either leave by signing professionally or transferring elsewhere, ASU baseball is looking to replenish its pitching roster and has taken a high school prospect from a rival school.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Announced on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, East Ridge (Minn.) High School left-handed pitcher Max Arlich posted that after circling back to his decision of where he will go to college, he de-committed from Texas A&M and has switched to Arizona State.
“Due to coaching changes at Texas A&M University and many discussions with my family and people close to me, I have decided to de-commit from Texas A&M,” Arlich said. “I’m extremely excited to announce I’ve committed to Arizona State University to play for the Sun Devils.”
As one of the main switches to Texas A&M’s coaching staff, now-former Aggies head coach Jim Schlossnagle took the job at Texas in the offseason. With Schlossnagle at the helm, Texas A&M was 53-15 last season and beat ASU both times last year, a 4-0 win on March 1 and a 10-5 victory on March 3.
Now that he has flipped his commitment to the Sun Devils, he will get a chance to help Arizona State going forward. On the website Perfect Game, he is ranked as the No. 299 overall recruit and No. 32 LHP from the 2024 class. Arlich is the No. 5 recruit and No. 1 pitcher from Minnesota.
Though he is listed as primarily a pitcher, Arlich can also play first base and in the outfield. He stands at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.
Here is more of Arlich from Perfect Game:
“Solid athletic build with good preset strength,” the website said. “Has an uptempo delivery with a 3/4’s arm slot that creates some angle to the plate, works quickly and repeats his mechanics well. Fastball topped out at 92 mph, got some ride up in the zone. Change-up was his best secondary pitch, has a good feel for locating it and gets some running life. Still developing a feel for creating curveball spins and tends to slow arm into release. Improving the breaking ball will be key to his future development.”
Securing a pitcher at a time when they could use some help in the position, ASU will hope Arlich develops into a solid arm during the program’s first season in the Big 12 Conference. Hunter Omlid and Ryan Schiefer were both selected in the 2024 MLB Draft while starter Thomas Burns transferred to Schlossnagle’s Texas.
ASU, former GCU pitcher Hunter Omlid final Sun Devil drafted, selected by Rockies
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
