There’s always next year.
It’s a mantra repeated coast to coast by even the most pessimistic of baseball fans, consoling themselves for yet another lost season. Down on Evans Diamond, the phrase has lingered in the back of Cal baseball coach David Esquer’s mind since the first pitch of the season.
It’s no longer lingering — after losing eight straight games and 10 of their last 11, the Bears (16-20, 5-10 in the Pac-12) have effectively played themselves out of postseason contention.
Sitting in ninth place in the conference and heading into the second half of their Pac-12 slate, Cal’s focus rests more than on player development than on making another miracle run at Omaha.
Washington State, on the other hand, the Bears’ opponent for this weekend’s series, is hanging on for dear life to stay relevant in the national conversation.
The Cougars (18-16, 5-7) are just two spots above Cal in the conference standings. A weekend sweep of the Bears, however, could launch Washington State into the upper echelon of the Pac-12.
Like Cal, the Cougars are riding a similar streak of ineptitude, dropping their three past contents to Arizona and Gonzaga.
Led by an offensive attack featuring six hitters hitting above .280, Washington State figures to wreak havoc on the Bears’ starting rotation. Four of those six hitters bat from the left side, creating a major disadvantage for the young right-handed staff of Ryan Mason, Keaton Siomkin and Dylan Nelson.
Of hitters with more than 100 at-bats, WSU third-baseman Nick Tanielu leads the Pac-12 in batting average with a .402 mark. He’s displayed power on top of the elite contact skills, compiling a .626 slugging percentage fueled by 12 doubles and three triples.
The player for the Cal staff to pitch around this weekend will likely be center fielder Jason Monda. Although sporting just a .281 average, the Capital High School (Olympia, WA) product leads the team in both home runs and RBI. The lefty has a propensity for striking out but makes up for it with both power and speed.
Monda also heads the bullpen alongside former high school teammate Kellen Camus; in 18 2/3 innings, he’s allowed just one earned run.
Monda, Camus and the rest of the Cougar pitching staff will focus on shutting down Cal catcher Andrew Knapp, a projected early-round selection in the June MLB draft who has played exceptionally this season.
While commanding the pitching staff and handling the difficult defensive position of catcher with expertise, he’s managed to hit .348 with five home runs, both marks tops on the squad.
Knapp and the rest of the Bears can potentially derail the Washington State season with a series victory, especially if the trio of Mason, Siomkin and Nelson pitch efficiently and effectively. But wins will just be a bonus; at this point, Cal is simply searching for any signs of positive encouragement in an otherwise dismal campaign.
Michael Rosen covers baseball. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @michaelrosen3.