UNC's Bullpen Has Been Phenomenal, but Is It Just Scratching the Surface of Its Potential?
The Tar Heels' relievers have posted a 1.11 ERA over 81 innings
Entering this spring, the general expectation was North Carolina would be much improved offensively, what with the return of five starters from last year’s regional team and the addition of Alberto Osuna and Vance Honeycutt. Questions, however, still lingered about the pitching staff, even after a promising offseason.
One month into the season, though, the Tar Heels’ pitching is the primary reason why, at 15-2, they’re off to their best start since 2016.
Heading into Thursday, UNC led the country with a 1.66 ERA, a far cry from the 5.14 mark it posted last season. It also ranked in the top 18 nationally in WHIP (1.05, 10th), walks allowed per nine innings (2.84, 11th), shutouts (three, 12th), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.69, 14th) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.57, 18th). The Tar Heels’ starters have been critical to their success, logging a 2.28 ERA and six starts of five or more innings – starters not named Austin Love made only eight such starts all last season. But, somehow, the bullpen has been even better.
Across 63 total relief appearances, 12 UNC pitchers have combined for a 1.11 ERA over 81 innings. They’ve done so while striking out 113 batters and walking 28, good for a 4.04 strikeout-to-walk ratio. They’ve also allowed only 9 of 46 inherited runners to score (19.6%), which comes after the Tar Heels allowed 175 of 420 inherited runners to score (41.7%) between the 2019 and 2021 seasons.
After recording a career-high five strikeouts over three scoreless innings against VMI on Tuesday – extending the bullpen’s streak of innings without giving up an earned run to 26 1/3 – Davis Palermo was asked about what’s made the unit so successful.
“I think the biggest thing is we all trust each other,” he said. “We can really go out there and pitch with no pressure on ourselves, knowing if things don’t go your way, the next guy will pick you up. We really take pride in being able to pick each other up, and I think that trust in each other has really helped us so far.”
So, too, has the bullpen’s quality depth.
The elder statesman of UNC’s pitching staff, Caden O’Brien – whose 95 appearances are the sixth most among active NCAA pitchers – has yet to give up an earned run in 6 2/3 innings over eight appearances. Opponents are hitting .095 against the left-hander, who’s already matched his career high of three saves.
O’Brien isn’t the only Tar Heel southpaw who hasn’t surrendered an earned run this season, as Shawn Rapp has accomplished the feat in 13 innings over an NCAA-best 12 appearances, bringing his ERA as a reliever to 2.57 over the last two seasons. The third-year sophomore is striking out batters at a rate of 46.3%, and, perhaps most impressively, has stranded all 13 runners he’s inherited.
Between O’Brien and Rapp, UNC boasts one of the best lefty relief tandems that it has had in some time. What makes them even more effective is how they complement each other.
“Shawn, he’s good,” Scott Forbes said recently. “Any lefty who can come in who has got upper 80s, can touch 90 and has that breaking ball. He’s a three-pitch guy, too. He started some big games for us last year, and what he did at Texas Tech (in the 2021 Lubbock Regional) was impressive against a really good lineup. He equalizes righties as well, and that’s a weapon. You add Caden in there with the experience that he has, they’re just totally different lefties. Three-quarter (slot) with a good breaker (in Rapp), over the top and deceptive in Caden with a really good changeup. So we feel really good about those two options.”
That O’Brien and Rapp have been so good shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who followed the program last season. The same, however, can’t be said of Kyle Mott, who, after a disappointing 2021 season in which he made just four appearances, has turned himself into a high-leverage option.
Coming off a strong summer with the Holly Springs Salamanders of the Coastal Plain League, Mott looked like a much more confident pitcher in the fall. He really took off, though, after spending his winter break lowering his arm slot. By the time preseason practice started, the righty was up to 94 mph with his fastball and was commanding his off-speed as well as ever. That’s continued into the season, as he’s logged a 1.08 ERA while striking out batters at a 36.8% clip in 16 2/3 innings over 10 appearances.
“Mott goes about his business a little differently,” Tomas Frick said. “Last year, he didn’t have a really good fall and maybe got down on himself. But this year, you can tell he’s really putting in the work, getting treatment. … I think it’s what he does after the game to get his body right so he can come out and keep pitching like he has been (that’s been the biggest difference).”
As it currently stands heading this weekend’s three-game series against Duke at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Gage Gillian (1-0, 1.50 ERA), Palermo (1-0, 0.82) and Shaddon Peavyhouse (2-1, 2.03) are the Tar Heels’ other top relievers. And although all three have found success, they each seem capable of taking the bullpen to another level.
The team’s most consistent pitcher outside of Love last season, Gillian was hampered by a hip injury in the preseason. The effects of that appeared to linger into the season, as his velocity was down and he gave up two runs – both via home runs – over his first three appearances. But over his last four outings, he’s struck out five and walked zero across 6 2/3 scoreless innings.
Similarly, Palermo also seems to just be rounding into form, despite allowing only one earned run in 11 innings over seven appearances. Another pitcher who benefitted from a summer with Holly Springs, the righty was UNC’s most dominant reliever in the fall, flashing a fastball that got up to 97 mph as well as an improved slider and splitter. The coaching staff shut him down after the fall, and since returning to the mound in the preseason, he’s been steadily building himself back up. If Tuesday’s outing is any indication, he’s almost back to his fall form, as he topped out at 96.
If not for Palermo, Peavyhouse’s performance would’ve been the story of Tuesday’s game, as the right-hander – making his third relief appearance since moving from the weekend rotation to the bullpen – allowed only one runner to reach (via a hit-by-pitch) while striking out three over two scoreless innings. He’s yet to surrender a run while striking out seven and walking one in four innings as a reliever, but given the quality of his stuff, it seems plausible that he might get even better as he settles into his role.
Upon announcing Peavyhouse’s move to the 'pen last Thursday, Forbes said he felt like the change could make the unit one of the best the Tar Heels have had since he came to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach for Mike Fox in 1999. It’s still too soon to tell if this group is worthy of such a designation. But it also hasn’t done anything to dispel that notion. Far from it.