Yesterday, we talked about one under-the-radar staff ace in Boston College’s Mike King. Today, we’re covering another one in the ACC in Pittsburgh’s T.J. Zeuch.
The 6’7″ righty from Mason, Ohio, was a 31st-round pick of the Kansas City Royals out of high school, and to this point, he has made it clear why the team was interested in him.
As a freshman, in 2014, he put up a 2.75 ERA in a swingman role that had him appear in 15 games, including nine starts. In 2015, he stepped up into a larger role for the program and proved to be a workhorse. He threw 88.1 innings over 14 starts and had a 3.87 ERA. In those innings, he struck out 90 and walked just 25. All in all, he was consistent for the team all season on Friday nights.
Heading into 2016, Zeuch will be looking to take the next step from steady and consistent to dominant, and he certainly has what it takes to do so. Talent evaluators seem to think so as well. D1Baseball.com has him ranked 42nd on their list of top 300 prospects, and Baseball America has him 41st in their top 100.
From a team standpoint, he will be part of what should be a quality front of the Pitt rotation. Behind Zeuch will likely be senior righty Aaron Sandefur, who had a 4.57 ERA last year over 13 appearances (12 starts) in his first season after transferring in from junior college. Their third spot in the rotation is a little more up in the air, but junior Sam Mersing has shown the ability to get the job done. He had a 5.17 ERA last year in 11 appearances (eight starts), but he proved to be tough to hit. Over 47 innings of work, he struck out 39 batters and opposing lineups hit just .225 against him.
It might be a bit of a stretch to think the Panthers will be a big factor at the top of the ACC in 2016, but there is potential with their pitching staff, and in particular, they will be competitive with everyone in the league on Friday nights with T.J. Zeuch on the mound.
