Throughout much of this season, West Virginia’s rotation has remained steady on Fridays and Saturdays, leaving uncertainty about who will take the mound on Sunday.
Jack Kartsonas probably addressed that query as he is now in good health and demonstrated his capabilities this past weekend against Houston.
West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins aimed to return Carson Estridge to the bullpen and understood that this meant he would need to fill Estridge’s position in the rotation.
His selection, Jack Kartsonas, a newcomer from Kent State. In his initial appearance, Kartsonas made Sabins appear brilliant, delivering 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball, assisting the Mountaineers in sweeping the Cougars.
Kartsonas’ appearance while pitching resembles that of a typical baseball player to some observers. With a bushy mustache and a crooked No. 67 on his jersey, he resembles a pitcher. Nonetheless, his path to pitching for the Mountaineers this year was far from simple.
He’s a transfer from Kent State who underwent surgery this summer, and we committed to a player who will need several procedures on his arm. Quite a significant risk. Typically, it’s not the strategy to sign exceptional players, particularly those who will undergo arm surgeries. “Thus, for him to achieve what he did and pitch seven innings in the longest performance by anyone this year was quite impressive,” Sabins remarked.
The majority of the offseason for players is dedicated to gaining strength and refining their skills. Kartsonas’ offseason involved surgery and rehabilitation, delaying his season’s start.
“Kartsonas underwent several surgeries during the summer, rehabilitated throughout the fall, began throwing around October or November, doing light throwing, not pitching, and then moved to the mound, participated in some simulated games, and gradually started in early spring,” Sabins stated.
That gradual advancement was evident in his performances this season, as in his initial nine appearances, he exceeded 40 pitches on two occasions, while throwing less than 15 pitches four times.
Sabins stated that the greatest challenge for Kartsonas was maintaining arm health. Lately, Kartsonas had begun to pitch longer in his appearances, throwing more than two innings against BYU and exceeding three against Utah. That led Sabins to pass him the ball on Sunday.
Thus, arm health was extremely important to Jack, as he would pitch 95 in one game and then 91 in another. It seemed like his arm was healing, and he was somewhat recovering. Two weeks ago at BYU, he delivered 2.1 innings of effective relief pitching. I thought that was awesome, two innings, but he totally ran out of steam, [velocity] decreased, attitude shifted, arm speed slowed.
Last week versus Utah, he pitched for 3.1 innings. I’m sitting there thinking, this guy is going a bit far; he reached a pitch count of 60 pitches and maintained his velocity for 3.1 innings. He ran out of fuel, but it surged a bit towards the end, and I thought, this guy’s motivated, he’s focused on the team, solid player. “He’s about 32 years old and fears nothing,” Sabins stated.
Although Sabins was overstating Kartsonas’s age at 32, he has indeed been involved in college baseball for quite a while. Kartsonas began his college journey in 2020 at John Carroll and then spent 2021-2024 at Kent State.
“After pitching 3.1 innings (against Utah), and he performed well, I thought, hmm, perhaps he’s prepared, right?” He pitched one inning, another inning here, 2.1, 3.1, let’s hand him the ball and find out if he’s prepared. “He started with 60 pitches, possibly reaching 70, but he ultimately threw, I believe, 98 pitches over seven innings, with no runs allowed, and primarily using sinkers to get ground balls and quick contact,” Sabins noted.
Sabins mentioned that switching his Sunday starter to Kartsonas reflects a larger concern regarding his approach to game planning against rivals. Sabins stated that occasionally you need to make choices that may seem strange from the outside, but it’s what he believes is best for his team.
“You must play to achieve victory, coach to succeed.” What I meant by that is that when everything is going well, it’s simple to think, ‘you’re altering your Sunday starter — when you’ve won every match with the Sunday starter.’ “Indeed, we follow baseball professionally, and there are aspects that you instinctively sense may not be sustainable in the long run, prompting you to seek adjustments,” Sabins remarked.
