Cal Poly Baseball in-review – Jack Kuzma and Jarred Zill

Ed. note: As a “content experiment”, I’ll be going through each player on the Cal Poly roster from 2017 to recap their season and look forward to 2018.

Jack Kuzma got some time on the left side of the infield in 2017. By Owen Main

Jack Kuzma

Season synopsis

Jack Kuzma was one of a few incoming freshmen who were shortstops in high school. In 32 games with the Mustangs in 2017, Kuzma went 5-33 with a double, two RBIs, and three walks.

With Cal Poly playing poorly at the beginning of the season, it seemed like everyone got a shot to play on the infield. When the dust settled, the kid from Minnesota was the odd-man out in terms of playing time. 

Summertime work

In baseball development, players from states that get cold in the winter are often given the benefit of the doubt at young ages. Minnesota definitely falls into the cold category for about half the year, so perhaps 18 consecutive months of baseball-related activity will be really good for him. I feel like teams that make regionals have guys who are solid in their roles at infield positions.

This summer, Kuzma will play wood-bat baseball in the West Coast League with two other incoming Mustangs on the defending league champion Corvallis Knights. 

The lanky Kuzma hit just .152 in 2017, but should get a chance to win the third base job next season. College players get better over time — it’s one of my favorite things about watching athletes at Cal Poly. Kuzma is a candidate for that this offseason as he’ll get some reps and opportunity in Corvallis. 

The Mustangs missed the steadying influence of Jarred Zill this season. By Owen Main

Jarred Zill

Season synopsis

Zill started the season as a rotation guy, but struggled early-on. Like all Cal Poly pitchers, he didn’t get much support behind him and had a 0-3 record over three starts before being shut down. Some of Zill’s peripherals weren’t horrible — he struck out 14 and walked just 4 in 14 innings over three starts.

Get better, kid

Zill wasn’t the only one on the pitching staff whose season ended with his arm in a sling. Even though he didn’t even make it out of March, the junior from Laguna Niguel was clearly engaged throughout the season, taking in games from behind the plate. His recovery is one side-story to keep an eye on for Cal Poly’s pitching depth moving forward. 

In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Zill was very good for Cal Poly, posting an ERA around 3.00 with a 8-4 record over 24 games and 17 starts. The beginning of Cal Poly’s season was, to put it kindly, unstable. Losing a pitcher like Zill didn’t help.