Slater Lee (Senior, Pitcher)

Season Synopsis

In his fourth and final year at Cal Poly, Lee dropped his delivery to more of a three-quarters arm slot and provided a reliable relief option for Larry Lee (no relation). Lee’s added funk and savvy pitching helped him to sport a career-low 2.86 ERA and strike out over 11 hitters per nine innings. Lee struck out 54 batters while walking just 15 and finished the season with a 4-2 record. His high-leverage innings down the stretch helped Cal Poly overcome a slow start to finish the season with a .500 record in 2017.

Evolution

Slater Lee’s evolution into a relief pitcher was somewhat unexpected. As a freshman, Lee’s complete game, two-hit shutout of defending national champion UCLA and Cal Poly’s subsequent series win was a big statement in the Mustangs’ 2014 season. That season Cal Poly probably had its best season ever in Division I with Lee starting 11 games. While Lee’s strong start as a freshman didn’t carry over into subsequent seasons, Slater showed some strong makeup, retooling over the course of the next two seasons into something of a super utility pitcher. As a senior, his 20 appearances were third most on the team.

Nick Meyer (Sophomore, Catcher)

Nick Meyer, post-mustache in 2017. A leader on the Cal Poly team, Meyer is poised for his junior season in 2018. By Owen Main

Living up to high standards

Last season, Lucas Clark (the Tribune writer who used to be on the Cal Poly beat) asked me whether Nick Meyer was the best defensive catcher in recent Cal Poly memory. “Well,” I explained, “There’s this guy named Chris Hoo. He won the national gold glove. He’s probably the standard that other Cal Poly catchers will be measured against for a long time.” 

So, the biggest credit I can give Meyer is this — he seems some very Hoo-like in his stability and approach. Larry Lee gave Meyer the reigns as a true freshman and he hasn’t looked back. 

Though he hit just .255 in 2017, Meyer started and played in 55 of Cal Poly’s 56 games (a few in right field) and hit two home runs while driving-in 31. He struck out and walked just 17 times each and his bat to ball skills are really solid. Balancing that hit tool with an effort to drive the ball harder and farther will be something to look for from Meyer in 2018.

National Team and beyond

This summer, Larry Lee is an assistant coach on the US Collegiate National Team, and he brought his catcher. Meyer was used mostly as a backup on the USA team, but he did throw out three of seven would-be base stealers. The experience could provide some confidence and insight for Meyer, who should be an up-the-middle cornerstone in 2018.

If Cal Poly is going to move forward from a few disappointing seasons in a row, they’ll need Meyer to take another step too. Meyer has always had very good bat control, but he’ll need to be more steady at the plate. Defensively, he was probably the second-best catcher in the conference last year and could compete for that crown in 2018. He takes a lot of chances, but he cut his throwing mistakes down in 2017 and figures to take another step in 2018. Having talented juniors in baseball is like having talented seniors in other sports. Meyer will be one of a hand-full in 2018 for Larry Lee. 

Matt Imhof might be the best major league prospect on Cal Poly’s roster. By Owen Main

Aaron Fitt, Baseball America college writer, joined Owen on this episode to talk about Cal Poly baseball’s hot start.

We also discussed why it’s hard to get teams from the ACC or SEC out west to play the Mustangs, Big West baseball, and the perceived East coast bias in college baseball.

Aaron is basically a college baseball encyclopedia. If you’re a college baseball fan on the west coast, this podcast is for you.

Find Aaron on twitter @aaronfitt.

Freshman starting pitcher, Slater Lee, has been particularly dominant so far for Larry Lee’s team this season. By Owen Main

Cal Poly baseball is off to a great start. After sweeping Kansas State, the Mustangs took two of three games from UCLA over the weekend, improving their record to (6-1). With the series win, the Mustangs climbed to number 13 in both the Baseball America and Perfect Game rankings. Cal Poly was un-ranked in the preseason, but have moved up farther than any other team so far this year, scheduling two top-25 teams early-on and winning five of the six weekend games against them.

Especially impressive has been the start of freshman starting pitcher, Slater Lee. Lee pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his college debut and followed it up with a complete-game shutout of the defending national champions this past Saturday. In all, Lee has given up just a single run in 15 1/3 innings, notching 14 strikeouts, and only two walks against high-level competition.

Cal Poly’s team ERA after seven games is an impressive 1.16. With that number, hitting wouldn’t matter much, but the Mustang bats have also been lively early-on. Sophomore Brian Mundell has already hit three home runs and junior Nick Torres has two homers and 12 RBIs. The two sport OPS numbers of 1.536 and 1.159 respectively.

Next week, Cal Poly plays at San Jose State and travels to Los Angeles once again to take on upstart USC, who is 7-0 and knocking on the door of being ranked in the top-25.

Again, it’s only been seven games, but it’s been a very impressive seven games for a team that won its first regional game just last year. The last time they were ranked this high, the 2009 Cal Poly baseball team made their first NCAA Division I regional appearance. This year, the Mustangs and fans are probably setting their sights a little higher and to a city in Nebraska that starts with an O.

Learn this name: Slater Lee. Freshman RHP threw 2-hit shutout at defending champ UCLA in 2nd college start. Cal Poly wins 8-0, evens series.

— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) February 23, 2014

Potent offense, big key is improved starting pitching. RT @GoodPalCardo: @KendallRogersPG What is your opinion of Cal Poly baseball?

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) February 24, 2014

@brettjoh love torres – could go top 3-5 rounds. Mundell has legit power, of course, but need to see consistent ABs this year

— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) February 23, 2014

Freshman Slater Lee showed Cal Poly fans why Larry Lee inserted him as the Saturday starter in the opening series. By Owen Main

Coming into his first collegiate appearance, I wondered how good Slater Lee really was. As a true freshman, could he really step-in and be a number-two starter on a team that has aspirations larger than the regional they made it to last year?

In his debut, Lee didn’t disappoint.

If there is an aspect of the team that is a big question-mark for Cal Poly this year, it is the reliability of the Friday and Saturday starters. On Saturday, Lee struck-out seven and allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings, giving up only two hits.

The one Kansas State run got off Lee was the result of a double-play ball that went off his foot followed by a swinging bunt. The Wildcats only managed to get one ball out of the infield on Lee all night long.

Mustang true freshman Slater Lee leaves the game in the 7th leading 3-1…6 1/3 IP 1R 2H 7K 1W. Only one ball to the outfield. Nice job!

— 'C.J.' Silas (@cjsilas) February 16, 2014

The season is a long one, but on Saturday, Cal Poly fans saw why Larry Lee put a freshman as his number-two starter.

Assistant coach Teddy Warrecker was especially pleased with Lee’s performance, calling it “special” on Twitter.

Slater Lee was special tonight in his first college start #gamer

— Teddy Warrecker (@teedubb25) February 16, 2014

With the win, Cal Poly clinches the series against Kansas State for the second straight year. They’ll go for the sweep Monday at 1:00.

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