Long Beach State baseball will have a familiar face running its pitching staff next season after former coach Troy Buckley left his job with the Pittsburgh Pirates to return to the Dirtbags.
Buckley’s reunion with Long Beach State as pitching coach has its pitchers looking forward to working with one of the best coaches in the nation — even though the Dirtbags’ season is more than 5 1/2 months away.
The former Pirates minor league pitching coordinator led the Dirtbags’ pitching staff to a top-30 ERA in the nation from 2002-07, including a national best 2.35 ERA in 2005.
“When I heard that it was a rumor that he was coming back, I was very excited because he was originally the only reason why I wanted to go to Long Beach State,” starting pitcher Jake Thompson said.
“Once it was final that he was coming back, I was stoked and couldn’t wait for the year to start so we could get to work on a good season,” he added.
Drew Gagnon, who is entering his sophomore year at LBSU, is already considering what Buckley could do for his development as a pitcher.
“I know that Buck is one of the best pitching coaches out there, if not the best,” he said. “I believe he can help me by showing me all the fundamentals that I need to succeed and it will help my game.”
Buckley should have his work cut out for him considering the 2009 Dirtbag staff pitched its way to a 5.18 ERA, along with a 25-29 record — its worst since 1988 in both categories.
“He means business,” Thompson said. “Buck is a very knowledgeable coach and he has been there and done that so everyone who knows Buck knows that he is the real deal. I know the team will benefit in every way shape and form from Buck returning.”
There’s a strong possibility Buckley will help harness Thompson’s (5.61 ERA in 2009) and Gagnon’s (6.32 ERA in 2009) potential, considering his past protégés. Both are the probable Friday and Saturday starters next season.
Buckley molded current Los Angeles Angels star Jered Weaver from a decent 8-4 record with a 4.37 ERA as a freshman at LBSU in 2002, to the 2004 National Player of the Year; Weaver logged a 1.62 ERA while leading the nation with a 15-1 record and 213 strikeouts that year.
Buckley also guided Abe Alvarez to National Player of the Year awards in the two years prior while coaching numerous pro prospects (22 draft picks while at LBSU) like current big leaguers Jason Vargas and Andrew Carpenter.
“[Buckley’s experience] will help me learn the game because he knows what he’s talking about,” Gagnon said. “Knowing that he coached Weaver and all the MLB players that went to Long Beach makes me feel that he will get me there too.”
Thompson feels Buckley’s past success with coaching will bring him high esteem from the entire team.
“Having a pitching coach who has MLB players [and] prospects changes the whole game because he is going to, in a way, be expecting some of that from us,” Thompson said. “That is not a bad thing whatsoever. This will cause the players, not just pitchers, to respect him that much more and listen to anything and everything he has to say.”
Even though both players are enthused to work with Buckley, previous coach Jon Strauss’ departure to Pepperdine University was unexpected.
“It was shocking,” Gagnon said. “That was the last thing I was expecting. Doc [Strauss] taught me more about baseball in one year than I knew my whole life.”