2025 Fall College Baseball Reset: Arizona State

Thanks to a powerful offense, the 2025 Arizona State Sun Devils secured a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. ASU ended the year with a 1-2 run in the Los Angeles Regional this past spring and suffered major losses to the pros a month later via the 2025 MLB Draft. Thus, the 2026 Arizona State team will look very different.

The Returnees

The Sun Devils’ 2025 lineup was comprised mostly of juniors and seniors. However, one youngster — Landon Hairston — had a great year as a 19-year-old.

Hairston hit .333 with 17 extra-base hits last season, and the now-sophomore is arguably the most notable returning hitter on the team.

Nu’u Contrades is another one of those notable returning hitters. Contrades hit .304 with six home runs and 24 extra-base hits last season as a junior.

As for the pitching staff, ASU lost its top two arms, Ben Jacobs and Jack Martinez, after the 2025 season to the pros. However, several notables are back, including reliever Cole Carlon. The left-hander Carlon struck out 86 over 54 innings as a sophomore.

Aside from Carlon, Easton Barrett and Jaden Alba return. Alba and Barrett got rope as starters last season for the Sun Devils.

Relievers Eli Buxton, Wyatt Halvorson, and Max Arlich are also among the returning players.

The Newcomers

In the summer of 2024, Willie Bloomquist scored big in the transfer portal with Kyle Walker. Walker, who came over from Grambling State, hit .352 with seven home runs for ASU last season.

However, Walker, now an Astros prospect, was one of several players to go pro last summer. So did Matt King, Kien Vu, and Brandon Compton, the latter of whom had a down 2025 after a torrid 2024 season.

ASU did some work to replace lost bodies.

Arizona State’s 2026 roster includes several new players who could be considered well-known names in the college baseball sphere.

Colby Guy struck out 68 over 70 innings in his junior season with UNC-Asheville and began 2025 as the Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Guy wound up missing most of 2025. The 22-year-old right-hander joined ASU as a grad student transfer this past summer.

Kole Klecker was a standout back in 2023 with the TCU Horned Frogs. Klecker tossed 96.2 IP as a freshman and struck out 70. Since then, Klecker bounced around the TCU rotation and only threw 19 innings last year as a junior. He’s now part of the 2026 Arizona State roster.

Klecker isn’t the only Horned Frog on the ASU roster. Sam Myers, an outfielder who hit .353 as a freshman in 2024, also joined the Sun Devils.

Brady Louck, another one of those power additions, struck out 27 over 21 two years ago as a freshman for Florida State.

The Sun Devils were also one of several schools to raid the California Golden Bears’ roster this summer. Two of California’s regulars, P.J. Moutzouridis and Dominic Smaldino, are now on Arizona State’s roster.

Ten freshmen are among the new Sun Devils in Tempe. Among them are switch-hitting infielder Finn Leach — one with a strong arm — and pitchers Ashton Higgins and Marcelo Rodriguez.

Summary

The Sun Devils lost a hefty of talent to the pros this past summer. ASU’s top four home run leaders from 2025, including Isaiah Jackson, are gone, plus their two best arms from last season.

ASU will need a group effort to replace all of that talent in a tough Big 12 conference. The good news is that the Sun Devils did a good job on loading up on proven arms.