Leake's talent presents ASU with quandary

It was just one pitch, but it provided compelling evidence of the baseball talent that Mike Leake may still have — untapped. The Arizona State sophomore was pitching against one of the top teams in the nation last weekend, locked in a long at-bat.

ASU Baseball notebook: Murphy eager for investigation to end
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Then, coach Pat Murphy saw fit to order Leake to fire a pitch he had not used in a year — while tipping the hitter that it was coming.

“We bagged his slider last season, but I yelled out to him, ‘Mike, can you throw your slider?’” Murphy said. “He said ‘yes,’ and the batter heard it. I told him to throw it then.”

In came the slider to Vanderbilt catcher Shea Robin, and the result was a third strike.

“The kid walked back to the dugout, looking back at us as if to say, ‘Gosh, you guys are crazy,’ ” Murphy said.

The scene exemplifies the near-daily inner battle that Murphy fights: What else could Leake achieve if his coach would let him? For on a Sun Devil roster loaded with talent, perhaps no player is more versatile than Leake, who turned down high-round money from the Oakland Athletics to attend ASU.

The 6-foot, 175-pound right-hander with a five-pitch arsenal won 13 games last season. Murphy has often called him the team’s best fielder and believes that Leake could be a productive hitter if he played every day.

“I’ll be sitting on the bench during a game in a big situation and think about who I’d want the ball hit to,” Murphy said. “I think of Mike Leake, and he’s sitting on the bench next to me.”

That glowing praise from his coach, as well as the knowledge of his own abilities, has made Leake wonder just what he is capable of on the field.

But for the Sun Devils — and, it is becoming apparent, his baseball future — his place is on the mound.

“The coaches want to keep my arm resting for pitching and don’t want to mess with the guys at other positions,” said Leake, who allowed a run in six innings in beating Vanderbilt on Saturday.

“I think I could go anywhere on the field and be an impact wherever I play. …

“People think pitching is my way to go, and a part of me would rather play every day than every fifth day. I’d like to think I could be a two-way player my whole life. But looking at it realistically, that’s not going to happen.”

During the offseason, Murphy considered starting Leake at shortstop on the days he was not pitching.

“He can play any position on the field, and he would probably be a terrific catcher if he worked at it. Seriously,” Murphy said.

“He’s a rare talent. But if there’s a possibility he turns an ankle and (cannot pitch), then I’m not acting in the best interests of our team.”

Leake — drafted in the seventh round in 2006 — was ASU’s closer at the start of 2007 and its No. 1 starter at the end, posting a 3.69 ERA with 94 strikeouts and 29 walks. He also throws a curve, change-up and two- and four-seam fastballs.

Since the end of last year, Leake made only slight mechanical adjustments, such as a grip tweak designed to give his pitches even more movement. His main goal was building endurance.

“I don’t want to get broken down this season,” Leake said. “I felt OK at the end of last year, but that was probably because of all the adrenaline. I want to know for sure that I have something left in the tank.”

At the College World Series last season, Leake pitched well but did not get the decision in the Sun Devils’ win against UC Irvine. In an elimination-game rematch three days later, Leake came out of the bullpen in the eighth inning and was still on the mound in the 10th when the Anteaters pushed the winning run across.

As a result, Leake is motivated to do anything possible — even if it is at only one position — to help ASU return to Omaha to make amends.

“I’m glad I was the one who got the last loss,” Leake said. “You want that feeling to stick in your mind. We lost a lot of the momentum we had when we got to (the CWS), but we’ve got a lot of good players to help us get back.

“And I’ll help out any way I can.”

Michigan at ASU
When: 6:30 p.m. today
Where: Packard Stadium
TV/Radio: None
Records: Michigan 3-0, ASU 3-0
Rankings: Michigan No. 18 USA Today/ESPN (coaches)/No. 8 Baseball America/No. 8 Collegiate Baseball/No. 14 NCBWA; ASU No. 1/No. 6/No. 1/No. 1
Scouting the Wolverines: Michigan advanced to the super-regional round in the NCAA tournament last season, losing to eventual national champion Oregon State. OF/1B/P Zach Putnam, one of the top players in the nation, batted .545 (6-for-11) during a three-game sweep of Villanova last weekend. The Wolverines tied the New York Mets, 4-4, in an exhibition game on Tuesday.