Photo by SJSU Athletics
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) — BSB Beat Reporter
San Jose State baseball was an hour and a half removed from taking a 15-0 haymaker off the chin when Spartan starter Micky Thompson retired the side in the third inning in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
“I sat down on the bench to have a drink,” Thompson said. “First thing I do is look up and I see Omar [Gastelum] hit a bomb.
Gastelum’s home run broke the 11-inning drought and helped insert a shot of caffeine mixed with serotonin into the Spartans.
“It was a huge momentum shift and we carried that throughout the game,” Thompson said.
Sentiment for Gastelum was also at play, as it was his first Division I home run. Before the daddy hack to left field, time was moving at snail speed where minutes felt like hours and hours felt like decades. Beyond repairing time, it was a crowning jewel moment to punctuate the insane opening series the transfer from UCSB had.
He slashed .455/.818/1.418 with one home run and 6 RBI’s, while doing an incredible job behind the plate.
Getting a catcher to produce this kind of offensive production is appreciated when it happens, but not usually expected. It’s like warm fluffy bread rolls at a steakhouse, a throw in of sorts because you’re only looking for a wall behind the plate who can command the pitching staff.
His bat could solidify the middle of an order for a lineup that’s the same temperature of a kiln or Fresno in August.
The Spartans put up 33 runs in four games against Omaha in their series win. It’s even more impressive considering that they were shutout in game 2 of the series.
It’s interesting to see where he might fit in the lineup as the Spartans take on Northern Colorado on Tuesday and have a three-game series against Portland beginning Friday. He was seventh in the order in the first two games and was moved up to fifth in the last game of the series.
Hunter Dorraugh and Charles McAdoo seem to be locked in for the three and four spots and are interchangeable in the two slots. Dorraugh is leading the team with three bombs and a 1.831 OPS and McAdoo hit the first grand slam of the season on Sunday and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with six.
Gastelum doesn’t have the same speed as Hamchuck to slot him at the top of the order, so keeping him batting between fifth and seventh makes most sense right now. He swings a big stick to drive in McAdoo and Dorraugh, while reaching base enough to help spark rallies in the bottom half of the order.
Taking a step back from lineup hypotheses, it’s also important to recognize that Gastelum and the Spartans are having a blast after going 3-1 to begin the year.
Following Saturday night’s 5-4 win, he gave me an in depth breakdown of the post home-run celebrations.
“We are just having fun,” Gastelum said. “They’re all [Spartans outside the dugout] taking photos of us, so you strike a pose and give them a good forearm bump.”
As an early season A-lister, Saturday doesn’t appear to be the last time you’ll see Gastelum on the red carpet dishing out front covers thanks to opposing pitchers.