The Ohio State Buckeyes need replenished pitching talent heading into 2025. A season ago, they finished in the bottom half of the Big 10 in team ERA at 6.35, and newly named head coach Justin Haire came in to change that after 17 seasons of coaching at Campell.
One of those changes may come from Zev Salsberg, their new freshman on campus. He is a right-hander from Toronto who played his high school baseball at the A3 Academy. There, he really showed his great presence on the mound.
In 11 appearances at A3, Salsberg recorded a 1.19 ERA in 30.1 innings of work. Over that same stretch, he tallied three wins to his name with 33 strikeouts to add to it as well. He also held opponents to just a .194 batting average. This is major, considering the Buckeyes allowed opponents to bat at a .277 average a season ago in 2024.
Salsberg also has some accolades to his name. In 2022 and 2023, he was named a Canadien Premier Baseball League All-Star, which earned him an invitation to the Canadien Futures Showcase in both of those years.
The question now is whether Haire will let Salsberg loose in his freshman season at Columbus.
That could be a tall task, considering Ohio State has a greater number of righties like him as opposed to left-handers. However, his season at A3 and the need to improve pitching in 2025 could allow Salsberg to get his fair of shots out of the bullpen, especially in mid-week matchups.
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WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
Image Courtesy of Zev Salsberg on X
