The One Issue Stanford Will Need to Focus On This Season

During the opening weekend, Stanford baseball traveled to Surprise, AZ to begin their 2026 season. Throughout the weekend, there were a number of key areas to keep an eye on as Stanford began with a four-game stretch. The Cardinal went 2-2, getting wins over No. 24 Arizona and Nebraska, while falling short to No. 12 Oregon State as well as Michigan, losing both by one run.

But while the Cardinal overall had a successful weekend, there was a glaring issue that needs to be addressed soon, and that’s the pitching problems. Heading into the season, Stanford's pitching was the biggest red flag, and early on they haven't provided much relief for those concerns.

Over the past few seasons, Stanford has fallen victim to poor performances from their starting pitchers. It seems like regardless of talent level or how many years a pitcher has been on the team, the Cardinal just can’t seem to produce the results they're after.

The Cardinal currently have a deep pitching core, but not enough stars to do the job. Nick Dugan, Aidan Keenan, Parker Warner, and Brock Ketelsen were last weekend’s four starters, and didn’t do a great job as a collective unit.

On Opening Day, Dugan pitched 3 1/3 innings, letting up six hits and four runs. He did put up four strikeouts though, and luckily it was enough for Stanford to get the win, 10-7.

Saturday was unfortunately another miss for the Cardinal on the mound. Keenan tossed 4 1/3 innings, letting up four hits and three runs in the one-run loss. Keenan also walked five batters which may be the most concerning part of his performance, long-term.

Sunday’s game against Oregon State was by far the best pitched game of the season for the Cardinal. Warner pitched four innings, allowing just two hits and two runs in the 3-2 defeat. It was a promising performance for the sophomore.

Finally on Monday, the freshman Ketelsen got the start, where he lasted just 2 2/3 innings for the Cardinal. He began with two scoreless innings, but let up three runs in the third, along with five total hits. Luckily, three runs didn’t mess up Stanford’s 9-0 lead too much.

Throughout the four-game stretch, Stanford let up a total of 23 runs, which is an average of 5.75 runs per game. Of those 23 runs, 12 came from starters, meaning 52% of runs came from just 39.8% of the game. In other words, the starting pitchers have work to do to turn things around.

The Cardinal certainly had some bright spots as well, with the standout being the performance from Mike Erspamer on Friday, going two scoreless innings against a ranked Arizona team and striking out five total, while closing out Stanford's first win of the season.

Stanford hosts Cal State Fullerton for a four-game series this upcoming weekend, where the Stanford's pitchers have a great opportunity to follow up a subpar weekend with one that shows some of the growth we're looking for.