Spangler

Zach Spangler had very little experience in closing games when he joined the Butler BlueSox, but don’t tell that to the hitters who have faced him this season.

The 2013 Seneca Valley graduate leads the Prospect League with 11 saves and carries a 1.42 earned run average. The numbers have earned him a spot in Wednesday’s all-star game in Richmond, Ind.

This past spring, Spangler was mainly a set-up man for Kent State University. He tallied 17 innings pitched in as many games with an ERA of 3.18 and just a single save.

But that didn’t stop BlueSox manager Jason Radwan from seeing Spangler as his team’s closer this summer.

“Kent State is a good program and they play in a lot of big games,” Radwan said. “I knew he would be able to take on that kind of pressure. It’s a great experience for a young guy.”

Radwan spoke with Spangler about being Butler’s closer shortly before the Prospect League season began in late May. The latter didn’t shy away from the opportunity.

“I knew it was a big role,” said Spangler, “but I was ready for it. I wanted the challenge. It doesn’t take a different mentality for me to be a closer. I go after the hitters no matter what inning it is.”

Spangler helped Seneca Valley to back-to-back WPIAL Class AAAA titles as a sophomore and junior in 2011 and 2012 before being redshirted at Kent State as a freshman in 2014. It was while playing summer ball for the Front Royal (Va.) Cardinals last summer that he changed his pitching form.

“We were just playing catch one day and I threw a couple of balls sidearm,” said Spangler, a right-hander. “One of the coaches saw it and said that it looked really natural. I threw a bullpen session, then tried it in a game and just went from there.”

Spangler throws two pitches, a two-seam fastball that often resembles a sinker and a slider.

“Some hitters fall for the slider easier than others, so I pay attention to the at-bats before I enter a game.”

“The ball is coming toward the plate from a goofy angle, but he also throws harder than most sidearm pitchers,” said Radwan.

Spangler is tall (6-foot-4) and that seems to have added to his effectiveness.

Whether it’s his pitching form, pitch selection, stature or a combination of all three, Prospect League hitters have so far been baffled.

Through 12 2/3 innings pitched, Spangler has allowed just two earned runs on six hits while striking out 12 and walking five.

“It’s always nice to get a strikeout because it leaves no chance for a mistake, but basically, I’m just out there trying to get outs,” he said.

His performance this summer could lead to Spangler being a closer at Kent State next spring.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” he said. “I won’t know for sure until I get back to school.”

For the time being, Spangler is content dominating the last inning of games when called upon.

He has a good chance of leading the league in saves and is just six saves shy of breaking the league record for a single season (16, Slippery Rock’s Chase Byerly in 2011).

“That would be a pretty cool stat to have,” Spangler said, “but I’m not worried about that. I just want to work on my pitches and get better.”