On Friday, Long Beach State baseball head coach Troy Buckley announced Dan Ricabal has been hired to his coaching staff.
Ricabal comes to LBSU after spending the last five seasons at Loyola Marymount University as assistant coach overseeing pitchers. At LMU, he saw success as the Lions’ pitching staff was in the Top-10 in ERA each year.
“We are excited to have Danny join our staff,” Buckley said in the press release announcing the hire. “He has outstanding roots in both in professional and collegiate baseball and has a great feel for what it takes to be successful on the West Coast. He will be a great additive and fit for our culture and will have an immediate impact on our pitching staff and program.”
Ricabal will take over after Mike Steele, Dirtbags former pitching coach, left LBSU to take the pitching coach job at Wichita State.
Along with replacing Steele, the former assistant coach at LMU will have his work cut out for him after LBSU saw three of its top pitchers head to the MLB in recent signings over the last month.
Those pitching departures are headlined by Chris Mathewson (Dodgers) and Austin McGeorge (Mets).
Mathewson was the Dirtbags’ No. 1 starter his sophomore year after winning Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year in 2015.
McGeorge was LBSU’s top relief pitcher with a 1.02 ERA in 53 innings pitched. The righty was also third on the team with 76 strikeouts.
While McGeorge’s departure isn’t too big of a surprise after being drafted in the seventh round, Mathewson leaving is after he was picked up in the 19th round. Ricabal will have to work hard to develop a pitching staff that is suddenly full of inexperience.
The team will lean heavily on Darren McCaughan, Big West Pitcher of the Year, who had a breakout year going 10-1 while leading the conference with a 1.98 ERA.
Along with McCaughan, Chris Rivera will also need to step up after leading the team in saves in 2016. Rivera was solid for the Dirtbags leading the Big West with 13 saves as a freshman.
Although the Dirtbags had some quality arms depart, Ricabal’s quick hire will give him plenty of time to work with returning and new pitchers this summer and fall before the season starts.