Sublette’s sizzling fastball will make him premier reliever—or starter—in 2021

In terms of overmatching batters, RHP Ryan Sublette is among the nation’s best pitchers with a vicious fastball that sits 97-98 mph accompanied by a strikeout-inducing slider.

The 6’2 flamethrower was in the midst of a breakout junior campaign before the pandemic cut the 2020 season short, posting career bests in ERA (3.86), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.00) and opponent’s batting average (.194), all contributing significantly to Texas Tech’s 16-3 record.

If you haven’t seen Sublette in action, the video below can give you a quick look at what the righty’s fastball-changeup-slider combination does to Power-5 hitters.

Tech’s starting rotation is wide open, so it’s entirely possible to see Sublette slide in to a Friday or Saturday role, depending on what Tech coach Tim Tadlock does with Micah Dallas. Alternatively, Sublette can continue coming out of the bullpen as one of the nation’s premier relievers.

Either way, Tech has an embarrassment of riches on the pitching staff and it’ll be exciting to see how Tadlock arranges the weapons in his arsenal this spring and I, for one, will be keeping a particularly close eye on what he does with Sublette.