Iowa Baseball RHP Kyle Alivo to return for his redshirt sophomore season
Sometimes the best gets are the ones you already have. On Saturday afternoon, Hawkeyes right-handed pitcher Kyle Alivo announced that he will return for his redshirt sophomore season. After a breakout campaign as a redshirt freshman, some wondered if programs down south would be able to lure him away. A couple weeks have gone by, but we finally have our answer.
“Grateful to be a Hawk. Let’s run it back!” Alivo posted on Twitter.
Alivo will pitch for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the famed Cape Cod League this summer.
Alivo missed his true freshman year rehabbing from a torn UCL but made his mark as a redshirt freshman this past season. In 17 appearances, with two starts, Kyle posted a 3.48 ERA over 51.2 innings, including 67 strikeouts to 37 free bases and 47 hits allowed. In his final two outings of the season, against Purdue in Des Moines and Michigan State at the Big Ten Tournament, Alivo allowed two earned runs on nine hits over 10.2 innings, including 16 strikeouts to just one walk.
What this means for the Iowa Baseball pitching staff…
There are several guys on the Hawkeyes current roster that could be dubbed as “must keep players” and Kyle Alivo was at the top of that list. Of course, Alivo has to go out this offseason and get to work on a few things, but he immediately becomes the favorite to win the Friday spot in the starting rotation. He’s got a five-pitch mix, but it’s led by his fastball that touched 98 a couple of times last season and a low 80’s slider. There’s certainly some work to do in the bullpen and the transfer portal could and should help there, but the starting rotation options are in a great spot with Alivo, as well as Brody Irlbeck, Jaron Bleeker and Maddux Frese.
