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ASU Career: Preseason All-American in 2002…named No. 8 prospect for 2002 season by Baseball America…highly sought-after recruit out of high school…great mound presence and command…throws three pitches for strikes…excellent fastball that touches low 90s…slated as ASU’s No. 1 starting pitcher for 2002…came back strong from Tommy John surgery in 2001 and did not miss a start in his career…named second-team Summer All-American by Baseball America…finished his career with a 15-8 record and 3.91 career ERA... had 170 career strikeouts in 181.2 innings.
2002 (RS-Sophomore): Selected as honorable mention All-Pac-10 as a starting pitcher… also earned honorable mention Academic All-Pac-10 honors … a preseason All-American third team selection by Baseball America… led the team in wins with a 9-6 record… finished eighth in the Pac-10 with a 3.72 ERA and third with 93 strikeouts… registered team-high three complete games during his redshirt-sophomore campaign… drafted in 12th round of the 2002 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies… did not miss a turn in the rotation all year, making 17 starts only two years removed from Tommy John surgery… lasted six or more innings in 12 of his 17 starts… registered 10 or more strikeouts three times… pitched first career complete-game in second start of the year vs. Tennessee (2/9)… scattered seven hits and one earned run vs. the 25th-ranked Volunteers… earned Collegiate Baseball National Pitcher of the Week and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out career-high 17 batters vs. Washington (3/29)… his 17 K’s were the sixth most in single-game ASU history and the most by a Sun Devil since Ryan Mills in 1997… no Sun Devil has struck out more in a single game since 1972… limited opposing hitters to a .270 batting average… was 5-4 with a 3.05 ERA in nine non-conference starts…. recorded a 4-2 record and 4.50 ERA in eight Pac-10 contests… registered all but two of his wins in 2002 at home, going 7-4 with a 3.62 ERA… was 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA on the road… had his best month of the year in March when he went 4-1 with a 1.32 ERA and 47 strikeouts (34.0 IP)… was especially tough in the first two innings, combining for a 1.85 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 34.0 innings in the first two frames… was a member of the 2001 USA Baseball National Team, earning Baseball America second-team Summer All-American.
2001 (RS-Freshman): Named honorable mention All-Pac-10 and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American…made 2001 debut and return from Tommy John surgery out of the bullpen on Feb. 3 vs. Southern Utah…first five innings came as a reliever, posting a 5.40 ERA out of the bullpen for the year…made first start in over a year vs. LSU on March 4, allowing three hits and one run in two innings…first win came in 3.1-inning start vs. Creighton (2/17)…was phenomenal in first career Pac-10 start at Cal (3/17), picking up the no-decision in allowing only four hits and two runs, and striking out six in 7.0 innings…in 13 starts in 2001, was 5-2 with a 3.96 ERA…emerged as ASU’s Friday night starter in late March…started March 30 vs. Stanford, one year to the day removed from when he had Tommy John surgery…had a commanding six-inning two-hitter (both infield singles) at Tennessee (5/2) that earned him Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors…pitched five strong innings, allowing five hits and two runs vs. Texas Tech in NCAA Regionals…recorded six strikeouts in seven of his 13 starts…opposing hitters hit only .256 off him…finished fourth on team with 4.06 ERA…was stellar on the road with a 2-1 record and 2.89 ERA in 37.1 innings away from Packard Stadium…selected as ASU’s Jim Henderson Courage Award winner.
2001 Summer: Joined an elite group of college freshmen and sophomores on the 2001 Team USA National team…was 3-1 with a 1.56 ERA…named second-team Summer All-American by Baseball America for his performance…ended summer with shutout of Taiwan…held opposing batters to .173 batting average…struck out 35 and walked only nine…joined former Devils Willie Bloomquist (1998), Jon Switzer (2000) and Casey Myers (2000), who have represented ASU on Team USA in recent years.
2000 (Redshirt Year): Pitched in two early-season games, combining to allow eight hits in nine innings…was the Devils’ opening-day starter…sidelined with arm injury and did not return…granted medical redshirt season…finished the year 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 9.0 innings.
High School: A 1999 graduate of Cimarron Memorial High School in Las Vegas, Nev….was selected to Nevada’s first-team all-state in ’98 and ’99…was voted Nevada 4A Southern Zone MVP in ’99…honored as Nevada’s Player of the Year in ’99…set new school records going 10-1 with 0.78 ERA, including 138 strikeouts, in ’99…in the first round of the ’99 state playoffs, threw a one-hitter while striking out 16…his junior year, posted an 8-2 record, a 2.05 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched.
MLB Draft: The 12th-round pick (351 overall) of the Colorado Rockies in the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Also selected in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1999 Amateur June Major League Draft.
Personal: Major is elementary education…parents are Joseph and Lynda Esposito of Las Vegas, Nev….has two sisters, Nicole (32) and Shauna (16), and a brother, Joseph (35)…his father (Joe) is a lounge singer in Las Vegas at Paris Casion and was the lead singer for a song in the Karate Kid Soundtrack ("You’re the Best")…born Sept. 27, 1981, in Hollywood, Calif... full name is Michael Anthony Esposito... has a tatoo on his right upper arm with the word 'talent' written in greek... nickname by his ASU teammates was "Guido."
Mike Esposito's Career Statistics:
Year ERA W-L App GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO
2000.... 5.00 1-0 2 2 0 0/0 0 9.0 8 6 5 6 14
2001.... 4.06 5-2 16 13 0 0/0 0 68.2 66 33 31 24 63
2002.... 3.72 9-6 17 17 3 0/0 0 104.0 109 58 43 31 93
TOTAL... 3.91 15-8 35 32 3 0/0 0 181.2 183 97 79 61 170
