Brandon Higelin enters his third season at Arizona State University as the team's pitching coach.
In his first season at ASU, Higelin mentored the most prolific closer in ASU history and one of the top starters in program annals, as well as five pitchers who were taken in the first 10 rounds of the 2015 MLB draft, including second-round selection Brett Lilek. He helped right-hander Ryan Burr, a fifth-round draft pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks and 2015 All-American, notch a career-best 14 saves and eight wins, and guided left-hander Ryan Kellogg to a career-best 92 strikeouts and a fifth-round pick by the Chicago Cubs. He put an emphasis on closing out hitters as the Devils finished third in the conference in strikeouts and in the top 40 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings.
Higelin built on a successful first season with his 2016 campaign, mentoring two pitchers, Hever Bueno and Seth Martinez, who were drafted in the 9th and 17th rounds in the 2016 MLB Draft, respectively. Bueno and Martinez mark the eighth and ninth pitchers to become drafted under Higelin's guidance during his four year coaching career. Despite the pitching staff facing numerous injuries and inconsistencies, Higelin's coaching saw the Devils finish tied for second in strikeouts and second in complete games in the conference.
“’Higgy” grew up and played collegiate baseball in California, so he probably knows far better than the rest of us on staff the influence and meaning ASU Baseball holds west of the Mississippi,” Head Coach Tracy Smith said in July 2014. “Through his time as a pitching instructor, he has worked with several pitchers that have gone on to pitch and have success in the Pac-12 Conference. I know there are some who may look at his resume and point out the fact that he doesn’t have years of coaching experience at the college level, but I will tell you ‘Higgy’ has put in his 10,000 hours (and then some) working with and developing some of the top high school, collegiate and professional arms in Southern California. I have no doubts that our student-athletes are going to not only learn from him, but love playing for him as well.”
Higelin joined IU at the start of the 2013-14 academic year and promptly molded the pitching staff into one of the most consistent in the nation. The Hoosiers put together a 2.33 team ERA in 2014, seventh lowest in the nation and the lowest in IU program history since 1968, and had a 2.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a conference-best seven shutouts.
Two of Higelin’s pitchers were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft, including Joey DeNato, who put together the best season of his record-setting career at IU in 2014. He went 13-1 with a 1.82 ERA and led the team with 81 strikeouts, and set single season school records in innings pitched (109.1) and wins. He became just the third pitcher in school history to earn All-America honors and ended his time in Bloomington, Ind., as the school’s all-time career leader in wins (37), strikeouts (297) and innings pitched (369.1).
Prior to his time at IU, Higelin served as Field Manager of the Battle Creek Bombers in the Northwoods League from 2012-13 and was the pitching coach during the Bombers league championship season in 2011. He also has extensive experience as a private pitching instructor with Division-I collegiate and minor league players in California.
He played collegiately at Cal State-Los Angeles and was a 28th round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2005. He played four seasons of professional ball, including a Midwest League All-Star campaign in 2006.
Higelin is from Glendale, Calif., and earned a Psychology degree from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.