The most glaring gap to fill for the Iowa baseball team in 2024 was a third and final starting pitcher.
Last season’s Sunday starter Ty Langenberg was selected in the 11th round by the Minnesota Twins. Langenberg, a key piece to last year’s 44-win season, posted a 4.17 ERA while fanning 86 batters in 78 innings of work.
With the Hawkeyes already having two bonafide starters in Brody Brecht and Marcus Morgan, head coach Rick Heller needed someone to step up and fill Langenberg’s shoes.
Taking the reins so far this season has been second-year left-handed pitcher Cade Obermueller.
Hailing from Iowa City, Iowa, Obermueller has put up impressive numbers in his first season as a starter. He has notched a 2.63 ERA in 22.3 innings of work, striking out 31 batters. The Hawkeyes improved to over .500 on the season (10-9) with a triple-header sweep against Western Illinois last weekend.
Obermueller pitched 4.1 innings against Western Illinois on Sunday, sitting down five batters but walking four and giving up five runs.
“I think Cade is growing and maturing every single time he takes the ball,” Heller said. “I am hopeful this is going to continue throughout the season because he definitely has the ability and the stuff.”
Last season, Obermueller saw a lot of action in a middle reliever role despite being a first-year player. In his debut season for the Hawkeyes, Obermueller recorded a 4.91 ERA over 22 innings.
Heller and the coaching staff saw both positives and negatives from Obermueller in his rookie campaign. While putting up an impressive 36 strikeouts, the lefty also gave up 34 free bases from walks and hit-by-pitches.
“Being in control of himself,” Heller said regarding Obermueller’s biggest improvement since last year. “Being in control of the situation. Being a better defender. Being better at holding runners and just being able to wipe a bad pitch away or wipe away if something bad happens, whereas last year it seemed to snowball on him a lot more.”
After his initial season with Iowa, Obermueller got sent to play in the Cape Cod League, a prestigious summer baseball league filled with future MLB talent. There, Obermueller got even more comfortable on the mound while getting reps against some of the best college competition in the country. Throughout the regular season and playoffs, Obermueller threw 19.2 innings, striking out 35 hitters while posting a 1.83 ERA.
“A lot of my improvements was the mental game stuff,” Obermueller said. “It was just getting out there and getting the reps and experience. It really got me dialed in. I mean, obviously, college baseball is a big step up from high school, and this summer felt like it got me really good experience.”
The transition from a reliever to the starting role hasn’t fazed Obermueller, who said he “really likes” where he’s at in his career. Coming into college as a natural starting pitcher, Obermueller implemented things he learned from his time as a reliever into his routine now.
“This whole summer I threw out of the bullpen, but it was my goal to be in the starting rotation with Brody and Marcus,” Obermueller said. “I have started my whole life and through high school.”
