It ended all too soon for former Beaver pitching great Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes was 9-3 with a 4.01 ERA during his three seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies

Updated 11/13/2022, 5:00 PM, 11/3/2022 11:55 PM

Mike Stutes is pulling for the Philadelphia Phillies to beat the Houston Astros and win the World Series championship.

“I’d love to see them win, especially against the Astros,” the former Oregon State pitcher says.

It’s not so much that Stutes, 36, pays allegiance to the organization for which he played for his entire six-year professional career. He dislikes the Astros because of cheating that was flagged during the 2017 World Series, and he doesn’t like the way they play.

“I’m not overly invested in the Phillies,” Stutes says from his home in Bodega, Calif. “In the NLDS, I wanted the Braves to win. I played with (catcher) Travis d'Arnaud in the minors. We went to each other’s weddings and have remained good friends. It would have been fun to see him win another World Series.

“At this point in my life, it’s more about rooting for players than teams.”

There could be some bitterness against the Phillies, who may have overpitched him during his rookie season in 2011, leading to shoulder problems, rib surgery and his release and retirement from pro baseball at age 26. But Stutes isn’t playing the blame game.

“I don’t know,” he says, pondering the question for a few seconds. “Their opinion would probably differ from mine. It’s tough for me to judge that, because as much as I can sit here and complain, I know I wanted in the game every day. I’ve never been one to want to hold myself out.”

Mike Stutes with wife Frankie and their boys — from left Kingsley, Steele and Drake (courtesy Mike Stutes)

Now Stutes, who helped pitch Oregon State to College World Series titles in 2006 and ’07, is a general contractor/developer in Sonoma County. He lived there in the offseason during his playing career and has been in the construction industry there for six years. Mike had met his wife, Frankie, during his freshman year at Santa Clara. He then transferred to Oregon State, where he stepped immediately into the rotation for some of the great teams in school history.

The Stutes now have three boys aged almost seven, almost five and one. It’s a good life, a busy life, and if Mike has regrets about a career cut short, he hides it.

“I try to just enjoy what I’m doing,” he says. “When I played in high school, I knew I was going to play in college but I never thought a lot about it. When I was playing in college, I knew scouts were out there watching, but it was more about winning games. Once I got drafted, I was doing what I could to pitch well and help us win games. When it was over, it was, ‘All right, what am I doing next?’ ”

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Stutes was a two-sport star at Lake Oswego High, a shortstop and pitcher for Jake Anders in baseball and a quarterback for Steve Coury in football. Stutes appreciated playing for both coaches and has a special admiration for Coury.

As a sophomore, Stutes split time with two upperclassmen at QB for the first three or four games. After practice the next week, he sought out Coury for a conversation.

“I’m by far the best option you have. Why am I splitting reps?’ ” asked his coach.

“The Friday night version of you is the starting quarterback,” Coury rsponded. “The Tuesday version of you isn’t. If someone watched practice, they wouldn’t think you were good.”

“And he was right,” Stutes says now. “Sometimes I wanted to practice; sometimes I didn’t. Some of that was maturity, learning how to put the work in and how to follow what the coach needs from you.”

“I told him, ‘You don’t practice well enough,’ ” Coury says now. ‘People say about some players, ‘He’s not a practice guy, but he’s a gamer.’ I never took to that philosophy. You have to perform in practice before we get the confidence in you as coaches. He never was a great practice player, but in games he had that ‘it’ factor.”

Stutes stepped into the starting role and held it through his senior year. The Lakers reached at least the quarterfinals all three seasons and made it to the state finals his junior year.

“Mike was an athlete more than anything,” Coury says. “He could make things happen, could run around. He threw the ball decently, and was a good leader.”

Mike’s brother Matt has been a member of Coury’s coaching staff for several years.

“Steve’s gotta be up there as one of the most legendary coaches in Oregon history,” Mike says. “He’s a great guy and was a lot of fun to play for.”

For a minute, Stutes considered playing football in college. Ole Miss was interested in him in a dual capacity.

“But I was 6-1 and 150,” he says with a laugh. “I wasn’t going to play pro football.”

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Stutes was highly sought after by colleges for baseball. Oregon State wasn’t on the list, much to the disappointment of coach Pat Casey.

“I really didn’t consider going there,” he says. “I talked with Pat during the recruiting process, but didn’t really get to know him. (Pitching coach) Gary Henderson was handling recruiting. When he left (for Kentucky), I didn’t hear from them all that much. I wanted to go some place warm. I don’t like cold weather. That was the big negative. On my visit to Santa Clara, the weather was great. I thought it would be a nice place to play college baseball.”

Casey says he “heavily” recruited Stutes out of high school.

“I can remember being in his house doing the home visit,” Casey says. “The kid was one of the best pitchers in the state, but it was a loaded class. He was led to believe by the (Santa Clara) staff that if he went there he’d be the top dog. Here, he was going to be mixed in with the rest of the guys. But I always say, ‘Thoroughbreds run with thoroughbreds.’ ”

After a year at Santa Clara and playing in the West Coast Conference, Stutes realized he wanted a higher level of competition. He considered offers from Louisiana State, Ole Miss, Long Beach State, Cal-Santa Barbara and TCU while pitching in the Cape Cod that summer.

“I had been close to going to Ole Miss out of high school, so that was probably my No. 2,” Stutes says. “I didn’t want to transfer to Oregon State, but they were just coming off going to the College World Series (in 2005) and had the majority of the team coming back. They were a really strong team.

“I talked with Darwin (Barney) a couple of times. He was trying to get me to go there. I knew a bunch of those guys from the state like Cole Gillespie, Dallas Buck and Jonah Nickerson, and they were really good players and good guys.”

Says Casey: “One thing we did a good job of was making clear the door (to OSU) was always open. But it was work to get him here the second time. He got a lot of interest. It wasn’t easy.”

Stutes says it wasn’t a “logical move” for him because Buck and Nickerson were entrenched in the first two starting spots.

“Most places were guaranteeing me a spot in the rotation,” Stutes says. “(Casey) said, ‘If you come in and perform like we think you can, you’ll have the third spot. If you don’t perform, you’re not going to keep the spot.’ For me, that was enough.”

Stutes came in like, well, he owned the place.

“He didn’t lack confidence at all,” Casey says. “He thought he could do anything, any time, anywhere.”

Stutes seized the No. 3 spot behind Dallas Buck and Jonah Nickerson as a sophomore and, after the departure of Buck and Nickerson, was the Friday night guy his last two seasons. His first two seasons, he won national championships. A good move to transfer to OSU?

“Oh yeah,” he says. “No regrets there. You couldn’t draw it up any better. We had a really good team and we were all local guys. It was really cool playing with guys I’d been playing against in high school. (The state of) Oregon was not regarded as your hotbed for talent. The general consensus was you couldn’t field a competitive team pulling mostly from Oregon and Washington.”

The Beavers proved that wrong, claiming back-to-back collegiate titles.

“They were both great to win, don’t get me wrong,” Stutes says. “But honestly, the first one meant a lot more than the second one did. It was a tough road to get there. It was down to the last pitch all the way through. The field felt a lot stronger that year.

“We lost the first game to North Carolina. They were probably better than us. They had a couple of pitchers who were first-round picks. They had some studs. But we came back and beat them and won the title.”

As a sophomore in 2006, Stutes was 8-2 with a 3.10 ERA. He beat Hawaii 12-3 in the Regional, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings. He didn’t pitch in the Super Regional as Oregon State swept two from Stanford to reach the College World Series.

In the CWS opener, Miami drubbed the Beavers 11-1, relegating them to the dreaded losers bracket. After beating Georgia, they faced the Hurricanes again. Stutes held them to four hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings in an 8-1 victory that paved the way for the title run.

“We got annihilated by Miami,” says Casey, now retired from coaching and working in fundraising for Oregon State athletics. “Buck got smoked. Then in Game 3, Stutes faces a loaded Miami team that had kicked our ass and just dominated them. Some guys get nervous or over-amped in a big game. He was lights out.”

With Buck and Nickerson gone to the pros in 2007, Stutes went 12-4 with a 4.07 ERA. Oregon State lost to Virginia 7-4 in 13 innings in the second game of the Regional, then beat them twice to advance. In the Super Regional, Stutes allowed three hits and two runs in eight innings as OSU knocked off Michigan to advance to Omaha.

Stutes gave up three hits and four runs in six innings as the Beavers pounded Arizona State in their second CWS game. He was on the mound for the finale six days later, giving up seven hits and three runs through 5 1/3 innings as the Beavers hammered North Carolina 9-3 for their second straight national championship, going 11-1 at Omaha.

“After losing to Virginia, we all started clicking,” Stutes says. “We just rolled after that. There was no real suspense. It felt like, ‘We’ve already done this; we’re going to do it again.’ ”

St. Louis took Stutes in the ninth round of the draft that summer, but Stutes chose to return to Oregon State for his senior season.

“The Cardinals were messing around with my signing bonus,” he says. “I told Case everything that was going on, because I knew he had only a certain amount of scholarships and needed to know by a certain date. The Cardinals weren’t making a legitimate offer. They were trying to get me to sign for not very much. I told Case I’d be back.

“Then they called back the day before the deadline to sign and said, ‘We have what you’re asking for.’ I told them, ‘Nope, sorry, I told (Oregon State) I’m coming back.’ I was up front and honest with (Oregon State coaches). It was important for me to be man of my word. They had held their end of the bargain on all the things that went on. They had delivered on everything they said. It was my chance to reciprocate.”

Alas, the 2008 season was a dud for the Beavers, who went 28-24 overall and 11-13 in Pac-10 play, failing to make the postseason. Stutes was 4-7 with a 5.32 ERA.

“I thought we would be a much better team,” he says. “We just didn’t have the same kind of dynamics the previous two teams had.”

Stutes looks back at his days playing for Casey with fondness.

“Casey was a great coach,” Stutes says. “He was very tough, but very fair. He does what he says, almost to a fault. He tells you what is expected of you, and it was almost like it didn’t matter. There were no extenuating circumstances. ‘You’re going to take the ball every Friday and throw. No excuses.’

“He was one of the best competitors I’ve been around. He is a tremendous competitor, which I really got along with. Case and Steve Coury had a lot of similarities. Both kind of had a chip on their shoulder. Both were men of their word. And both were patient and understanding with me.”

Casey will forever remember Stutes’ contributions.

“He loved to be in the big game,” Casey says. “He loved to be the guy. There was no BS. Just, ‘Case, give me the ball and I’ll throw. And when I get tired I’ll let you know.” Stutesy was a quiet assassin. That inner belly fire he had going was impressive. He was competitive as hell. His stuff was electric. You look at his postseason numbers for us, they were fantastic.”

Stutes was 5-0 in NCAA Tournament play.

“I always wanted the ball in those kind of situations,” he says. “I was almost more comfortable in those games. I was not as locked in as I should have been in other situations. I was not at my best when everything was not on the line. I tended to coast through. I wish I knew what I know now, to make sure you’re always in the same mindset for every situation.”

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Stutes was taken by Philadelphia in the 11th round of the 2008 draft. He moved up the chain quickly. He pitched for Double-A Reading in 2009, sporting an 8-8 record and 4.26 ERA in 27 starts. After that season, the Phillies turned him into a reliever. They were stacked with starters at the big-league level.

“You’re the next guy up, but no matter how good you pitch, you’re not going to break into the starting rotation unless there is a major injury,” Stutes was told.

“I had never done it before,” Stutes says. “I was initially a little hesitant. They said, ‘You have to trust us a little bit. You’ll get a little bump velocity in a month or two, after you get used to throw out of the bullpen. Your slider is going to be harder to hit. You just have to throw two pitches — fastball and slider. Go out there and throw as hard as you can.’ ”

Stutes adjusted just fine. He was 3-0 with a 3.79 in 25 appearances with Reading when he was called up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He pitched well there, too — 4-1 with a 3.10 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings.

“I was suddenly throwing the hardest I’d ever thrown,” he says. “Up to 97 and 98 (miles per hour).”

Stutes was invited to big-league spring training in 2011 “with no real chance of making the team,” he says. “They wanted me to get some experience. But I threw really well — gave up like two hits in 10 innings.”

Sent down to Lehigh Valley the day before the season started, he pitched in seven games before he got the call from the Phillies. At 24, he was a big leaguer. And what a season he had. Stutes was 6-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 57 games and 62 innings out of the bullpen.

“They gave me lots of opportunities,” Stutes says. “They did not shy away from putting me in a game. It was a lot. I’m not going to complain, but I was tired.”

Stutes headed for spring training in 2012 with apprehension.

“I didn’t feel right,” he says. “My shoulder was constantly in pain. It hadn’t been in the offseason. I pitched the first two weeks (of the regular season) and I wasn’t throwing nearly as hard. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew my arm was killing me.”

Stutes wasn’t sharp, allowing seven hits and four runs through 5 2/3 innings and six appearances. Then he had arthroscopic surgery along with a PRP injection on his right shoulder.

“Nothing really worked,” he says. “I came back the next year and pitched pretty well, but the arm didn’t feel like it did before. I wasn’t throwing nearly as hard.”

Stutes started the season with Lehigh Valley, where one of the pitching coaches taught him how to throw a cut fastball.

“I’d never thrown it before,” he says, “but I threw it most of the time after that. I wasn’t striking out as many guys as before, but I was putting up similar numbers. I was able to get a lot of weak contact with the cutter. The fastball never came back.”

Midway through the season, Stutes was elevated to the Phillies. In 16 games and 17 2/3 innings, he was 3-1 with a 4.58 ERA. And his career was over.

“There was a stretch where I threw five or six days in a row,” he says. “The last day we were playing the Mets. They told me to go in. I was hurting pretty bad. I went in and gave up five runs in less than an inning. My shoulder was killing me.”

Stutes rehabbed the shoulder, then came back to pitch the last week of the season. It still didn’t feel right. He reported to spring training in 2014, but he was done.

“My arm was just dead,” he says. “I pitched and I was having all sorts of issues. My right hand was turning black and blue and swelling, and I was getting searing headaches. They didn’t know what it was.”

The Phillies released him, removing themselves from medical obligations. Stutes sought out medical help on his own. He was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, which resulted in surgery to remove a rib and scalene muscles on his right side.

“That was not a fun surgery,” he says, “and a long recovery. I was in the hospital for a week and then on a breathing machine for like three months. It was a much more serious surgery than they had made it to be.”

Stutes recovered, rehabbed and intended to return to pitching.

“I started throwing again, but it never really came back,” he says. “And it was still hurting.”

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Today, nearly a decade after his major league career ended, Stutes still doesn’t feel right physically.

“The shoulder still doesn’t feel 100 percent,” he says. “It’s weak, and my back hurts all the time. I guess it could be worse.”

Stutes missed out on what could have been a financial bonanza. His last salary with the Phillies was for $515,000 — $15,000 more than the minimum at the time. It’s at $700,000 today. The average MLB salary: $4.4 million.

“I’m not really money-motivated,” Stutes says. “I don’t dwell on those things. I had a good run. I had fun playing. I wish it could have been longer. Wish I’d stayed healthy. It would have been great to make $5 million a year, but at the same time, it’s not guaranteed until you have those years behind you.”

Casey has his opinion on the shoulder troubles that cut Stutes’ career short.

“He was a shortstop in high school and pitched a lot before guys started taking care of themselves,” the former OSU coach says. “They have all those machines to use now. Mike was a tiger. He wanted the ball. Dallas was like that, too. He just wanted to go out and pitch and fight now. Mike was also a (high school) quarterback who threw a ton of footballs. It’s not surprising that he’d have shoulder problems down the road.

“But I’ll tell you this: I have a ton of respect for Mike. To make it to the big leagues as a right-handed pitcher at 6-1, you have to have big cojones.”

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