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Florida State LHP Jamie Arnold (Photo courtesy of Florida State Athletics)
Jamie Arnold’s most important weapon is also, at times, his greatest enemy.
When a pitcher can induce as much movement across his arsenal as the Seminoles’ ace, harnessing the action can be a challenge. On Friday night in Tallahassee, that was exactly the issue early on during Arnold’s second start of the biggest season of his career.
“I could tell he was frustrated,” Florida State head coach Link Jarrett said. “I always just get quick cliff notes from (pitching coach) Micah (Posey) like, ‘How we doing?’ And he was like, ‘coach, it’s really jumping,’ which means that fastball was just climbing. There’s times his stuff is so incredibly dynamic that it’s hard to contain it. You don’t have that comment about pitchers very often.”
Most coaches dream of making that kind of critique, Jarrett points out. It’s rare when a pitcher’s stuff might be “too good.” But for Arnold, arguably the top arm in this year’s draft class, it’s a fair concern given the devilish nature of his fastball, slider and emerging changeup.
It’s also safe to say that Arnold’s ability to harness his pitch mix is one of the most critical developments of the 2025 college season. Because for all their roster adjustments this year, the Seminoles’ success is as dependent on one player as it is any position group: Arnold, the 6-foot-1, sidearm slinging lefty who is BA’s Pitcher of the Year pick for 2025 has his sights set on much more.
The first overall draft pick and Golden Spikes and Player of the Year Awards are all on the table. If he’s the contender for those individual accolades, as expected, Florida State could too achieve its collective goals.
“He gives your team a chance to settle and calibrate what’s going on as the weekend starts, and that’s big,” Jarrett said. “If you’re not in that position, it starts to stress your bullpen. When you have to pick up that walkie talkie in the fourth inning on a Friday night, it’s not a great feeling. You can do it, but it’s much more productive if you can ease in. We know we’re going to have someone who gives us a competitive crack at it every Friday.”
Arnold has embraced the spotlight that comes with that kind of pressure.
He knows he needs to be the same kind of game-changing presence that LSU’s Paul Skenes and Arkansas’ Hagen Smith were for…