Everything happens for a reason, and WVU junior pitcher Aidan Major is finding that out.
Aidan Major has the third most strikeouts in the Big 12 this season, including a career-high 13 strikeouts in eight innings on Friday against Oklahoma State. This was the most strikeouts in a game by a Mountaineer since Jacob Watters’ 15 strikeouts in six innings in 2022.
Just halfway through the season, Major has already thrown 42 innings, nearly matching his 48 innings pitched total from 2023. In this previous role from the bullpen, Major earned an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection.
Now, Major has earned a very different role, as the primary starter for Friday night games. But leading up to the season opener against Stetson, this was fully unexpected. In fact, head coach Randy Mazey told Major he was coming out of the bullpen again until a preseason injury to Derek Clark put Major in the spotlight in the February opener.
In that opener, Major pitched seven strikeouts in six innings, allowing just three hits, three runs, and walking three batters. WVU won 6-4 over Stetson to start the series, and Major earned another chance to start at the mound the next week.
The next week against Charlotte, Major pitched five innings and struck out nine batters and allowed two runs in a 12-8 win, reiterating his growing reputation as a starter. When the Big 12 opener came, that trust stuck, and Major proved why, throwing eight strikeouts in eight innings for a 10-4 WVU victory.
Mazey credits much of this success to Major’s experience gained from being a third-year player in the program.
“It’s hard to have a guy these days that’s in his third year in the program. It’s almost non-existent anymore, and he’s learned and learned and learned. He’s always had good stuff, but you have to learn how to win games, and he’s still learning, but he’s made great progress as far as winning games.”
Major’s new role as a starter, despite appearing as part of a natural progression, came when he least expected it. As a sophomore, Major was in line to start last season, but shoulder injuries limited his role to start to the bullpen. This year, expecting to be in the bullpen, Major got the largest pitching role on the team.
“It’s funny how things happen,” coach Mazey said. “Last year we went into the season, he was going to be one of our weekend starters, and his shoulder got a little sore before the season started, so we pushed him to the bullpen… We went into this season with Maj as a bullpen guy and had an injury right before the season started, and that put him in the weekend rotation and he’s just been super lights out ever since.”
Luckily for Mazey and Major, the new position is paying off, and as his time on the field grows, Major’s shoulder is only feeling stronger.
“I’m just glad that, really since then, I haven’t had anything big other than maybe some little bumps in the road where I have to take an extra day off or something like that,” Major said after the win over BYU.
“The support staff and everyone, they’ve been a huge help for me, and they’ve kept me on the field every single day.”
Staying on the field is possibly the best thing Major can do for WVU right now. As the team continues to navigate the injury of top MLB Draft prospect JJ Wetherholt, as well as other offensive pieces, Major’s health and success is a shining light for Mountaineer baseball.
Aside from staying healthy, though, Major’s only job is to keep taking advantage of opportunities at the mound, and that is something he has proven capable of.
“We talk about it all the time: taking advantage of opportunities. (Major) got an opportunity to prove to me and everybody that he’s a quality Big 12 starter,” Mazey said, and rising to that occasion was exactly what Major planned to do.
“I don’t want to say I expected to do this, but as a competitor there’s an expectation that you have for yourself, and my expectation is to come out and get as many outs as possible,” Major said. “In my mindset, I’m pitching every pitch of the game. I’m not coming out unless I absolutely have to.”
Major will return to the mound this weekend away against the Kansas Jayhawks. The three-game series kicks off at 7 p.m. in Lawrence, Kan. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Photo by Wesley Shoemaker, Blue Gold Sports
