“It’s still early for us to start looking at the gun machine, but we’ve been getting 90 [miles per hour] readings on the kid, and that’s a magic number,” Walsh says. “He’s got a pretty nasty slider to go with it, and he developed his change as the season went along last year. He’s a three-pitch pitcher coming out of the bullpen.”
But a nasty arsenal is certainly not all that Wahlberg brings to the table for the Crimson.
“What makes Barry special isn’t his stuff,” says assistant coach Matt Hyde. “It’s that ability he has to dominate even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, to dig down for that something extra.”
Indeed, talk to anyone within the Harvard baseball program about Wahlberg, and you will hear similar descriptions—“competitor,” “bulldog,” “tough,” “intimidating”—in short, everything you would expect to hear about a former quarterback. But talk to him in person, and you will see a different creature, a calm, laidback Floridian, the epitome of self-mastery.
Though the two sides may seem contradictory at first, any pitcher will tell you that to be a successful closer takes a rare combination of composure and sheer aggression. If those are indeed the major criteria for success, then Wahlberg is the ideal closer.
“It’s hard to balance that out, to be aggressive but then not get emotional when a guy hits a ball in the gap,” he says. “But you have to be under control at all times, you can’t let one pitch affect you the next pitch. You’ve just got to realize that you’re one pitch away, one out away, from getting out of that jam, and that’s why they make it four bases that you have to touch to score a run.”
Whatever the reasons behind Wahlberg’s success, the Crimson is hopeful that his efforts can help elevate its young pitching staff to new heights. Past pitching staffs have been plagued by overuse and frequent wear-and-tear injuries, a problem that a reliable closer can alleviate.
“We really think he’s going to be a big confidence-booster,” Walsh says. “Our starting pitchers know they don’t have to go out there and get nine, like [Ben] Crockett and [Justin] Nyweide really did last year, getting a lot of complete games. Barry’s improved, and that’s going to be big news for our Ivy League opponents.”
In a year in which the nearby Boston Red Sox have begun to question the traditional wisdom of using a single closer, Wahlberg and the Crimson are posing a strong counter-argument. With a slew of veteran relievers—seniors Brendan Reed, Matt Self, Ryan Tsujikawa and others—available to bridge the gap between the starters and Wahlberg, Harvard will look to its bullpen to lead their team to unfamiliar territory.
“First and foremost I want to win another Ivy League championship,” Wahlberg says. “Then I want to not just be competitive in a regional but win a regional. I think that in the past we’ve had the starting staff deep enough to win the regional, and now we have the bullpen to go with it.”
Though O’Donnell Field remains forever in the expansive shadow of Harvard Stadium, a constant reminder for Wahlberg of what he left behind, he forges ahead without regret. This bulldog is a closer, and he won’t rest until he has accomplished his goals.
“I think Barry’s mental and physical toughness are going to be important to us,” says senior catcher Brian Lentz. “It’s definitely an asset, having him to go to time and time again. He’s going to be a real positive for us.”
If so, then maybe the Harvard football program can claim an assist on this one.