(Phoenix, AZ) Sun Devil Baseball has named 18-year professional player and coaching veteran Jeremy Accardo as an assistant coach for the program, as announced by head coach Willie Bloomquist today.
A native of Mesai, Ariz., Accardo comes to the Sun Devils after spending eight years in the professional coaching ranks, most recently as the Triple-A pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds of the Milwaukee Brewers organization after previously spending several seasons in the Mets organization where he rose from a Complex League coach to the assistant pitching coach for the MLB team.
“We are dedicated to putting resources into our pitching operation and Jeremy Accardo allows us to add a brilliant mind to our staff to lead that charge,” Bloomquist said. “We are in a place where we needed to expand our knowledge and expertise into the ‘new era’ of analytics and technology in baseball and Jeremy jumps off the page with his surplus of experience in developing professional baseball players utilizing those tools in the modern age.”
“Jeremy is an incredible family man who has vast ties and roots to the Valley. He is a great communicator and a real personality that will relate well and get through to this generation.”
Accardo’s addition to the Sun Devil staff will see him take advantage of Sun Devil Athletics’ recent investments to incorporate state-of-the-art technology from Simi, Trackman and Edgertronic. Accardo will play a pivotal role in unlocking the technological and analytic benefits afforded by the recently completed Whiteman Family Performance Center in right field – colloquially known as the ASU Pitching Lab.
“As someone born and raised in the Valley, this opportunity means a lot to me. I got into this game to help kids get better and achieve their dreams and I couldn’t be more excited to do that at Arizona State,” Accardo said. “I wanted to thank Graham Rossini, Willie Bloomquist, Sam Peraza, the coaching staff and especially the players for welcoming me. I am not taking this opportunity lightly. This is a dream job for me and I am eager to get going and help get this program back to where I know Willie and all of our fanbase envision and expect it to be.”
Accardo comes to Tempe after spending the last several seasons with the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Brewers organization. Under Accardo’s guidance, the Sounds pitching staff boasted the second-lowest ERA in Triple-A in 2023 and the third-lowest in 2022. The 2024 Sounds staff currently has the No. 6 ERA in Triple-A. The Brewers had the lowest team era in the MLB in 2023 and are currently ninth in the MLB this season, featuring several pitchers that Accardo helped develop.
Prior to joining the Brewers organization, Accardo spent the 2017-21 seasons with the Mets organization, where he started as an assistant coach in the Complex League in 2017 before a meteoric rise to the assistant pitching coach for the MLB team from 2019-21.
While he served as assistant pitching coach for the Major League team, the Mets were 11th in the MLB in ERA in 2019 and ninth in 2021. Highlighting that tenure was the production of three All-Star selections (Jacob DeGrom x2, Taijuan Walker). DeGrom was the National League Cy Young Award winner in 2019 with Accardo as an assistant coach, and led the NL in strikeouts in 2019 and 2020, earning All-MLB First Team Selections both seasons.
Accardo was the minor league pitching coordinator for the organization prior to that after a season as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas 51s. Among his pitchers from the 2018 Las Vegas 51s roster, where he served as an assistant coach, he oversaw the call-ups, recalls and rehabilitations of MLB players Paul Sewald, Bobby Wahl, Zack Wheeler, Drew Smith, Jacob Rhame, Scott Copeland, Tim Peterson and a slew of others.
“The modern era of baseball has changed in regard to how much emphasis has been placed onto the college game and prioritizing its prospects in recent years,” Bloomquist said. “The development for the next level is now taking place on university campuses and you only need to follow the track record of some premier programs and their investment into bringing professional coaches into the fold to develop their talent. I wanted to make sure ASU was at the forefront of that trend.”
Accardo joins a growing list of minor league developmental coaches and coordinators making the transition to the collegiate level. Notable among that group is recently named Texas Pitching Coach Max Weiner, who helped lead Texas A&M to the College World Series finals and the No. 4 team ERA nationally this season after spending several seasons with the Mariners organization. Dallas Baptist’s Cale Johnson (Pirates) and Oregon State’s Rich Dorman (Mariners) led their pitching staffs to Top-10 ERAs in the country in 2024 and postseason berths with DBU winning 45 games and the Beavers hosting an NCAA Regional. Georgia head coach Wes Johnson (Twins) led the Bulldogs to a national seed in 2024 in his first season at the helm, a year removed from winning a national title with LSU as the pitching coach and overseeing the development of No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes.
While Accardo will assume the primary duties with ASU’s pitchers, Sam Peraza will remain on staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator while former assistant coach Mike Goff will remain on staff in a non-coaching role.
Prior to joining the professional ranks, Accardo spent one season as an assistant coach for his alma mater at Illinois State University in 2016 after concluding a decade of action as a professional pitcher from 2003-2013 – including spending the 2005-12 seasons at the Major League level.
Accardo’s professional career saw him spend time with six organizations, he appeared in 262 MLB games with a career 4.30 ERA and 38 saves.
Accardo is a Mesa native who has dedicated much time to the local community and various youth sports chapters in his time away from the professional ranks. He resides in the Valley with his wife Carly and his children LeeAnne, Larson and Locke. Carly founded the Peaches Baseball Club in 2015, an all-girl baseball league in the East Valley that was developed with the couple’s late daughter Leighton, who tragically passed from germ cell cancer in 2020. Leighton was added to the Arizona Coyotes’ Ring of Honor in 2021.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Jeremy Hawkes
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