Dallas, Others Headed For the Portal

Red Raider baseball fans got some bitter news on Thursday when word got out that right-handed pitcher Micah Dallas decided to enter the transfer portal. Dallas is just one of 10 total Red Raiders who entered their name in the portal, but of those 10, he was by far the most crucial to Tech’s success in the 2021 season. Other notable names from this past season now in the portal include first baseman/catcher Nate Rombach, right-handed pitcher Levi Wells, and outfielder Max Marusak.

With Dallas out the door, the Red Raiders will have to find last year’s 66.2 innings of 3.51 ERA baseball from somewhere else in 2022. They also lose 79 strikeouts, four wins, two saves, and perhaps most importantly their most versatile arm on the roster.

I wrote multiple times this past year about how Dallas was Tech’s swiss-army knife because he pitched wherever and whenever he was needed, regardless of context. On opening day, he was the team’s Number two starter. By the time the team was in the Super Regional round of the playoffs against Stanford, Dallas was working as a late reliever.

Through all his roles he managed the second-most innings pitched of anyone on the roster in 2021 and was named to the All-Big 12-second team for his efforts. Dallas was second in innings pitched only to left-handed pitcher Patrick Monteverde.

Monteverde does have one year of eligibility remaining from the NCAA’s covid policy, but it is still unclear whether he will be returning to Lubbock or taking his talents to the professional level. He was named as an Honorable Mention by the Big 12 this past spring.

Dallas joins a plethora of athletes, not just in baseball, but in all sports, looking to take advantage of the new transfer legislation adopted by the NCAA this past April that will allow for immediate eligibility following a transfer of schools, rather than having them sit out for a year. This ruling in large part has caused a dramatic spike in the number of portal members. The deadline for players to enter their names in the transfer portal was July 1st.

While Dallas, and all players looking to transfer, can still withdraw their name from the portal, it is a rare occurrence. It is very possible that this transfer season the Red Raiders will be looking to replace two of their three pitchers honored by the Big 12 in 2021.

Across three seasons, Dallas put up a 12-5 record with 5 saves, 186 strikeouts, and just 142 hits allowed in 158.1 innings pitched donning the scarlet and black. In that team, he had a 3.47 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP, according to baseball-reference.