Michigan State baseball coach Jake Boss Jr. made a huge move to improve his program on Wednesday evening, hiring a former MLB relief pitcher as his director of operations.
According to a Michigan State baseball press release, Boss and the Spartans are welcoming former Tigers pitcher Daniel Schlereth to the coaching staff as the director of operations, technology, and pitching development. He comes to Michigan State after spending time with USF as the pitching coach there.
Schlereth was also previously at Western Michigan where he helped improve the Broncos’ pitching staff during his tenure. Under his watch, Western recorded seven shutouts in 2024, which was good for second in the NCAA, and struck out 444 batters — a program record.
While at USF for just two seasons, Schlereth had a major impact, getting two of his pitchers selected in MLB drafts, and one was in the 14th round by his former team, the Detroit Tigers.
This is a tremendous hire by Boss who needs the shot in the arm after another disappointing season. Schlereth is undoubtedly going to improve the pitching staff which is the first step to getting the Spartans back to the postseason for the first time since 2012.
It’s been a minute.
Daniel Schlereth’s road has come full circle
Getting his first real professional baseball shot in Detroit and then returning to the state he called home for a few years as a pitcher is a full circle moment for Schlereth. He did spend time at Western Michigan so he had already been back in the state since his playing days ended, but now he’s joining the first coach he reached out to when he got into the profession.
"Coach Boss was actually the first person I reached out to when I began my journey into college coaching, which makes the opportunity to now join his talented staff especially meaningful."Daniel Schlereth via MSU press release
Talk about a complete full circle moment. He returns “home” to Michigan where he spent most of his MLB career and he also joins the first person he reached out to when he started his college coaching career. Talk about a mutually beneficial situation.
It’s been quite the journey, but Schlereth is now right where he needs to be.
The former first-round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2008 and then spent time over four seasons in the majors with the team that drafted him and three of those four were with Tigers. He was a decent reliever on staffs that featured stars like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, and the ever-stress-inducing Jose Valverde.
Schlereth was really solid in 2010 and 2011 with Detroit but then struggled in 2012 which was his final big league season.
After spending six months as the manager of a team in the independent Frontier League in 2021 where he got his coaching start, Western Michigan hired him as pitching coach and then he was hired by South Florida in 2024.
Now he’s back “home” and ready to help get Michigan State baseball off the ground.
Add us as a preferred source on Google