Junior pitcher Jesus Tovar’s pitching doesn’t stand out at first glance. He doesn’t deal high heat or indulge in theatrics after a strikeout or inning-ending double play.
Still, most opposing hitters he has faced in 2026 are powerless to solve him.
A six-foot lefty starting pitcher from El Paso, Tovar has been making short, quiet work of opponents as the Sunday starter for the Bobcats, leading the team in wins with six, innings pitched (36.1) and opponent batting average (.185). His ERA (2.48) and hits allowed (22) have him in the top 10 among all Sun Belt Conference pitchers.
“For me, being a starter means you got to take it easy, don’t give the other dugout any type of energy to feed off from you,” Tovar said. “You know the saying, ‘don’t wake a sleeping dog.’”
Tovar said he has a specific mindset that allows him to pitch deeper into games.
“I feel like you kind of have to save some energy for later in the game,” Tovar said. “So I don’t want to use up all my energy, and then I’m tired for the rest of the game. [If that happens], then my stuff doesn’t perform like it did in the first or second inning.”
After being selected District 1-6 player of the year in 2021 for Montrose High School, Tovar enrolled at New Mexico Junior College. However, a string of injuries hampered his efforts there, sidelining him and resulting in Tommy John surgery, a procedure used to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow.
After declaring as a redshirt, he transferred to Texas State in 2025. He excelled as a strong midweek starter, with quality road performances against two Top-25 opponents in then-No. 18 Oklahoma State and then-No. 1 Texas A&M before moving to the weekend rotation.
Tovar came into the 2026 season as one of the few returning veterans, with over 15 starts and over 66 innings under his belt.
Stepping away from the traditional four-seam fastball, Tovar focused his attention on location within the strike zone and mixing speeds to keep hitters off-balance. During winter training, he implemented a sinker as part of his pitching repertoire, along with his cutter and changeup.
“He’s been really good,” Texas State pitching coach Josh Blakley said. “He made some arsenal adjustments, bought into them, and it’s given him the confidence to go out there and do what he does.”
The numbers prove this as well. Tovar has only given up two extra-base hits so far. Tovar has also benefited from the program’s investment in new analytics technology. Austin Wallace, director of pitching development & analytics, developed tools to measure performance, find weaknesses in a player’s game and how best to address them.
“The first thing we did was change his primary pitch from a four-seam fastball, which was average at best, to a sinker,” Wallace said. “Then, we helped him get away from the barrel and induce a lot more ground balls, which is kind of what’s allowed him to get deeper into games … just keep getting that weak early contact.”
Despite his success, Tovar will never forget his roots and what it takes to get the success he’s earned
Though his family lives eight hours away in El Paso, they come to San Marcos about once a month to watch his starts.
“My mom and dad have been a huge part of this, my sister as well,” Tovar said, “They’ve been through the ups and downs, through all the injuries, through the surgery … Every time they come here, I feel like I play a little harder for them just so that they can reap the rewards of all the sacrifices they’ve made.”
Wallace also said he looks forward to continuing the development of Tovar’s game and that he has high expectations for his potential trajectory.
“I would love to see him take that next step and get that frame a little more filled out, hopefully the velocity comes with that,” Wallace said. “Then we’re talking about Jesus Tovar pitching in the majors.”
