South Carolina pitching rotation set. Projecting USC batting lineup for Opening Day
South Carolina baseball is just a few days away — the Gamecocks kick off the 2021 season Friday at home against Dayton, and coach Mark Kingston’s club is back in the top 25 rankings with expectations of returning to the NCAA tournament and beyond.
On Tuesday, Kingston revealed the order of his weekend rotation on the JB and Goldwater show — he had previously all but confirmed that redshirt juniors Thomas Farr and Brannon Jordan, along with redshirt sophomore Julian Bosnic, would fill the three slots, but he hadn’t revealed the sequence he would use the two right-handers and single southpaw. Here’s how he and pitching coach Skylar Meade have decided to go.
STARTING ROTATION
Friday — Thomas Farr, RHP, redshirt junior
Farr jumped into the Saturday starter spot after Brett Kerry moved back to the bullpen early last season, and he looked quite solid in three starts, with a 1.72 ERA and 0.70 WHIP. He didn’t strike out a ton of batters and he didn’t go too deep into games, but he’s continued to pitch well through the fall and into the preseason, with velocity in the mid-90s and a good slider. He attacks the zone and gets outs.
Saturday — Brannon Jordan, RHP, redshirt junior
Jordan nabbed the third rotation spot a year ago and impressed in his four starts before the season ended, posting a 1.71 ERA and .104 batting average against. He throws a plus-slider and hit around 95 miles per hour on his fastball this fall, and likely would have drawn interest in the MLB draft had it been its usual 40 rounds. He struck out an impressive 13.7 batters per nine innings in 2020.
Sunday — Julian Bosnic, LHP, redshirt sophomore
He hasn’t had the chance to do too much in a Gamecocks uniform due to the after-effects of Tommy John surgery his freshman year and last season’s abrupt end, but Bosnic has the potential to join the likes of Carmen Mlodzinski in making a major one-year leap. He’s a lefty, can throw a good mix of four pitches and has some velocity touching 94, 95 miles per hour. There’s not a team in the SEC that wouldn’t like that.
STARTING LINEUP PROJECTION
While the rotation has been revealed, the lineup and batting order are likely to remain something of a mystery until Friday afternoon. That being said, there are some positions that seem fairly settled. Here’s an educated look at how Kingston might fill out his lineup card to kick things off.
1. Noah Myers, CF, senior
Freshman Brandon Fields is likely to be a star in the near future, and Kingston has praised the play of sophomore Braylen Wimmer as he has made the switch after primarily playing the infield last year. But for Opening Day, we’re guessing Kingston will go with Myers, a speed demon on the base paths who got off to a hot start in 2020 with a .324 average, two triples and seven stolen bases in 16 games. That speed also makes him an exceptional defender at a key spot, and he also brings a left-handed bat to a lineup that won’t have many others.
2. Brennan Milone, 3B, sophomore
An injury limited what Milone could do in his abbreviated freshman season, but there’s a reason he was a projected starter almost right away, and he reminded everyone of that this past summer with the Lexington County Blowfish, hitting .365, slugging nine home runs and collecting 31 RBIs in the span of just 27 games. He was named a potential breakout candidate by Baseball America, and his ability to flat-out hit makes him an ideal candidate for the modern No. 2 hole.
3. Andrew Eyster, LF, senior
Eyster has posted a career OPS of .973 in 66 games at South Carolina — nearly 45% of his hits have gone for extra bases in that time, showcasing how dangerous a hitter he can be. His bat is solidly entrenched in the lineup, even if he does tend to strike out a fair bit, to the tune of 1.1 times per game. If the guys in front of him can get on, he should drive in a lot of runs this season.
4. Wes Clarke, DH, junior
Clarke bounced from catcher to first base last season and responded with a monster start in which he led the SEC and tied for the third in the country with eight home runs in 16 games. He also led the team in OPS with a 1.120 mark, though his average was more pedestrian at .286. But he hit for a strong average this summer with the Blowfish and has garnered preseason All-American and All-SEC buzz. His defense is nothing to write home about, but he will likely serve as backup catcher.
5. Brady Allen, RF, junior
Allen battled through a freshman season with a lot of at-bats and a lot of strikeouts, but it paid off with a fast start in 2020 in which he hit a solid .327. His RBIs were limited by hitting behind the likes of Clarke and Eyster often, but he got on base a lot by dramatically cutting down on his Ks and upping his walks. Over the summer he kept producing more walks than strikeouts with the Blowfish and he continued to show well into the fall. His defense is at the point where he could fill in at center if asked.
6. David Mendham, 1B, junior
A JUCO All-American, Mendham appeared to be the victim of corner infield logjam when he first got to USC, with Milone and Clarke as the incumbent starters. But his prowess at the plate has made it such that Kingston had to put him in the lineup, and his defense is ahead of Clarke’s at first. His junior college stats tell you all you need to know about how this Canadian import can swing it — .422 batting average, 14 home runs and 85 RBIs in 61 games in his last full season.
7. Jeff Heinrich, 2B, senior
Heinrich won’t blow you away with his bat, but he can hit for contact, is great defensively and can be a threat on the base paths as well. His consistency, his leadership and his hustle seem to have entrenched as the starter at second.
8. Colin Burgess, C, sophomore
Far and away the best defensive catcher on the roster, Burgess has a little pop too — he hit .308 in limited at-bats last spring, and over the summer he went to the Northwoods League, where his numbers were once again solid, if not overwhelming. Still, Burgess is primarily in here because of his glove and his steady presence behind the plate.
9. Michael Robinson, SS, junior
Fifth-year senior George Callil was the team’s starter at shortstop in 2019 and held that through what few games did occur in 2020. He’s a smooth defender who can make some special plays in the hole. But his offense simply has never been quite good enough for the SEC — he’s hit .229 in his Gamecock career, with a paltry .363 slugging percentage. That leaves his spot open for the taking by Robinson, who hit .331 in the JUCO ranks in 2019. More than that, though, Robinson has also hit well in scrimmages since arriving in Columbia, and leaving that on the bench feels unlikely.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 12:28 PM.
