A way-too-early look at what South Carolina’s 2022 baseball roster could look like
South Carolina head coach Mark Kingston summed up the 2021 baseball season best with his blunt assessment following the team’s elimination from the Columbia regional.
“The total picture is, it was a good year,” Kingston said Sunday. “But we want great years around here.”
The Gamecocks (34-23, 16-14 SEC) and their fans have higher aspirations than NCAA regional appearances.
The 2021 season delivered exhilarating moments, like Wes Clarke’s home run barrage and Andrew Eyster’s back-to-back walkoff hits against Clemson. The team’s power pitching staff lit up the Founders Park radar gun on a daily basis. But the Gamecocks’ offensive struggles down the stretch and during the postseason ended the year on a sour note.
“Clearly, our pitching has gotten to the point now where where we can be considered among the best,” Kingston said, following his team’s 3-2 season-ending loss to Virginia. “We still have some work to do offensively. I think that’s clear. I think that’s doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we still need to make more progress in that area. But that comes with experience. That comes with a lot of factors, and they will continue to improve.”
As Kingston heads into his fifth year at the helm, the Gamecocks will aim to revamp their offense while continuing the pitching pipeline they’ve developed over past seasons. Here’s an early forecast of what the 2022 USC baseball team could look like.
Who’s leaving?
Unlike last season, when the Gamecocks had a surefire top draft pick in right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, USC likely won’t have a player who flirts with the first round in July’s MLB Draft.
Despite leading the nation with 23 home runs, the junior Clarke projects to be drafted closer to the fifth or sixth round due to concerns from scouts about his defensive ability at catcher and first base. Clarke primarily served as a designated hitter for the Gamecocks this season. Outfielders Brady Allen, Eyster and Josiah Sightler have all been previously drafted and should hear their names called again. The Gamecocks will also lose position player mainstays George Callil and Joe Satterfield to graduation. Veteran infielder Jeff Heinrich announced Monday night that he won’t return for another season.
Redshirt junior right-hander Thomas Farr could be the first Gamecock off the board, especially coming off a career-best performance against the high-powered Old Dominion lineup this weekend. Though he battled some inconsistency with a 3-7 season and 3.87 ERA, Farr touches the upper 90s with his fastball and projects as a pro pitcher. Fellow starters Julian Bosnic, Brett Kerry and Brannon Jordan and reliever Daniel Lloyd should also garner draft interest, meaning the Gamecock rotation could look entirely different next season.
Who’s staying?
Stud freshman Will Sanders seems likely to lead the USC weekend rotation as a sophomore — the 6-foot-6 right-hander flashed power stuff and beyond-his-years poise pitching in multiple roles for the Gamecocks. Fellow freshman Jack Mahoney could eventually enter that equation, too, although late-season Tommy John surgery pushes back his timetable. If not drafted, right-hander Andrew Peters figures to serve as a late-inning arm. Freshman Jackson Phipps struggled in 12 innings this season, but the 6-foot-5 left-hander has the talent to make a leap as a sophomore.
While the Gamecocks will lose a large chunk of their batting order, they retain an enticing position player core. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound sophomore second baseman Braylen Wimmer might be the most dynamic talent on the roster with his combination of pure speed and developing power. Third baseman Brennan Milone hit just .216 as a sophomore but was a touted prospect out of Woodstock, Georgia and ended his season with flair by hitting a no-doubt bomb in the NCAA regional. Catcher Colin Burgess seized the starting role as a sophomore and moved up the batting order throughout the course of the season.
Incoming freshmen
South Carolina’s incoming recruiting class ranks 14th in the country by Perfect Game, including three top 100 prospects. As always, the MLB Draft could weaken that class, as high school seniors are draft-eligible. The top two hitters in USC’s class, second baseman Cooper Kinney and shortstop Michael Braswell, both rank as top 200 draft prospects by MLB.com and could have difficult decisions to make. Outfielder Thad Ector and right-hander Hunter Parks from Florence-Darlington Tech are in that conversation as well.
However, the class is deep with position player talent, and with the team’s offensive struggles in the spotlight, USC could benefit from freshmen such as Cole Messina and Vytas Valincius making instant impacts at the plate.
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 1:16 PM.
