In just under three weeks, it will officially be baseball season in South Carolina.
The Gamecocks are a few weeks away from starting things up and preseason continue Monday afternoon.
Before that, though, it’s time to take a detailed look at the roster and position groups as preseason practice cranks up. Next up are the outfielders.
Listed outfielders on the roster (7): Connor Cino, David Cromer, Thad Ector, Andrew Eyster, Matt Hogan, Elijah Lambros, Evan Stone
Returning outfielders (3): Connor Cino, David Cromer, Andrew Eyster
Incoming outfielders (4): Thad Ector, Matt Hogan, Elijah Lambros, Evan Stone
Position battles to watch: All three spots
Really, at least one of the starters is known in Andrew Eyster, it’s just a matter of where the staff wants to play him. Coming out of the fall, he was spending time in right field, where he played almost all of last season. Eyster is expected to be a mainstay in the lineup as a career .300 hitter and leading the team in average last year: .279/.371/.484.
Eyster will take up one of the corner spots and if it is right field there are a few players who could play left field. Carson Hornung, listed as an infielder, spent the majority of the end to fall in left field and played well down the stretch and made the serious argument to be in the lineup. A left-handed bat with some power, a good spring could cement that. Switch-hitting Thad Ector could play there as well along with Connor Cino.
Centerfield is the most intriguing of the outfield spots with Brady Allen moving on and the Gamecocks not having a lot of experience on the roster. The two candidates right now to start there are freshman Evan Stone and Vanderbilt transfer Matt Hogan.
Stone got the bulk of reps there in what was a fantastic fall for the Columbia prospect with Hogan banged up but the senior outfielder will have a chance to show what he can do over the next few weeks. Hogan made 29 appearances in three seasons with the Commodores with no starts. Ector could also play centerfield as well.
The biggest wildcard is Braylen Wimmer, who has played some centerfield as well before settling at second base in 2021. Josiah Sightler could also play in the outfield if needed as well.
The skinny: It’s a group with some questions given the newness of the group, but any collective led by Andrew Eyster has a chance to be a good one. The Gamecocks should be a vastly improved group from an athleticism standpoint with the infusion of Hogan, Stone and Ector and even more so if Wimmer plays in the outfield as well.
There are a few intriguing pieces, headlined by Stone who dealt with injuries in high school but has the chance to play a big role in the Gamecocks’ offense in 2022 with his hitting ability and his speed. Adding Hornung, Hogan and Ector should give them some potential options for left-handers as well.
How it all shakes out will be fun to watch over the next three weeks.
Projected outfield: Left field, Carson Hornung; Centerfield, Evan Stone; Right field, Andrew Eyster
Previous installations: Infielders
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