Thomas Farr could very easily be sitting on his couch today, tuning in like most everyone else to watch South Carolina’s Opening Day against Dayton.

The Gamecock right-hander who saw his draft year end before it really began could very easily have taken a smaller payday than normal in the MLB Draft and start his professional journey.

Instead, Farr bet on himself, returned to South Carolina and will anchor what could be a very deep and formidable Gamecock pitching staff.

“Scouts have gotten to see me in the fall but the fall is one thing. The SEC is another completely. I think for me I needed to play in the SEC to prove I was back to 100 percent healthy; I could compete at the highest level,” Farr said. “I had the opportunity but felt like I was getting a little short changed, not to their fault. How can you draft a guy who hadn’t played in two years?”

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To know where Farr is now, you have to go back to how he got to South Carolina, something that almost never happened.

Farr, who went to high school in Georgia, was pitching at a junior college in Northwest Florida when he committed to the Gamecocks.

And as pitching coach Skylar Meade watched Farr’s fall season, he couldn’t help but get nervous.

Farr was pitching incredibly well, well enough to move up in the draft and potentially circumvent SEC baseball altogether and go pro out of junior college.

“It was certainly something where we wanted to give him good information heading into it of here’s what you’re working with and here’s what could happen if you come to the SEC and are a weekend guy. Obviously there’s nothing guaranteed but he’d be a guy who would have a good chance if he does what he’s capable of doing,”

“It would have been very difficult, but fate intervened and he ended up here. I think there’s a rhyme and a reason to all of it.”

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Farr got hurt just a few innings into his sophomore season and was shelved to the point he couldn’t continue a surge up draft boards and ultimately got to South Carolina.

“We were certainly worried with the numbers he was posting his sophomore. Yeah that he was going to be a difficult guy to get to school,” Meade said. “As fate would have it he had an issue his sophomore year that didn’t allow him to do what he does and pitch. Getting him here to school was a blessing for us and for his future development a blessing too.”

Farr came to South Carolina with a crop of junior college pitchers that included Brannon Jordan and Andrew Peters and worked his way into the starting rotation where he started three games with a 1.72 ERA and a .113 batting average against.

But, very similar to his sophomore year, a pivotal year for him was ripped away 15.2 innings in because of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing Farr into an offseason where he would have to make a decision.

Farr had two options: take a smaller signing bonus offered to him near the end of a shortened MLB Draft or come back for a prove-it year at South Carolina and pitch his way into more money.

And bet on himself is exactly what Farr did.

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“Come back and ready to prove I’m back to healthy, I can contribute to this team and play at a high level,” Farr said. “I’m extremely excited to hopefully be able to get in to the SEC this year and actually play some SEC teams and show the country and professional teams what I can do.”

Now, as the Gamecocks get ready to start their 2021 season, it’s Farr—the pitcher who had his last two seasons prematurely end—who will get the ball as the opening day starter and a top 150 prospect in the country.

“He’s as formidable of a weekend guy as anyone in college baseball," Meade said. “Thomas is a guy where no matter if he goes out there and pitches well or pitches bad he’s going to give you all he’s got. You have to respect that. I know his teammates thoroughly respect that. You can go down fighting with a guy like that.”

Farr’s talent is undeniable—a fastball averaging over 95 miles per hour, plus-command with a breaking ball touching big-league levels of tilt and spin—but what sets in apart in Meade’s eyes is the work ethic going on behind the scenes.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Farr, the day after throwing, in the weight room, and some of the first words Meade uses to describe Farr is an “absolute animal” and one of the best competitors on the team, according to head coach Mark Kingston.

“Thomas is not the type of person that will ever short change himself,” Meade said. “I know he’ll maximize all he has. Not everybody can look in the mirror and say that. He is a person I know when he puts his head down at night he can say, ‘I got after it today. I can live with that.’ Not everyone can truly, truly that say that.”

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Farr still has to go out and prove it—and will have every chance to do it this season, his first full season in three years—but the mix of competitive juices and undeniable talent give the Gamecocks an elite frontline pitcher Meade hopes will trickle down to the rest of the staff.

“It certainly sets a standard for everybody, and that’s outside of the fact he throws the ball 97. It’s more about how he goes about his daily business. That’s the part I appreciate more than his talent,” Meade said. “To me, that’s what the real guys do. The real All-Americans, the real draft picks, the guys who actually make it at the next level and at the highest level.”