Gamecocks pitching signee 'can really take any role that needs to be taken'

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASEBALL

Most high schoolers entering their junior seasons are probably more concerned about taking college visits, prom and getting a driver’s license but not Brett Thomas.

Thomas, one of the biggest high school players in the Gamecocks’ 2019 class, spent the summer before his junior year instead cleaning up his mechanics, something that’s now turned him into a top 100 prospect and a pitcher well up team’s draft boards.

“He changed it a little bit to where he’s more three-quarters delivery so he doesn’t miss as much up and down as he used to. He made that adjustment last summer and fall so he was ready to rock this spring,” Thomas’s high school coach Trey Henson said. “It’s been within the last 18 months to where he’s made a huge jump. That’s why he jumped on everybody’s radar draft-wise, because he made that move and correction. His velocity really jumped, strike throwing really jumped, strike percentages jumped, first strike percentages are super high. That was the big piece of the puzzle for him this year.”

Thomas has been one of the highest-rated players in South Carolina’s class with Baseball America listing him as the No. 98 overall prospect in the class and MLB having him as one of the top 93 prospects in the class.

And, looking at Thomas’s skill set, those rankings don’t seem to be a mistake.

Thomas’s mechanical changes have paid off for the better with him sitting anywhere between 90 and 96 miles per hour with the physical righty topping out at 97 at times with a tight 12-to-6 curveball.

Because of that, Henson thinks Thomas could fit a few different key roles as a freshman next season and it just depends on how the Gamecocks want to use him.

“Seriously, I think he could be a Friday night starter. I think he could be a weekend starter or he could be harnessed with that velocity and that breaking stuff as a closer type,” he said. “He can really take any role that needs to be taken. He’s pretty versatile because his stuff’s so good. If he’s throwing 96 or 97 for an inning with that breaking stuff, that’s going to be difficult to handle for a lot of people. But at the same time he can also run out there and throw you 85 or 90 pitches and pitch at 92 to 94 with good breaking stuff and really keep you in the game.”

Over the last two years he’s been surging up draft boards because of his tools and was an option to be picked in the MLB Draft, which concluded Wednesday. He ultimately wasn’t, but that doesn’t change any of the talent he’s bringing to the mound next year.

During his senior season, Henson said the draft was never something incredibly prevalent on Thomas’s mind and entering draft week Thomas knew going to college was a great option for his career.

“I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about guys that could be top round draft picks that have signed with SEC or ACC schools with advisors and that whole mess. That was not at all the situation with Brett,” Henson said. “I truly appreciated it and his teammates did as well. He’s handled it in stride; he’s a humble kid and it’s been an exciting time for him. We had a conversation and he said, ‘Worst case scenario? I’m going and playing at a great program with a chance to have a great career at the University of South Carolina.’ That’s not a bad option. He knows he’s sitting in a really good spot.”

Thomas joins a pitching staff that was decimated with injuries that returns the majority of its innings next year and brings in a talented crop of signees with the 2019 class.

There’s no doubt a guy like Thomas can chisel out a role within the group, it’s just a matter of where.

“The next step for his game, it’s almost the outside stuff of pitching. It’s coming off the mound covering first base; it’s managing the run game because the guys in the SEC can run,” Henson said. “It’s doing a better job of varying his looks, slide stepping and being able to manage that run game a little bit better; 94 isn’t going to be fast enough if he’s slow to the plate to throw a guy out at second. It’s things like that. As far as the pitching piece, the mentality piece as far as competing and trusting his stuff, he’s as good as you’re going to get.”