With Opening Day just over a week away, the Gamecocks' preseason scrimmage slate is winding down and, with it, a handful of position battles that took centerstage.
“They’re all still battling for position. Until we put out an opening day lineup I want all these guys still competing hard. We maybe be leading a certain direction in spots but it’s close,” Mark Kingston said. “Even as we get to opening day we’re not going to run the same lineup out there 70 times. We’re going to have a variety of lineups. The good thing is we have a variety of options.”
The Gamecocks had a few—shortstop, centerfield and first base, midweek starter and who would start opening day—and Wednesday Kingston updated those competitions (candidates are listed in alphabetical order).
Shortstop
Candidates: George Callil, Michael Robinson
What Kingston said: “George Callil has had a really good spring for us. He’s taken that next step, but Michael Robinson is right there with him and makes every play out there at shortstop. I feel good about that position.”
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Centerfield
Candidates: Brandon Fields, Noah Myers, Braylen Wimmer
What Kingston said: “Noah Myers struggled there in the fall but he’s having a great spring. Brandon fields has had a solid fall but has struggled there this spring. Braylen Wimmer is a guy we talked about that’s elevated his game a lot due to strength, a lot due to increased maturity. All three guys are very strongly in the mix. We have another week of intrasquad scrimmages to let it sort itself out.”
First base
Candidates: Wes Clarke, David Mendham, Joe Satterfield, Braylen Wimmer
What Kingston said: “David Mendham has taken hold of that position based on how he’s performed this spring. He’s crushed the ball all spring and provides a left-handed bat, which we sorely need. I’d say right now David Mendham is very strongly in charge of that position. Like everybody else you have to earn a position but you also have to maintain it by good performance. Wes Clarke is still in the mix but he’s more of a catcher right now for us than he is a first baseman. Then we can move other guys over. There’s Wimmer we can move over there. Joe Satterfield is capable of giving you solid play at first base. It’s another position we have options.”
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Midweek starter
Candidates: Magdiel Cotto, Jack Mahoney, Jackson Phipps, Will Sanders
What Kingston said: “That’s too be determined. Because of who we have as our three weekend starters right now only one of them will get the opportunity in a week to be the given starter. They’re all going to pitch important innings. Who gets a start on a Tuesday? It could be any of them. It could be Sanders, it could be Phipps, it could be Mahoney, it could be Cotto.
"I think they’re all extremely talented and I think they all will get a lot of innings out of the bullpen, especially with our schedule. you have to be as good as you can possibly be in every inning. There may be some type of rotation where one guy starts Tuesday this week and the next week tis somebody else. A lot of that will play out as the season progresses. You may see some Tuesday nights where you throw a bunch of guys an inning or two.
"We have a lot of talented guys were we’re going to spread some innings and keep guys fresh over the course of a season. What my hope is we don’t have to push anybody too much so by the time you get to the end of the season where the memories are made and big games are played I want everybody fresh and ready to go. I think we’re in a good spot where we can work them in and not ask them to do too much early on and that’s how we’ll go at it.”
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Opening day starter
Candidates: Julian Bosnic, Thomas Farr, Brannon Jordan
What Kingston said: “We haven’t made a final decision. I think we have a good feel for where we’re leaning at this point. I wouldn’t say anything that happens this weekend with those three guys will really steer our decisions in a different direction. We’ll probably announce that weekend rotation early next week. We feel good about all of them. I think the argument can be made that any one of them can pitch on Friday. That’s a good position to be in. whether we base it on experience or wanting to go right-left-right to mix it up on the weekend or whether we go based on what their statistics are in terms of best ERA goes Friday, second Saturday and third Sunday or whether we base it on other factors.
“We feel good about all three right now. Whatever order we go in, our emphasis to this team is whether it’s Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday we need to try and win every game. Every game is important. I understand the prestige of pitching on a Friday night or opening day. It’s special. Whoever gets that ball will appreciate it and make the most of it.”
