Coming into fall practice, the Gamecocks had an idea of two of their three weekend pitchers with spot No. 3 up for grabs.

The competition for the team’s third weekend spot alongside Thomas Farr and Brannon Jordan with a handful of pitchers vying for that coveted spot.

“There are a lot of guys very capable, more guys than I can talk about. Mag Cotto has been tremendous so far this fall. Julian Bosnic has been tremendous so far this fall. We know Brett Kerry is more than capable of starter. And there are other guys,” Kingston said.

“Those are three guys that jump to the top of the list today, and that can change by the week. Those are three guys that have been really good this fall. Those are guys you’d consider candidates but there are other guys as well.”

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Kerry is a well-known commodity, serving as the one of the Gamecocks’ best pitchers over the last two years with a 2.82 ERA and .205 batting average against.

Cotto is a freshman who’s impressed through the first few weeks of fall scrimmages, getting up to 96 miles per hour on his fastball and looking like a top 300 prospect.

Bosnic is about two years removed from Tommy John surgery. Last season was his first action on the mound at South Carolina, going 2-0 and not giving up a run in 6.2 innings before things were shut down.

Cotto and Bosnic are a testament to the staff’s ability to bring in left-handing pitching, a spot that’s had limited depth over the last few seasons.

“We have more left-handed arms since I’ve been here. You’re talking about those two—Cotto and Bosnic—at the top and it’s a great starting point. Josiah Sightler is an absolutely weapon as a left-handed pitcher. We have options there,” Kingston said. “We definitely have more options and more left-handed arms since I’ve been here.”

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Another guy who could earn starts this season is CJ Weins, a junior college player who has a chance to impact the pitching staff in a few different roles.

The Gamecocks could start him but could opt to use him out of the bullpen in high leverage situations.

“CJ’s another power arm. He’s 93 to 94. In five innings he’s given up four hits with nine strikeouts and only one walk. He’s another weapon we’ll have,” Kingston said. “He’s another guy you can potentially look at as a starter for us but he can also be a very important part to the back end of the bullpen. He’s another guy who will log very important innings for us.”

What is a known as of mid-October is both Farr and Jordan will be in the rotation. Where, and with who else, is still up in the air.

Both have the capabilities to be frontline guys in the SEC and each righty turned down money in the MLB draft to return to school.

Outside of those two, the Gamecocks will continue to evaluate their pitching staff to figure out where guys fit before the 2021 season.

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“We know Farr and Jordan are going to be in the weekend rotation based on last year and how they’re pitching this year,” Kingston said. “It’s not a complete crapshoot, we have some ideas, but at this point a lot of our positions are open for business. A lot of roles on the pitching staff are being fought for.”