Who starts for Auburn baseball in 2022?

There's a lot of options, but no clear cut favorite.

© Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

After injuries depleted the starting rotation in 2021, Auburn baseball and Coach Butch Thompson enter 2022 with a plethora of options, but few guarantees amongst the pitching staff. Auburn brought in multiple players in the transfer portal, primarily to replace impact bats of Ryan Bliss, Tyler Miller, and Steven Williams lost to the MLB draft, but the program also went and brought in starting rotation options in junior college transfer Jordan Armstrong and Notre Dame transfer Tommy Sheehan.

When looking at starting options for a weekend, the conversation will begin with veterans Mason Barnett and Hayden Mullins. Barnett, a righthanded junior, made sixteen appearances (with six starts) with 40 total innings of work in 2021. Despite posting a 2-4 record and 5.40 ERA, Barnett showed flashes of elite potential, with 7 innings of 9 strikeouts, 2-hit shutout ball in a March 13th start against Little Rock, and 3 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts against Florida on April 25th. Pro scouts are impressed with his fastball/slider/change pitch mix, but he needs more consistency in the zone to find his name called earlier in the 2022 MLB draft. His time with the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod League over the summer of 2021 hints to some mechanical changes that better incorporate his lower body and remove the slight wrist wrap in his delivery that’s bedeviled his control to this point in his career.

Mullins, a left-handed junior, has been mostly a reliever in his time at Auburn, with twelve total appearances over two seasons before being shut down for the season after his April 11th appearance against Mississippi State. When fully healthy, Mullins has an above-average fastball in the low to mid-90s with a plus curveball with great shape and depth. He has the stuff and strike-throwing ability to be a high draft pick, but more consistency and an answer to the history of injuries will go a long way towards pleasing MLB scouts and their durability concerns. Coach Thompson has indicated a willingness to piggyback Barnett and Mullins early in the season before conference play, to continue stretching guys out and sorting the weekend rotation.

In addition to the two veterans, Auburn is also looking for big contributions from junior righty Trace Bright and junior righty Joseph Gonzalez. Two guys forced into starting in 2021 due to injury, both pitchers flashed moments of brilliance but also were prone to big innings and crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Piggybacking Bright and Gonzalez is an option going forward during non-conference play, according to Thompson, and Auburn ideally needs one of these two to settle in as a Sunday starting option. Senior lefty Carson Skipper and junior college transfer righty Jordan Armstrong both could see early game action as Auburn evaluates their starting rotation options, but are also options in the bullpen ahead of expected closer junior Blake Burkhalter.  

The biggest wildcard for the 2022 rotation is the development of Notre Dame transfer lefthander Tommy Sheehan. A grad transfer lefty, Sheehan lost most of 2021 to partial Tommy John surgery after suffering an injury in his 2nd start. Now close to full strength, Sheehan’s veteran presence, gained over 35 starts in the ACC, is going to be a welcome midseason addition to the rotation. Early reports from spring scrimmages are that he's mostly healthy and regaining his form, with his curveball resuming its usual drop and his fastball adding improved velocity and impressive late-running action. 

Auburn is scheduled to open the season on Feb 18th at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, TX with three total games against Oklahoma, #12 Texas Tech, and Kansas State before returning to the friendly confines of Plainsman Park for the February 23rd home opener against Troy.