ANALYSIS: Garrett Gainey Helps Address Positional Need In Pitching Staff
With Mark Kingston and the South Carolina Gamecocks getting into the swing of what will be a pivotal offseason for the program, one big question will be answered over the coming weeks; Who will join the program, and who will depart the program? Multiple players are expected to sign with MLB teams after the draft, and others are expected to transfer out, with infielder Michael Braswell and relief pitcher Brett Thomas already announcing their decision to enter the portal over the past 48 hours.
One player, however, has already announced his plans to transfer to Columbia since the end of the Super Regional bout in Gainesville, as Liberty pitcher Garrett Gainey is set to join the Gamecocks for the 2024 season. When looking at Gainey's resumé to this point in his collegiate career, there are aspects to like and aspects that remain in question regarding what his potential impact could be for Mark Kingston's squad.
In terms of his role, Gainey already helps to address a positional need for South Carolina, as he's currently just the fourth left-handed pitcher on the Gamecocks roster. Gainey also brings an abundance of college experience to the pitching staff, as he's played in 44 career games and pitched 141 and one-third innings throughout four college seasons.
Gainey has mainly been a starter over his past two seasons but has also offered assistance as a reliever in certain spots. In his third season at Winthrop, Garrett went 5-6 in eleven starts, posting an ERA of 6.62 and a WHIP of 1.56. This past season, playing for the Liberty Flames in the much tougher Atlantic-Sun Conference, Gainey went 4-3 in nine starts, giving up 1.88 fewer hits per nine innings but allowing two more runs per nine innings.
Overall, Gainey was a pitcher who seemed to adjust well to the higher level of competition the Atlantic-Sun conference had to offer but felt the brunt of his mistakes when he did make them. With Garrett joining the toughest conference in college baseball in the SEC, I would expect him to potentially be both a midweek starter and a possible left-handed option out of the bullpen for Justin Parker and the Gamecocks in 2023.
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