Hard-throwing transfer Elijah Foster excited to pitch again at Founders Park, now for Gamecocks

Elijah Foster loves being heckled, or as he puts it, “chirped” by opposing fans. It doesn’t bother him too much when he’s warming up in the visitor’s bullpen or taking the mound for a start. It’s fun for him.

“I’d say the craziest thing I’ve ever heard is,” Foster told GamecockCentral, “probably just, ‘Your fastball is flat,’ or just along the lines of, ‘My grandmother throws harder than you,’ and I’m like, ‘Okay.’ Stuff like that, I just laugh at cause it’s funny.”

As a sophomore at Sacred Heart this season, Foster got a taste of what chirping in the SEC is like. He started the team’s second game of the year at South Carolina. To no surprise, he heard plenty of taunting on that chilly afternoon in mid-February.

“It was a really great atmosphere,” he said. “Like, I love the fans. I love just the competitive nature of everything.”

His start didn’t go as planned, as he gave up six earned runs in three innings. As he exited in an eventual 14-0 loss, he thought this would be the only time he’d ever pitch at Founders Park. However, he’ll be back in Columbia next season, only this time he’ll be hearing cheers from Gamecock fans.

When the transfer portal opened on June 2, South Carolina was one of the first schools to reach out to Foster. Four days later, he officially committed to the Gamecocks.

“I really enjoyed the conversations. (The coaches) were excited about everything,” Foster said. “I knew that after those talks, I was like, ‘Alright, yeah, like, I think I’m gonna be a Gamecock.'”

Foster will join a revamped pitching staff that’s seen a lot of newcomers brought in this offseason. He comes to South Carolina fresh off a season where he went 5-3 with a 5.23 ERA in 72.1 innings at Sacred Heart. He finished with a team-high 76 strikeouts, but he also walked the most batters with 53.

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Command has been a lingering issue for the right-hander over the years. It’s something he’s aware of and is still working through to bring his walk numbers down. He cited mechanical issues and his arm slot dropping as part of the problem.

“Anytime I went to throw a slider or changeup, my arm slot would drop. So that would lead to me having a lot of arm-side misses that were just uncompetitive, not in the zone,” Foster said. “So I’d say for the walks to go down, if I just lock in my mechanics and keep the arm action the same, they should go down.”

If he figures that out, there’s a lot of potential with the pitches that Foster has in his arsenal. His best pitch is his well-regarded fastball, which he throws 93-95 miles per hour and tops out at 97.

“Fastball has definitely been a pitch that’s just been God-given if I’m being totally honest,” Foster said. “I have a low release height. I get a lot of spin on it. Just been lucky enough to learn how to throw a little bit harder mechanically, get a lot better in that regard, too. So love the fastball, it plays well at the top of the zone.”

Foster also throws a changeup that he can throw in the upper 80s, plus a slider ranging from 80-83 MPH.

“Worked on (the changeup) a lot this past year, and I threw a couple when I pitched against South Carolina in game two of the year,” Foster said. “Funny story, I struck out Ethan Petry on a changeup too, and that was pretty funny. That was pretty funny. I didn’t think that was gonna happen.”

Because of the way Foster throws, a lot of hitters tend to expect the fastball and slider from him. So to counter this, he’s incorporating a sinker and cutter into his pitch mix, potentially making him a five-pitch pitcher. He wants to give himself more options when he takes the mound next year.

“If I can just open it up to where you can’t lean on either, so I can have the fastball in my back pocket and just throw it at the top of the zone,” he said. “Or if, say, my fastball just isn’t there that day, I can go cutter in on the hands or just go sinker.”

There are some big ifs about what Foster could do with the Gamecocks. But if he’s able to find consistency to be at his best, he thinks he could be a real weapon.

“I could see myself starting on the weekend and just being a real productive guy, going deep in the games, potentially going consistently six to eight innings,” Foster said. “Just overall being competitive and giving the team a chance to win a game.”

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