'It's kind of who we are right now': Examining how Kingston's pitching strategy has worked out this week
Throughout this entire season, Mark Kingston has been making constant change to his starting rotation. Every week, it felt like he was doing something different to find the best results.
It was about a month ago that he said, “At the end of the day, what’s most important is we have all this figured out by the end of the season when the games are win or go home.” Now in the heat of the postseason, Kingston doesn’t quite have a starting rotation. But he’s been accepting that reality.
Even before this season started, it was abundantly clear South Carolina had a lot of unproven arms trying to fill out a pitching staff that was loaded with talent in 2023. At times, the Gamecocks handled that dilemma well. But now in the SEC Tournament, it’s been more of an all hands on deck approach to finding ways to win.
“We’re just being flexible with a lot of our guys right now,” Kingston said. “All these guys are right around that between 50-60 pitches. That means they may be able to be deployed later in the week as well. So it’s kind of who we are right now.”
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Through two games in Hoover, Kingston has been sticking with a new approach to getting 27 outs. Instead of using a traditional starter, he’s gone with more of a bullpen game mindset if you will. The goal is for each pitcher brought in to face the lineup one time and turn the baton over to the next guy.
Although, there are some caveats and exceptions to that. Like when Kingston used Chris Veach for 5.2 innings to lock down a 10-5 win over Alabama on Tuesday.
But he’s also willing to do what he needs to try to win. That was evident when he decided to use Garrett Gainey in the late innings against Arkansas on Wednesday. He could’ve saved Gainey to start later in the week, but with a chance to move to 2-0 in the tournament, he wasn’t going to squander this opportunity.
“This is how we have to do it really. This is how we have to do it in a short weekend,” Kingston said. “Obviously we’re playing the tournament now, and you’ve got to win a lot more games and we’ll have to win next week and hopefully the week after that. We’re kind of trying to line things up in a way that we think will give us a chance to win the next couple weekends.”
The move to use Gainey worked out as the left-hander tossed three innings of one-run ball. He struck out three and walked one to seal the deal on an upset win for the Gamecocks.
So far this week, here’s a breakdown of how South Carolina has used its pitching:
Dylan Eskew — 28 pitches
Matthew Becker — 39 pitches
Chris Veach — 67 pitches
Eli Jones — 56 pitches
Ty Good — 60 pitches
Garrett Gainey — 54 pitches
Kingston said he doesn’t want to overexpose any of his pitchers during this time of year. So instead, he’s been careful and consistent with his pitching plans. And it’s been working out so far this week.
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Heading into Thursday’s game vs. LSU, the Gamecocks will start Tyler Pitzer on the mound in what should be another bullpen-type game. Kingston used many of his big weapons in the first two games, so there’s a good chance he’ll have to count on some of the younger arms to try to earn another win.
“It’s a little bit of house money right now,” Kingston said. “Eli was good today, one earned run. He didn’t want to come out, and I don’t blame him. He’s a competitor. But we thought it was time at 56 pitches, and Ty came in, and Ty probably didn’t want to come out, but he was at 60. And then Garrett Gainey gave us 54. Really within that number of pitches for those guys, that’s when they’re at their best.”
