Will Sanders responds well after reset, eager to keep building

Will Sanders almost certainly didn’t want to take a week off and miss a scheduled start with South Carolina at Mississippi State, on his birthday no less. 

The Gamecocks’ ace, a first-round talent expected to anchor the pitching rotation from the jump, had no intentions of missing a week during his draft year but there he was, watching from either the dugout or the bullpen over 25 innings. 

But that was reality for Sanders at the moment. Fast-forward two weeks after a really quality outing against LSU last weekend and he can look back on that reset somewhat fondly. 

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“But I think it really helped me and helped the team by showing we don’t need one person and it takes everyone to win a series and win a game,” Sanders said Wednesday. “I think it’s really going to benefit me down the stretch this season.”

While he might not have wanted to sit, a reset there before a stretch against three top-10 teams seemed necessary. 

The right-hander had a 5.17 ERA in six starts to begin the year with teams hitting .248/.298/.452 against him in 31.1 innings. 

In two SEC starts Sanders had given up nine runs on nine hits over 10.1 innings, giving up three doubles and four homers. He had struck out 11 but issued an uncharacteristic seven walks, six of which came in just 3.1 innings against Missouri. 

“I have standards for myself and know a lot of people in this city want to see me succeed and do well,” he said. “A lot of it is personal. Every time I get the ball I want to go six or seven innings and put our team in a position to win. I haven’t done that in a lot of my outings. And that’s on me.”

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He sat against the Bulldogs in a series South Carolina won, setting Sanders up for a showdown against No. 1 LSU and a vaunted Tiger offense. 

Sanders was electric before a weather delay ended his outing after three innings. Over that stretch, though, Sanders allowed just two hits and an unearned run while striking out four. 

Both hits he allowed were singles, a marked improvement after giving up far too many extra-base hits early. Sanders did hit two batters–neither came around to score–but the biggest improvement was four strikeouts to no walks.

It was certainly a step in the right direction toward getting the Sanders of old. 

“The biggest thing I look for is stress pitches. That’s runner on second, runner on third with no outs or one out. You have to execute a string of pitches to get two outs or get a ground ball and get out of the inning,” Sanders said. 

“I throw Jared Jones–a freshman from Atlanta–two sliders, two swings and misses, for 0-2. Then I throw him two curveballs in the dirt he doesn’t swing at. It’s processing the count is 0-2 but the pitch does not need to be better. It needs to be executed. But it doesn’t need to be extra stress or tension to get that ball where I need it to go. I throw him a 2-2 slider that he lines to LeCroy. I face Brady Neal, a small left-handed hitter. It’s executing my pitches. I know through the game and after the game if it was a good outing and if it’s where I want it to be. I can kind of feel it.”

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Sanders credits part of the improvement to a developing sinker he’s used to attack both sides of the plate. That pitch, he said, allows him to expand the zone later in counts with the four-seam fastball and his slider.

“The biggest thing was mentally and making the adjustment of not necessarily going away to hitters or going in to try and hit them. But hitting them sets up everything else. I developed my sinker. And that was a good pitch for me Thursday showing that to the righties and expanding late,” Sanders said.

“Being free and easy down the mound has helped me figure out where I want to pitch. And how I want to attack each hitter and get them out.”

The Gamecocks (29-4, 9-2 SEC) are going to need him to be like that again this weekend going against a powerful Vanderbilt lineup with Noah Hall still on the mend from a back injury. 

Mark Kingston hasn’t announced the rotation yet, although Sanders and Jack Mahoney will be in it. And there are a few options for Sunday’s game three starter.

Who that is could be determined by which bullpen pieces pitch on Friday and Saturday. 

“I don’t anticipate us starting anyone in that game that hasn’t started a game already this year. You can figure out who those candidates are,” Kingston said. “A lot of it is who you need to use in Friday and Saturday’s games. It’s a use of resources. You know who you have left and who has starting experience. That’s really what it comes down to.” 

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Regardless of who throws Sunday, South Carolina is going to need more of the same from Sanders.

“I saw a better pitcher last week against the number-one team in the country. And I’m hoping it’s something he can build on. He threw his off-speed pitches for strikes at a better rate last week. Hitters were taking worse swings than we saw them take against the offspeed pitches. It was all positive and now we need to see him build on that.”

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