Lucas Gordon slides into Texas' No.1 starter role ready to show off a new pitch
Texas left-hander Lucas Gordon began the 2022 season receiving weekday starts or making weekend bullpen appearances. When Tanner Witt was scratched from his outing early in the year, Gordon slid into the No. 3 starter role. He remained there after Witt was lost due to injury until the Los Angeles native eventually replaced Tristan Stevens as the Saturday hurler behind Pete Hansen.
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Both Hansen and Stevens are off to professional opportunities. The Longhorns’ Friday night spot now belongs to Gordon, who will use lessons learned from his two former teammates, plus a recent addition to his pitching arsenal, in his new role as a team leader and staff ace.
“I think just to fill in their roles and pay attention to what they did for us, how they helped me, and try to fill their shoes and help the young guys in the same way,” Gordon said January 27 about his mentality as Texas’ No. 1 starter.
Gordon was recently named a preseason All-Big 12 selection along with Witt. Gordon was 7-2 last year in 16 starts, throwing 85.2 innings and allowing a .224 opponent batting average and a 1.13 WHIP.
He’ll be asked to set the tone for his team on Friday nights this year beginning in Arlington, Texas with the season-opening College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field.
That’s a role that won’t take a major adjustment. However, without Hansen, Stevens, and other significant contributors from the 2021 and 2022 squads, Gordon’s responsibilities will include making sure he’s bringing other pitchers and players up to a new level with him.
“I try to help more in the mental aspect because that’s the biggest thing for me, just how I grew as a player and as a person on the mental side,” Gordon said.
On the field, success on the mound will be crucial when he’s facing opposing aces on a weekly basis. To help him in that endeavor, he added a new option for head coach David Pierce and new pitching coach Woody Williams to call during the course of games.
After using a three-pitch mix last year with a fastball, a curveball, and a changeup, Gordon added a slider to his repertoire during the offseason.
“It’s been good,” Gordon said. “It’s been probably my main priority this offseason and this fall. Excited to show what it’s got.”
How did he learn it? Gordon and former Texas teammate Aaron Nixon trained in Charlotte, N.C. over the summer and consumed a non-stop baseball diet.
“That was the only thing to do in Charlotte,” Gordon said. “We didn’t have a car. It was an environment where it was hard not to get better.”
Gordon is comfortable and confident with the new pitch after countless reps with it. Thanks to his teammates, and maybe at their expense on a few occasions, he is ready to use the slider in-game.
“I just learned how to throw it in the summer, but I think in all the intrasquads that I threw and all the live batters that we threw, just throwing them in more uncomfortable counts is probably where I progressed the most,” Gordon said.
Texas enters the season unranked in the major polls. For Gordon, that’s understandable considering the significant turnover from a roster that made back-to-back trips to the College World Series.
But it also functions as motivation. Gordon knows he and the Longhorns have plenty to prove this year. He can’t wait to show how good he believes the entire ballclub is, both returners and newcomers alike, to those who aren’t sure of what to expect from Texas in 2023.
“No one knows about our team,” Gordon said. “No one really who’s going to start in any position. I think it’s fun for the new guys and the guys who haven’t gotten their opportunity yet to show what they have and show that we’re really a top-ten, top-five, or top-one team, and go prove ourselves.”
