UNC Baseball Preview: Pitchers

June 11, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Trent Thornton (31) throws a pitch against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the Chapel Hill Super Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels defeated the Gamecocks 5-4. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Keeping It Heel’s UNC Baseball preview! KIH will get you ready for Opening Day for UNC on Saturday February 15th against the College of Charleston. We will cover UNC’s Infield, Outfield, Pitchers and Catchers, and Overall Season Outlook. Check back every morning for the latest installment in the series! Today we will check out the North Carolina pitching staff.

As you probably know, UNC’s season opener was scheduled to be tonight in Chapel Hill. But due to extreme weather circumstances, the game was moved to slightly less snowy Charleston. Due to the weather, UNC’s starting pitcher rotation had to be slightly shuffled.

Trent Thornton was expected to start Friday night for the Heels, but the weather pushed his start back to Sunday. Talented junior Benton Moss will now the be the Heels Opening Day starter, and freshman Zac Gallen will start on Monday.

This throws off the normal rotation for the Tar Heels, a set-up that is different that the MLB and unique to only College Baseball. In the MLB, starters usually pitch every 5 days, as teams normally play seven days a week throughout the summer. College teams do not play every day of the week, instead playing a weekend series and a midweek game. The “Friday Night Starter” is generally regarded as the best pitcher, because winning the Friday night game goes a long way in winning the weekend series. Saturday and Sunday starters would be the 2nd and 3rd best starters in a MLB schedule. Finally, the mid-week starter pitches a Tuesday or a Wednesday game, and is generally a younger pitcher that can also pitch in relief on the weekend.

That trio of Thornton, Moss, and Gallen will form a very formidable weekend rotation for Carolina. Thornton is a sophomore righty out of Charlotte who pitched really well in UNC’s long reliever/spot starter role last season. He also won freshman All-American honors with a 12-1 record, a 1.37 era in over 91 innings. Thornton looks to be next in the long line of dominant Friday night starters for the Tar Heels.

Moss started 16 games last year as a sophomore, and looks to build on his 8-1 season record from last year. Moss is from Enfield, NC and Rocky Mount high school, and will add veteran stability and experience to this rotation. Lets take a closer look at that weekend rotation for the Diamond Heels.

Trent Thornton: Sophomore, 12-1 record, 1.37 ERA, 81 Strike Outs, 92 Innings Pitched
Benton Moss: Junior, 8-1 record, 3.77 ERA, 92 Strike Outs, 88 Innings Pitched
Zac Gallen: Freshman, No College Stats

As they always do, the Tar Heels will have a talented bullpen stocked full with young arms. Sophomore Chris McCue projects to take the closer role early in the season, and lefty Tate Parrish will keep throwing strikes as a senior. The rest of the bullpen will be trial and error for much of the early part of the season. Young guys like Reilly Hovis, Taylore Cherry, and Luis Paula will all be vying for the midweek starter spot, and the other two will pitch important innings late in ballgames. Trevor Kelly is another arm that could step in and close games late for the Tar Heels.

Overall, the Diamond Heels should have a really strong starting rotation and bullpen to propel the team to a successful season. Trent Thornton could have an All-American campaign in his first season as Friday night starter, while Benton Moss, Chris McCue, and Tate Parrish will offer veteran leadership and come in and throw strikes.