Jack’s Mailbag Ep. 33: Answering your latest South Carolina baseball questions

South Carolina is off to a solid start in the 2025 season, winning its first five games of the year. The Gamecocks will now turn their attention towards Milwaukee, who they’ll welcome in for a three-game series this weekend.

Every week, I’ll be answering questions from you, the fans in my weekly baseball Q&A series, Jack’s Mailbag. This week, we’ll be discussing Eli Jerzembeck being out for the 2025 season, the pitching staff, how the offense has been looking, and other topics.

If you would like to have a question featured in the next episode, I’ll create a post on The Insiders Forum at the start of every week and you can ask your question there. Without further ado, let’s get into all the questions for this week.

Jgarb: What’s wrong with Jerzembeck? Injury?

On Thursday, Paul Mainieri revealed Eli Jerzembeck will be out for the entire 2025 season. He has a stress fracture in his right elbow and will be undergoing surgery on March 7. An absolutely tough blow for Jerzembeck after working his way back from Tommy John surgery. Keep in mind, he hasn’t pitch in the regular season since May 7, 2023. You just have to feel for him and hope he can make a full recovery.

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Luvmygamecocks: Why did Jerzembeck struggle so much in pre-season scrimmages? Was it no movement on his fastball or lack of command? Seems with his high spin rate and terrific breaking ball he’d have been our #1 starter. If fastball is flat thats another issue.

Well, we now have more clarity on what was wrong when he was pitching in the preseason, because let’s be honest, he wasn’t good at all. The injury has a lot to do with his struggles. But even before anyone knew he was injured again, he struggled with his command. He’d fall behind in counts and put runners on base via walks. Then it would start to fall apart from there with a hit parade to follow. It wasn’t his fastball though because he was still throwing about 95 miles per hour. You just have to hope when he’s fully healthy he can get back to what he was in 2023.

Hampton Rhodes: Has Marlatt solidified the middle reliever spot?

I would say he has. Mainieri has used him more than any other relief pitcher so far, with him pitching in three of the first five games. And it’s for good reason. Marlatt hasn’t given up any runs through 4.1 innings of work with six strikeouts and one walk. He’s a guy that I see being used in middle relief as well as the set up role in the eighth. You know you can count on him to get you critical outs late in the game. That’s why you’ve seen Mainieri consistently go to him.

Pepsicock: Can I buy a dugout hoodie? Love those

Yes. Gamecock Traditions would be the best spot. Here’s the direct link.

USC9195: I am curious what you think about our pitching approach so far. It’s way too early to think we are going to be world-beaters once the conference schedule kicks in, but there is one area that I think will be noticeably different than last year. I think there are going to be more swing-and-miss strikes, and fewer hard-hit balls. We are varying speed much better, and throwing around the edges much better. There have been very few high in-the-zone misses. A higher percentage of the balls are close/tempting, especially in plus counts. That leads to a lot of weak grounders.

I think that’s a spot-on analysis of what fans can expect from this pitching staff as the season wears on. This is a team that doesn’t have that big-name starter in the rotation. But they have a collection of pitchers who can come in and get guys out. The strikeouts have been higher than anyone expected. I do think they’ll continue to come in bunches this year. But I also see a world in which the defense is staying busy and making plays.

yo-mans: were you surprised by any of the players that didn’t make the team or that may be redshirting ?

Not really to be honest. There were always going to be players who had to be cut to trim the roster down. I feel like Mainieri and his staff made the right decisions with who to keep and who to cut. It’s not ideal having to make cuts. But to answer the question, I wasn’t really surprised by any players that didn’t make the team.

Baseballgirl20: It’s early but I haven’t noticed any on the field shenanigans (like dancing on 2nd base when they hit a double for example). Has Manieri put the kibosh on that stuff?

I wouldn’t say he’s put “the kibosh” to the shenanigans completely. I haven’t noticed anything either like we’ve seen in years past. Maybe that will change as the season moves along and there’s something the team starts to rally around. But they’ve had their fun in the dugout. You can see the players are very engaged and into the game while still having a good time. You’ve got to have some fun and keep things loose to be able to play good baseball, at least in my opinion.

Be_The_Change: It seems we play better fundamental baseball .. scoring from 3rd with 1 out, advancing runners.. better on the base paths. Still outside of Petry and Hall where is the power in the line up we will need in SEC play ?

Keep in mind, it’s still very early in the season and the weather hasn’t been great at times. Balls aren’t leaving the yard like they will once the weather heats up a little bit. But you’re right, you’re going to need to hit some homers in SEC play. Hall and Petry seem to be the two top hitters who can provide some pop. You’re going to need more than just them, though. Kennedy Jones is certainly one player who can add some power to the lineup. From there, I think it’ll be a combination of different guys coming through. As has been proven though, you don’t have to win solely with power alone. South Carolina can score runs in a lot of different ways, which is good, and I think the home runs will come soon enough. Some of the balls they’ve hit will be homers in due time.

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Jeff2001: LeCroy is starting off right where he ended last year. 1 hit in 5 games. Will some of the other catchers get a chance if this continues?

Most definitely. LeCroy is going to be South Carolina’s starting catcher for the foreseeable future this season. Mainieri has spoken very highly of how impactful he is as a leader and said the hits will start coming for him. He’ll get it going at some point. Every player is going to go through their share of slumps. LeCroy is just going through one right now.

If his slump goes on for a longer period of time, I think you might see some other guys get reps behind the plate. But keep in mind, there’s more to being a catcher than just hitting. If he’s doing his job defensively and working well with the pitching staff, you can live with his bat being what it is. I do think at some point though he will need to move down in the lineup if his slow start continues. You need to have better at-bats in the middle of the order. But I believe LeCroy will be fine.

AustinG_27: Based on what we’ve seen, what is your opinion on where the offense is at? I know at times the numbers haven’t shown it, but it feels like their approaches are good and certain factors (weather, where the ball has landed, etc.) have given the impression that the offense has been more lackluster than it actually has.

The home run power hasn’t really been there yet, which isn’t a huge concern in my opinion. Like I said before, the power should come in due time. But I like what I’ve been seeing so far. They’ve done a lot of the little things right to score runs, which isn’t as flashy as what other teams might do with the long ball as their main weapon. There have been times where the offense has gone through small stretches during games without much production. But it’s hard to consistently expect a five-run inning to happen. That’s just not realistic. With their plate discipline and pitch selection, they’ve put together a lot of good at-bats that put them in positions to be successful. That’s what you need. It’s just about finding ways to get those runners home, which they’ve done a nice job of.

mckee4usc: Do you see an everyday DH emerging as the season rolls on, or do you think Mainieri will continue to use it to give some guys a day off from playing in the field? By my count, the starting DH has gotten 5 hits and 2 RBI through 5 games.

One guy who I think can emerge as the DH more often than not is Jase Woita. Sure, he can play the outfield if you need him to, but I think he’s better suited to be a DH in this lineup. He got the start at that spot against Winthrop and went 2-for-4. If he can do that consistently, he’ll become a regular in the order. That’s the thing, though. He just needs to find that consistency in his swing. And honestly, I look at him and I see a lot of power in that bat.

Other than that, I think the DH spot continues to rotate between different guys. For now, I see Mainieri using it to give some guys a day off from playing in the field.

ChucktownCock2011: What do you think the long term play is for Zach Russell? I know he was signed as a 2 way player but looks like he’s focused on pitching now. Kid has a hell of an arm. Saw him hit 96 in the fall…

If you don’t know much about Russell, his first few months with the team have been very interesting. He came to South Carolina as a shortstop. In fact, he was the No. 1 shortstop in the state of South Carolina in the class of 2024 by Perfect Game. He also pitched at West Ashley High School in Charleston, where he struck out 124 and had a 1.90 ERA between his junior and senior years.

But during the fall, Mainieri decided to have him switch to focus fully on pitching, which has worked out quite well. In his first outing over the weekend, he struck out all four batters he faced. For this season, I see him being a valuable bullpen piece. As for what the long-term future might look like, I see weekend starter in the cards. You’re right, he does have a heck of an arm. I could see Terry Rooney doing some really good things working with Russell throughout his college career.

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