New-look pitching staff has plenty of weapons
With the Aggies expected to score plenty of runs in the spring, all eyes are on the pitching staff with new maestro Max Weiner in charge. Weiner’s philosophy clearly hinges on having premier stuff, but he places an even heavier emphasis on simply throwing strikes.

It would only be natural to begin the discussion from a command standpoint on potential starting pitchers, which includes junior righthander Chris Cortez. Cortez, a 6-foot-1, 205-pounder, has a massive arm. He was up to 97-98 mph with his fastball last season. However, his inability to consistently command both the fastball, and especially the slider, led to him tallying a 7.34 ERA in 41.2 innings of work last season. Cortez continues to show the same velocity this fall, but Schlossnagle said his command was improved. The question now is can he carry that over to the spring? We’ll find out sooner rather than later.

Sophomore lefthanded pitcher Justin Lamkin and Jacksonville State transfer righthanded pitcher Tanner Jones are two other strong candidates to be in the rotation. Lamkin is a projectable 6-foot-4, 210-pounder, who had an important role on the weekend for the Aggies last season. He has improved this fall, getting bigger and stronger, and showing more crispness to his overall stuff. Lamkin was up to 93-94 mph with his fastball in the UH scrimmage, along with a mid-80s changeup and a low-80s slider. Jones, a 6-foot, 190-pounder, had a strong fall and showed electric stuff earlier this fall, getting up to 95-96 mph with his fastball, along with a quality slider.

“Those two — Lamkin and Jones — are the easy ones for me right now in terms of the rotation spots,” Schlossnagle said. “Lamkin has gotten bigger and stronger and he’s throwing harder than he did last season. There’s some crispness to his stuff. Jones is also throwing a little harder than he did last season. He’s got three or four pitches he can command for strikes. He doesn’t have SEC experience, but what he does have is a lot of college baseball experience.

Three more arms to watch include lefthanders Troy Wansing and Ryan Prager and righthander Zane Badmaev. Wansing has a fastball in the low-90s to go with a quality curveball. However, the big key with him is his command. He had a tendency last season to look good, then out of nowhere, walk several hitters. Prager was a talented freshman for the Aggies but missed last season because of an injury. He should be ready to roll in the spring. Then, there’s Badmaev, a stocky 6-foot-8, 265-pounder, who looked good in an inning of work against A&M last season. Badmaev probably serves better at the backend of games, but Schlossnagle said he’ll at least get a look at the rotation. He’s up to 94-95 mph with this fastball, along with a nasty short slider that tunnels out of the same arm slot.

“The thing I saw with a guy like Zane is that he’s a strike thrower who has pitched in a lot of roles throughout his career,” Schlossnagle said. “He has good velocity on his fastball, he has a really good breaking ball and he’s a guy who will throw endless strikes. As for Prager, he’s kind of a big part of what we’re trying to do. If we’re going to be an elite pitching staff, we’re going to need Prager to get all the way back to his old self.”

In terms of the bullpen, the Aggies welcome back one of the more effective arms in the SEC in lefthander Evan Aschenbeck. Aschenbeck was one of the biggest surprises of last season for the Aggies and seems to draw weak contact and such at times despite not having overwhelming stuff. Another lefty, Shane Sdao, is a what you see is what you’ll get type of pitcher with a fastball up to 92–93 mph along with an 82 mph slider, while righthander Brad Rudis is up to 92-93 mph with his fastball after dropping his arm slot, and San Diego State transfer righthander Eldridge Armstrong could factor into some important innings as well. Armstrong, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, was up to 92-93 mph with his fastball in the scrimmage I attended, along with a decent slider.

Three young arms to watch include righthanders Isaac Morton and Brett Antolick, and 6-foot-2, 190-pound lefty Kaiden Wilson. Morton is a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder, who likely would’ve been in pro ball by now if not for an injury before last season. Morton has huge upside with a fastball up to 95-96 mph, along with a slider in the mid-80s and a changeup. Morton showed impressive stuff and poise against UH earlier this fall. Antolick is another low-90s guy who Schlossnagle and Co., like, while Wilson could be another bell cow on this pitching staff before the dust settles. Wilson, a Maryland product, is up to 96-97 mph with his fastball, along with two distinct breaking balls. Schloss said Wilson reminds him a lot of former TCU standout lefty and big leaguer Brandon Finnegan.