Now that Pat Krall is returning to Clemson for his senior year and Alex Bostic is off to try his hand at professional baseball, Clemson head coach Monte Lee and pitching coach Andrew See can start to piece together what the pitching staff in 2017 might look like.

The Tigers lose just two pitchers off this season’s staff that pitched significant innings. Clate Schmidt was a senior and used up his eligibility, while the aforementioned Bostic will play professional baseball.

Joining All-ACC pitcher Pat Krall is weekend starter Charlie Barnes, who pitched 94.2 innings as a sophomore, and Alex Eubanks, who pitched 81.1 innings as a freshman reliever and starter. Also back is Brooks Crawford, a midweek starter and reliever, Ryley Gilliam and Jake Higginbotham. All three pitched significant innings in 2016.

“A lot of people don’t realize that Alex Eubanks was a redshirt freshman. This was a guy that threw eighty something innings as a freshman so between him, Brooks, Ryley Gilliam and Jake Higginbotham, all of these guys were freshmen and got a lot of great experience,” Lee said. “Charlie Barnes was just a sophomore.

“We feel like with all the experience these guys got this year, they are only going to be better for next year. We have some good pieces coming in. We feel like, on paper, pitching wise, we should be very, very strong.”

Those guys coming in include right-hander Travis Mahr (6-4, 205), lefty Jacob Hennessy (6-2, 210) and lefty Ryne Huggins (6-5, 210).

“We lost Clate Schmidt, who was a senior, and we lost Alex Bostic with the draft, but really, when you look at it on paper, those were the only two guys we lost that pitched significant innings for us,” Lee said. “We return a lot of our pitching and we have some good ones coming in so we feel like our pitching staff should be a strength.”

Lee said they will work Krall in the fall as a weekend starter and will do everything they can to prepare him for that role. Of course Barnes will be another weekend starter after he posted a 6-4 record in 16 starts as the only weekend starter to stay in that role all season.

It appears Eubanks, Crawford, Gilliam and Higginbotham will all compete to see who will be the Tigers’ third starter. Then there is the bullpen.

“The most interesting thing will be trying to figure out who can pitch out of the pen and who can start,” Lee said. “I have noticed over the years that there are certain guys that fit better out of the pen and there are certain guys that fit better as a starter. When you have a young man that can do both, he is special.”

In 2016, Eubanks, Crawford, Gilliam and Higginbotham started at one point and came out of the bullpen at times as well.

“We will do the best we can in the fall to try and create those scenarios,” Lee said. “We will take a guy and tell him today you are going to start and the next time you pitch we might tell you to go get loose in the bullpen and come in the game out of the pen and see if we can put you in that situation to see if you can pitch out of the bullpen. It is hard to create that during the fall. Sometimes you don’t know that until the spring when you put him in that role and you just see how he does.”

The Tigers do know Crawford can pitch out of the pen, and they know he can start as well. He started two games in 2016 and appeared in 26 games. He pitched in 46.2 innings overall. Gilliam can be a really dynamic pitcher out of the pen as well because he is athletic enough to do both. He appeared in 15 games and started six. He threw in 31 innings overall.

“He throws really hard and he has a good breaking ball,” Lee said. “I think Gilliam can be an excellent reliever and closer type guy if he can become more consistent.”

TCI’s projected pitching

Weekend starters

Pat Krall (LHP)

Charlie Barnes (LHP)

Alex Eubanks (RHP)

Middle relief / midweek starters

Brooks Crawford (RHP)

Ryley Gilliam (RHP)

Jake Higginbotham (LHP)

Patrick Andrews (RHP)

Alex Schnell (LHP)

Jeremy Beasley (RHP)

Travis Mahr (RHP)

Jacob Hennessy (LHP)

Ryne Huggins (LHP)

Blake Holliday (RHP)

Owen Griffith (RHP)

Matt Clark (LHP)

Andrew Coker (RHP)

Ryan Miller (RHP)

Closers

Patrick Andrews (RHP)

Ryley Gilliam (RHP)