Clemson Baseball Hires New Pitching Coach

A week after becoming the new Clemson baseball coach, Erik Bakich has found the man to lead his pitching staff in Jimmy Belanger, All Clemson confirmed Thursday.

A week after becoming the new Clemson baseball coach, Erik Bakich has found the man to lead his pitching staff. 

The Tigers have hired former Florida State assistant Jimmy Belanger, sources confirmed Thursday night. Belanger is regarded as one of the top pitching coaches in college baseball. He led the Seminoles' hurlers since 2020 and developed them into a strong staff. 

FSU ranked fourth in the ACC and 27th nationally in earned run average in 2022. The previous season, the Seminoles ranked first in the ACC and seventh across the country in ERA and fourth nationally in strikeouts per nine innings. 

Belanger helped develop Parker Messick into one of the best pitchers in the country and likely an early-round pick in next month's MLB draft. Before joining the Seminoles, Belanger worked at Kentucky (2017-19), Maryland (2013-16) and Monmouth (2010-12).

Now he'll look to turn around a Clemson pitching staff that has finished in the bottom half of the ACC in ERA the last two seasons. 

Bakich was asked last week what he was looking for in a new pitching coach, and Belanger appears to fit what the head coach wants out of his staff. 

"Somebody who can bring simplicity to what seems like a very advanced way of teaching pitching these days," Bakich said during his introductory press conference last Thursday. "It's one thing to teach throwing. It's another thing to teach pitching. And you see a lot of that line being blended."

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