Clemson to Start Pair of Freshmen in Opening Weekend Pitching Rotation
Throughout offseason preparations, Clemson head coach Monte Lee has boasted about his deep pitching staff and the competition that was ongoing for the spots in the starting rotation.
Now, just days ahead of Opening Day, Lee has opted to go very young with his weekend starters when Cincinnati comes to town for a three-game series beginning Friday at 4 p.m.
"We don't have a midweek next week, so we have all our guys available for this weekend," Lee said. "But we are going to go Davis Sharpe in game one. We are going to go Ty Olenchuck in game two, and we are going to go Caden Grice in game three for this weekend. Then we'll have everybody available this weekend behind them in the bullpen."
Sharpe has been a starting pitcher for the Tigers in each of the past two seasons, but Grice and Olenchuck are both true freshmen. Going with a starting rotation that consists of that kind of youth isn't what some would consider ideal, but Lee says that he has no issue with it.
"It's really exciting for me as a head coach," Lee said. "I know that there's probably going to be some stories written about it this week that Clemson is starting two freshmen on the weekend. They're young, these guys don't have any experience, that kind of things, and quite honestly, I've been down this road before in my days in College of Charleston. In 2014 we played in the Super Regional and had two freshmen as weekend starters. So not scared of it whatsoever."
The Clemson head coach says that after watching the two youngsters battle throughout the offseason and into fall camp has convinced him that both are ready and that he and the rest of the coaching staff are confident in their ability to go out and get the job done.
"It doesn't worry me whatsoever to start a guy as a true freshman if they're ready for it," Lee said. "So it's exciting in that we think, and this is just me talking to you as a head coach, that our coaching staff feels that highly about these guys and their potential and their ability and what we think they bring to the table. So I'm excited to see these guys go out there and start this weekend and go compete against somebody else. Because I've been watching them all fall, and here in the early preseason and they look very, very good."