TCU Horned Frogs Baseball Preview 2025: Pitchers

TCU looks to get its pitching rotation back on track after an inconsistent 2024. Who are the top names to note on the mound for the Horned Frogs this season?
Ben Abeldt
Ben Abeldt / TCU Baseball on X @TCU_Baseball

Multiple factors contributed to a rocky 2024 season in which the TCU Horned Frogs missed out on the postseason. One of the earliest, and most impactful, was inconsistency in the pitching rotation. This year, Kole Klecker and Louis Rodriguez look to return to form while Ben Abeldt brings all-conference prowess. A slew of newcomers look to crack the starting rotation and bolster the depth of the bullpen.

Below, we'll go over the pitching for TCU baseball this season and what to expect from the unit as a whole. Check back for more positional previews, leading up to a TCU baseball season preview and prediction.

Last year, TCU's season fell seven wins short of our projection and the Frogs fell short of the postseason. Injuries and surprising underperformers led to an overall disappointing season.

TCU Baseball: Returning Pitchers

TCU Baseball preview
Jun 18, 2023; Omaha, NE, USA; TCU Horned Frogs pitcher Ben Abeldt (46) celebrates after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

After his best year in purple so far, Ben Abeldt will play a new role in the TCU pitching rotation. The junior will move to the starting rotation following a season where he went 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA and eight saves (4th in Big 12). Moving Abeldt, who was named the preseason Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, to a weekend starting began late last year as Kirk Saarloos left him on the bump for more innings than the closer had previously pitched. Saarloos confirmed that notion in the fall, though if things don't work out–or if another arm presents as a superior starting option–Abeldt could move right back into his closing role.

Kole Klecker certainly hit a sophomore slump last season. As a true freshman, Klecker finished 10-4 with a 3.72 ERA and allowed a paltry .216 opposing batting average. All of those numbers worsened last season, where he was yanked from the weekend rotation, finishing 1-3 with a 5.96 ERA and .306 opposing average. According to Saarloos, Klecker picked his game back up during the fall. That weekend starting spot, however, will have to be earned back.

Caedmon Parker proved his worth last season with the Frogs, finishing 3-1 with a 4.11 ERA (16 appearances). This season, Parker likely slots into a weekend starting role, perhaps Saturday to begin the year. Like Abeldt, starting on the bump will be a new role for the redshirt junior.

Louis Rodriguez had a difficult task improving on his freshman year that earned him All-Big 12 honorable mention. While his body of work was impressive in 2024–Rodriguez went 4-3 with a 4.13 ERA and rung up 54 batters versus issuing just 17 walks–offense didn't have his back and the Frogs went just 12-7 in his starts. With the late-season reshuffle, Rodriguez came out of the bullpen and even picked up tournament saves in a pinch. This year, he could continue to serve as a relief pitcher.

With Abeldt moving to the starting rotation, TCU needs to find a strong closer. That closer could come in the form of lefty Braeden Sloan, who plays his junior season in Fort Worth. Sloan went 4-4 with a 5.93 ERA last season but did strike out 43 batters against walking just 17.

Returning arms from injury

TCU Baseball preview
Jax Traeger / TCU Baseball on X @TCU_Baseball

Sophomore Mason Bixby suffered an injury that cut an otherwise breakout season short. Standing at 6-foot-7, Bixby held opposing batters to just a .203 average and throws in the mid-90s. When healthy, Bixby could be one of the better arms on the team and would fit the closing role nicely, should he be needed.

Jax Traeger also had his 2024 campaign cut short to injury. As a freshman, he finished 2-0 with a 4.63 ERA and made just four appearances last year. In three of those appearances, Traeger held his opposition scoreless, making him an intriguing re-addition this season.

Redshirt junior Cohen Feser missed all of last season with an injury, a serious hit to the team as he made 20 appearances with a 2.56 ERA in relief in 2023. The righty held 15-of-20 opponents scoreless as a sophomore.

Baylor right-handed transfer Blake Rogers also missed the entire 2024 season to injury and looks to work his way back this year. Righty Carson Cormier took a redshirt his first year on campus.

TCU Baseball: Pitching Additions

TCU Baseball preview
Zack James / TCU Baseball on X @TCU_Baseball

After last year's bullpen was decimated to injury, TCU made a concerted effort to bring in new arms to both improve an inconsistent rotation and bolster the depth of the pen.

Four names rise to the top when considering the immediate impact additions on the mound: Wichita State transfer Tommy LaPour, freshman Trever Baumler, two-way freshman Noah Franco, and freshman Mason Brassfield. LaPour and Baumler appear poised to start right away, with the latter being the leader for a weeknight starter. Brassfield will be an important reliever to begin while Franco, much like Peyton Tolle, will have to balance his time at the plate and on the mound.

At his last stop, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound LaPour went 6-3 with a fastball in the upper 90s. For more on Franco, check out our TCU infielders position preview.

A pair of transfers could see major innings early on: redshirt senior Gianluca Shinn (Washington) and sophomore Trey Newmann (Cal). Shinn didn't post eye-popping numbers in Seattle, but the veteran lefty held 26 of 42 opponents scoreless and allowed just 12 of 37 inherited runners to score. He truly was a specialist in getting the Huskies out of a pinch – a valuable role for any team. Newmann, a righty, finished the season on a 4-2 run and improved to be a strong arm, leading Cal with 60 strikeouts.

The Frogs also added Cisco College transfer Luke Greenlee, a righty who posted a 1.70 ERA in 22 innings (8-1 record).

The remaining new arms are young right-handers that set the table for a deep and young bullpen. Zack James (Flower Mound) could see lots of work immediately, especially before conference play rolls around. Tyler Phenow (Champlin, Minn.) and Kaleb Sinquefield (Joshua) are both classroom standouts while Kaden Smith (Ocala, Fla.) and Nate Stern (Los Angeles) are top-25 recruits out of their respective states. Andrew Carter (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) ranked the 26th-best righty in California.

Virtually untouchable in high school, Tommy Bridges (Los Angeles) set a school record with a 0.59 ERA. Kade Eudy (Crosby) rung up over 200 batters throughout his high school career while also playing third base and in the outfield.

Kade Durnin (Linn Creek, Mo.) underwent Tommy John surgery and likely misses a majority of the season but could make a late-year return.

Final Verdict

There may not be a younger group with a higher ceiling in the Big 12, if not the entire country, than this TCU pitching staff. Klecker and Rodriguez currently lie in relief roles but have starting experience and proven high-end potential. Abeldt has the skill to seamlessly transition from a premier closer to ace this year.

Returning names like Bixby, Feser, and Traeger are all proven commodities capable of pitching in any situation – from opener to closer and everything in between. Sloan and Parker move to new roles, but with so many new additions and possibilities as starters, the team doesn't live and die by their success as closer and starter, respectively.

However, it's the new additions that really make this unit exciting. Baumler, Brassfield, and LaPour all provide extremely high ceilings as Day 1 starters while Shinn, Newmann, and James give the Frogs a deep and talented second layer.

Even if the pitching doesn't hit its ceiling this year, only one player is poised to depart (Shinn, though Abeldt is draft-eligible). It's an extremely young and sturdy foundation capable of becoming the Big 12's best by year's end, if not in the coming seasons.

But for this year, there's a massive range of outcomes. Should 75% of this unit play to its fullest capability, TCU will have more than enough arms to make a deep postseason run.


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Brett Gibbons
BRETT GIBBONS

Brett is an avid sports traveler and former Division-I football recruiter for Bowling Green and Texas State. He’s covered college sports for Fansided, Stadium Journey, and several independent outlets over the past five years. A graduate of BGSU, Brett currently works on-site at Google as a project lead for content curation products.