After two-year absence, transfer lefty Wyatt Evans eager for fresh start at South Carolina
After having a strong freshman year, Wyatt Evans couldn’t have envisioned what the next two years would be like for him. Nobody could have seen it coming.
Evans had just wrapped up the 2022 season at Tennessee, which ended with him getting a chance to pitch in a Super Regional. He had a good year, finishing with a 2.25 ERA in 19 appearances out of the bullpen. He struck out 22 and walked three, while opponents hit just .211.
Heading into the fall of that year, he was feeling good and ready to chisel out a bigger role. But once he came back from winter break, he felt something that no pitcher ever wants to feel.
“I feel a little tightness in my elbow. So it was bothering me a little bit. My velo started to drop a little bit. So I went to the trainer and was like, ‘Hey, something seems a little up here.’ Went and got an MRI, came back clean with all my ligaments and tendons and everything — just had a flexor strain,” Evans told GamecockCentral.
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
For reference, Evans was throwing in the lower 90’s before the injury, about where he normally sits with velocity. When the injury flared up, his velo was “really fluctuating weird.” There would be days he’d be throwing between 82-86 miles per hour and others where he’d be around 86-90 MPH.
Evans went through the rehab process but suffered a setback and had to be shutdown again. By the time he made a recovery, it was early May and he didn’t want to burn a year of eligibility for a “couple innings at that point.” So he decided to medical redshirt and prepare for the 2024 season.
“Over the summer, I just went home and trained, got prepared for the fall,” Evans said. “I had a great fall last fall, I was in contention to win a starting job or be a main piece out of the bullpen. Got back in the spring, throwing well and all that stuff.”
Then, a week before the season started, Evans met with Vols head coach Tony Vitello. As Evans put it, they didn’t see “eye to eye on a few things,” which led to him moving on.
“The way things ended at Tennessee for me was not ideal. It wasn’t the way I expected things to go, wasn’t the way anyone expected things to go, like the way they handled the situation that happened. But I mean, it was for the better for sure. I’m much better off that I’m not there now,” he said.
So in short, Evans hasn’t pitched at the D-I college level since 2022, which definitely worried him when he entered the transfer portal.
“So I didn’t know who was going to reach out or what might happen, stuff like that,” Evans said. “But it was overwhelming at times.”
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
Fortunately for him, he had a good connection with Monte Lee that dated back to when he was at J.L. Mann High School. Lee had been recruiting him when he was at Clemson. He reached out to Evans when he saw his name in the portal and things progressed from there.
“Once the new staff was hired, Coach Rooney reached out within 24 hours of him being named the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator,” Evans said. “So it made me feel good, made me feel wanted, made me feel like I was a priority to them.
“Honestly, when it came down to this decision, I just felt at peace talking with Coach (Terry) Rooney, Coach (Monte) Lee and Coach (Paul) Mainieri just about what we can do at South Carolina and how we can get this program back to Omaha.”
Evans, a Greenville native, made his commitment to South Carolina official in a social media post on Friday. It could turn out to be a hidden gem for the Gamecocks with Evans being a tall, left-handed reliever.
“I throw a fastball, slider, changeup — pretty typical pitch repertoire,” said Evans, who stands at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds. “But I would say with my height and size on the mound, it makes my fastball tick up a little bit, even if my velo is 90-92. A lot of hitters say it looks like 95-96 coming in because of the angle, the way it’s approaching them.”
As for what’s next, Evans has been pitching in the MLB Draft League with the Frederick Keys this summer. His season will end in three weeks and then he’ll give his body a little break before the fall starts. Once he gets to Columbia, it’ll be full speed ahead.
“Me and Coach Rooney have been talking about mechanics and stuff like that, just cleaning up some mechanical issues and getting everything fundamentally sound, ready to go for the spring season,” Evans said.
