The big change that helped Dylan Eskew become South Carolina's Opening Day starter

Dylan Eskew is like most people in their early 20s. He had gotten the full college experience while playing baseball at South Carolina for two seasons and was ready to begin the next phase of his life.

After pitching 5.1 innings of one-run ball in a season-ending loss in the NCAA Regional, Eskew looked forward to the future. He set his sights on turning pro in hopes of being picked in the 2024 MLB Draft. Or at the very least, he would take a free-agent deal if a team didn’t draft him.

“I was ready to go. I was expecting my agent and everyone, we assumed was going to move on,” Eskew told GamecockCentral. “When we didn’t have a coach, I told Monte (Lee) I would love to come back if nothing works out, but if I get anything I’m going to have to take it. I’m only getting older. It’s time to move on.”

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When the three-day draft in July had passed, Eskew hadn’t gotten a call. In the days after the draft, he still hoped a team would pick him up and sign him to a deal. But nothing came his way.

Around the same time, South Carolina had already hired a new baseball coach. Paul Mainieri, who returned to the game after a three-year absence, was a month into his tenure and began putting together a roster for the 2025 season.

With another year of eligibility in his back pocket, Eskew expressed interest in returning to South Carolina. Then he got a call from Mainieri with some good news.

“I heard Coach Mainieri got hired, and he called me a day or two later and said he’s still interested in having me back,” Eskew said. “We kind of felt each other out a little bit and we felt like each other fit with one another, and here we are.”

After experiencing some uncertainty about what would be next, Eskew is officially back with the Gamecocks for one more season. And he’s not just returning to put off moving into the real world for another year. No, he’s back with a purpose, and South Carolina is counting on him to do big things.

With a week to go until the regular season begins, Mainieri announced Eskew, who turned 24 years old on Friday, will start on Opening Day against Sacred Heart.

“That’s one thing me and Coach Mainieri talked about is that ‘I don’t want you to come back and just think that this is your last year,'” Eskew said. “Once you saw that motivation like you can get drafted and have the year that we think you can have, you will get drafted. So just going in with those aspirations and keeping the goals high so you can reach high.”

Win tickets to Sacred Heart Game 1: Season opener, Paul Mainieri’s debut

Getting to the point where Eskew is now as South Carolina’s Friday starter in the weekend rotation wasn’t easy. While he had some good outings in 2024, there were also some ones he wishes he could have back. So, he knew he had to make some changes.

Some of the main issues the right-hander faced last season were walks and hitters picking up on what he was throwing when he faced a lineup for a second time through. This resulted in a lot of short outings; he only made it through the sixth inning once in 15 starts.

Eskew said he only used two, in some cases three pitches to throw to hitters last year. If he wanted better results this year, he needed to evolve and expand his pitch mix. So, he met with new pitching coach Terry Rooney to see what they could come up with.

“I thought with ‘Skew, you knew he had the experience and who he was. … I thought he needed a harder pitch, particularly for left-handed hitters,” Rooney told GamecockCentral.

That’s when they settled on having Eskew learn how to throw a cutter. It’s a pitch that breaks or moves as it approaches the hitter.

“We needed something hard going east to west. The cutter was kind of the thing I worked on over the summer a little bit, just on my own. I thought about it,” Eskew said. “Just wanting something hard because I have the sweeper, and it’s big and it’s slow. … And then with the sinker, I got something going hard right. We wanted something going hard left.

“So, we came in, and he kind of adjusted the grip a little bit, and we got to a grip that got comfortable and was able to throw for strikes between 85-88 (mph). It’s working with lefties and righties. That’s one of the best things, another pitch for lefties.”

Win tickets to Sacred Heart Game 2: Ray Tanner Field dedication ceremony

After Rooney introduced the cutter, Eskew started throwing the pitch in the fall. At first, it was a bit of a learning and feeling-out process. But by the end of the fall, he felt it was becoming his best pitch.

Now in the weeks leading up to the season, he’s been throwing it with great results. Hitters like Ethan Petry and KJ Scobey have swung at pitches out of the zone as the ball tails off into the other batter’s box for strike three.

“He loves it,” Rooney said of Eskew’s cutter. “I can’t say enough about Eskew. I knew going into this that he was going to play a huge role. He’s been an incredible leader for our staff. So, I’m expecting a great year from him.”

Including the cutter, Eskew now uses a total of five pitches: A four-seam fastball, sinker, cutter, changeup, and slider. After experiencing the highs and lows of last season, he’s excited to see what type of difference his improvements will make.

“I kind of rolled with the punches and kept going. It was a good year for the first year of starting in the SEC. I didn’t have the repertoire that I have this year,” Eskew said. “I had pretty much two pitches last year and now I’m going into this season with five. So, I think with that experience and going through it once, I think the second time through with more pitches is going to be a lot different, a lot better.”

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