TCU hands ball to Nick Lodolo for first of possibly many starts

TCU is ready for its first look at the prize of its recruiting class, left-hander Nick Lodolo, who earned a spot in the starting rotation and could be there for a long time.

“You watch him pitch for an inning, you can see why professional baseball really liked him,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “We’re counting on him being a big part of our starting rotation the entire time he’s at TCU.”

Lodolo’s first start is Sunday’s 11 a.m. series finale against Penn State.

The 6-foot-6, 185-pound freshman from LaVerne, Calif., was the highest-drafted player not to sign professionally. He turned down the Pittsburgh Pirates, who offered a reported $1.75 million after taking him with the 41st pick. By enrolling in college, he is not eligible for the draft until after his junior season unless he transfers to a lower division, for example to junior college.

“Obviously, it’s tough to sign the No. 1 left-handed pitcher out of California. There are great programs just in his back yard,” Schlossnagle said.

Schlossnagle said he first saw Lodolo at a Mickey Mantle World Series game in McKinney in 2015.

“He was just a big string bean throwing 80 miles an hour, but it was loose and at the knees,” Schlossnagle said. “You could tell at some point, he was going to throw really hard and be really good one day.”

Baseball America ranked Lodolo the 96th-best draft prospect in 2016, and Perfect Game rated him the No. 1 left-handed pitcher in California. Schlossnagle said Lodolo has two “really good pitches,” shown fastball command, improved his breaking ball, kept the ball down and been in the low 90s.

“If you’re going to draw up a big-time professional pitcher, that’s what it looks like,” Schlossnagle said. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have things to get better at; he certainly does. But his projection, as they call it, is pretty good. What’s great for us is, his current performance is pretty good, too. You don’t want a pitching staff full of guys who have great projection but can’t get anybody out right now. The beauty of Nick is he’s got both at this point.”

Schlossnagle said Lodolo, who expressed confidence in his decision to go to college, has blended in fine.

“He’s a great kid, and he’s confident,” Schlossnagle said. “With the exception of being 6-6 and left-handed, he doesn’t separate himself from anybody else. Matt Purke was the same way when he was here. Luken Baker was the same way last year. The great ones, they have that combination of being confident on a baseball field and being humble away from it.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 4:38 PM with the headline "TCU hands ball to Nick Lodolo for first of possibly many starts."