TCU won’t pitch Baker again in 2016, retools rotation

Freshman right-hander Luken Baker, sidelined by a muscle strain in his arm three weeks ago, won’t pitch the rest of the season.

Coach Jim Schlossnagle said the team will play it safe with the highly recruited prospect, who came off the mound after facing six batters in an April 22 start at Oklahoma State.

He has continued to hit cleanup, however, as the designated hitter and leads the team in runs batted in with 41 going into the start of the Baylor series on Friday. He entered hitting .351, sixth-best in the Big 12.

“We signed him to be an elite two-way player. There were moments he did that,” Schlossnagle said. “We certainly anticipate him being that next year.”

On the mound, Baker went 3-1 in 10 starts with a rotation-best 1.70 earned-run average. He struck out 41 and walked 16 in 47.2 innings. He averaged less than five innings per start.

“I thought he did great, for all the things we’ve asked of him,” Schlossnagle said.

TCU used freshman left-hander Dalton Howard in Baker’s turn the next two Friday nights. But Horton had short outings, going four innings against Texas Tech and one against Penn State, leading Schlossnagle to consider a week off for the freshman.

Against Baylor, Schlossnagle opted for junior right-hander Brian Howard, who is coming off a strong outing last week at Penn State. It will be the first series-opening start for Howard.

He’ll be followed on Saturday by senior right-hander Mitchell Traver, who made his season debut with two scoreless innings last week at Penn State.

TCU has not named a starter for Sunday.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 10:28 AM with the headline "TCU won’t pitch Baker again in 2016, retools rotation."