As first pitch approached, Andrew Abbott sat by himself in one of the open-air seats overlooking the concourse of Disharoon Park from the suite level. For the first time in four years, the left-hander wasn’t in uniform as Virginia was playing its traditional fall ball exhibition against the Ontario Blue Jays last month.
Griff McGarry and Kyle Whitten, two more four-year members of the UVa pitching staff, are gone as well. So is Mike Vasil, a three-year staple in the weekend rotation. Late-game relievers Blake Bales and Stephen Schoch and the versatile Zach Messinger are no longer options out of the bullpen.
That’s a combined 394 of the 560 innings pitched en route to Virginia’s latest appearance at the College World Series last season. This fall, it has been the job of pitching coach Drew Dickinson to start piecing together how the Wahoos will replace all that veteran pitching.