Alabama baseball’s deep bullpen from 2020 should mostly be retained going to 2021, but there has been one defection.
Junior left-hander Garret Rukes announced Wednesday night that he will enter the transfer portal as a graduate transfer, looking for another school to play his final season of college baseball. Even with Rukes’ departure, UA is still returning five bullpen pitchers that logged at least eight innings in the 17-inning season last year, on top of six pitchers in the signing class.
Rukes threw 10 2/3 innings without an earned run allowed in 2020, striking out eight and allowing five hits. Rukes made 18 starts as a member of the Crimson Tide, 13 as a redshirt freshman in 2018.
The strength of the bullpen could also be swayed by the decisions of the senior pitchers — Kyle Cameron, Casey Cobb, Dylan Oliver and William Freeman — to return for the additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA.
Reach Brett Hudson at 205-722-0196 or bhudson@tuscaloosanews.com or via Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
