South Carolina Baseball: Ranking the top-15 pitchers in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Baseball’s No. 5 Greatest Pitcher of All-Time:
Jordan Montgomery
Jordan Montgomery (2012-2014) just missed out on playing on the two National Championship-winning Gamecock baseball teams of 2010 and 2011, but he still was part of the rotation for the National Runner-Up team in 2012.
Never a prolific strikeout artist, Monty made a living inducing weak contact, especially in the form of ground balls. That translated to just 9 home runs allowed in over 250 innings in garnet and black, a preposterous amount of success keeping the ball inside the yard in the modern game of baseball.
Despite only averaging just under 7.5 K/9 innings, Montgomery posted a career ERA under 3.00 and a career WHIP that was just over 1.00. He was a control master for the Gamecocks who put up almost 4 strikeouts for every walk in his career, even though his strikeout totals were never that high.
“Gumby” left the South Carolina baseball program after his junior season when he was drafted in the 4th round by the New York Yankees. Getting the call to the Bigs in 2017, Montgomery has been a very steady presence in the rotation for the Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and, now, the Texas Rangers.
Now thirty, Montgomery is far from done in Major League Baseball as he has put up his two best seasons in 2022 and 2023. He will continue to battle with current Yankee Clarke Schmidt for the title of best Gamecock starting pitcher in professional baseball.