Pitt baseball added to their depleted pitching staff on Thursday morning with the commitment of Logan Evans, a 6-foot-5, right-handed pitcher from Saline, Michigan. Evans is a transfer from Penn State who played two years for the Nittany Lions. He had previously committed to Missouri on July 1, but since decommitted and will join the Panthers this fall.Â
Evans was on his way to putting together a strong 2020 before the season was abruptly called due to the emerging Covid-19 pandemic.Â
He went 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 11 strikeouts to just one walk in eight innings pitched over three appearances, but took a step back in his sophomore season. In 2021 Evans’ ERA inflated to 8.16 and he walked 16 batters while striking out only 12 in 11 appearances.Â
But the Panthers are still getting a talented, young player. He’s a hard thrower — Evans’ fastball topped out at 91 miles per hour in high school — and was considered one of the best pitching prospects of the 2019 class. He was ranked the seventh-best player and third best right-handed pitcher in the state of Michigan coming out of high school.Â
Pitt will need to lean on Evans next spring after suffering major losses to the pitching staff this offseason. Friday-night starter Mitch Myers, the ace of the staff, was drafted and signed with the Oakland Athletics, high-leverage reliever Chase Smith transferred to West Virginia and closer Jordan McCrum plus relievers Stepehen Hansen, Chris Gomez and Corey Sawyer all graduated. The Panthers will have just two pitchers who threw more than 20 innings in 2021 return next spring.
