The South Carolina baseball team has announced that lefthanded pitcher Jake McCoy will undergo surgery for a torn ulnar collateral ligament and miss the 2026 season.
McCoy fanned 77 batters in 60 IP in 2025. Head coach Paul Mainieri anticipated McCoy would again be a part of the weekend rotation for USC and had high hopes that McCoy would “take a big step forward” after developing a changeup in the offseason to complement his 97 mph fastball. The Gamecocks will instead have to wait until McCoy recovers from surgery to see if he can live up to the potential he flashed at the tail end of last season as he picked up victories over Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Kentucky.
From USC release:
In his two seasons at Carolina, McCoy has made 26 appearances on the mound with 15 starts, 14 of them in his sophomore season. The Fort Mill, S.C., native has 97 strikeouts in 76 innings pitched in his career, including a career-high 12 against Clemson on March 1, 2025. He struck out seven or more batters seven times in his career. He made three appearances in the Cape Cod League this past summer, striking out 25 batters in 12.1 innings pitched. He also was the No. 63 draft prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft by MLB Pipeline.
“I’m disappointed to share that I’ll be out for the 2026 season after suffering a UCL tear that will require Tommy John surgery,” McCoy said. “Even though I can’t pitch, I’m still going to be with the guys every day—supporting them, staying locked in, and doing whatever I can to help the team. Thank you to all the Carolina fans for having my back through this; your support means everything to me.”
“My heart breaks for Jake because I knew that this was going to be a very important year for him,” South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri said. “He’s worked so hard at becoming the best pitcher he can be and worked so hard on developing a changeup this offseason that we all thought was going to make him a more complete pitcher. He obviously has a great arm and I felt that he was going to blossom this year, so it’s a shame that he’s going to have to go through this. I also am very confident that he’ll recover from this and go on to have a terrific career in baseball. His character and work ethic and all the care he will receive will add up to having a great career.”