Apr 6, 2023; Auburn, AL, USA; Head Coach Butch Thompson during the game between Auburn and Texas A&M at Plainsman Park. Mandatory Credit: Jacob Taylor/AU AthleticsA few moments after a marathon finale ended and Auburn’s vastly disappointing baseball season came to a conclusion, head coach Butch Thompson described it to the media as a learning year.The adjustments will come on the mound, where Auburn experienced an extremely trying year.
In his season-ending press conference, Thompson made it quite clear that in a search to find answers, he’s going to look elsewhere. If there is a benefit, so to speak, of Auburn’s early end to the 2024 season, Thompson said it may be the head start he’ll get on recruiting. He said that is his “singular focus” at this point.
Thompson implied during the 2024 season that junior Chase Allsup — Auburn’s original Friday night starter who vastly improved over the final weeks of the season — could be headed to the MLB Draft this summer. Redshirt junior Joseph Gonzalez, who led Auburn’s pitching staff to the College World Series in 2022, went through Senior Night festivities against Alabama. He has not maintained consistent health and when he has pitched, he has not regained his 2022 form.
It was bad. Really bad. And Thompson knew there wasn’t much he could do for a wholesale fix this season.