AUBURN | Auburn opened full-squad practices Friday with the two pitchers Butch Thompson wants to build this year’s team around taking the mound.

With the season-opener just three weeks away, Joseph Gonzalez and Chase Allsup faced each other with a few innings apiece.

“Him and Allsup have a chance to be two of those anchors for this pitching staff,” said AU coach Butch Thompson. “Just continuing to see Joseph get stronger. We held him till the fall, but he’s been throwing for quite a while. He’s probably more advanced than some of our pitchers with arm shape even though he’s coming off the injury last year.

“Allsup seems like he’s in that third year of growth where you see somebody take off. You want that to happen for him.”

Gonzalez, who underwent shoulder surgery and passed on an opportunity to sign with a MLB team during the offseason, is back for his senior season.

He started only one game as a junior, throwing 5.0 shutout innings, but was 7-4 with a 3.22 ERA in 14 starts in 2022.

“I think he’s going to be really, really healthy, healthier than he’s been in a long time with some of these things nagging since high school in the same spot,” said Thompson. “We’ll cautiously bring him along. His body has never looked better. He’s absolutely worked his body in a better place, so that adds value to him. There’s a look in his eye like I have never seen before.

“Our biggest challenge, and it may be a challenge, is he’s throwing noticeably harder. His calling card of identity was a true sinker. I feel like the industry may be working back to that where it can play more than maybe it did when we played all this vertical stuff. It’s not sinking as much and he’s throwing a lot harder. Is the ball going to be elevated more and not sink as much because he’s throwing harder? Is this a new identity? Will he settle back and it start sinking again with the more pitches that he throws or is he going to be in an identity crisis? I think that’s the first thing I’m looking at now because he’s come back healthier.”

Auburn opens the season Feb. 16 with a three-games series against Eastern Kentucky.