Shaeffer Hall has been through a lot to get to this point.

Hall, a junior left-handed pitcher, was drafted in the 28th round by the Texas Rangers in the 2006 amateur draft. He transferred from junior college to Kansas after his freshman year. And now after all that, Hall has found a home in Kansas and will be the starting pitcher for the Jayhawks’ season opener this Friday against Air Force.

“Having that experience from last year, and knowing what type of hitters that are in our league will probably help a lot,” Hall said.

This season Hall will lead a radically different rotation from last year and will likely be an important player for the Jayhawks. In a conference as deep in talented teams and players as the Big 12 is, he will know not to underestimate any hitter.

“You can’t take any hitter lightly,” Hall said. “From one to nine they’re going to be tough.”

In addition to Hall, sophomore T.J. Walz will be the number two starter and freshman Lee Ridenhour will likely be the number three pitcher. The three players combine for only 17 career starts with Kansas, a shockingly low number for a unit that is to be counted on. But Hall thinks the young pitchers will perform well.

“They’re talented. I mean if they weren’t, I don’t think they’d be here,” Hall said. “I think coach Graves expects a lot out of them this year.”

Coach Ritch Price hinted that Ridenhour might see some time in the bullpen this year. Although Ridenhour won the Gatorade Kansas Baseball Player of the Year in high school as a starter, he has spent most of his baseball playing days bouncing back and forth between starting and relief pitching. But Ridenhour cares less about where and how he plays, and more about playing and pitching in general.

“Either one is fine for me, I just want to get out there and pitch as much as I can,” he said.

But with the way Price was impressed with Ridenhour’s talents, a long session in the bullpen seems unlikely.

“He’s got a great future ahead of him,” Price said. “We’ve got great hopes for him.”

Price said his team’s pitching has to improve if they have any change of success. “Obviously we’re going to have to pitch better than we did last year,” Price said. “I don’t expect us to score the same kind of number of runs from a year ago.”

— — Edited by Susan Melgren