Rees gets spot in ’Bows’ rotation

For the third road trip of the baseball season, Hawaii is packing a new pitching rotation.

Jackson Rees, a junior right-hander, will start Saturday’s Big West game against Cal State Northridge, replacing Dominic DeMiero in the rotation. Brendan Hornung and Neil Uskali will pitch in their usual spots on Friday and Sunday.

UH coach Mike Trapasso said the left-handed DeMiero is a “little sore, a little tender in the (pitching) elbow,” though Rees probably would have started anyway.

DeMiero had four quality starts — seven innings, three or fewer runs — in his first six games. But in the past three starts, all against Big West opponents, he twice did not last past three innings. After allowing six walks in the first nine games, he issued four — including three in the sixth inning — against UC Davis this past weekend.

Trapasso said DeMiero is undergoing treatment with the athletic trainer. DeMiero will make the road trip, with the hope he will be available as a reliever. The ’Bows have one other available lefty, Matt Estes, who has pitched three innings in six appearances this season.

“If (DeMiero) can come out of the bullpen and we can get a left-hander out there, that would be great,” Trapasso said. “We’ll have to wait and see how he feels.”

Rees has started six games and relieved in three others with polar results. As a starter, he is 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. As a reliever, he has an 11.17 ERA and 2.48 WHIP.

“It’s such a small sample size coming out of of the bullpen,” Trapasso said of Rees’ discrepancies. But “You would sure be able to draw that conclusion by the numbers of when he’s started compared to when he’s come out of the bullpen. Although it’s only been a couple times out of the bullpen, there’s no doubt he’s been good for us starting. We have all the faith in the world in him to go out and have a good outing.”

Rees has pitched well in afternoon games (1.56 ERA), particularly in performances at Les Murakami Stadium.

“I got used to the heat here,” said Rees, who transferred from Saddleback College in August. “It was a little toasty when I pitched. It was a little warmer than what I’m used to. There was no breeze. It was really hot and humid. I would come into the dugout and try to cool off, and I’d look over and I could see heat coming off the field. But I started to adjust.”

Rees’ start on Saturday begins at 1 p.m. Pacific time. According to Google, the temperature is predicted to be 86 degrees at the time of the first pitch.