After announcing reliever-turned-starter Dylan Thomas was moving back to the closer’s role, Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso indicated he is not ruling out other switches.

There is a possibility freshman Tyler Best might get a look as a center fielder. Three weeks ago, Best moved from second base to right field, a position he had not played since he was 12 years old. Best has made several acrobatic catches in right.

“He gives us a lot of options if he can play (center) because he can cover a lot of ground,” Trapasso said.

The Rainbow Warriors have used left fielder Scotty Scott and utility player Daylen Calicdan in center after Adam Fogel was diagnosed with a season-ending shoulder injury.

Another last-case scenario would be to move first baseman Alex Baeza to left field, allowing Scott to play center and opening the way for Baeza, Logan Pouelsen and Brennen Hancock to be in the same lineup. Pouelsen and Hancock have experience at first.

“That’s something that would be out of character for me because I’m not one who sacrifices offense for defense, especially at home,” said Trapasso, noting Baeza is a gifted fielder at first base.

Trapasso is hopeful third baseman Ethan Lopez, shortstop Maaki Yamazaki and catcher Dallas Duarte have conquered ailments and will play in tonight’s opener of a four-game series against Cal State Bakersfield at Les Murakami Stadium.

The initial plan for the season was for Duarte and Tyler Murray to split time at catcher, freeing Duarte to also play second or in the outfield. Murray’s hand injury delayed that plan, and when he returned, Duarte suffered a sprained ankle.

Despite the injuries and squandering 3-1 and 7-4 leads in two losses to Oregon the past weekend, Trapasso has remained optimistic.

“I think we’re close to being a very good club,” Trapasso said. “The last two games were brutal, but you have to keep it in perspective. We played good baseball (against Oregon), and one inning each game, we had a couple guys who struggled out of the bullpen. It doesn’t mean we played a bad game. It means we had a bad inning out of the bullpen. My job is to fix that area. That’s what we’re going to do. As long as Dylan (Thomas) is Dylan, it’s fixed.”

Thomas, who led the Big West with 14 saves in 2018, will be available in an expanded role as a reliever. In 43 relief appearances the previous two seasons, Thomas pitched three or more innings twice. This season, he pitched five innings of relief against Iowa, and seven and six innings, respectively, as a starter.

“Dylan, as a closer, will not be used in a ninth-inning situation only,” Trapasso said. “We’re not going to have our best pitcher in the back of the bullpen waiting for someone to get to the ninth. If that means bringing him in early, we’ll be doing that. We’ll bring him in whenever we think we have to bring him in to win the game.”