“One of my favorite phrases,” said Rich Hill, who enters his fourth season as the University of Hawaii’s head baseball coach, “is ‘all will be revealed.’”

There will be a partial unveiling today when the Rainbow Warriors begin training camp ahead of the Feb. 14 season opener against Marshall.

After an offseason of rebooting the 40-player roster and spreading fall workouts over various sites, the 20-hours-a-week practices will be on the newly installed artificial surface at Les Murakami Stadium. The turf already has received positive reactions from recruits on the continent.

“To bring Hawaii baseball and Hawaii to life through pictures and videos on Instagram and Twitter is something that’s at the top of the list for us,” Hill said. “We’ve had pretty remarkable reviews so far.”

Because of the turf installation, the ’Bows moved the start of fall training to early September, after which they held field workouts at Moanalua High School and other locales. They continued weight-lifting training on campus. “The strength program did not not skip a beat,” Hill said. “It probably got better.”

The ’Bows also had to restructure the pitching staff after Randy Abshier and Connor Harrison graduated, and Harrison Bodendorf, Alex Giroux and Brayden Marx transferred. They accounted for 35 of the ’Bows’ 53 starts in 2024. Abshier has joined the UH support staff as a graduate manager.

Hill said sophomores Itsuki Takemoto and Sebastian Gonzalez are at the front of the pitching rotation.

Last year, the Japan-reared Takemoto was 3-1 with 37 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings. He hit .313 in four games as a designated hitter. Last summer, Takemoto was named winner of the Whitehouse Award as the Cape Cod Baseball League’s top pitcher. Pitching for the Orleans Firebirds, Takemoto was 3-1 with a 0.71 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. He averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

“Itsuki has all the accolades,” said Hill, who also plans to use Takemoto as the designated hitter.

Gonzalez had a 3.19 ERA in 13 games, including two starts, but was held out the last month of the 2024 season after experiencing tenderness in his left (pitching) forearm. “I think he has a great future,” Hill said.

Hill said right-handed freshman Cooper Walls, who turned down “significant money from MLB teams, is a contender for a starting spot. Other considerations are Gonzaga transfer Liam O’Brien, whose fastball was clocked at 97 mph during a fall scrimmage; Zac Tenn, who was 4-0 with a 1.02 ERA in 13 relief appearances last year; and Cal Poly transfer Freddie Rodriguez, who was named the West Coast League’s pitcher of the year last summer. Josiah Shipley is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss this season.

“Like we always do,” Hill said of his 20-pitcher staff, “we’ll figure it out, and find eight guys who are going to get significant innings.”

The infield appears set with Ben Zeigler-Namoa at first, Cal State Northridge transfer Shunsuke Sakaino at second, Elijah Ickes at third and Jordan Donahue at shortstop. Donahue, who hit .349 last season, opted to return instead of pursuing a free-agent opportunity. Last year, Sakaino committed two errors in 52 games while batting .308 with a career-high 60 hits. Aidan Kuni, who was named the ‘Ohana World Series offensive MVP, is available at first or designated hitter.

Matt Miura, who did not make an error in 112 chances last season, returns as the center fielder. Jared Quandt, Jack Salmon (exit bat speed of 103.3 mph), Britton Beeson (Orange Empire player of the year), and Will Bowen are contenders as corner outfielders.

Konnor Palmeira and Hunter Faildo are battling to succeed catcher Dallas Duarte. Palmeira, a Kamehameha-Maui graduate, began his career at UH. He then played at Everett Community College before transferring to Cal State Bakersfield.

Despite roster moves and installation work, Hill said there was an easy adjustment leading to the opening of spring-semester practices.

“It was a feeling of we’ve been here before,” Hill said. “The newness of everything and the introduction of things wasn’t as profound, obviously, in our fourth year into it. It’s that veteran position-player group that had a real attitude of business as usual, and now is the time to ramp it up a little bit more.”