Three weeks before the Feb. 15 opener against Portland, the Hawaii baseball team has decided Dylan Thomas will throw the first pitch.

Thomas, who led the Big West with 14 saves last season, has made the transition to starting pitcher. “This was something we’ve been considering for the whole fall and spring,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said. “I have gone back and forth on it. Two weeks ago, I was leaning more to him being the closer. But a lot of things went into it. The last couple scrimmages — really, our five or six scrimmages — just looking at the makeup of the staff, it was better with him at the front end.”

Thomas turned down an offer from the Minnesota Twins to return to UH for his junior season. In UH’s preseason training, he has worked on increasing his endurance. He threw 55 pitches in Wednesday’s scrimmage, and is on track to reach 90 pitches — a starter’s goal — in the final scrimmage before the opener. He said he is poised to “go six or seven (innings) out of the gate.”

Thomas said the three weeks’ notice will allow him to “get into a routine of some sort going into the start of the year.” Last season, he relied mostly on a slider and 90 mph fastball. He said he has developed a change-up, and expects his fastball’s velocity to increase with the arm strength gained from his expanded role. Thomas said he was a starting pitcher in high school.

“I have a comfort level seeing him out there to start a game,” Trapasso said.