Rotations now that Schmidt is done

[feartheplume]

I would like to see us throw Scott on Fridays and then Johnny Wholestaff them once Scott is done. Let Lee, Parke, Bridges, Murray, and whoever else, (even let destino pitch, he sure ain't hitting) and Scott get us thru Friday night. Then let Crowe and Hill throw Sat/Sun and have Bowers/Reagan/Johnson available for Sat/Sun. Basically try to win 2 out of 3 and concede the Friday night game.

PS, hate to see Schmidt go down, good luck and get well soon.

 

[CCUIrmo]

I whole heartedly disagree with that. Move Crowe and Hill up and then go johnny wholestaff on Sunday. Never concede the first game of a series, EVER!! Take game one and then maybe game 2 and hopefully Crowe and Hill go deep into games. that leaves all on table for Sundays. We already have been in to many 0-1 holes so no need to concede anything. That leaves us shorthanded as well if Crowe does not go long and then there is no one for Sunday. Win the first and go from there.

 

[USCBatgirl21]

Exactly. You NEVER Johnny Wholestaff on Fridays in the SEC, or any conference for that matter. That's Sunday and midweek stuff.

 

[feartheplume]

Valid points that you make, here is why I say give away the friday night game.

7,2,4,6,4,0 are our offensive runs produced in game 1s of SEC series. 3.8 runs on average. We are not going to score enough runs to beat anyone else's ace.

6,5,7,3,4,4 (4.8 avg) are our offensive runs produced in game 2s

10,4,5,6,6,5 (6.0 avg)are our offensive runs produced in game 3s

Seems like our offensive does manage a few more runs for game 2s and 3s, therefore lets pitch our best for those 2 games.

 

[uscbeckham]

No way.

Rotation should be Crowe, Hill and Morris.

 

[Rod Dangerfield]

Y'all..........like it matters. Just look in the dugout.

 

[feartheplume]

Just for the sake of argument, why does everyone feel like they have to their ace on Fridays? I understand you want to try to win the first one, I also understand that if gives you the best chance to "save" your bullpen. Are there any other reasons though? I've seriously wondered this strategy that all teams seem to abide by like it is an unwritten rule of college baseball.

 

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

Exactly. You NEVER Johnny Wholestaff on Fridays in the SEC, or any conference for that matter. That's Sunday and midweek stuff.

And his brother Charlie Wholestaff...

I'm now worried for Will Crowe, I'm afraid he will be over used now and throw more pitches to keep other pitchers from working his night and save them of the other games...

 

[USCBatgirl21]

And his brother Charlie Wholestaff...

I'm now worried for Will Crowe, I'm afraid he will be over used now and throw more pitches to keep other pitchers from working his night and save them of the other games...

He threw 112 vs MSU. He NEVER should have stayed out there that long. Yes, he will be overused.

 

[CCUIrmo]

That is an issue I have wondered about for a while now. Our staff has used pitchers to long for quite a while now. It works out but at some point the arms wear down. I know there are some in the bullpen that have not produced but sometimes I wonder if they could, if given more of a chance. Heck, Reagan gets in the most trouble when he goes more than 2 innings. Yet we pitch him for about 3 if possible. He has given up the big hits when out there for more than 2 innings. Our pitching has been very good for a long time so I will not question Meyers to much but do feel we need to develop other guys and to do that, they need more experience. 4-6 innings in a year is not enough to really know what they can do. They probably get to stressed worrying one mistake will keep them from pitching again for a couple of weeks so they pitch tight. More time to throw will help that. heck, cant do worse than we have been at times late in games.

 

[uscbeckham]

I don't see where USC has done anything that could be called 'wearing down' a pitcher. They've actually spread it around fairly well.

 

[sclawman77]

I don't see where USC has done anything that could be called 'wearing down' a pitcher. They've actually spread it around fairly well.

Since Crowe got hurt JM has cut down on pitch counts. Crowe used to throw 130 pitch games.

 

[uscbeckham]

Since Crowe got hurt JM has cut down on pitch counts. Crowe used to throw 130 pitch games.

He never threw 130, but you are correct about the prior overuse.

 

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/scar/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2016-17/stats/season_stats.pdf

 

[feartheplume]

Pitch count should not be as big of a deal as mechanics are. If a kid is tired (or injured) it will show in his mechanics, thats when he should come out. Not saying that its good to go out and throw 120+ every outing, but some pitchers can go further and throw more pitches than others on a regular basis. What is overuse for some is not for others. You cant use pitch count as your only criteria to define overuse. I think you have to look at mechanics, ball movement (amount of sink/cut/dive), command and pitch count in that order.

 

[sclawman77]

He never threw 130, but you are correct about the prior overuse.

In 2015 season before injury, 123 against UGA, 114 against Clemson, 111 against Miami, 119 against UK, 106 against Mizzou. Proof Meyers is reducing pitch counts-Hill had a no hitter or one-hitter against MSU a couple weeks ago thru 7 and pulled him in a tight game for Reagan. He was at or near 100 pitches.

 

[uscbeckham]

In 2015 season before injury, 123 against UGA, 114 against Clemson, 111 against Miami, 119 against UK, 106 against Mizzou.

Exactly. You really haven't seen that as much lately.

I do believe that you'll see 110-115 for Crowe from here on.

 

[bucketdad]

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/scar/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/2016-17/stats/season_stats.pdf

Dang, I could have gone all day without seeing that 'Record when trailing after each inning' stat.

 

[photontorpedotube]

Graham and Lee both looked good. I would give them a try on Sunday if Morris struggles on his next outing, which I assume will be Sunday against a hot hitting UK team.

 

[bushmastercock]

Most sec teams will go 110 to 120 with their starters if they are dialed in late. It's funny how people want to place the blame on the pitching coach at the time of the injury. There's a ton of reasons a guy could end up with arm problems from genetics, mechanics, previous use, too many breaking balls, etc. Some kids can do it no problem, some can't. Most of the time if a pitcher doesn't pickup a ball for several months, when he comes back his arm is much livelier. Trying to throw a baseball over-hand 100 plus times plus warmups and bullpens every week is not easy to do year after year without problems. It's not always the coach of records fault.

 

[Kitchenlabs]

Kentucky apparently steals a lot of bases, so they will be challenging our pitchers.

 

[roosterbell]

I think you have to move Tyler Johnson into the weekend rotation. He's already proven he can be an excellent starter. He will have to change his style a bit but he can get us to the late innings.

I'd go Crowe, Hill, and Johnson in that order. That's your best way to eat SEC innings in my opinion.

As far as closing, I'm not sure what you do. The role has been a bit unorthodox under Meyer. I do know you have to get to those late innings to give the team a chance. If you keep him at closer, he's liable not to pitch. He's too valuable to sit on the bench for all but an inning or two out of 27 innings.

 

[Garnet chicken]

Johnson just came off an injury and he is a 1 to 2 inning guy now not a starter that has to throw a lot of innings.

 

[roosterbell]

Johnson just came off an injury and he is a 1 to 2 inning guy now not a starter that has to throw a lot of innings.[/QUOTE
They say he's 100% and he hit 101 on the gun the other night. Unless he's physically out of shape, there's no reason he can't tone it back a little and be a starter.

He's done it before and I'm pretty sure he threw a complete game last year. It may not happen but he's a proven commodity.

 

[roosterbell]

Johnson just came off an injury and he is a 1 to 2 inning guy now not a starter that has to throw a lot of innings.

They say he's at 100% and considering he hit 101 on the gun the other night I'd have to agree. I seriously doubt stamina would be an issue either.

If I remember correctly, he threw a complete game last year in the regional. He might have tone it back a little but he's a proven commodity as a starter and should be considered an option.

 

[DrMickey]

Just for the sake of argument, why does everyone feel like they have to their ace on Fridays? I understand you want to try to win the first one, I also understand that if gives you the best chance to "save" your bullpen. Are there any other reasons though? I've seriously wondered this strategy that all teams seem to abide by like it is an unwritten rule of college baseball.

I have wondered this for years. Obviously, in a regional or super, you don't know how many games you will get to play, so winning the first puts you in the winners bracket. Throw your best first.

But why on earth is it written in stone that your best goes on Friday? Shoot, if the other team is throwing an obvious first round draft choice and your starter is injured, why not go with your best in games two and three?

 

[Kitchenlabs]

I have wondered this for years. Obviously, in a regional or super, you don't know how many games you will get to play, so winning the first puts you in the winners bracket. Throw your best first.

But why on earth is it written in stone that your best goes on Friday? Shoot, if the other team is throwing an obvious first round draft choice and your starter is injured, why not go with your best in games two and three?

Holding your ace until the second game is pretty common in regional play. Tanner didn't do it though.

 

[USCBatgirl21]

They say he's at 100% and considering he hit 101 on the gun the other night I'd have to agree. I seriously doubt stamina would be an issue either.

If I remember correctly, he threw a complete game last year in the regional. He might have tone it back a little but he's a proven commodity as a starter and should be considered an option.

If he's 100% he would have come in on Saturday, and we wouldn't have heard that we couldn't use him because he pitched too much on Friday.

 

[roosterbell]

If he's 100% he would have come in on Saturday, and we wouldn't have heard that we couldn't use him because he pitched too much on Friday.

He threw 39 pitches on Friday which is a pretty high count for a closer. That may have been a bit too many to expect him to come back and be effective the next day.

As you know, most true closers pitch the ninth or maybe come in with 2 outs in the 8th. He pitched 2 innings and faced a lot of hitters because he struggled a bit.

If he'd thrown 15/20 pitches, he'd most likely have been ready Saturday. Im pretty sure It wasn't because he's not 100%.

 

[JGH 35]

Since we can't hit and can't score runs, I don't think the pitching rotation is going to matter much. You can't win if you can't score.

 

[winloseortie]

For the even older than me old timers........ Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.

 

[mdsalt2004]

I have wondered this for years. Obviously, in a regional or super, you don't know how many games you will get to play, so winning the first puts you in the winners bracket. Throw your best first.

But why on earth is it written in stone that your best goes on Friday? Shoot, if the other team is throwing an obvious first round draft choice and your starter is injured, why not go with your best in games two and three?

I agree, if the Friday night guy is a stud, try to win sat and Sunday and hope u get lucky on Friday.

 

[usc#11]

I have wondered this for years. Obviously, in a regional or super, you don't know how many games you will get to play, so winning the first puts you in the winners bracket. Throw your best first.

But why on earth is it written in stone that your best goes on Friday? Shoot, if the other team is throwing an obvious first round draft choice and your starter is injured, why not go with your best in games two and three?

 

[usc#11]

Hill, Crowe & Parke

 

[usc#11]

I am looking for the next Roth. Both are lefties and from Greenville. I believe Parke is a couple inches taller and about 5-10 pounds heavier. I guess I can dream.

 

[goldengamecock]

Still worried more about our offense than our pitching

 

[92Pony]

Still worried more about our offense than our pitching

Truth. If we could score runs, our pitching and D would be adequate most nights.