Solid win. And a nice 123 bot9, lol.
Printable View
Solid win. And a nice 123 bot9, lol.
Did what we had to do tonight, 5 game winning streak!
And the "closer" gets it done!
Wrap it in MAROON AND WHITE!!! Tyler Davis with the close!!!!
Really nice streak! Backend of our pitchers were solid, good to see!
And don't look now but we've started finishing close games.
Very solid! Nice job guys!
The good- we won, which means we didn't screw the game up and our RPI went up 3 points.
The bad- Pico didn't build on Alcorn which is why I am glad we were able to try him out this game to see how he would respond to better competition. I think with Hardin (and Davis) emerging as closers we need to go ahead and make Nolan Stevens the Sunday guy. We still may be able to use Pico but it probably needs to be in relief for one inning at a time.
I went back and watched Hardins last few outings just to make sure my eyes haven't been deceiving me. That 2 seam fastball with arm side run and sink, the cutter(no batter seems to read spin on it), and the breaking ball have all become plus pitches. It's like he's not even the same pitcher from last year. Amazing what a pitching coach that lets you use your strengths and not just throw 4 seamers up and breaking balls off the plate can do! Credit to Hardin he's obviously worked his butt off and the confidence he's showing on the mound is incredible!
Naw if you're up by 10 you don't want to wast one of your real pitchers, lol!
In all seriousness it's a shame he hasn't worked out for him and us. Seen it to many times in the past(not just state but all over). Just can't harness it. Braves had a young pitcher years ago named Luis Rivera and he threw upper 90s when not many did then. I remember Chipper hitting against him in spring and said he had "pure cheddar". He never realized that potential though.
I wish Stevens would have been getting more chances early. He looked really good very early, but it’s kinda late now and it may be iffy.
As you know 24, 96/97 fastballs need to have some movements or at least not thrown right down Broadway. LOL. H
He just hasn’t developed at MSU.