Pitching this week

[msstate7]

So who you think the starters are this week?

[CadaverDawg]

Preston midweek. Bracewell, Fitts, Woody/Wholestaff

[preachermatt83]

I think this.....

Cohen's Starters will look like this..

Bracewell- Mid-week
Woody- Friday
Fitts- Saturday
Hudson- Sunday( surely he has seen that Hudson is not ready to be a weekend starter... but I doubt it)

What it SHOULD BE... But it wont be...

Mid-week- Hudson
Fri- Bracewell (he is our best starter right now)
Sat- Fitts
Sunday- Brown

[CadaverDawg]

No way in hell should Preston Brown start an SEC game.

[maroonmania]

I think this.....

Cohen's Starters will look like this..

Bracewell- Mid-week
Woody- Friday
Fitts- Saturday
Hudson- Sunday( surely he has seen that Hudson is not ready to be a weekend starter... but I doubt it)

What it SHOULD BE... But it wont be...

Mid-week- Hudson
Fri- Bracewell (he is our best starter right now)
Sat- Fitts
Sunday- Brown

You beat me to it but that is EXACTLY the rotation I was going to list. Based on what's been EARNED I would go with
Fri. - Bracewell
Sat. - Fitts
Sun. - Brown or maybe Sexton but Brown has the extra year in the program.

Woody needs to go to the pen. He's not ready yet to take on the pressure of an SEC starter. Maybe later in the year we can try him starting again.

[preachermatt83]

No way in hell should Preston Brown start an SEC game.

why? Only other option is to pull Lingo out of the pen but I think he performs better out of the pen. Seton and Hudson certainly aren't ready and Woody is just not nearly as good as we thought.

[maroonmania]

Preston midweek. Bracewell, Fitts, Woody/Wholestaff

Why not? He's been a heck of a lot more effective that either Woody or Dakota. If not Brown I would go with Sexton. If we start Woody in the SEC with the way he has pitched then we are just throwing in the towel.

[preachermatt83]

You beat me to it but that is EXACTLY the rotation I was going to list. Based on what's been EARNED I would go with
Fri. - Bracewell
Sat. - Fitts
Sun. - Brown or maybe Sexton but Brown has the extra year in the program.

Woody needs to go to the pen. He's not ready yet to take on the pressure of an SEC starter. Maybe later in the year we can try him starting again.

Exactly.

[Todd4State]

I think this.....

Cohen's Starters will look like this..

Bracewell- Mid-week
Woody- Friday
Fitts- Saturday
Hudson- Sunday( surely he has seen that Hudson is not ready to be a weekend starter... but I doubt it)

What it SHOULD BE... But it wont be...

Mid-week- Hudson
Fri- Bracewell (he is our best starter right now)
Sat- Fitts
Sunday- Brown

You're WAY off. Cadaver is more correct.

He's not going to pitch Ben midweek and there have been talks that he will be the Friday starter. Cohen has already moved Woodruff back- I wouldn't be surprised if he pitches Saturday, but Sunday is also possible and just as likely. Fitts is the other day that Woodruff doesn't pitch. Hudson is the fourth guy. If Woodruff can't get it together, I suspect we'll then see Hudson, Sexton, and possibly Preston Brown. If Preston does well against USM and Ole Miss midweek- he could certainly land the Sunday job.

[CadaverDawg]

You guys are seeing Brown pitch good against midweek teams and it's warping your brain. There's a reason Brown is midweek. He is not ready to start a SEC weekend. Woody will step up this weekend, watch. I just hope it's on Sunday as we go for the sweep

[Todd4State]

You beat me to it but that is EXACTLY the rotation I was going to list. Based on what's been EARNED I would go with
Fri. - Bracewell
Sat. - Fitts
Sun. - Brown or maybe Sexton but Brown has the extra year in the program.

Woody needs to go to the pen. He's not ready yet to take on the pressure of an SEC starter. Maybe later in the year we can try him starting again.

Since our defense let Woodruff down this weekend, I'll give him a pass- but his leash is short.

[Todd4State]

You guys are seeing Brown pitch good against midweek teams and it's warping your brain. There's a reason Brown is midweek. He is not ready to start a SEC weekend. Woody will step up this weekend, watch. I just hope it's on Sunday as we go for the sweep

He shut out a decent at worst South Alabama team. But like I said- if Preston does well against the more difficult mid week teams, Ole Miss in particular and we don't have an answer for Sunday- it will be hard not to go to him. I do agree that Woodruff should get a start. It's not like he's the only starter that we had that got shelled this weekend.

I think the key to succeeding with our pitching staff is knowing our pitchers limits. Ben is a five inning guy. Fitts can go seven- which is one reason why I like him Saturday. Using Ben on Friday means using Ross, Cox, Lindgren, Holder, etc for four innings. As I have said before- I like matching Woodruff up on the other teams #3 so that can take some pressure off of him- but I would still probably limit him to five innings as well. If he improves as the season goes along, I would possibly try to stretch him out.

[bully99]

I think holder is now in play as a starter 4 or 5 innings.

[Todd4State]

I think holder is now in play as a starter 4 or 5 innings.

Possibly, but I think Cohen was doing whatever he could to win the game- as he has done in the past. Like when he brought Holder in the 2nd or 3rd against Ole Miss. We have two legit closers in Holder and Lindgren though- whereas we only had one last year.

I think we are going to exhaust all of our options with Woodruff first though- the coaches have said that they think he is pretty close to being back.

[Will James]

I think holder is now in play as a starter 4 or 5 innings.

Disagree

[Will James]

Gotta be Bracewell/Ross Friday.... Fitts/Gentry/Cox Saturday.... Woodruff/Lingo (as Girodo in the 3rd inning)/everyone Sunday

After Woody bows out again let Lindgren start Fridays

[Goat Holder]

Lindgren is going to pitch every game, every inning, just like tittyball

[Todd4State]

Gotta be Bracewell/Ross Friday.... Fitts/Gentry/Cox Saturday.... Woodruff/Lingo (as Girodo in the 3rd inning)/everyone Sunday

After Woody bows out again let Lindgren start Fridays

I want Lindgren to go the Chris Stratton route REALLY bad. In a perfect world it would be

Lindgren
Fitts
Woodruff (healthy and 100%)

Then we could use Ben midweek and also out of the bullpen.

[maroonmania]

I don't understand why so many of you STILL want to start Woodruff in the SEC after he has had problems in every start this year but one and that was against a HC team playing their FIRST game of the year. Woodruff needs to go to the pen until he regains some confidence. I would start Hudson or Sexton over him right now on Sunday if Brown can't get a shot and if they get in trouble THEN bring in Woodruff. I know Cohen well enough to know that is NOT how he will do it. He will pitch Woody because he's a JR but Woody is getting knocked around right now like a Batting Practice pitcher.

[CadaverDawg]

I don't understand why so many of you STILL want to start Woodruff in the SEC after he has had problems in every start this year but one and that was against a HC team playing their FIRST game of the year. Woodruff needs to go to the pen until he regains some confidence. I would start Hudson or Sexton over him right now on Sunday if Brown can't get a shot and if they get in trouble THEN bring in Woodruff. I know Cohen well enough to know that is NOT how he will do it. He will pitch Woody because he's a JR but Woody is getting knocked around right now like a Batting Practice pitcher.

Girodo was getting shelled until the middle of his Senior year, and then BOOM....MVP. You can't scrap Woody's talent. He hasn't pitched nearly as bad as you make it out. He may not regain it, but with his talent, you have to at least keep giving him a shot into SEC play. He isn't out there throwing 12 straight balls like Evan Mitchell...he's not quite head case status yet. I just think you keep showing him you believe in him, and he may surprise us. Even if he can give us 3 strong innings, you take it and then piggy back a Lindgren, Mitchell, Gentry, Cox. That's my feelings anyway.

[Todd4State]

I don't understand why so many of you STILL want to start Woodruff in the SEC after he has had problems in every start this year but one and that was against a HC team playing their FIRST game of the year. Woodruff needs to go to the pen until he regains some confidence. I would start Hudson or Sexton over him right now on Sunday if Brown can't get a shot and if they get in trouble THEN bring in Woodruff. I know Cohen well enough to know that is NOT how he will do it. He will pitch Woody because he's a JR but Woody is getting knocked around right now like a Batting Practice pitcher.

I know their stats are better, but neither Sexton nor Hudson has pitched significantly better to me to warrant starting them either. Teams are hitting over .300 against Hudson- and he only lasted an inning today. Woodruff's last start was actually better than his start. Sexton has been good, then bad, then good, then bad. But the biggest thing is they are freshmen- and unless you have a Paul Maholm, pitching freshmen in the rotation is usually a recipe for disaster. I think Hudson, Sexton, and Tatum for that matter are all going to be SEC weekend starters and Zac Houston will probably end up being our closer- but they simply are not ready yet for the SEC and starting every weekend. When they face really good hitters every weekend it becomes a grind for them because they aren't used to seeing more than 1-2 really good hitters per team in high school.

Woodruff's problem right now is command- and unfortunately we can't send him on a rehab assignment to Meridian CC like they do in MLB. So, the choice is to either let him work through it or sit him. He's not missing by very much- so my thinking is he is likely pretty close to getting it back.

What I would do if I was Cohen is I would tell Woodruff that he is starting and to give us three innings or one time through the order. That's it. Just like Trevor and Girodo last year. What I think/hope that will do is cause him to drop his payload on the hitters and give him some confidence going forward. It should be easier on him because he won't have to save anything for the next at bat.

[Will James]

Woodruff is walking people at around a 20% rate. That's higher than Detz's walk rate last year.

[msstate7]

Woodruff is walking people at around a 20% rate. That's higher than Detz's walk rate last year.
Ouch

[Lefthandersrule]

I think it's going to be Ben Friday, Fitts Saturday, and Woody Sunday. You use Ross, Lingo ,and Holder Friday and Sunday to back up the starters and everyone else on midweek and Saturday.

[maroonmania]

Girodo was getting shelled until the middle of his Senior year, and then BOOM....MVP. You can't scrap Woody's talent. He hasn't pitched nearly as bad as you make it out. He may not regain it, but with his talent, you have to at least keep giving him a shot into SEC play. He isn't out there throwing 12 straight balls like Evan Mitchell...he's not quite head case status yet. I just think you keep showing him you believe in him, and he may surprise us. Even if he can give us 3 strong innings, you take it and then piggy back a Lindgren, Mitchell, Gentry, Cox. That's my feelings anyway.

Girodo is not a good comparison because he never started an SEC game in his entire career. I'm fine with bringing in Woody out of the pen (like Girodo) and if improvement is shown giving him another chance to start later on. Sorry, but right now the better comparisons ARE Evan Mitchell and Devin Jones. I know Cohen wants the light to click on for Woody like it did with Chris Stratton after his sophomore slump. BUT even Chris Stratton got removed from starting in his JR year until he showed effectiveness and THEN he was moved back into the Friday night starter role. I'm not saying give up on Woody forever, I just think he will progress better with the SEC starter role pressure taken off his back for right now.

[Homedawg]

Gotta be Bracewell/Ross Friday.... Fitts/Gentry/Cox Saturday.... Woodruff/Lingo (as Girodo in the 3rd inning)/everyone Sunday

After Woody bows out again let Lindgren start Fridays

I agree w the first part for sure. And I don't disagree w the second, but I love lindgren in the pen. He and holder are a great tandem. But we have to have a starter and something has to give.

[Goat Holder]

BUT even Chris Stratton got removed from starting in his JR year until he showed effectiveness and THEN he was moved back into the Friday night starter role.
Stratton got removed before the season began though. I went back and looked, and Stratton started every single weekend his sophomore year. For some reason I remember him getting completely pulled. But I think most of them were just short stints. Anyway, he came out his junior year and earned himself the Friday role, and didn't start a game until LSU. And most of his stints up to that point were 5-6 innings. Nobody's done that yet, nobody has earned that type of distinction except Real Deal and he's staying in the pen no matter what. You could say Lindgren, but I'm not sure even he has shown true Friday night stuff, he's been roughed up a tad too.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

Stratton got removed before the season began though. I went back and looked, and Stratton started every single weekend his sophomore year. For some reason I remember him getting completely pulled. But I think most of them were just short stints. Anyway, he came out his junior year and earned himself the Friday role, and didn't start a game until LSU. And most of his stints up to that point were 5-6 innings. Nobody's done that yet, nobody has earned that type of distinction except Real Deal and he's staying in the pen no matter what. You could say Lindgren, but I'm not sure even he has shown true Friday night stuff, he's been roughed up a tad too.

Hasn't Lindgren just had one poor outing? Other than that he has completely dominated. He should be starting.

[Goat Holder]

Maybe so, but MY point is that he's not on the Stratton 2012 wavelength yet. Stratton dominated everyone he faced in 2012 to earn his shot.

[maroonmania]

Stratton got removed before the season began though. I went back and looked, and Stratton started every single weekend his sophomore year. For some reason I remember him getting completely pulled. But I think most of them were just short stints. Anyway, he came out his junior year and earned himself the Friday role, and didn't start a game until LSU. And most of his stints up to that point were 5-6 innings. Nobody's done that yet, nobody has earned that type of distinction except Real Deal and he's staying in the pen no matter what. You could say Lindgren, but I'm not sure even he has shown true Friday night stuff, he's been roughed up a tad too.

That's my point, after Stratton went bad as a sophomore he EARNED his way back as the Friday night starter as a JR. Now yes, Woody went bad as a sophomore mostly due to not being healthy, but I think its a mistake to just coronate him as the SEC friday night starter against GA after the struggles he has had so far this year. Bracewell HAS EARNED the right at this point to start on Friday nights in the SEC, Woody really hasn't earned to start in the SEC at all this year but I will agree that our options on Sunday, as far as putting a proven commodity out there, is pretty limited.

[Sandman14]

Lindgren has earned a million times more than Woodruff.

Bracewell is your Friday starter, no doubt. Either go to Ross or directly to Holder.

[Goat Holder]

I agree on his coronation. He was pretty filthy in practice though, so I'll give them that. If I was a coach, I would take the returning players from the previous year, and roll over whatever was working there at the end. Fitts or Lindgren would have been my Friday night guy from the beginning. I never saw the logic in putting Lindgren in the pen, but that's just me. I always thought Bracewell was much better served in the bullpen....we've tried him as a starter numerous times and it never worked. Either way, my rotation would have been Fitts/Lindgren, then Woodruff on Sunday, basically because we had no other proven arms to throw on Sunday. Then go from there.

But I'm no multi-millionaire coach either.

[Will James]

Lindgren to the pen was illogical unless he was getting AT MINIMUM 5 critical innings over a weekend.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

Just go Lindgren + Holder on Fridays. Fitts + Mitchell on Saturdays and Bracewell + Cox + Gentry on Sundays.