This is exhibit A of why I hate the SEC Tournament

[Todd4State]

We had to throw Luke Laster and in this day and age where arm injuries are becoming the focal point, he is forced to throw almost 120 pitches. Why? Because of the stupid SEC Tournament format and we had to save pitching. Had we lost, we might have been screwed over as a three seed so we had to play and do what we needed to do to win.

The current SEC Tournament format is irresponsibly dangerous- and in the hometown of Dr. Andrew's no less.

Either make it single elimination, or do away with the SEC Tournament.

Teams 1-12 make it with the top four getting a bye.

Teams 5-12 play four games on a Thursday with the winners going on to play the top four teams on Friday. So, four games on Friday. The winners of those games go on to play Saturday to go to the Championship Game. So, 2 games on Saturday. Championship Game on Sunday.

That way the MAX number of starting pitchers anyone has to use is four.

The way the Regionals, SR, and CWS are set-up- no one has to go beyond four pitchers anyway. So, why does the SEC think there is a need to burn up arms to try to get ready for the regional format that hasn't been around since the 1990's? And Omaha is so spread out, you can win that with 2-3 starters easily.

[whosyourdawgy]

If Detz catches that damn double play ball, we more than likely don't go in to extas and Laster gets the W on 120 pitches. Of all the coaches, Cohen and Butch aren't gonna throw one of our guys too much. Laster doesn't throw hard, a little Rossesque. So, maybe he will be one of those complete game types for us??

[Todd4State]

I'm not criticizing Butch and Cohen. They are forced to make a bad decision because of the SEC format. And every other coach in the SEC is forced to make the same unsafe decision. All so the SEC can make some money on a pointless tournament.

It's either play to win and extend your pitcher or lose and risk the wrath of the committee.

Heck- Bianco will probably make Chris Ellis throw 150.

[ClancyDawg]

I think 120 was perfectly fine tonight. He wasn't out there for very long innings. Teams don't HAVE to throw their starters for that long, there's so much depth that you shouldn't have any problems making it through a tourney.

[RougeDawg]

I somewhat agree. The current setup is not conducive to helping out the pitchers, any way you slice it. something needs to be done. either a monday/tuesday first round, then wed/thur second round or somehing similar, to give the teams who play first a day of rest.

[justwin]

$. why have a 11 game tournament when you can have a 17 game one?

[messageboardsuperhero]

I'm not a fan of the SEC tournament format either.

On the bright side, Laster has been a Godsend for us. I feel pretty comfortable with a rotation of Fitts-Mitchell-Laster. If we can score four or five runs a game, our pitching could allow us to really make some noise in the NCAAs.

[Todd4State]

I'm not a fan of the SEC tournament format either.

On the bright side, Laster has been a Godsend for us. I feel pretty comfortable with a rotation of Fitts-Mitchell-Laster. If we can score four or five runs a game, our pitching could allow us to really make some noise in the NCAAs.

Totally agree. We should have started Laster instead of Preston Brown against Alabama. We needed someone to step up for us and Laster has done that.

[Todd4State]

I think 120 was perfectly fine tonight. He wasn't out there for very long innings. Teams don't HAVE to throw their starters for that long, there's so much depth that you shouldn't have any problems making it through a tourney.

I don't have a problem throwing him 120. I do have a problem with the fact that we were forced to because of the tournament format.

We could have put Lindgren or Holder in earlier- which is typically what we did during the regular season. But then we risk burning up Lindgren and Holder for Fitts start. If we pitch someone else like Bracewell, Woodruff, or Gentry and they don't do all that well, then Cohen and Butch would have gotten questioned big time. And even moreso had we been eliminated and ended up a three seed somewhere.

[Todd4State]

$. why have a 11 game tournament when you can have a 17 game one?

Simple fix- raise ticket prices. Some people would complain, but with less games, it should come out in the wash.

[MetEdDawg]

Imagine if Ray Tanner gets what he wants and all 14 teams are in the tournament. That would be a cluster.

I think the first two days should be single elimination, then you could go to double after that. That way in two days you eliminate 8 teams. Then you go double elimination with the final 4 teams after that and it would be easy to do with a winners and losers bracket. You could be done in a total of 4 days, not 6, but it would require one or two DH days. Still like that better over the current format.

To me the problem is actually something that we might benefit from, and that's using the tournament as an RPI boost to get you in a better seeding or hosting spot. I don't like that as of today with the current format, 8 teams right now have the potential to play 3 extra games in a tournament. To me that's too many. Do single the first two days and that way only 4 teams have that possibility. Makes the regular season more meaningful in my opinion and doesn't give the tournament too much power and weight at the end of the season.

[Coach34]

These guys are 20 years old

Playing 5 days in a row is only done by a couple of teams- most teams play 1, 2, or 3 games...and the teams that make it to 4-5 games have depth. No excuse for these guys not to handle it

We're getting too pussified about pitch counts and bullshit

[Goat Holder]

These guys are 20 years old

Playing 5 days in a row is only done by a couple of teams- most teams play 1, 2, or 3 games...and the teams that make it to 4-5 games have depth. No excuse for these guys not to handle it

We're getting too pussified about pitch counts and bullshit

Thank you Coach34.

Nothing wrong with 5-6 games, it's supposed to be hard and taxing to win the SEC tournament. Does the format need to be revamped? Yes, I think so. Either scale it to 10 games or include all 14.

[Homedawg]

These guys are 20 years old

Playing 5 days in a row is only done by a couple of teams- most teams play 1, 2, or 3 games...and the teams that make it to 4-5 games have depth. No excuse for these guys not to handle it

We're getting too pussified about pitch counts and bullshit

I'm on board w this. Think about 30 yrs or so ago, mlb staffs were 4 man rotations, and set up men and closers weren't heard of then. Also, bob Gibson and those in his era,not only threw more complete games but they did it off a 13" mound which puts more stress on the arm. Amazing all those things were in place and pitchers made it fine. I'm not proposing to abuse pitchers arms, but I do think there is a lot of over kill about days off and pitch counts that are within reason.

[basedog]

I'm with you C34. I bet the kids playing aren't complaining, they are to busy having fun!

[MetEdDawg]

I disagree about arm stress. If I read the stat correctly, MLB players having Tommy John surgery this year is about to eclipse the number that had TJ surgery all of last year and it's only May. I hope I have quoted that stat right because that is very telling as to the trend of pitchers that will be coming into the majors.

That's insane people. The problem is real. Kids literally pitch 12 months out of the year now and don't rest anymore. It can be due to parents wanting their kids to get ahead, coaches stressing about their guys getting more reps. Whatever it is, it's unrealistic to say it's not having an effect.

Dr. Andrews said kids and adults need a minimum of 2 months off to let their shoulders and elbows fully recover from pitching. No one is doing that anymore. Guys used to actually take off during the offseason, but kids and now the guys in the younger guys in the majors are the ones who are showing what happens when proper rest isn't taken.

[Goat Holder]

I disagree about arm stress. If I read the stat correctly, MLB players having Tommy John surgery this year is about to eclipse the number that had TJ surgery all of last year and it's only May. I hope I have quoted that stat right because that is very telling as to the trend of pitchers that will be coming into the majors.

That's insane people. The problem is real. Kids literally pitch 12 months out of the year now and don't rest anymore. It can be due to parents wanting their kids to get ahead, coaches stressing about their guys getting more reps. Whatever it is, it's unrealistic to say it's not having an effect.

Dr. Andrews said kids and adults need a minimum of 2 months off to let their shoulders and elbows fully recover from pitching. No one is doing that anymore. Guys used to actually take off during the offseason, but kids and now the guys in the younger guys in the majors are the ones who are showing what happens when proper rest isn't taken.

Most of the problems occur when the kids are young. You are correct that year-round baseball is the culprit. You can blame the coaches/parents/whoever, it doesn't matter. But the fact is they are pitching way too much way too early way too often. Throwing curveballs at 12 years old and stuff.

So let's not act like the SECT is causing this, which was the point of this thread. It's not true.

[MetEdDawg]

Most of the problems occur when the kids are young. You are correct that year-round baseball is the culprit. You can blame the coaches/parents/whoever, it doesn't matter. But the fact is they are pitching way too much way too early way too often. Throwing curveballs at 12 years old and stuff.

So let's not act like the SECT is causing this, which was the point of this thread. It's not true.

Oh no doubt. The SECT is not the issue here. But it can be look at as a compounding factor on top of what kids are already doing. But you are correct, the SECT by itself is definitely not the issue.

[HoopsDawg]

These guys are 20 years old

Playing 5 days in a row is only done by a couple of teams- most teams play 1, 2, or 3 games...and the teams that make it to 4-5 games have depth. No excuse for these guys not to handle it

We're getting too pussified about pitch counts and bullshit

Thank you/amen/thank you.

Cry me a river Todd. Lasted can handle 120 and rest for a week at a minimum.

[justwin]

no.


Simple fix- raise ticket prices. Some people would complain, but with less games, it should come out in the wash.

[curmudgeon]

The pool play format is the best format for a conference tournament.

8 teams.
Seeds 1,4,5 and 8 in one pod
Seeds 2,3,6 and 7 in another

Everyone plays everyone in their pod
That's 12 games

Pod winners play championship game.

Plays like a weekend series with a possibility of a fourth game for championship teams.

[tcdog70]

These guys are 20 years old

Playing 5 days in a row is only done by a couple of teams- most teams play 1, 2, or 3 games...and the teams that make it to 4-5 games have depth. No excuse for these guys not to handle it

We're getting too pussified about pitch counts and bullshit

Exactly!!