Brandon Smith

[jwells]

will get the ball to start the game tonight. Good, smart move by Lemonis. Expected that Small will go tomorrow win or lose.

[Todd4State]

I'm beating a dead horse but this is not the right decision.

[Tbonewannabe]

It is the right decision if your goal is to win the entire thing. Depending on how he is pitching and the match up, you could see him start the Regional also. Now if we keep winning you have Plumlee pitching for the SEC tourney championship.

[jwells]

I'm beating a dead horse but this is not the right decision.

I see your point but I like the move for Small bc it keeps him a week between starts from last week and an extra day before the regionals if he goes game 1 or a couple of extra days if he goes game 2.

[Todd4State]

It is the right decision if your goal is to win the entire thing. Depending on how he is pitching and the match up, you could see him start the Regional also. Now if we keep winning you have Plumlee pitching for the SEC tourney championship.

The other 11 teams in this tournament aren't doing it. Some of them are throwing guys on even shorter rest. It goes against what teams preach about doing what you need to do to win within reason. It's just complete overthinking for no good reason.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'm beating a dead horse but this is not the right decision.

If your sole goal is beat LSU then you're right it's the wrong decision. If your goal is to win the tournament then it's the right decision. I don't think either of those should be our goals. My goal would be get guys some innings and rest up for the next few weeks. No one is talking about the SEC Tournament in Omaha.

[Todd4State]

I see your point but I like the move for Small bc it keeps him a week between starts from last week and an extra day before the regionals if he goes game 1 or a couple of extra days if he goes game 2.

He would have gotten more rest between now and the regional doing it the conventional way. Which is ironic. It's complete overthinking.

[PKADogs55]

I have to agree with Todd (Love the guy, but .. OBA .287 in 31.2 innings this year). Maybe Lemonis knows something lol.

[jwells]

The other 11 teams in this tournament aren't doing it. Some of them are throwing guys on even shorter rest. It goes against what teams preach about doing what you need to do to win within reason. It's just complete overthinking for no good reason.

Georgia threw their midweek guy today. Just because we don't throw the Friday night ace doesn't mean we aren't trying to win. This whole week pitching wise is setting up for the real postseason and we'll do our best to win with whoever goes out there but if it doesn't happen, oh well.

[Todd4State]

If your sole goal is beat LSU then you're right it's the wrong decision. If your goal is to win the tournament then it's the right decision. I don't think either of those should be our goals. My goal would be get guys some innings and rest up for the next few weeks. No one is talking about the SEC Tournament in Omaha.

This is the overthinking part. It's not about just beating LSU or winning the SEC Tournament. Getting quality work in is also valuable just as much as rest is. Again- why are we the only team in the tournament going with this strategy? LSU throws their best guys win the tournament and they still manage to make postseason runs. Same with Florida, Vanderbilt, and etc.

[Dawg2003]

I'm on the fence with this. I can see both sides.

[jwells]

He would have gotten more rest between now and the regional doing it the conventional way. Which is ironic. It's complete overthinking.

Yes, between now and the regional, but it keeps Small on a normal routine from week to week. Even Small said last week he was off a bit because his routine was off.

[Todd4State]

Georgia threw their midweek guy today. Just because we don't throw the Friday night ace doesn't mean we aren't trying to win. This whole week pitching wise is setting up for the real postseason and we'll do our best to win with whoever goes out there but if it doesn't happen, oh well.

I don't think we're not trying. I think we're overthinking the situation is all.

[Todd4State]

Yes, between now and the regional, but it keeps Small on a normal routine from week to week. Even Small said last week he was off a bit because his routine was off.

And what about the bullpen? If we have to play five games and use Leibelt more than three times how does that help? And Small better get used to going every fifth day if he wants to make it in pro ball.

[TNDawg35]

I don't think we're not trying. I think we're overthinking the situation is all.

Everyone who threw their ace yest, had a reason to win. We don’t. We just need to make it through the tourney healthy and let the offense get it’s reps. If we happen to pull out tonight, GREAT! Then we have Small for Vandy and Ginn for whoever. Hell I wouldn’t care of we threw Cole tonight!

[jwells]

And what about the bullpen? If we have to play five games and use Liebelt more than three times how does that help? And Small better get used to going every fifth day if he wants to make it in pro ball.

You control who you use out of the bullpen. If you don't want Liebelt to go three times, just use another arm. That's why I don't think we're overthinking it. Small is being knocked back one day since there is not much up for grabs this week.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Everyone who threw their ace yest, had a reason to win. We don’t. We just need to make it through the tourney healthy and let the offense get it’s reps. If we happen to pull out tonight, GREAT! Then we have Small for Vandy and Ginn for whoever. Hell I wouldn’t care of we threw Cole tonight!

This is the correct, in my opinion, assessment of the situation. It doesn't matter what other teams are doing because they aren't in our situation. In LSU's case, they are trying to win enough to host a regional. They had to win yesterday or they were done.

For me, we have to hit and score runs. We have the depth at pitching to keep any other offense in somewhat of a check, but if we don't score runs - won't matter what pitcher we use - we still lose.

[BankerDog]

We?ve already secured our National Seed, I wouldn?t mind seeing our younger guys( Smith, Cerantola, Brock, Elkins, Breaux, and Spring) some extra work. Let Hancock, Jordan, Cumbest, Hatch, and Jones get some extra ABs. It?s good experience and we could find some extra players for regionals and beyond; especially the arms side.

[TNDawg35]

We?ve already secured our National Seed, I wouldn?t mind seeing our younger guys( Smith, Cerantola, Brock, Elkins, Breaux, and Spring) some extra work. Let Hancock, Jordan, Cumbest, Hatch, and Jones get some extra ABs. It?s good experience and we could find some extra players for regionals and beyond; especially the arms side.

DAMN!!!! Someone who makes sense....

[Cooterpoot]

Smith is our 4th starter, it is what it is. Keeping Small on a more stable rotation and getting the 4 guy work. Go hit the freaking ball and it won’t matter much.

[Intramural All-American]

I think you hold a higher value of your opinion than you should. Just because Todd doesn?t agree with the decision doesn?t make it the wrong decision. There are multiple ways to go about this, and there are only a few wrong ways, and this isn?t one of them. I?m not gonna sit here and tell you it?s the right idea either, because either way, it?s just my viewpoint. All this to say, get off your high horse. You don?t know more than our coaching staff.

ETA: neither A&M nor Georgia threw their aces, so you are also just point blank wrong.

[CadaverDawg]

Smith is our 4th starter, it is what it is. Keeping Small on a more stable rotation and getting the 4 guy work. Go hit the freaking ball and it won?t matter much.

This is where I'm at. I totally get both sides, but the bottom line is we will need a 4th starter more than likely in Regional play, and Keegan has shown he ain't it. So this is our last opportunity to put a guy like Smith out there to see if he can be trusted in the REAL tourney if it comes down to it. If he gets the win, do you realize what that does to our pitching situation in the next few weeks? Even if he struggles, it's good experience and we know we didn't rush Small, so no harm.

Also, if Smith can't beat LSU tonight, do we really think he could beat Arkansas in the Final? No, not likely. So there's an argument that our best overall decision could be to try to steal game 1 and then go with our normal rotation to win it.

That being said, I'd be totally fine with Small going today too. I just feel like regardless you're going to need Smith to beat a good team to win it, so screw thinking about winning it...just go with what you feel is best on your guys' arms, and our coaches clearly feel like they'd rather keep our best arms on their normal schedule than beat LSU tonight when we have a great seed locked up. Hard to argue that.

[TNDawg35]

Ark not throwing Isaiah Campbell either....

[Dawg2003]

Brandon Smith could very well have to start a game in post season if things get weird in the regional. Not a bad idea to let him get practice.

[HooverDawg]

will get the ball to start the game tonight. Good, smart move by Lemonis. Expected that Small will go tomorrow win or lose.

Nick Weatherspoon still off the team for good? Still waiting on the big basketball development too.

[HooverDawg]

It looks as if none of the projected SEC national seeds are throwing their ace today so Todd is definitely wrong in saying everybody is doing it but us. Very wrong. No Hancock, no Campbell, no Small, and not sure about Vandy.

[KOdawg1]

I really don't care who we throw. Just win, baby

[basedog]

Well I hope Brandon can give us 4 or 5 innings but I doubt it, I suppose James will be next out of pen, I hope our bats are alive tonight as this could get ugly early. Hope we win fo sho!

[smootness]

The other 11 teams in this tournament aren't doing it. Some of them are throwing guys on even shorter rest. It goes against what teams preach about doing what you need to do to win within reason. It's just complete overthinking for no good reason.

And at least 10 of them won't win it all. Who cares what they're all doing?

[smootness]

And Small better get used to going every fifth day if he wants to make it in pro ball.

Lulz his routine right now this year is to pitch every week with basically a full week in between starts. No matter who it is or at what level, if you have a set routine that you do every week and then that gets changed, it's going to affect you.

You could have Max Scherzer pitch once/week for 14 weeks and then switch, and it would throw him off.

He will have plenty of time to get accustomed to throwing more often in pro ball, but now is not the time to force that if you don't have to.

[Homedawg]

And what about the bullpen? If we have to play five games and use Leibelt more than three times how does that help? And Small better get used to going every fifth day if he wants to make it in pro ball.

true, but he's not in pro ball yet. And florida and Vandy have done the exact same thing we are doing in the past. We aren't doing something new. We are just doing something new for us. We haven't been in this postion of late.

[Homedawg]

Ark not throwing Isaiah Campbell either....

but but but........

[MetEdDawg]

Since the SEC Tournament means literally nothing for us (nor should it), this is the correct decision. Doesn't mean we don't want to win, but we aren't going to potentially undercut the regular arm rest of the best 2 players on our team for a tournament that isn't going to change anything.

Need Small and Ginn on normal rest because this tournament isn't going to do anything for us and we are a national seed no matter what.

[drunkernhelldawg]

I like it. Level headed. Play baseball and see what happens.

[drunkernhelldawg]

And at least 10 of them won't win it all. Who cares what they're all doing?

That was my reaction to that too. We're better than all of those teams.

[MarketingBully]

Ark not throwing Isaiah Campbell either....

They are throwing their second best guy though and he probably matches up better against Ole Miss.

[Dawg2003]

I wonder if people would care as much if we were playing TAMU or Georgia, ect. Is the fact that this is LSU causing people to forget the big picture?

[StarkVegasSteve]

I wonder if people would care as much if we were playing TAMU or Georgia, ect. Is the fact that this is LSU causing people to forget the big picture?

YES.

[Really Clark?]

They are throwing their second best guy though and he probably matches up better against Ole Miss.

Didn’t Wicklander start? He’s not the #2

[shoeless joe]

We?ve already secured our National Seed, I wouldn?t mind seeing our younger guys( Smith, Cerantola, Brock, Elkins, Breaux, and Spring) some extra work. Let Hancock, Jordan, Cumbest, Hatch, and Jones get some extra ABs. It?s good experience and we could find some extra players for regionals and beyond; especially the arms side.

Some folks wanna beat LSU so bad that it?s trumping seeing the whole picture. Throw small on Thursday and don?t lose an ounce of sleep even if we 2 and Q

[preachermatt83]

Todd, who are U wanting to pitch today?

[MarketingBully]

Didn?t Wicklander start? He?s not the #2

He?s their Saturday guy.

[preachermatt83]

Some folks wanna beat LSU so bad that it?s trumping seeing the whole picture. Throw small on Thursday and don?t lose an ounce of sleep even if we 2 and Q

Exactly!

[basedog]

I'd go with Small and Ginn first two games, pitch count around mid 85, that would give both an extra day of rest.

Also, hell yes I want to beat the Corndogs, plus go unbeaten and win tourney.

If it doesn't mater then I bet on the game thread tonight will be epic if we get behind or get beat, but each there own.

Btw beat the Corndogs and hope they lose next game, hope they don't host in a region. If they do host I'm betting they will be in StrarkVegas for the Supers.

[Cooterpoot]

Then I’d rather them not see our front line pitching again before that super.

[Really Clark?]

He?s their Saturday guy.

He is not the #2 pitcher. He is an opener for some Sat games and only started in 6 conference games. His other 6 starts were mid week games. Came out of the pen the other conference appearances he had. Noland and Campbell started 10 conference games each and are starters. Noland is their #2 starter. Wicklander is a long reliever who they have used as an opener. Scroggins opened the other 4 conference games and he may have been a little better than Wicklander

[BuckyIsAB****]

Everyone who threw their ace yest, had a reason to win. We don?t. We just need to make it through the tourney healthy and let the offense get it?s reps. If we happen to pull out tonight, GREAT! Then we have Small for Vandy and Ginn for whoever. Hell I wouldn?t care of we threw Cole tonight!

I think it would be a good idea to start Cole, I think he has the stamina to be a starter and it would help him if we need him to do it in the real tourney.

I want to win this thing, I know the kids want to win it if they are competitors but as somebody else said in this thread, nobody is talking about the SEC tourney in June

[Johnson85]

This is the overthinking part. It's not about just beating LSU or winning the SEC Tournament. Getting quality work in is also valuable just as much as rest is. Again- why are we the only team in the tournament going with this strategy? LSU throws their best guys win the tournament and they still manage to make postseason runs. Same with Florida, Vanderbilt, and etc.

Do other teams have an established fourth starter? I get that nobody is comfortable with their fourth starter, but it seems we've been even more in the air than usual as to who our fourth starter is, and that getting Smith a meaningful start in before the regional is a good idea.

[WPS]

He is not the #2 pitcher. He is an opener for some Sat games and only started in 6 conference games. His other 6 starts were mid week games. Came out of the pen the other conference appearances he had. Noland and Campbell started 10 conference games each and are starters. Noland is their #2 starter. Wicklander is a long reliever who they have used as an opener. Scroggins opened the other 4 conference games and he may have been a little better than Wicklander

Lately Wicklander has been the Saturday starter and a combination of Noland/Scroggins has been the normal Sunday rotation. For some reason Wicklander was terrible coming out of the pen but for the most part has been great as a starter. Go figure...pitchers are weird.

Really not much difference between Wicklander and Noland except Van Horn probably would rather go R-L-R in the rotation than having two righties in a row.

[Really Clark?]

Lately Wicklander has been the Saturday starter and a combination of Noland/Scroggins has been the normal Sunday rotation. For some reason Wicklander was terrible coming out of the pen but for the most part has been great as a starter. Go figure...pitchers are weird.

Really not much difference between Wicklander and Noland except Van Horn probably would rather go R-L-R in the rotation than having two righties in a row.

I?m sure that?s why he has settled on that combo the last 4 series playing the same team. But if I?m playing different teams in a tournament setting, Noland is a true starter and gets the nod. Campbell then Noland have the most starts and get deeper into games with on average. Wicklander was only averaging 2 1/2 innings per start the last 2 series as well.

[CadaverDawg]

I'd go with Small and Ginn first two games, pitch count around mid 85, that would give both an extra day of rest.

Also, hell yes I want to beat the Corndogs, plus go unbeaten and win tourney.

If it doesn't mater then I bet on the game thread tonight will be epic if we get behind or get beat, but each there own.

Btw beat the Corndogs and hope they lose next game, hope they don't host in a region. If they do host I'm betting they will be in StrarkVegas for the Supers.

I'd rather beat LSU in the Supers. If we do face them again, they won't have 2 looks at Small....#SilverLining

[MarketingBully]

I?m sure that?s why he has settled on that combo the last 4 series playing the same team. But if I?m playing different teams in a tournament setting, Noland is a true starter and gets the nod. Campbell then Noland have the most starts and get deeper into games with on average. Wicklander was only averaging 2 1/2 innings per start the last 2 series as well.

Noland is not good. He’s not their number 2.

[MarketingBully]

We have to be in the worst bracket possible between the whistler and that annoying Geaux Tigers asshat. Hopefully we won’t give that asshat many chances to Geaux his way tonight. But that whistler will whistle no matter what.

[Really Clark?]

Noland is not good. He?s not their number 2.

Better than Wicklander. By every measurable you can look at and the fact the coaches have started him the second most on the team disputes what you are saying. Better era (3.95 in conference) more innings, more inning per game starts, etc. Just because he played with the rotation for match ups the last 4 series doesn?t mean Wicklander is a number 2. #3 for them? Sure I agree with that. But Noland is their #2 and is better overall in that role