Starting pitchers lately

[basedog]

It's a little concerning seeing our Friday and Sunday pitchers struggling after one time thru the lineup. Not sure what needs to be done to fix this situation, maybe starting Harding on Sunday, move Bednar to Friday but I'm iffy and what I would do. Seems it's our biggest question mark moving forward, playing Leggett at third has helped a lot.

But things have worked out so far, winning makes life much easier. I will say I have questioned several times about us being say a top 6 team in the country, but yet we keep finding ways to win. I do think we have improved especially hitting and again I think our defense will be better, but it goes back to what can be done with say Friday and Sunday starters?

I will hang up and listen, I have not the answer but I do know I would be making at least a change to one of those two starters. Walks and errors have hurt both.

[CadaverDawg]

Don't know the answer, but we may need to just try a piggyback approach like we did with Fitts years ago. Maybe go ahead and predetermine that Mac and Fristoe will only go one time through, and then piggyback with a completely different type of pitcher. Maybe follow Mac with Brandon Smith every week, and follow Fristoe with Harding like yesterday? One great thing is that we have depth but it would be great to be able to combine 2 guys pre-planned and get 6 innings, then use some guys like Tullar, Preston, and Sims as needed after 6. Not nearly that cut and dry, but I agree it's concerning that our starters have been bad lately outside of Bednar

[Gutter Cobreh]

I wouldn't make a change with either starter.

Our issues, from my perspective, are fielding and watching too many third strikes.

I liked to see the lineup shuffled yesterday and we seemed better defensively.

Our plate discipline has improved, but too many times it seems like our guys would rather walk than swing the bat. This may be a bi-product of working counts, but if it's close with 2 strikes and with umps like we saw this weekend - you have to swing the bat.

[Cowbell]

I wouldn't make a change with either starter.

Our issues, from my perspective, are fielding and watching too many third strikes.

I liked to see the lineup shuffled yesterday and we seemed better defensively.

Our plate discipline has improved, but too many times it seems like our guys would rather walk than swing the bat. This may be a bi-product of working counts, but if it's close with 2 strikes and with umps like we saw this weekend - you have to swing the bat.

We don't have major pitching issues, but we do have big enough issues that will keep us from going to Omaha if something doesn't improve. Our pen may be deep but the quality of our starters offsets that depth.

[chef dixon]

To me this is just college baseball. Anyone not named Vandy has this problem and they still have off weekends. We are looking for perfection in a very imperfect level of baseball. We're up there with anybody, just need to get hot in June.

[Gutter Cobreh]

We don't have major pitching issues, but we do have big enough issues that will keep us from going to Omaha if something doesn't improve. Our pen may be deep but the quality of our starters offsets that depth.

It goes back to what Cadaver posted. We have such depth that you have to find the right mix.

Would you rather go to Omaha with Vandy's starters or Arkansas' hitters? Which one do you think give you the best chance of winning? Some will say pitching, others prefer hitting. For us, we have outstanding pitching and our starters aren't giving up big numbers. We have bullpen depth for days, so just need to mix and match.

I'm still more concerned with our defense and working pitch counts than I am with our starting rotation.

[Saltydog]

It doesn't concern you that our starters can't get thru 4 or 5 innings at the most? It darn sure bothers me. Yes, the bp has been good but once we start getting into regionals we need those starters to step up and give us 6 innings.

[Cowbell]

It goes back to what Cadaver posted. We have such depth that you have to find the right mix.

Would you rather go to Omaha with Vandy's starters or Arkansas' hitters? Which one do you think give you the best chance of winning? Some will say pitching, others prefer hitting. For us, we have outstanding pitching and our starters aren't giving up big numbers. We have bullpen depth for days, so just need to mix and match.

I'm still more concerned with our defense and working pitch counts than I am with our starting rotation.

I can agree with this. I think our hitting is not quite good enough to leave some of our starters out there as long as we do sometimes. I'm hoping lemon is just letting our guys endure hardships to get them ready for a run.

[Cowbell]

It doesn't concern you that our starters can't thru 4 or 5 innings at the most? It darn sure bothers me. Yes, the bp has been good but once we start getting into regionals we need those starters to step up and give us 6 innings.

Either that or we better have some relievers really take a step to the next level.

[parabrave]

It doesn't concern you that our starters can't get thru 4 or 5 innings at the most? It darn sure bothers me. Yes, the bp has been good but once we start getting into regionals we need those starters to step up and give us 6 innings.

Good point. We need our starters to give us 6-7 innings and at this point in the season we should have ar least one who can. One big thing that is causing these guys to lose it is the stupid errors that are happening when we have 2 outs. Nothing kills a pitcher more than an error which prolongs an inning when he knows he should be out of it.

[parabrave]

It doesn't concern you that our starters can't get thru 4 or 5 innings at the most? It darn sure bothers me. Yes, the bp has been good but once we start getting into regionals we need those starters to step up and give us 6 innings.

Good point. We need our starters to give us 6-7 innings and at this point in the season we should have ar least one who can. One big thing that is causing these guys to lose it is the stupid errors that are happening when we have 2 outs. Nothing kills a pitcher more than an error which prolongs an inning when he knows he should be out of it.

[Gutter Cobreh]

It doesn't concern you that our starters can't get thru 4 or 5 innings at the most? It darn sure bothers me. Yes, the bp has been good but once we start getting into regionals we need those starters to step up and give us 6 innings.

No. To get 6 innings from a starter (assuming they're on a pitch count) - that averages out around 17 pitches per inning. We may stretch some guys out when the postseason comes around, but our coaching staff has shown us that they are not going to push a kid past this limit very often. To expect any of our pitchers to go 6 innings consistently is only setting yourself up to be disappointed. On top of that, I don't think they need to go 6 innings. In the past, we've had to rely on position players to pitch relief and we have the staff this year where that isn't needed. We have the depth in the bullpen where we don't need any starter to carry us. We simply need for them to not leave anything hanging and not walk a bunch of batters.

This is also why I'm more worried about us working counts against opposing pitchers. The called 3rd strikes without swinging the bat when it's close drives me nuts, but at the least - we are working counts and not up there swinging at every breaking ball. If we can work the counts on the opposing team's ace - we then get to their bullpen quicker and have a better shot. I have yet to see a team we've faced whose bullpen is anywhere close to what we put out there.


I can agree with this. I think our hitting is not quite good enough to leave some of our starters out there as long as we do sometimes. I'm hoping lemon is just letting our guys endure hardships to get them ready for a run.

Our hitting is not where it needs to be consistently. Outside of TA, who else do we have? We have major holes in the lineup that hinders us far worse than our pitching staff.


Good point. We need our starters to give us 6-7 innings and at this point in the season we should have ar least one who can. One big thing that is causing these guys to lose it is the stupid errors that are happening when we have 2 outs. Nothing kills a pitcher more than an error which prolongs an inning when he knows he should be out of it.

Great point! Errors extend innings, which causes pitch counts to go up.

[Todd4State]

MacLeoud needs to throw strikes and not worry about striking every one out. Fristoe needs a third pitch.

[BeardoMSU]

They've just been inconsistent. One week either Mac and Beldar will look amazing, go 5 or 6...then the next, they just don't have it. Also with both of them, they'll be cruising, and then hit some adversity and just crumble...which is obviously all mental. Fristoe does this almost every week it seems, but he's just a freshman, so I can't really knock him. Also, many of those "adversity" moments involve shitty defense behind them or a shitty ump, but still.

I still think we're in good shape, though. We've got several guys out of the pen that can go deep. We just need to get our minds right for the post season, which has certainly been a characteristic of recent MSU teams, so lets hope for more of the same.

[BeardoMSU]

MacLeoud needs to throw strikes and not worry about striking every one out. Fristoe needs a third pitch.

This, lol.

As Crash said, "Strikeouts are fascist....lets get some groundballs". Mac also tries to nibble too much. He needs to pitch to contact, keep the ball down, and not try so hard.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Getting hot in June will require hits with risp.

[parabrave]

You want to trust your D but when you never know when a ball is going to be thrown into the dugout of a ball mishandled or a misjudged fly ball you try to S/O the batter.

[Todd4State]

They've just been inconsistent. One week either Mac and Beldar will look amazing, go 5 or 6...then the next, they just don't have it. Also with both of them, they'll be cruising, and then hit some adversity and just crumble...which is obviously all mental. Fristoe does this almost every week it seems, but he's just a freshman, so I can't really knock him. Also, many of those "adversity" moments involve shitty defense behind them or a shitty ump, but still.

I still think we're in good shape, though. We've got several guys out of the pen that can go deep. We just need to get our minds right for the post season, which has certainly been a characteristic of recent MSU teams, so lets hope for more of the same.

We're in good shape because of our bullpen. The only concern I have is Foxhall being too patient. Or not trusting guys. I think we can use Chase Patrick, Koestler, and Spencer Price more along with the guys we are already using and be even better.

And yes I know Patrick gave up a home run against A&M. His ERA is under two. Price had a bad outing against UAB. He also has really good peripheral stats and he is a SEC veteran. They both are capable of eating an inning for us.

And we need to keep using Cerentola in relief midweek and try to get him ready for the postseason.

[BeardoMSU]

We're in good shape because of our bullpen. The only concern I have is Foxhall being too patient. Or not trusting guys. I think we can use Chase Patrick, Koestler, and Spencer Price more along with the guys we are already using and be even better.

And yes I know Patrick gave up a home run against A&M. His ERA is under two. Price had a bad outing against UAB. He also has really good peripheral stats and he is a SEC veteran. They both are capable of eating an inning for us.

And we need to keep using Cerentola in relief midweek and try to get him ready for the postseason.

Agreed.

[99jc]

Back in the days of the Big Red Machine Sparky Anderson was know as Captain Hook If a starter made 5 innings he was gone at the first sign of trouble. You can only do that if you have an elite Bullpen and WE DO. Landon Sims is really a starter/Elite reliever. when you have an ace like that it can go a long way if we make it to Omaha. And I am telling you Cerentola has 1 great game in him this season and i think we will see it before the end of the World Series. He has to throw from the stretch to be effective and once he learns not to over stride Game on!.

[Todd4State]

Back in the days of the Big Red Machine Sparky Anderson was know as Captain Hook If a starter made 5 innings he was gone at the first sign of trouble. You can only do that if you have an elite Bullpen and WE DO. Landon Sims is really a starter/Elite reliever. when you have an ace like that it can go a long way if we make it to Omaha. And I am telling you Cerentola has 1 great game in him this season and i think we will see it before the end of the World Series. He has to throw from the stretch to be effective and once he learns not to over stride Game on!.

The best thing about Sims is his flexibility. He can go 1 inning or he can give us 3 and be really effective. I believe against Tulane he went a little more than that and gave up one of his runs on the year.

If I was in Lemonis's shoes I would accept that our staff is what it is. We have some good starters but neither one is Ethan Small, Maholm, Hudson, Stratton, etc. level. We're just not going to get 7 IP, 100 pitches and 10-12 K's a game from these guys. If I had to go with an ideal "script" it I would probably go:

Fri- MacLeoud 3-5, Brandon Smith, 1-2, Preston Johnson, 1-2, and then close with Sims 1-3. Those are our three best relievers in my opinion and I want to try to have the opportunity to use them twice in a weekend if needed.
Sat- Bednar- 3-6, Patrick 1, Stinnett, 1-2, and Simmons 1-2 and if needed Sims for 1 if available.
Sun- Fristoe- 1-3 one time through order as an opener, Harding for 3-5, Tullar 1-2, and then Price 1, and then if available and needed Sims for 1.

Koestler and Cerentola are my "hit the fan" options.

[KOdawg1]

You want to trust your D but when you never know when a ball is going to be thrown into the dugout of a ball mishandled or a misjudged fly ball you try to S/O the batter.
But Mac isn't an over powering pitcher. His stuff is pretty average. He's got to attack the batter instead of nibbling. If they hit it or if we sail it into the dugout, then so be it, but by nibbling, he raises his pitch count up which doesn't allow him to go deep into games, and then he gives them free passes.

[parabrave]

But Mac isn't an over powering pitcher. His stuff is pretty average. He's got to attack the batter instead of nibbling. If they hit it or if we sail it into the dugout, then so be it, but by nibbling, he raises his pitch count up which doesn't allow him to go deep into games, and then he gives them free passes.

Good point. Another small item is we got to know what the Umps strike zone is. If he has a wide Tom Glavin zone then you can live on that outside corner. If not then you better throw strikes.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Agreed.

Agreed, but I see the Coach dilemma. These games are close shaves. We have guys that are good but are not lock down good.

Also, seems like we can use Parker Stinnett for more than a weekly inning. The kid was a starter at Northwest. He tossed 72 innings in his sophomore season. He threw +100 pitches on many weekends.

[Randolph Dupree]

Just my 2 cents on this. I'm not worried about starting pitching, but McCloud needs to just throw strikes and quit nibbling. His success happens when he gets ahead of batters. The way I see it is that we should start pitching our starters fewer innings. We are DEEP in the bullpen and I think a lot of our inconsistency comes from lack of game reps for these guys. Don't be surprised if we throttle back the innings for our starters a little bit and start
Going to the bullpen a little sooner. We're in the weaker half of our schedule and if the bats keep pace we can do that and start getting ready for post season. This team, if they'll play basic 12u level defense, is built to go a long way given our pitching.

FWIW, my only post season concern is Arkansas. They've got our number. I liken this to 2013, Vandy had our number that year but they got taken out before Omaha. I look at Arky the same way; we need to not be on their side of the brackets and let someone else take care of them.

[Really Clark?]

Agreed, but I see the Coach dilemma. These games are close shaves. We have guys that are good but are not lock down good.

Also, seems like we can use Parker Stinnett for more than a weekly inning. The kid was a starter at Northwest. He tossed 72 innings in his sophomore season. He threw +100 pitches on many weekends.

That was his freshman year, sophomore season was cut short.

[PMDawg]

We could minimize the ill effects of our starting pitching not being lights out if we got them out at the right time. It just seems like the past few weeks we have tried to let them face a few too many batters. If our bullpen was bad, I would understand that strategy. But, with what we have, I don't get it. Take Bednar on Saturday for example; it was obvious he was done after 5.0. The box score won't show it, but if you were watching the game, he was running out of gas. I was convinced we wouldn't see him in the 6th, but here he came trotting out. And A&M proceeded to smash him. 1st batter HR, hard single, then a walk. We were lucky to get out of that inning without giving up a bunch (and probably losing the game). Even if it's not ideal, our staff just needs to accept the fact that these guys need a quick hook.

[Saltydog]

It's not just the errors it's also the walks and hits they are giving up as well. Every time one of them goes out you can bet your ass that around the 4th or 5th they'll implode. Sure, errors haven't helped but it's like the second time thru the lineup they get their ass hammered and that is a cause for concern. It's bothersome that such an "elite" staff (which is b.s.) can't get thru 4 innings, 5 max.

[Commercecomet24]

Starting pitchers at every level are pitching less innings now. It's just the way the game has evolved. I don't necessarily like it but its the way it is now. The average mlb start is 4.7 innings now. The key is getting the pitcher out before he gives it all away, which we haven't done in every case.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Starting pitchers at every level are pitching less innings now. It's just the way the game has evolved. I don't necessarily like it but its the way it is now. The average mlb start is 4.7 innings now. The key is getting the pitcher out before he gives it all away, which we haven't done in every case.

Hey Commerce, is it just me but I don’t see many multi game relief pitchers anymore. I recall Chuck Holly being the fireman at least twice per weekend in years past. Pete Young would save 2 games per weekend.

Is my memory deceiving me?

[StarkVegasSteve]

I think we've kind of figured out the mix with our pitchers it seems like we've got it set at:

Friday: Mac, Preston Johnson, Sims
Saturday: Bednar, Smith, Simmons/Tullar
Sunday: Fristoe, Harding, Committee, Sims

[Commercecomet24]

Hey Commerce, is it just me but I don’t see many multi game relief pitchers anymore. I recall Chuck Holly being the fireman at least twice per weekend in years past. Pete Young would save 2 games per weekend.

Is my memory deceiving me?

I'd have to do some research but just based on what I've observed I believe you're right. Pitch counts and innings pitched are being watched so closely now you just don't see pitchers going a little extra these days.

[Tbonewannabe]

The best thing about Sims is his flexibility. He can go 1 inning or he can give us 3 and be really effective. I believe against Tulane he went a little more than that and gave up one of his runs on the year.

If I was in Lemonis's shoes I would accept that our staff is what it is. We have some good starters but neither one is Ethan Small, Maholm, Hudson, Stratton, etc. level. We're just not going to get 7 IP, 100 pitches and 10-12 K's a game from these guys. If I had to go with an ideal "script" it I would probably go:

Fri- MacLeoud 3-5, Brandon Smith, 1-2, Preston Johnson, 1-2, and then close with Sims 1-3. Those are our three best relievers in my opinion and I want to try to have the opportunity to use them twice in a weekend if needed.
Sat- Bednar- 3-6, Patrick 1, Stinnett, 1-2, and Simmons 1-2 and if needed Sims for 1 if available.
Sun- Fristoe- 1-3 one time through order as an opener, Harding for 3-5, Tullar 1-2, and then Price 1, and then if available and needed Sims for 1.

Koestler and Cerentola are my "hit the fan" options.

I don't remember Ethan Small going 7 innings very often. He pretty much had 4-6 pitches on every batter which would lead to him getting to around the 5th - 6th inning every game. Strike out pitchers just throw more. MacLeod and Bednar don't get many 10 pitch innings very similar to Ethan Small.

[Tbonewannabe]

It's not just the errors it's also the walks and hits they are giving up as well. Every time one of them goes out you can bet your ass that around the 4th or 5th they'll implode. Sure, errors haven't helped but it's like the second time thru the lineup they get their ass hammered and that is a cause for concern. It's bothersome that such an "elite" staff (which is b.s.) can't get thru 4 innings, 5 max.

MacLeod seems to have a rough 1st inning every week also. Most of the time he gets out of it without doing too much damage but it seems like every week the 1st ends with the bases loaded.

[PMDawg]

The key is getting the pitcher out before he gives it all away, which we haven't done in every case.

Exactly

[parabrave]

I don't remember Ethan Small going 7 innings very often. He pretty much had 4-6 pitches on every batter which would lead to him getting to around the 5th - 6th inning every game. Strike out pitchers just throw more. MacLeod and Bednar don't get many 10 pitch innings very similar to Ethan Small.

Speaking of Ethan. He is with the Biloxi Shuckers this season. So if you are on or near the coast come on out and support him

[Cooterpoot]

Fristoe has an ERA over 7 in conference games. Got to try someone else there. McLeod is Fitts. Just going to have to piece it together there.

[Cooterpoot]

Hey Commerce, is it just me but I don’t see many multi game relief pitchers anymore. I recall Chuck Holly being the fireman at least twice per weekend in years past. Pete Young would save 2 games per weekend.

Is my memory deceiving me?

We baby our pitchers too much. And I'm all for taking our time with inning increases but we're at the end of the season and still doing it. But when Sims goes 3, you just can't use him again much. But heck, even Dubose would come back and throw an inning or two after starting back in the day. I'll say it again, my only complain with this staff is player management. We just struggle with decisions.

[BrunswickDawg]

We baby our pitchers too much. And I'm all for taking our time with inning increases but we're at the end of the season and still doing it. But when Sims goes 3, you just can't use him again much. But heck, even Dubose would come back and throw an inning or two after starting back in the day. I'll say it again, my only complain with this staff is player management. We just struggle with decisions.

Yes, our player management is so bad we are battling for an SEC title, ranked as high as #2 in polls, have a shot at 40 regular season wins, and we seem to be building to a late season hot streak as the coach makes adjustments to the lineup.
I'm just not going to nit-pick every decision on a team doing this well. Lemonis has shown us over 3 seasons now that more often than not, he is right and he has gotten results. I think he is setting up this team - in particular the pitching staff - for post-season. We will have a stable of fresh arms, and if we need to pitch Sims on a Friday and again on a Sunday to win a SR - I bet Sims will be out there.

[Cooterpoot]

Yes, our player management is so bad we are battling for an SEC title, ranked as high as #2 in polls, have a shot at 40 regular season wins, and we seem to be building to a late season hot streak as the coach makes adjustments to the lineup.
I'm just not going to nit-pick every decision on a team doing this well. Lemonis has shown us over 3 seasons now that more often than not, he is right and he has gotten results. I think he is setting up this team - in particular the pitching staff - for post-season. We will have a stable of fresh arms, and if we need to pitch Sims on a Friday and again on a Sunday to win a SR - I bet Sims will be out there.

And had we not left a pitcher in to get shelled, and a guy hitting below .200 and a DP machine, while a quality hitter sat the bench, who knows, we might not be behind Ark and Vandy in the rankings or be in first place already. Nobody was complaining about the season. But carry on. Imagine if we were the #1 seed in the NCAAs and got the easiest route.
Message boards aren't for just saying it's all great. There's discussion here.

[Saltydog]

I think we all know the answer here and it's Harding. Will need another lefty to step up outta the bp to take his place if that happens.

[BrunswickDawg]

And had we not left a pitcher in to get shelled, and a guy hitting below .200 and a DP machine, while a quality hitter sat the bench, who knows, we might not be behind Ark and Vandy in the rankings or be in first place already. Nobody was complaining about the season. But carry on. Imagine if we were the #1 seed in the NCAAs and got the easiest route.
Message boards aren't for just saying it's all great. There's discussion here.

I get what you are saying - but there is also no guarantee that any of the changes or decisions would have altered the course of anything. I can tell you that if I were in Lemonis' shoes - I would have benched Hatch long ago. But, I also saw the diving play he made on a foul ball into the visitors bullpen Friday night that I don't think anyone else that is a 1B option would have made. So I understand why Lemonis would not want to experiment with position and line up changes against our tougher SEC opponents. The thing about baseball is it is never as cut and dry as bench this guy or pull this pitcher at X point. I think Lemonis has earned the benefit of the doubt by the end results so far.

[basedog]

Tale him out.....Leave in.....Baseball might be the most second questioned thing to do for any Coach much less any of us fans.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Innings pitched this year:

Rocker - 69.0
Leiter - 64.1

Hoglund - 62.0
Nikhazy - 51.2

MacLeod - 49.0
Bednar - 43.0
Fristoe - 41.2

My hope is that our starters will be fresh come Regional/Super/CWS time. And that hopefully translates to solid starts. Also, the lack of innings by our starters means that our bullpen guys have gotten some needed innings in order to learn and develop. So hopefully that translates to a deep and experienced bullpen come Regional/Super/CWS time. In baseball, it's not how you start. It's how you finish.

[BiscuitEater]

Not nearly that cut and dry, but I agree it's concerning that our starters have been bad lately outside of Bednar

I'd try out Cerantola in long relief for as long as he can go on Wed against Citadel. I think his stuff is 2nd best on staff when his head is on straight. Pitch him in mid relief, with a lead, may do the trick!

Get his confidence back.

[Cooterpoot]

Innings pitched this year:

Rocker - 69.0
Leiter - 64.1

Hoglund - 62.0
Nikhazy - 51.2

MacLeod - 49.0
Bednar - 43.0
Fristoe - 41.2

My hope is that our starters will be fresh come Regional/Super/CWS time. And that hopefully translates to solid starts. Also, the lack of innings by our starters means that our bullpen guys have gotten some needed innings in order to learn and develop. So hopefully that translates to a deep and experienced bullpen come Regional/Super/CWS time. In baseball, it's not how you start. It's how you finish.

The reason our numbers are low is because we can't make it through the order twice and they have to be pulled. We'd have fairly similar numbers if our guys could get it done. But it's not all on the pitchers either. Defense has killed them. Pitching and defense wins, not just one or the other.

[Really Clark?]

Innings pitched this year:

Rocker - 69.0
Leiter - 64.1

Hoglund - 62.0
Nikhazy - 51.2

MacLeod - 49.0
Bednar - 43.0
Fristoe - 41.2

My hope is that our starters will be fresh come Regional/Super/CWS time. And that hopefully translates to solid starts. Also, the lack of innings by our starters means that our bullpen guys have gotten some needed innings in order to learn and develop. So hopefully that translates to a deep and experienced bullpen come Regional/Super/CWS time. In baseball, it's not how you start. It's how you finish.

Well that?s kind of a useless number just looking at IP without context. IP per game start, number of pitches per game, game situation and usage by coach. Those are a more accurate picture. We need them to go deeper, I?m not saying that but just pure IP (Bednar also had 2 appearances without a start and a 2 inning start vs Grambling with no intention to go more by the coach). So you have to put it in context. Leiter has not been as sharp after going over 100 pitches (124 in a game as well) early in the year.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Innings pitched this year:

Rocker - 69.0
Leiter - 64.1

Hoglund - 62.0
Nikhazy - 51.2

MacLeod - 49.0
Bednar - 43.0
Fristoe - 41.2

My hope is that our starters will be fresh come Regional/Super/CWS time. And that hopefully translates to solid starts. Also, the lack of innings by our starters means that our bullpen guys have gotten some needed innings in order to learn and develop. So hopefully that translates to a deep and experienced bullpen come Regional/Super/CWS time. In baseball, it's not how you start. It's how you finish.

The main deal for us is that all these other boys, except Leiter, are older and/or more experienced than Fristoe.

We basically have two Red Shirt Freshman and a true Freshman. When you look at real experience.

Due to injury and Wuhan Virus - Christian MacLeod only pitched his first SEC inning until this year. Both OM pictures have far more experience than our top-2

At least we get another season from Fristoe.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The main deal for us is that all these other boys, except Leiter, are older and/or more experienced than Fristoe.

We basically have two Red Shirt Freshman and a true Freshman. When you look at real experience.

Due to injury and Wuhan Virus - Christian MacLeod only pitched his first SEC inning until this year. Both OM pictures have far more experience than our top-2

At least we get another season from Fristoe.

You also have the fact that Lemonis is never going to pitch his guys a lot of innings. He's generally going to try and get 6 innings out of his starters. If you go back to 2019 Small had 18 starts and pitched 107 innings which averages out to 5.9 innings a start, so 6. We just need CMac and Bednar to be able to give us one more inning per start and we can go to Johnson/Simmons/Smith/Stinnett/Tullar and let them bridge to Landon. Sunday's are always going to be a crapshoot and if we can get 4 out of Jackson or Hootie down the stretch then I'd consider it a victory.

[Tbonewannabe]

You also have the fact that Lemonis is never going to pitch his guys a lot of innings. He's generally going to try and get 6 innings out of his starters. If you go back to 2019 Small had 18 starts and pitched 107 innings which averages out to 5.9 innings a start, so 6. We just need CMac and Bednar to be able to give us one more inning per start and we can go to Johnson/Simmons/Smith/Stinnett/Tullar and let them bridge to Landon. Sunday's are always going to be a crapshoot and if we can get 4 out of Jackson or Hootie down the stretch then I'd consider it a victory.

Small also was hitting 100 pitches in 5-6 innings after coming off TJ surgery. I don't think you can make a blanket statement like that is the way Lemonis coaches. He seems to lean more towards protecting pitchers arms but it also should keep us fresher in the post season.

I don't know how LSU and Oregon St keep getting pitchers with how they overused so many traditionally. Oregon St might have ruined that freshman's arm but they did get a National Title out of it.

[BrunswickDawg]

Small also was hitting 100 pitches in 5-6 innings after coming off TJ surgery. I don't think you can make a blanket statement like that is the way Lemonis coaches. He seems to lean more towards protecting pitchers arms but it also should keep us fresher in the post season.

I don't know how LSU and Oregon St keep getting pitchers with how they overused so many traditionally. Oregon St might have ruined that freshman's arm but they did get a National Title out of it.

Small was coming back from TJ - but JT Ginn only threw 5 a game on average, and Plumlee 4.7 innings per start.
BUT - they all threw at least 1 longer than average outing in the post season - Small went 6,6,5 in 3 starts; Ginn went 6 against Louisville; Plumlee went 5 against Miami and 6.2 against Stanford. All 3 had some of their highest pitch counts of the season in those games. All of them had multiple 100 pitch games throughout the season.

I think it's pretty obvious Lemonis has dialed back the pitch count on these guys pretty drastically. MacLeod is the only pitcher to break 100 pitches in a game and he's only done it once. Bad outings aside - Lemonis seems to have taken an approach of keeping his starters on short counts and doesn't want them noodle armed in the post season.

[Tbonewannabe]

Small was coming back from TJ - but JT Ginn only threw 5 a game on average, and Plumlee 4.7 innings per start.
BUT - they all threw at least 1 longer than average outing in the post season - Small went 6,6,5 in 3 starts; Ginn went 6 against Louisville; Plumlee went 5 against Miami and 6.2 against Stanford. All 3 had some of their highest pitch counts of the season in those games. All of them had multiple 100 pitch games throughout the season.

I think it's pretty obvious Lemonis has dialed back the pitch count on these guys pretty drastically. MacLeod is the only pitcher to break 100 pitches in a game and he's only done it once. Bad outings aside - Lemonis seems to have taken an approach of keeping his starters on short counts and doesn't want them noodle armed in the post season.

Our extremely deep bullpen might have something to do with it also. When you know you have shutdown stuff coming out of the bullpen then you might be lest apt to let a pitcher try and "work through his problems".