With Fristoe and Mac falling off

[PMDawg]

We've been put in a really tricky spot. Harding is a good 3'rd, but nothing elite. Not a knock on him - It's a good thing we have him, or we wouldn't have made it this far. But now a guy that was really our 4th for most of the season has to assume the mantle of being our 2nd. Then we have nothing but questions after that.

So now we face a decision. Do we ride our most reliable arm tomorrow (on short rest) to try to assure a spot in the finals, do we hold him for a possible elimination game to go to the finals (again on somewhat short rest), or do we hold him for game 1 of the finals to give ourselves the best possible shot at starting 1-0 (and risk not even making the finals)?

None of these are ideal.

Scenario 1 - We use him tomorrow. He's on short rest. Is he even "himself"? If he lost, we're absolutely screwed. If he wins, we risk that being his last start of the year, unless we got to a game 3 and then we used him on short rest again, or we rolled the dice with him in game 2 on REALLY short rest.

Scenario 2 - We hold him for a potential elimination game on Saturday. In this scenario, we pitch Harding tomorrow. If he wins, that's great for Bednar. Now he can start game 1 of the championship series on full rest. But now who pitches games 2 and 3 of the championship series? Mac has to throw game 2, and that's probably the case any way this plays out. But he's been pretty bad lately. Almost a guaranteed loss and/or another bullpen game where we throw 4, 5, 6 pitchers. Then we have to circle back around to Harding for game 3 and he's on short rest. Far from ideal. And this is if Harding wins Friday. If he loses, then we throw Bednar Saturday. Say we win Saturday. Bednar is either done for the season, or we trot him out on really short rest for a game 3. Mac is starting game 1 of the finals (a probable L), Harding starts game 2 on short rest, and we pray we get to use Bednar on very short rest for game 3.

Scenario 3 - Throw Harding tomorrow. Same as scenario 2, except....If we lose tomorrow, we HOLD Bednar for a possible game 1 of the championship series. We start Fristoe or Cade Smith Saturday, and hope one of them can step up eat some innings, then rely on the bullpen to close it out. In this scenario, we obviously roll the dice on even making the championship series. But if we DO make it, we have our normal rotation, mostly fully rested (except Harding is on 4 days rest for a potential game 3 - scary!). In this scenario, either Fristoe or Cade stepped up, so maybe we have them ready to contribute in game 3 as well.


Long story short, I think to win it all we HAVE to have someone else step up. I actually think scenario 3 is the play, because we're not winning if we can't get 2 wins from somewhere other than Bednar, unless Bednar can deliver 2 wins himself, with either both of them on short rest or one of them on very short rest. We need Bednar to start game 1 of the championship series, or we're almost guaranteed to start in an 0-1 hole. Hopefully we just start Harding tomorrow and get the W, then this is mostly a moot point. But still, someone else is going to have to step up in a starter role, or long relief role - especially if we lose tomorrow. Having Mac be the one the steps up big is the best case scenario. Not sure what's up with Fristoe, but he seems the least likely to step up. Basedog - our chances may literally boil down to having Cade step in and deliver an epic performance somewhere down the line.

We have the bullpen to get this done - but back to the original point. Having two of our top 4 starters unable to perform at this point of the season has put us in a much tougher spot than we should be in.

Tell me I'm way off base here. Please.

[TNDawg35]

I don’t know why people don’t trust Harding. He has done nothing but give us good outing after good outing. USM, Texas Tech, Notre Dame just to name a few. Too many people remember the Mizzu game and that’s all.

I ride with Harding tom. Maybe even get Fristoe an inning if we get up. Just have a quick leash with him. If we can win with Harding tom, we sit up perfect for the title series…

[PMDawg]

I don’t know why people don’t trust Harding. He has done nothing but give us good outing after good outing. USM, Texas Tech, Notre Dame just to name a few. Too many people remember the Mizzu game and that’s all.

I ride with Harding tom. Maybe even get Fristoe an inning if we get up. Just have a quick leash with him. If we can win with Harding tom, we sit up perfect for the title series…

I trust him. I want him out there tomorrow, and I think he'll do fine. However, I'm not sure we used him in a way this season that has prepared him to be the starter of THE decisive game of the season on 4 days rest. But, any way this plays out, that is probably what will happen IF we made it that far. And that's fine by me, but I feel like we'd get 4 innings out of him at best in game 3 and it's likely to be a close game when he comes out. So my point still stands, we would likely need someone like Fristoe or Cade to be ready to come in and eat some innings. My other point is that IF we lose tomorrow, an ideal scenario would be to have someone other than Bednar or Mac start Saturday. That still requires someone like Fristoe or Cade to step up. Harding could pitch great tomorrow, and we could still lose a low scoring game. I'm not saying I don't trust him.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

We have to dance with the partners we have. And I like them. Let?s roll and trust them. Only options we have

[Ari Gold]

Harding will start tomorrow.
If we win it will be
Bed game 1
Mac game 2
TBA game 3

If we lose tomoorw it’s
Bed on sat then
Mac game 1
And TBA game 2 and 3

We can say all the what if’s and Try this or do this we want
That’s 99% what’s going to happen. CL and Fox aren’t going to go off script now. And who can question them we are 3 wins away from a natty.

[PMDawg]

Harding will start tomorrow.
If we win it will be
Bed game 1
Mac game 2
TBA game 3

If we lose tomoorw it’s
Bed on sat then
Mac game 1
And TBA game 2 and 3

We can say all the what if’s and Try this or do this we want
That’s 99% what’s going to happen. CL and Fox aren’t going to go off script now. And who can question them we are 3 wins away from a natty.

I'm not questioning the coaches at all. I'm saying they would have a much easier job if Fristoe and Mac hadn't fallen apart. And where's Koestler, B Smith, Cerentola? Out of all the arms and potential we started with, we're suddenly razor thin at the end. And mostly due to regression or something mental...not injuries. Our coaches options are thin.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'm not questioning the coaches at all. I'm saying they would have a much easier job if Fristoe and Mac hadn't fallen apart. And where's Koestler, B Smith, Cerentola? Out of all the arms and potential we started with, we're suddenly razor thin at the end. And mostly due to regression or something mental...not injuries. Our coaches options are thin.

Koestler and Cerrantola didn't make the CWS roster. Smith was in the pen and was warming up when Kellum hit the two run bomb and I imagine he'd have gone in there for the 8th. I wouldn't say we're razor thin though. Preston, Stinnett, both Smith's, and maybe even Fristoe and Simmons are all good options to eat some innings. And you have two matchups guys in Patrick and Tullar. Then obviously you have Landon. That's a bunch of arms to be able to throw at people.

[Ari Gold]

I'm not questioning the coaches at all. I'm saying they would have a much easier job if Fristoe and Mac hadn't fallen apart. And where's Koestler, B Smith, Cerentola? Out of all the arms and potential we started with, we're suddenly razor thin at the end. And mostly due to regression or something mental...not injuries. Our coaches options are thin.

Kostler and Cerentola aren’t on the roster.
B Smith will have a chance to step up and be a factor for us before It’s over. In fact we are probably going to rely on him heavily before too long

[Rex54]

Harding doesn't beat Madden. We then use Bednar a day later than needed and make his potential Game 3 start a 3 day rest affair not a 4 day rest affair. This is only a problem because you people seem to think that asking a guy to go every 5th day twice is like climbing Mount Everest with a 45 lb plate on your back.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Harding doesn't beat Madden. We then use Bednar a day later than needed and make his potential Game 3 start a 3 day rest affair not a 4 day rest affair. This is only a problem because you people seem to think that asking a guy to go every 5th day twice is like climbing Mount Everest with a 45 lb plate on your back.

Well maybe we don't face Madden. Hell maybe they don't even win tonight.

[Maroonthirteen]

I know this has been debated over and over. However If we have to play Saturday, run Mac and Staff back out there.

I know it's a elimination game but I'd rather roll the dice and save Bednar for Game 1 of the Championship. I want to win that game 1 of the Championship.

In other words, a 2nd place finish or bounce on Saturday mean the same to me. So get to the championship with your best arm fresh. So we can finally win a Natty.

[Ari Gold]

And going back to the starters from here on in
My prediction is

If Hootie wins tomorrow
It’s
Bed
Mac
Cade Smith ( I know some will call complete bullshit on that but that kid was going to be our Sunday guy not Fristoe if he hadn’t been hurt early in season with Cerentola being a bust)

If hootie Loses it’s
Bed on Sat
Mac
Cade
And wouldn’t be shocked in Hootie started game 3 ( bullpen day on a pitch count with Bed to follow )

Again my prediction so with CL and Fox I’m prob 100% incorrect and I have no problem with that.
And for all you screaming don’t run Mac back out there again , you can stop because if we make it to Ship he will get another shot

[Ari Gold]

I know this has been debated over and over. However If we have to play Saturday, run Mac and Staff back out there.

I know it's a elimination game but I'd rather roll the dice and save Bednar for Game 1 of the Championship. I want to win that game 1 of the Championship.

In other words, a 2nd place finish or bounce on Saturday mean the same to me. So get to the championship with your best arm fresh. So we can finally win a Natty.

Or hell, throw Bednar Friday a few innings. Then throw him again Tuesday. Try to win this thing with both barrels blazing.

No way you run Mac out there if it’s UVA for sure , and his diaper fills up so quick there is no way I trust him against Texas against their number 2 in a winner take all game . I see your point but you have to win Sat to even worry about the championship games. No way we risk losing sat without your top guy

[TALL DAWG]

And going back to the starters from here on in
My prediction is

If Hootie wins tomorrow
It?s
Bed
Mac
Cade Smith ( I know some will call complete bullshit on that but that kid was going to be our Sunday guy not Fristoe if he hadn?t been hurt early in season with Cerentola being a bust)

If hootie Loses it?s
Bed on Sat
Mac
Cade
And wouldn?t be shocked in Hootie started game 3 ( bullpen day on a pitch count with Bed to follow )

Again my prediction so with CL and Fox I?m prob 100% incorrect and I have no problem with that.
And for all you screaming don?t run Mac back out there again , you can stop because if we make it to Ship he will get another shot


I guess I?ll be the guy ?out in left field? on our pitching projections.
I?d go Bednar on Friday. He pitched Sunday go he?d be on 5 days rest.
MLB teams have 5 starters and they pitch often every 5 days. No different here.

Plus, another BIG reason to pitch Bed on Friday is if we advance on Friday and went to game 3 next week?he?d be available yet AGAIN on 5 days rest on Wednesday! Plus?if we have a rain out on Monday or Tuesday it would add another day of rest.

Go with your hot hand on Friday and try to end it.

[mparkerfd20]

Or gamble big and go Mac tomorrow. **

[PMDawg]

Koestler and Cerrantola didn't make the CWS roster. Smith was in the pen and was warming up when Kellum hit the two run bomb and I imagine he'd have gone in there for the 8th. I wouldn't say we're razor thin though. Preston, Stinnett, both Smith's, and maybe even Fristoe and Simmons are all good options to eat some innings. And you have two matchups guys in Patrick and Tullar. Then obviously you have Landon. That's a bunch of arms to be able to throw at people.

Koestler & Cerentola - I know. Rhetorical question, as in what the heck happened (and Smith is dicey these days too). We're razor thin for starters we can trust. At long reliever, koestler is at home, and Smith is dicey lately. You really have PJ, Stinnett, and I guess Simmons. Cade probably, but he has 13 innings on the year.

All I'm really saying is Fristoe, Mac, Cerentola, Koestler, and even Brandon Smith were expected to be major contributors, and we're put in a tricky situation bc of what's transpired with them.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Harding has some of the most impressive wins and outings of the entire staff.

- Notre Dame Game-3
- Campbell Regional Clincher
- Texas Tech (2020)
- TCU
- USM
- Ole Miss Game-3 (only touched for the Leatherwood HR's)

His stats away from the Dude are Excellent.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Koestler & Cerentola - I know. Rhetorical question, as in what the heck happened (and Smith is dicey these days too). We're razor thin for starters we can trust. At long reliever, koestler is at home, and Smith is dicey lately. You really have PJ, Stinnett, and I guess Simmons. Cade probably, but he has 13 innings on the year.

All I'm really saying is Fristoe, Mac, Cerentola, Koestler, and even Brandon Smith were expected to be major contributors, and we're put in a tricky situation bc of what's transpired with them.

We entered the season with 3 MLB Top-200 starters. But it did not work out.

The biggest disappointment is that Cerantola never found a role. Also, Spencer Price was supposed to be a key bullpen element, like a setup man. In 2017 he was a warrior and became a pre-season All American for 2018.

Tullar and Simmons are starters in their former teams. Aces.

[PMDawg]

And going back to the starters from here on in
My prediction is

If Hootie wins tomorrow
It’s
Bed
Mac
Cade Smith ( I know some will call complete bullshit on that but that kid was going to be our Sunday guy not Fristoe if he hadn’t been hurt early in season with Cerentola being a bust)

If hootie Loses it’s
Bed on Sat
Mac
Cade
And wouldn’t be shocked in Hootie started game 3 ( bullpen day on a pitch count with Bed to follow )

Again my prediction so with CL and Fox I’m prob 100% incorrect and I have no problem with that.
And for all you screaming don’t run Mac back out there again , you can stop because if we make it to Ship he will get another shot

And you just restated my entire point. Bc of Fristoe and Mac, someone else will have to step up. We both picked Cade.

If mac and fristoe were rolling like in mid-season, this is easy. Fristoe would be pitching tomorrow and Hootie Saturday, if needed. Mac Monday, Bednar Tuesday, Fristoe & Hootie Wednesday. Easy.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

To win a national title, someone unexpectedly will have to step up. Our bullpen did Tuesday. Unexpectedly may be the wrong word. But at some point, you just play your players. Let it hang out. You will either win or lose

[Maroonthirteen]

To win a national title, someone unexpectedly will have to step up. Our bullpen did Tuesday. Unexpectedly may be the wrong word. But at some point, you just play your players. Let it hang out. You will either win or lose

Exactly. .... and have a high scoring game offensively. If we get to Saturday, you would think uva/Texas would be way down their pitching roster. We have to take advantage of that to win.

[Johnson85]

I know this has been debated over and over. However If we have to play Saturday, run Mac and Staff back out there.

I know it's a elimination game but I'd rather roll the dice and save Bednar for Game 1 of the Championship. I want to win that game 1 of the Championship.

In other words, a 2nd place finish or bounce on Saturday mean the same to me. So get to the championship with your best arm fresh. So we can finally win a Natty.

The best team often doesn't win a three game series. I'd rather get there with a less than ideal pitching setup than considerably lower our chances of getting there.

[PMDawg]

To win a national title, someone unexpectedly will have to step up. Our bullpen did Tuesday. Unexpectedly may be the wrong word. But at some point, you just play your players. Let it hang out. You will either win or lose

Fair enough.

[PMDawg]

The best team often doesn't win a three game series. I'd rather get there with a less than ideal pitching setup than considerably lower our chances of getting there.

Good points.

[Rex54]

The best team often doesn't win a three game series. I'd rather get there with a less than ideal pitching setup than considerably lower our chances of getting there.

If we go Bednar and win Friday (likely)we have fresh Hootie, Bullpen, and Bednar on his 5th day in the Finals.
If we lose Friday then our finals is set up as Mac/Bullpen, Hootie on 3 and Bednar on 3.
If we win with Hootie on Friday then yes that is ideal. But in my opinion it's the least likely option which means Armageddon for our Finals rotation.


Bednar gives us a better chance of having a fresh Hootie in the finals! Go ahead and win Friday with the best chance. Friday is critical.

[Todd4State]

The best thing to do is start Hootie and then go from there if we have to. A lot of times when you come up with all of these emergency plans you put yourself more at risk of losing because there is a tendency to "save" pitchers instead of going all out to win.

[Bdawg]

To win a national title, someone unexpectedly will have to step up. Our bullpen did Tuesday. Unexpectedly may be the wrong word. But at some point, you just play your players. Let it hang out. You will either win or lose

Yep. It's not like the other side of the bracket is in a ton better shape than we are. We just dont need to lose Friday and NC State win Friday. That will put us behind the 8 ball. Hopefully the opposite happens. I'm a big vandy fan tomorrow.

[Hot Rock]

I guess I?ll be the guy ?out in left field? on our pitching projections.
I?d go Bednar on Friday. He pitched Sunday go he?d be on 5 days rest.
MLB teams have 5 starters and they pitch often every 5 days. No different here.

There is one great big difference between the Majors and College. AGE. While these are men and not boys, these same guys will be able to more longer at age 25-30 than they can now.

[Rex54]

There is one great big difference between the Majors and College. AGE. While these are men and not boys, these same guys will be able to more longer at age 25-30 than they can now.
We're not asking go go every 5th day all summer long for 30 starts. We're asking Bednar for TWO to win a natty. Leiter is going to do that for Vandy. Madden is supposedly going on 3 days tonight.

[Hot Rock]

We're not asking go go every 5th day all summer long for 30 starts. We're asking Bednar for TWO to win a natty. Leiter is going to do that for Vandy. Madden is supposedly going on 3 days tonight.

And no one knows how he will react because he has never pitched on that kind of rest.

You don't run him out there in a non-elimination game on short rest. You just don't do it.

[Hot Rock]

Player era w-l app-gs cg sho sv ip h r er bb so 2b 3b hr ab b/avg wp hbp bk sfa sha
Bednar, Will 3.26 8-1 17-14 0 0/3 0 80.0 68 32 29 21 128 12 1 11 297 .229 2 8 1 3 1

Harding, Hou 2.87 7-2 19-6 0 0/1 0 53.1 44 21 17 17 59 8 0 6 199 .221 4 2 1 0 2

Besides, looking at his stats. He ain't chopped liver with a better ERA and Batting avg against. He is rested and ready. He can go tomorrow and Game 3 of the CWS for Johnny Whole staff day which includes an inning from Bednar if needed. A rested Harding is probably better than a tired Bednar. He may be your best shot to win Friday anyway.

[StarkVegasSteve]

We're not asking go go every 5th day all summer long for 30 starts. We're asking Bednar for TWO to win a natty. Leiter is going to do that for Vandy. Madden is supposedly going on 3 days tonight.

So now that we're 3 wins away from a national championship let's completely tear down the strategy that got us here and pivot to the Vandy strategy of pitch kids til their arms fall off.......come on man. I would say you can't actually think that's a good idea, but then again you also thought Hatcher needed to stay in the lineup in April when he was sub .200 because the exit velocity on his groundouts was really good.

[Commercecomet24]

So now that we're 3 wins away from a national championship let's completely tear down the strategy that got us here and pivot to the Vandy strategy of pitch kids til their arms fall off.......come on man. I would say you can't actually think that's a good idea, but then again you also thought Hatcher needed to stay in the lineup in April when he was sub .200 because the exit velocity on his groundouts was really good.

Welcome to the mike bianco school of pitching .

[Johnson85]

So now that we're 3 wins away from a national championship let's completely tear down the strategy that got us here and pivot to the Vandy strategy of pitch kids til their arms fall off.......come on man. I would say you can't actually think that's a good idea, but then again you also thought Hatcher needed to stay in the lineup in April when he was sub .200 because the exit velocity on his groundouts was really good.

I don't think there's any real safety issue with stretching Bednar out over the course of the CWS. I just don't think you do it when harding has been good. If we had a bigger drop off to the third starter, I'd be fine going with Bednar. I just think we have a pretty good chance with Harding so no reason to go that route.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

What if we start Bednar on a 30 pitch limit Friday? Then go to Hootie?. wouldn?t Friday be a routine Bullpen day based on his last start?

[Commercecomet24]

I don't think there's any real safety issue with stretching Bednar out over the course of the CWS. I just don't think you do it when harding has been good. If we had a bigger drop off to the third starter, I'd be fine going with Bednar. I just think we have a pretty good chance with Harding so no reason to go that route.

Yeah there's no risk to Bednar health wise. Harding has been really good and has some big stones. I said before the cws I'd be very confident with him going for us in a winner take all game. He has command of 4 pitches and his change up neutralizes right handers. More importantly we win with hootie tomorrow then you have Bednar for game 1.

[Rex54]

More importantly we win with hootie tomorrow then you have Bednar for game 1.

But if we lose tomorrow we're screwed in the Finals

[Hot Rock]

But if we lose tomorrow we're screwed in the Finals

Who says Hootie is not your best chance to win tonight. He has the numbers that suggest he is just as good and he is well rested. Plus, it's a guy they have not seen.

You do not pitch Bednar unless it's an elimination game. If the whole series depends on one pitcher then you are screwed anyway.

[Rex54]

Who says Hootie is not your best chance to win tonight.
Me

You do not pitch Bednar unless it's an elimination game.
There's nothing behind this statement. It's just one of those things people thinks sounds logical.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Me

There's nothing behind this statement. It's just one of those things people thinks sounds logical.

Actually there's some pretty sound reasoning behind this statement. Say we lose today's game. Would you rather lose it with your ace and burn him until at least Game 3 of a championship series that you're not guaranteed to make. Or would you rather put your Game 3 starter out there and put it on him to get the win and if he doesn't then you have your ace pitching for all the marbles....and if your Game 3 guy does win then your ace is saved for Game 1 of the Championship series.

Your reasoning is making me think you believe that the Friday game is an elimination game and that if we lose we're done. If we were in TX situation then hell yes I'd pitch Bednar. You do what you have to do to survive. But we're playing with house money.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Actually there's some pretty sound reasoning behind this statement. Say we lose today's game. Would you rather lose it with your ace and burn him until at least Game 3 of a championship series that you're not guaranteed to make. Or would you rather put your Game 3 starter out there and put it on him to get the win and if he doesn't then you have your ace pitching for all the marbles....and if your Game 3 guy does win then your ace is saved for Game 1 of the Championship series.

Your reasoning is making me think you believe that the Friday game is an elimination game and that if we lose we're done. If we were in TX situation then hell yes I'd pitch Bednar. You do what you have to do to survive. But we're playing with house money.

You could really stretch your bullpen rolling Will out there tonight and he only lasting 50-70 pitches because he?s on short rest. If you take the L then you are relying on Houston for 100 plus pitches not to get knocked out.

[StarkVegasSteve]

You could really stretch your bullpen rolling Will out there tonight and he only lasting 50-70 pitches because he?s on short rest. If you take the L then you are relying on Houston for 100 plus pitches not to get knocked out.

EXACTLY. You'd only get 50-60 pitches from him and judging by his last outing that'd get you to about the 4th. That means at a minimum you'd have to use 3 additional arms to close it out IF YOU WERE TO WIN. And if you didn't, well then you have a taxed bullpen with a starter that has never gone 100 pitches needing to go 100+ pitches. You pitch Hootie today, let him go 80-95 pitches and then turn it over to the bullpen.

[Commercecomet24]

But if we lose tomorrow we're screwed in the Finals

If and guess what IF we win tomorrow we have Bednar for game 1. See we can all play the if game.

[Rex54]

Actually there's some pretty sound reasoning behind this statement. Say we lose today's game. Would you rather lose it with your ace and burn him until at least Game 3 of a championship series that you're not guaranteed to make.

I pitch him today so he can go in the Finals. Yes. That's my point throughout all of this.

[Rex54]

You could really stretch your bullpen rolling Will out there tonight and he only lasting 50-70 pitches because he?s on short rest.

He's not on short ****ing rest. He can go 100% tonight as long as needed. Is 4 days rest shorter than the normal rest. Yes. Why? Because that's how college baseball is scheduled. But it doesn't mean that he's not just as effective on 4 days as 6!

[Rex54]

EXACTLY. You'd only get 50-60 pitches from him.

That's complete horse shit

[WinningIsRelentless]

Actually there's some pretty sound reasoning behind this statement. Say we lose today's game. Would you rather lose it with your ace and burn him until at least Game 3 of a championship series that you're not guaranteed to make. Or would you rather put your Game 3 starter out there and put it on him to get the win and if he doesn't then you have your ace pitching for all the marbles....and if your Game 3 guy does win then your ace is saved for Game 1 of the Championship series.

Your reasoning is making me think you believe that the Friday game is an elimination game and that if we lose we're done. If we were in TX situation then hell yes I'd pitch Bednar. You do what you have to do to survive. But we're playing with house money.


He's not on short ****ing rest. He can go 100% tonight as long as needed. Is 4 days rest shorter than the normal rest. Yes. Why? Because that's how college baseball is scheduled. But it doesn't mean that he's not just as effective on 4 days as 6!

When was the last time he threw on 4 days rest?

[Rex54]

When was the last time he threw on 4 days rest?

Why would he? You do understand how college baseball is scheduled right?

[StarkVegasSteve]

That's complete horse shit

Explain to me how it is. He's not pitched on less than a week's rest all year and he threw his season high in pitches on Sunday. Again, we're not going to say screw what got us here and start reading the Mike Bianco book of pitching all of a sudden. And besides that, it's a moot point because we're starting Hootie.

[Randolph Dupree]

Some y'all forgetting Hootie started game 3 of the Supers in a must win game and pitched pretty damn good. A few days before that, he came in and gave us 4 or 5(?) solid innings against Campbell after Fristoe had a rough outing. We aren't here without Hootie stepping up in big situations. It's been discussed on this board about who's going to be the guy to step up, seemingly out of nowhere, and have that lights out moment....I think it's staring us right in the face. I'm not saying the kid is going to come out and have double digit K's but he's as battle tested in big games as anyone we've got.


In full disclosure, I'm not related to the kid and don't know him. What I do hear about him is that he's a good kid and a competitor.

Let's ride

[StarkVegasSteve]

Some y'all forgetting Hootie started game 3 of the Supers in a must win game and pitched pretty damn good. A few days before that, he came in and gave us 4 or 5(?) solid innings against Campbell after Fristoe had a rough outing. We aren't here without Hootie stepping up in big situations. It's been discussed on this board about who's going to be the guy to step up, seemingly out of nowhere, and have that lights out moment....I think it's staring us right in the face. I'm not saying the kid is going to come out and have double digit K's but he's as battle tested in big games as anyone we've got.


In full disclosure, I'm not related to the kid and don't know him. What I do hear about him is that he's a good kid and a competitor.

Let's ride

Hootie has competed his tail off and honestly has only had one bad outing in almost two years. I have no reason to believe he's not going to give us a great start tonight and push us through to Monday night. Where we will be fully rested and have our ace ready to go on FULL REST.

[Commercecomet24]

Harding did a great job of shutting down notre dame and they're a better hitting team than Texas.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Why would he? You do understand how college baseball is scheduled right?

Because you don?t do it in college so you have exactly zero reference for how he will respond physically or mentally. He?s also coming off a season high pitch count.

It could work great or it could blowup in your face also.