Will we have a Girodo this year?

[CadaverDawg]

And before you say Jacob Lindgren, that's not what I'm talking about. We all know Lindgren has the skills to dominate....Girodo did NOT in his first few seasons. No offense to Chad, but he was an example of Thompson making chicken salad out of chicken shit. Chad was our MVP in the post season IMO, and made me and several others look like idiots for thinking it was a total coaching blunder to keep trying to pitch the guy. Now he is somewhat of a legend and phenomenon in my view.

So that being said....will we have a Girodo this year? Who is the most likely candidate to go from zero to hero?

[Harrydawg]

Will Cox maybe!

[Todd4State]

We really don't have anyone that was hit that hard last year like Girodo was his junior year.

I would say maybe Myles Gentry.

[CadaverDawg]

Will Cox maybe!

I could definitely see Cox being a nasty call to the bullpen against righties late in the game. Good call.

[maroonmania]

So will we have ANY LH starters this year? With Lindgren moving to the bullpen, unless there is a young lefty not coming to mind, I guess not.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Yeah, we really don't have anyone on the roster who got hit as hard as Girodo did.

But if I had to pick a surprise pitcher that hasn't already been said, I'd go with Shelly... Or possibly Brown.

[engie]

And before you say Jacob Lindgren, that's not what I'm talking about. We all know Lindgren has the skills to dominate....Girodo did NOT in his first few seasons. No offense to Chad, but he was an example of Thompson making chicken salad out of chicken shit. Chad was our MVP in the post season IMO, and made me and several others look like idiots for thinking it was a total coaching blunder to keep trying to pitch the guy. Now he is somewhat of a legend and phenomenon in my view.

So that being said....will we have a Girodo this year? Who is the most likely candidate to go from zero to hero?

Not going to happen in the future IMO. We didn't have any "zeros" on our pitching staff. And we won't going forward most likely. Those growing pains years will leave players without roster spots in the future. Sucks, but it is where we are at this point. We don't have to endure the growing pains anymore... so unless it's just an insane talent, I'd be surprised if someone with his trajectory was still here for 4 years.

Girodo career:
2010: 7.40ERA, 48.2IP, 1.74WHIP, .330BAA, 5.23K/9ip
2011: 5.76ERA, 29.2IP, 1.64WHIP, .303BAA, 8.93K/9ip
2012: 5.87ERA, 7.2IP, 1.94WHIP, .371BAA, 7.5/9ip
2013: 1.36ERA, 59.2IP, 1.11WHIP, .214BAA, 12.47K/9ip

Girodo had the worst ERA on our team in 2012 -- and in 2013, our worst regular pitcher was Woody at 4.34. A far cry from where Girodo started his career(and pitched heavy innings for us). When you have a chance, look back at our pitching staff improvement. It's totally staggering.

[CadaverDawg]

Yeah, we really don't have anyone on the roster who got hit as hard as Girodo did.

But if I had to pick a surprise pitcher that hasn't already been said, I'd go with Shelly... Or possibly Brown.

Great call on Shelly. He was such a non factor last year that I often forget about him this year. He has a ton of talent. Man, I would love to see him breakout this season

[CadaverDawg]

Not going to happen in the future IMO. We didn't have any "zeros" on our pitching staff. And we won't going forward most likely. Those growing pains years will leave players without roster spots in the future. Sucks, but it is where we are at this point. We don't have to endure the growing pains anymore... so unless it's just an insane talent, I'd be surprised if someone with his trajectory was still here for 4 years.

Girodo career:
2010: 7.40ERA, 48.2IP, 1.74WHIP, .330BAA, 5.23K/9ip
2011: 5.76ERA, 29.2IP, 1.64WHIP, .303BAA, 8.93K/9ip
2012: 5.87ERA, 7.2IP, 1.94WHIP, .371BAA, 7.5/9ip
2013: 1.36ERA, 59.2IP, 1.11WHIP, .214BAA, 12.47K/9ip

Girodo had the worst ERA on our team in 2012 -- and in 2013, our worst regular pitcher was Woody at 4.34. A far cry from where Girodo started his career(and pitched heavy innings for us). When you have a chance, look back at our pitching staff improvement. It's totally staggering.

Good stuff. The transformation made by Girodo alone should have a book written about it.

[Saltydog]

we've got so many quality arms it's going to be tough to get enough innings for them all........

[preachermatt83]

Brown has had a beast of a spring. I look for him to get a shot at starting some games. As for the next Girado, I really don't think we can find a pitcher on our staff that is coming from "nothing" like he did so it's hard to tell. Cox would be an ace on Many staff's across the country.

[Goat Holder]

To be fair, Girodo wasn't chopped liver coming out of high school. He was 17-1, won the state ch'ip and was Alabama All-State. He was more valuable to Hartselle than Luke Bole, although Bole was considered the bigger recruit.

I too considered him part of the clown patrol from 2010 to 2012, but Cohen ALWAYS had faith in him, and consistently went to him in the most difficult of situations. People forget that, myself included.

[Todd4State]

Not going to happen in the future IMO. We didn't have any "zeros" on our pitching staff. And we won't going forward most likely. Those growing pains years will leave players without roster spots in the future. Sucks, but it is where we are at this point. We don't have to endure the growing pains anymore... so unless it's just an insane talent, I'd be surprised if someone with his trajectory was still here for 4 years.

Girodo career:
2010: 7.40ERA, 48.2IP, 1.74WHIP, .330BAA, 5.23K/9ip
2011: 5.76ERA, 29.2IP, 1.64WHIP, .303BAA, 8.93K/9ip
2012: 5.87ERA, 7.2IP, 1.94WHIP, .371BAA, 7.5/9ip
2013: 1.36ERA, 59.2IP, 1.11WHIP, .214BAA, 12.47K/9ip

Girodo had the worst ERA on our team in 2012 -- and in 2013, our worst regular pitcher was Woody at 4.34. A far cry from where Girodo started his career(and pitched heavy innings for us). When you have a chance, look back at our pitching staff improvement. It's totally staggering.

Lest we forget the multiple fire Butch Thompson threads.

I'll never forget the end of that season. I asked one of my good baseball friends about Butch- "be honest. Am I missing something that everyone else is seeing?"

You just can't win in the SEC with a bunch of guys that are hurt or are freshmen. The fact that we had to pitch outfielders at times during Cohen's first two years should have been a clue.

[Lefthandersrule]

I'll go with Preston Brown. He had a great fall/spring and has gained confidence t the point he could start or relieve.

[bulldogcountry1]

For the last few seasons we have had guys go from unrealized talents to 1st rounders in Stratton and Renfroe. We have also had marginal guys suddenly become keys to our success, like Caleb Reed and Girodo. Then there's the freshmen/transfers who come on the scene and dominate from day one, like Mitchell, Holder, Frazier, and Detz.

I'm excited to see who's going to make the biggest jump. You have to think Woodruff and Lidgren are the guys who are in position to make the biggest jumps on the pitching side. I believe Britton is the position player who has the best chanceto be that break out guy. I really hope we can see Rea and Bradford become those consistent hitters we know they can be.

It's good to finally be in a position where we don't really have to have those marginal players anymore. We have quality depth from top to bottom. If one isn't ready, another will be.