BOC not adjusting well, considering how well funded this team has been by our new ben

[Todd4State]

We have to manage our bullpen better. We should have used Davis on Friday in a tie game. Even if you disagree with that I don't think anyone can justify bringing him in up 7-0. That's when we should have used Miller or Rhodes maybe or Billingsley.

Then in theory we still would have had Webb, Pitzer, and Sweeney for game three along with Foster. We can get four innings out of that group and that can give us a a chance to win.

But again I will say this. I do not understand why some guys are allowed to fail time and time again like Billingsley and Miller and why some are automatically stashed in the lab for weeks at a time when they're performing better than the others like Pitzer and Jackson Logar.

The first thing I would do is figure out what we have with Logar. The second thing I would do is use Parker Rhodes more.

And guys like Billingsley and Miller have a place but high leverage situations are NOT their place. If he has brought in Billingsley or Miller in game two assuming we had used Davis on Friday and they had not pitched I would have been fine with that.

[Todd4State]

Catcher doesn't bother me as much because that's an injury issue. Milewski caught the first game of a doubleheader so of course he wasn't going to catch the second game especially coming off of an injury. Milewski probably officially takes the reins this weekend though as I personally wouldn't catch him against Jackson State midweek. James is a middle infielder playing catcher and I think he has done OK given the circumstances as I am giving him a huge pass because of the situation.

[maroonmania]

We have to manage our bullpen better. We should have used Davis on Friday in a tie game. Even if you disagree with that I don't think anyone can justify bringing him in up 7-0. That's when we should have used Miller or Rhodes maybe or Billingsley.

Yea, you know its bad when even the TV announcers are questioning why Davis was coming into the game up 7-0. That one will remain a head scratcher. And no, he is not really a closer, but he is still the most trustworthy reliever we have for now. He was just wasted in that game.

[StarkVegasSteve]

We have to manage our bullpen better. We should have used Davis on Friday in a tie game. Even if you disagree with that I don't think anyone can justify bringing him in up 7-0. That's when we should have used Miller or Rhodes maybe or Billingsley.

Then in theory we still would have had Webb, Pitzer, and Sweeney for game three along with Foster. We can get four innings out of that group and that can give us a a chance to win.

But again I will say this. I do not understand why some guys are allowed to fail time and time again like Billingsley and Miller and why some are automatically stashed in the lab for weeks at a time when they're performing better than the others like Pitzer and Jackson Logar.

The first thing I would do is figure out what we have with Logar. The second thing I would do is use Parker Rhodes more.

And guys like Billingsley and Miller have a place but high leverage situations are NOT their place. If he has brought in Billingsley or Miller in game two assuming we had used Davis on Friday and they had not pitched I would have been fine with that.

O’Conner does not give up on pitchers. He will not do it. I have seen Billingsley in enough high leverage situations this year to tell you that he is going to continue to pitch in those situations.

Our bigger problem right now is catching. James is not an elite catcher. He is Ross Highfill with a little better bat. But he is a UVA guy. And like it or not, O’Conner is favoring those UVA guys right now. Personally, I think it is because he watched them all struggle last year and then heat up as the year went on. I think it is also why we continue to see Nunnallee. But for this team to reach its potential, James cannot be the catcher moving forward. It needs to be Milewski or Raymond.

[Todd4State]

O’Conner does not give up on pitchers. He will not do it. I have seen Billingsley in enough high leverage situations this year to tell you that he is going to continue to pitch in those situations.

Our bigger problem right now is catching. James is not an elite catcher. He is Ross Highfill with a little better bat. But he is a UVA guy. And like it or not, O’Conner is favoring those UVA guys right now. Personally, I think it is because he watched them all struggle last year and then heat up as the year went on. I think it is also why we continue to see Nunnallee. But for this team to reach its potential, James cannot be the catcher moving forward. It needs to be Milewski or Raymond.

Milewski is healthy now. I think he starts so catching is going to be fixed soon. He caught game one and started over James opening weekend. James has hit a lot better than Ross. He's much more like Hunter Stovall to me.

If he keeps pitching Billingsley it's a double standard because he isn't performing and he doesn't throw strikes. After Parker said "if you don't throw strikes you're not going to pitch."

Regardless I don't mind using Billingsley but just don't use him in high leverage. Up 7-0 in the 8th inning? Sure let him eat an inning maybe two if he looks good. But not 3-3.

[AlSwearengen]

I agree with Todd on the pitching. I say let the older guys like Pitzer, Webb and Sweeney take the lumps in high leverage spots right now if we are going to take them. I understand that at some point we need to find out how the younger guys handle the SEC pressure, but maybe not this early. I’m concerned that the coaches have reason not to trust the older guys and are trying to rush Miller and Billingsley along. I understand why they like Miller; it’s his change up, but if he isn’t sharp with it while warming up, we might as well leave him in the bullpen right now.

In a nutshell, our 3 starters are what you want but Davis, Foster, and Billingsley need to have an epiphany.

[Maroon Glasses]

Milewski is healthy now. I think he starts so catching is going to be fixed soon. He caught game one and started over James opening weekend. James has hit a lot better than Ross. He's much more like Hunter Stovall to me.

If he keeps pitching Billingsley it's a double standard because he isn't performing and he doesn't throw strikes. After Parker said "if you don't throw strikes you're not going to pitch."

Regardless I don't mind using Billingsley but just don't use him in high leverage. Up 7-0 in the 8th inning? Sure let him eat an inning maybe two if he looks good. But not 3-3.

Agree with everything you said in both post. I would really like to know if it's an analytic or "feel" decision when making these decisions. Either way, they haven't been the best decisions. I would just like to know how O Connor is basing these decisions.

On the post about not giving up on pitchers: I really respect that and it speaks to BOC as a person and coach. It also minimizes the chances of Miller or Billingsley turning into a complete "mental case." BUT there has to come a time, very soon, that you have to go with who is best at that moment. SEC baseball is unforgiving.. and we have to win every one that we have a chance to win cause they don't come on a silver platter. We are a few errors and pass balls away from being 20-0. I say that only to say this.. we have had the chance to win every game this year. We have led in all our losses into the last 3 innings unless I'm misremembering. We are gonna be okay.

[Pancho]

BOC must not be high on Davis or he wouldn't have used him in the useless situation

[AlSwearengen]

BOC must not be high on Davis or he wouldn't have used him in the useless situation

Yep and I can’t blame him too much at this point. I swear, this bullpen is making me bi-polar. The only thing that I am positive of is that Gleason is the only one that comes out of it that doesn’t have me holding my breath.

[Maroon Glasses]

BOC must not be high on Davis or he wouldn't have used him in the useless situation

Very good point. We see them throw once a week. BOC and company see them every.single.day. There are reasons that we don't know on why he is making these decisions. It's easy for us to sit on the couch and question it when it don't go right. If it all would have worked out yesterday then we would be praising him.

Bobby Bowden once said: " If I go for it on 4th down and get it, I'm the greatest coach ever. But if we come up 2 inches short, I'm a piece of shit." Something like that anyway, lol.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Yep and I can’t blame him too much at this point. I swear, this bullpen is making me bi-polar. The only thing that I am positive of is that Gleason is the only one that comes out of it that doesn’t have me holding my breath.

I think some of the struggles can be attributed to the staff planning on using William Kirk in some of these situations and now kind of scrambling and experimenting to pick up the slack.

[AlSwearengen]

I think some of the struggles can be attributed to the staff planning on using William Kirk in some of these situations and now kind of scrambling and experimenting to pick up the slack.

That and I think they were planning on Foster being better at this point. That is 2 of your top 7 arms not giving you what you thought you were going to get from them.

[HoopsDawg]

BOC must not be high on Davis or he wouldn't have used him in the useless situation

Not the case at all.

[ScooterDog]

Todd, I agree with everything you said about the relief pitching. The relievers are not our problem, it's the coaching moves of taking a very good pitcher out and replacing him with one that is not so good. Maybe he had given up early and was just giving the new guys some experience. But an sec game is NOT the place to do that IMO. Thanks Todd for your comments, and you too Steve.

[Pancho]

Not the case at all.

Then why utilize him in a basically no leverage situation with a 7 run lead? That is mop up time when you save arms for the next game which was 1 hour later.

[Rawdawg]

We are 16-4 and went on the road to a top 10 team and didnt get swept. Our RPI went up to 16. All 4 losses are away from home against quad 1 opponents. We have 8 more nonconference games and 27 conference games. 6-2 or 7-1 in non conference puts you at 22-23 wins. Go .500 or better in the SEC and you?re sitting around 38 wins which is easily hosting and likely a national seed.

[HoopsDawg]

Then why utilize him in a basically no leverage situation with a 7 run lead? That is mop up time when you save arms for the next game which was 1 hour later.

Poor, poor management decision.

[Thick]

I think Jay Powell would be perfect to manage pitchers. He knows what it takes at this level and MLB to be successful.

[Todd4State]

I think Jay Powell would be perfect to manage pitchers. He knows what it takes at this level and MLB to be successful.

I'll be honest- I wouldn't be shocked at all if a lot of this is fixed next weekend. BOC has already started to use Ben Davis for no more than two innings. We play Jackson State on Tuesday. We need to use that to reset the staff some, give some guys some confidence hopefully and he back in Starkville where we're more comfortable.

[MetEdDawg]

There were a few head scratchers to me. I didn?t get Davis in game 2; granted he didn?t pitch very well. I didn?t get Mershon in that spot. I would put Bevis at 1B and Stallman in LF if they are in the lineup at the same time; if i remember correctly Stallman was servicable out there last year. I?m not around the team every day like the coaches are so maybe there are good reasons for the moves they make; I?m giving them the benefit of the doubt.

BUT, if Foster and at least 2 of the freshmen don?t figure it out real quick, we are going to limp into a regional (hopefully). Forget hosting.

Our relief pitching is a major disappointment at this point.

A lot of these are reasons I'm concerned. Mershon over Bevis in the PH situation made no sense. Webb getting limited time on Saturday. Got us out of a jam in the 6th. But then we go to Foster? Didn't understand Miller in the 9th tie on the road in his first SEC game being at Arkansas. Chone can't catch and hasn't been able to since the very beginning. Ben Davis pitching the 8th in a 7 run game.

I just have a lot of concern about some of these decisions. We did not use our most high leverage guys in our most high leverage situations. And it almost seemed purposeful. Miller in the 9th game 1 was shocking to me. I just simply couldn't rationalize doing that to a freshman.