Cohen Presser

[smootness]

Laster 1 time thru the lineup and if tied or winning he stays until trouble. Then bring Lindgren and he goes til he runs out of gas. Then Holder.

Yup, this. You don't start Lindgren because he's sharper out of the pen. So you bring him out of the pen and don't tell him when he's coming out. He goes full-bore for as long as he's effective. I'm not worried about starting Laster. You have Lindgren ready to warm up even in the first inning if necessary; even if Laster gives up a couple, we're fine. We can score against them.

[smootness]

Your baseball ignorance is showing...Ross and laster are two completely different styles. He may very well get rocked but it won't be because he throws the same stuff as Mitchell.

Yes. And Tatum pitched last night, Brown is done, and Hudson/Sexton just aren't consistent enough to throw in this situation. That suggestion is actually insane.

It's like the people who thought we could just throw Woodruff out there against JSU and be fine. If you can't locate your pitches, it doesn't matter if you throw 95 or 75.

[Goat Holder]

Dislike starting Ross 2.0. We'll be down 4 aGAIN before we can blink and bring in Lingo. Throw someone with some got damn power. Where the hell is Hudson, Tatum, Brown, or Sexton?

ha ha ha ha ha ha

You just get worse and worse. I told you to stop posting about baseball.....it's for your own good.

[War Machine Dawg]

Your baseball ignorance is showing...Ross and laster are two completely different styles. He may very well get rocked but it won't be because he throws the same stuff as Mitchell.

So Laster ISN'T a soft tossing lefty? Coulda fooled me. Don't give a single damn about "styles." It will be the 3rd game in a row ULL has seen a pitcher who doesn't throw hard. I'll grant you that Ross wasn't getting the low strike last night, and that certainly hurt him, but that wasn't the only reason ULL was squaring up everything he threw. They had adjusted to soft toss pitching.

[smootness]

So Laster ISN'T a soft tossing lefty? Coulda fooled me. Don't give a single damn about "styles." It will be the 3rd game in a row ULL has seen a pitcher who doesn't throw hard. I'll grant you that Ross wasn't getting the low strike last night, and that certainly hurt him, but that wasn't the only reason ULL was squaring up everything he threw. They had adjusted to soft toss pitching.

Does he not throw upper-80s? If so, no, he's not a soft-tosser, not in college baseball. He isn't a flame-thrower, obviously, but that velocity is just fine; it definitely isn't on the same level as Mitchell or the JSU pitchers. You're trying to fit him into the same box just because none of them throw 90+; they're still different pitchers with different velocities.

If he pitches like he has been recently, he'll be able to last long enough that we can bring in Lindgren and pretty much let him finish it. And if he struggles early on, we'll bring in Lindgren very quickly. What is the problem?

[engie]

So Laster ISN'T a soft tossing lefty? Coulda fooled me. Don't give a single damn about "styles." It will be the 3rd game in a row ULL has seen a pitcher who doesn't throw hard. I'll grant you that Ross wasn't getting the low strike last night, and that certainly hurt him, but that wasn't the only reason ULL was squaring up everything he threw. They had adjusted to soft toss pitching.

Laster can touch 90 on occasion. He's a "junk throwing lefty" -- not a "soft tossing lefty". They hit Woodruff harder than Mitchell. Bottom line is, with the stuff Mitchell had last night and the strike zone being called, he wasn't beating anyone...

Laster is alot more comparable to Tatum IMO...who I thought looked pretty good against them last night...

[maroonmania]

Does he not throw upper-80s? If so, no, he's not a soft-tosser, not in college baseball. He isn't a flame-thrower, obviously, but that velocity is just fine; it definitely isn't on the same level as Mitchell or the JSU pitchers. You're trying to fit him into the same box just because none of them throw 90+; they're still different pitchers with different velocities.

If he pitches like he has been recently, he'll be able to last long enough that we can bring in Lindgren and pretty much let him finish it. And if he struggles early on, we'll bring in Lindgren very quickly. What is the problem?

Yes, and Lindgren wouldn't likely throw a complete game even if he started. Whether he throws the last 6 or 7 innings or the first 6 or 7 we would still need some other pitcher (Laster or whoever) to hold ULL down for 2 or 3 innings minimum.

[NCDawg]

I wish we would just start Lindgren. I know he's struggled in that role, but if he's a first rounder, he's got to sack up. It's conceivable that we have a pitcher who will be pitching in the majors later this year that won't see the field in our regional until it's too late for him to make a difference. That's just insane to me.

I totally agree.

[DudyDawg]

Laster can touch 90 on occasion. He's a "junk throwing lefty" -- not a "soft tossing lefty". They hit Woodruff harder than Mitchell. Bottom line is, with the stuff Mitchell had last night and the strike zone being called, he wasn't beating anyone...

Laster is alot more comparable to Tatum IMO...who I thought looked pretty good against them last night...

Completely agree with that comparison. Seeing how Tatum has thrown the past few outings makes me wonder why hasn't seen more chances this season.

[War Machine Dawg]

Laster can touch 90 on occasion. He's a "junk throwing lefty" -- not a "soft tossing lefty". They hit Woodruff harder than Mitchell. Bottom line is, with the stuff Mitchell had last night and the strike zone being called, he wasn't beating anyone...

Laster is alot more comparable to Tatum IMO...who I thought looked pretty good against them last night...

Ah, then my bad. If he can hit 90, he's definitely not a soft tosser. For some reason I was thinking he topped out around 85.

[Percho]

As soon as the Cohen figured out the Ump wasn't going to give us the low strike he should have pulled Ross. That is his bread and butter

I agree with this post. You cannot make Ross throw it down the middle against good hitters. He had the ball all around the edges and could not get a call.

[Irondawg]

This isn't rocket science. Laster goes as long as he's being effective. First signs of danger we're bringing in Lingo, even if that's in the 1st. We are then riding him as long as we can and then we're going to Holder and doing the same. Ideally that will be enough. I don't think we'll be throwing anyone else unless we are up or down 6+ runs

[Irondawg]

I'll add that Bracewell not being able to do the job (and our bats) against JSU hurt us last night. If we had holder in the pen I think we would have seen lingo as early as the 3rd inning last night.

[smootness]

This isn't rocket science. Laster goes as long as he's being effective. First signs of danger we're bringing in Lingo, even if that's in the 1st. We are then riding him as long as we can and then we're going to Holder and doing the same. Ideally that will be enough. I don't think we'll be throwing anyone else unless we are up or down 6+ runs

Yep. And I honestly don't think we'll see anyone else, period, even if we're up 6 runs. If we're down 6, we still might not see anyone else unless it's clear they're just destroying what Lindgren is throwing.

They're our best pitchers, so you put them out there and hope they're on.

[CadaverDawg]

I'll add that Bracewell not being able to do the job (and our bats) against JSU hurt us last night. If we had holder in the pen I think we would have seen lingo as early as the 3rd inning last night.

Holder may have started tonight if we hadn't wasted him vs JSU

[PMDawg]

Here's the thing...if he doesn't feel mentally able to start a game, then why waste him and possibly have him not be as lights out as usual by starting him? If he wants to come in relief, then we use Laster for 2-3 innings just like we use Fitts then bring in Lindgren to close the door. What we saw from ULL at the end of the game gives me confidence in Laster. Tatum was positioning pitches just right last night and ULL wasn't just lollygagging around out there. ULL was trying to hit every ball as hard as they could. I think Laster comes in, goes through the lineup 1-1.5 times, Butch pulls him and puts in Lindgren and he throws 6-7 innings.

because it could very well be 8-3 again by the time Lindgren is warmed up.

[DawgSaint]

Were any of you there when Lindgren "started" the the completion of the first game of the A&M series? I know some will say does not count, but he looked like crap. I don't want to see that again tonight!

[PMDawg]

This isn't rocket science. Laster goes as long as he's being effective. First signs of danger we're bringing in Lingo, even if that's in the 1st. We are then riding him as long as we can and then we're going to Holder and doing the same. Ideally that will be enough. I don't think we'll be throwing anyone else unless we are up or down 6+ runs

It takes time to recognize you need to warm him up, get him to the pen, get him warmed up, then trot him out there. You can't start the game with him warming in the pen either, because then you risk him being there too long and tiring out. If Lindgren has a mental block with starting, I wonder if he has a mental block about coming in with the regional on the line at any point in the game? If he's a headcase, he's going to crack either way. If he's past all that, then it makes more sense to start him. Just imagine how much better we would feel about the postseason if he started the game and mowed down UL for 7 innings. That would change my view on a SR in Oxford real fast. It's put up or shut up time. If you have a 1st rounder, I say you put your season on his back and see if he's actually a 1st rounder.

[DawgSaint]

It takes time to recognize you need to warm him up, get him to the pen, get him warmed up, then trot him out there. You can't start the game with him warming in the pen either, because then you risk him being there too long and tiring out. If Lindgren has a mental block with starting, I wonder if he has a mental block about coming in with the regional on the line at any point in the game? If he's a headcase, he's going to crack either way. If he's past all that, then it makes more sense to start him. Just imagine how much better we would feel about the postseason if he started the game and mowed down UL for 7 innings. That would change my view on a SR in Oxford real fast. It's put up or shut up time. If you have a 1st rounder, I say you put your season on his back and see if he's actually a 1st rounder.

He is a high draft pick BECAUSE he is a freakin reliever. Nevermind, this is a pointless argument. He is not going to start no matter what any of us say. The decision has been made and I like it!

[MsStateBaseball]

Did anyone listen to Butch last night on radio show? They saw how effective Tatum was and he told Lindgren and Laster to look at what he was doing. I wouldn't be surprised Tatum comes back for a little bit. Laster, Lindgren, Holder. If ULL hits them and wins, they deserve it.