Quote Originally Posted by Todd4State View Post
It was because Butch refused to:

Start Hudson, Tatum, and Sexton- even if they go three innings, that's fine. It's not like we haven't had that happen before anyway. As I said ALL year long Hudson should have pitched more than he did. I think Tatum going between the bullpen and the rotation messed him up last year. Sexton did pretty well aside from allowing too many home runs.

Use Laster, Fitts, and Houston out of the bullpen in relief. Laster should have been our Girodo last year. Start Hudson on Friday- if he doesn't go deep bring in Laster for 4-6 IP. Pitch Sexton on Saturday- use Fitts or Houston out of the pen. Use Tatum on Sunday- use Laster again depending on his pitch count from Friday and if he's not available hopefully either Fitts or Houston would be. If none of those guys are available, I would have gone with Mintz or Preston Brown.


And then on top of that- Butch's insistence on using Ross Mitchell and hoping that he would "figure it out" at some point. Butch needs to understand that if by the third series of the SEC season a guy is getting shelled- his ass needs to sit. Starting Preston Brown was almost as bad- both Ross and Preston had ERA's of over 6.00 apiece in SEC play.

So, to answer your question- it was Butch's complete mismanagement of our pitching staff that was the principle reason why we sucked. I am 100% confident that had we done what I suggested in the first two paragraphs we would have had a winning season. And probably a regional bid.

If history is any indicator, our pitching staff should be pretty good next year.
How much was on Butch and how much was on Cohen? I recall hearing rumblings before the season started (maybe even from you) about how they were disagreeing with how the staff was going to be managed. Who "won" that argument in the end? I agree that it was Butch

I remember watching an SEC game later in the season, and the camera caught the two of them disagreeing in the dugout when the time was coming to make a call to the pen. Before long, Butch came out and brought in Ross for another beating. Making an educated guess, I'd say that Butch is to Blame for player devotion that caused him to mismanage the staff because it just doesn't fit the way Cohen over manages the lineup in every way.