Keegan Expected Back Soon

[WarDamnEagle#1 0]

https://auburn.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1765731

Friday and Saturday's starters will be TBA but Golloway expects Keegan Thompson to start one of those. The junior hasn't pitched since suffering a sore elbow against Ole Miss in a short appearance April 18. "He looks really good," Golloway said. "He threw the ball at 120 feet today ... He looked good, he felt good and he says he's ready to go."

Thankful to have him back this week.

[AUTUmike 79]

Great news. I'd start Thompson on Friday so there isn't as much of a chance of carryover from last weekend's collapse.

[AU64 10,122]

Great news. I'd start Thompson on Friday so there isn't as much of a chance of carryover from last weekend's collapse.

That's a big roll of the dice IMO. Start him and he gets knocked about...which would not be much of a surprise to me after a month on the sidelines....and that would not help him or the team.....

No way Sunny could / should start him on Friday since in his first game back he will not be likely to pitch more than a few innings.....and then we are left with a VERY shaky bullpen....so think I would use same starters on Friday and Sat as we did against bama.

Pitching has not been the problem (at least not starters) and if it were me, would keep our recent Friday/Saturday rotation and let KT start Sunday for maximum of 3 or 4 innings... ..and be ready for Hoover.

Best I can tell, we are in the SEC tournament thus what really matters is having him back and solid on the mound when the Regionals start..and not necessarily what happens at Florida.

JMO but no matter what we do at Gainesville, we will not host a Regional so our best bet is be ready to play somewhere else at full strength.

What we really need is for Grier and a couple other guys to shake off their hitting malaise.

[WarDamnEagle#1 0]

Keegan starting tomorrow.

[AU64 10,122]

Keegan starting tomorrow.

Glad to hear he is available...but if it were me, he would not pitch more than a few innings and be ready to start in the first round SEC game.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Not sure what to think...

"As the Tigers look forward to the rubber match on Saturday at noon, the pitching staff will get a boost. Sophomore Keegan Thompson will start for the first time since leaving an April 18 start with discomfort in his right elbow. The ideal outing in Golloway’s terms for Thompson is two or three innings, pain-free."

He did go on to acknowledge that the future for Thompson is more important than this one game.

Let's hope for Thompson with four shutout, Rentz four shutout and Camp to close.

[AU64 10,122]

Not sure what to think...

"As the Tigers look forward to the rubber match on Saturday at noon, the pitching staff will get a boost. Sophomore Keegan Thompson will start for the first time since leaving an April 18 start with discomfort in his right elbow. The ideal outing in Golloway’s terms for Thompson is two or three innings, pain-free."

He did go on to acknowledge that the future for Thompson is more important than this one game.

Let's hope for Thompson with four shutout, Rentz four shutout and Camp to close.

Sounds like a plan to me.

JMO perhaps but the first game of the SEC tourney is more important than this game today. We really need to get into the double elimination part of the tourney....and need that first win to do so.

Win or lose today, we are playing in Hoover...so....let's see how KT feels for a few innings and then get him out of there.

[AU64 10,122]

Saw no post-game comment on Keegan's situation....He looked sharp considering the layoff and JMO, but 2 innings was about right though another might have been OK.

Whatever.....this short return leaves him ready for the SEC tournament if needed. Anyone see comments from Sunny after the game? I expect PM will have the inside scoop for us later this morning

And again, JMO..... but Lipscomb has been very good lately and I would use him in the opening game and then have KT ready if/when we get to the double elimination stage.

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

Bryan Matthews ‏@BMattAU 4m4 minutes agoOpelika, AL

Golloway said Keegan Thompson will travel with team but needs to get with Dr. James Andrews and "get it fixed"

This is becoming more and more what I feared, and could possibly be leaning toward an offseason surgery. I know several here mentioned concern with how Keegan was being used earlier in the year, not so much on his pitch count albeit it was high, but also the stress of those pitches and the fact he didn't "look like old Keegan" at times. This is a first round talent, and if this coaching staff knowingly rode him till he wore down, I don't care how far the Tigers go this year, those involved should be immediately fired. I seem to remember a Dillon Overton, now in the Athletics organization but formerly a Sooner, absolutely unleashing on Golloway when Overton declared for the draft, citing not only his brash nature (which all fans have seen at AU and attribute to his "style") but his urging that pitcher's pitch through pain (Overton mentions a time when a pitcher was expected to pitch even when a torn UCL had been discovered). I remember when Golloway was hired, those against the hire pointed out some of the other OU player moods on his departure (see http://www.crimsonan...y-auburn-tigers) and were quickly dismissed (by me included) that it was just sour grapes by prima donna athletes. I don't care how good of a coach he is; if he's chasing victories at the expense of kid's futures, I do not want him at AU.

EDIT: Before anyone says I'm damning CSG in this post, I merely shared the link as a reference to the issues mentioned by some when he was first hired, not saying this is the same situation here with KT. Pitcher's get hurt all the time. I do also think some of that article above was sour grapes from players. But CSG has been very flippant about this injury for the past 6 weeks. If I'm KT's parents, if surgery is required, I tell KT to have it, sit out the year, and go in the draft in 2017.

[AU64 10,122]

Sorry SC but I haven't seen anything from Sunny but expressions of concern and noting that it is up to the doctors to decide what is OK.

As for the arm trouble..."arm problems" and "baseball pitcher" seem synonymous .....over relatively short careers, I bet a good percentage of pitchers in the bigs sooner or later have arm problems and/or surgery. And these are guys that live with limited pitch count and team doctors.... and owners who have millions invested in them.

Seems to be somewhat of a cheap shot to even hint that Sunny has ignored this kid's future in order to win now...even if it's just a link to what might be any objective or informed site. And it's been pretty clear that Holliday is making the decisions about the pitchers.

Meanwhile, who knows how many pitches he threw in HS, summer league, travel ball, etc....when he was still growing and his arm still developing. Frankly, he has not done that much pitching in the SEC compared to lots of other players.

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

Sorry SC but I haven't seen anything from Sunny but expressions of concern and noting that it is up to the doctors to decide what is OK.

Fair enough. I may be (and probably am) biased on this part.

As for the arm trouble..."arm problems" and "baseball pitcher" seem synonymous .....over relatively short careers, I bet a good percentage of pitchers in the bigs sooner or later have arm problems and/or surgery. And these are guys that live with limited pitch count and team doctors.... and owners who have millions invested in them.

Agreed. As I mentioned, pitchers get hurt all the time.

Seems to be somewhat of a cheap shot to even hint that Sunny has ignored this kid's future in order to win now...even if it's just a link to what might be any objective or informed site. And it's been pretty clear that Holliday is making the decisions about the pitchers.

Guilty as charged. But, I'm not apologizing for it. I think this will have to be the first AU coach I'm admitting to now having a vendetta against. I'll either try to post here less or just post about the product on the field and nothing to do with the management of it because I too get annoyed at so much coach controversy on the board, but shadiness seems to have followed this guy around in the public opinion shadows during his career, and with all that's happened last year and this year's late season collapse, my tolerance with him is low as it is. Hopefully, I'm wrong as can be and he's creating men as well as championship baseball players, but so far, I in my admitted bias, believe he has failed at both. War Eagle.

[AU64 10,122]

Sorry SC but I haven't seen anything from Sunny but expressions of concern and noting that it is up to the doctors to decide what is OK.

Fair enough. I may be (and probably am) biased on this part.

As for the arm trouble..."arm problems" and "baseball pitcher" seem synonymous .....over relatively short careers, I bet a good percentage of pitchers in the bigs sooner or later have arm problems and/or surgery. And these are guys that live with limited pitch count and team doctors.... and owners who have millions invested in them.

Agreed. As I mentioned, pitchers get hurt all the time.

Seems to be somewhat of a cheap shot to even hint that Sunny has ignored this kid's future in order to win now...even if it's just a link to what might be any objective or informed site. And it's been pretty clear that Holliday is making the decisions about the pitchers.

Guilty as charged. But, I'm not apologizing for it. I think this will have to be the first AU coach I'm admitting to now having a vendetta against. I'll either try to post here less or just post about the product on the field and nothing to do with the management of it because I too get annoyed at so much coach controversy on the board, but shadiness seems to have followed this guy around in the public opinion shadows during his career, and with all that's happened last year and this year's late season collapse, my tolerance with him is low as it is. Hopefully, I'm wrong as can be and he's creating men as well as championship baseball players, but so far, I in my admitted bias, believe he has failed at both. War Eagle.

I understand your view SC... ...Sunny is hard to like......and I'm not a fan....but I am not a fan of lots of coaches and players as many are coddled or overpaid prima donnas ....but I try to give them a fair shake when I see what I think is an unsupported criticism..

And this is a case where I think the reputation of AU is involved too. JMO but we have a couple media people reaching for any reason to put Sunny in a bind....whether he deserves it or not.....and whether it makes AU look bad or not.... I just hate to see them get away with it.

Meanwhile...keep posting....I don't mind a little jousting every now and then.

WE

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

"We're unsure," said Auburn head coach Sunny Golloway on Monday when asked about sophomore Keegan Thompson "I know that sounds crazy, but we're going to put him on the 27-man roster. I think the bottom line ultimately is we're in a situation where he's going to have to get with Dr. James Andrews. What Keegan wants to do is try to help us."

That doesn't sound flippant to me. Reading between the lines, it sounds like Thompson has an injury that is going to require surgery to fix, but most likely would not be impacted significantly (in terms of compounding the injury) by continuing to pitch. I am certain that Golloway has mentioned at least a couple of times having had conversations with Thompson's parents about his prognosis over the last month.

As for the idea that Overton claimed Golloway made him do something he didn't want to do...

Lavon Overton, Dillon’s mother, believes Oklahoma did everything in its power to take care of her son before, during and after he was initially injured.

“I don’t think that McBride or the University of Oklahoma did anything wrong in caring for Dillon,” Lavon told SoonerScoop.com. “I think they did everything to the best of their knowledge with the professional help that was being given to them.”

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

...and with all that's happened last year and this year's late season collapse, my tolerance with him is low as it is.

After the first two SEC series we were 1-5. We are now 13-17, RPI is at 23 and that against the 2nd toughest schedule in the country. Good grief man. And just in case nobody realized, this team is not loaded with dominant talent. They were successful because they were tough. Not coddled.

Auburn had just one player ... represented on the SEC all-conference teams.

Pitcher Cole Lipscomb was named to the All-SEC second team. The sophomore right-hander from Prattville went 7-2 with a 2.38 ERA. He struck out a team-high 75.

ONE

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Anything confirmed on whether Thompson has had surgery on the elbow? I have seen a couple of times now that he may have had UCL reconstruction.

"...especially with the news that ace Keegan Thompson will miss next season while rehabbing from elbow surgery."

http://www.auburnvillager.com/sports/article_dbf13448-0ace-11e5-bb28-47c98602ccbc.html

[AU64 10,122]

Anything confirmed on whether Thompson has had surgery on the elbow? I have seen a couple of times now that he may have had UCL reconstruction.

"...especially with the news that ace Keegan Thompson will miss next season while rehabbing from elbow surgery."

http://www.auburnvillager.com/sports/article_dbf13448-0ace-11e5-bb28-47c98602ccbc.html

Wow...that's pretty big news. Losing KT was probably the difference in the way the season played out at the end....and very little news on something this critical to next season? ....so where is our ace baseball reporter Phillip Marshall with the details?

Going to require some serious additions to the pitching staff next season to make up KT not being available (if that's true) and the losses to graduation.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

I'm a bit confused. Looking back through and see that Thompson will have surgery but what are the actual odds we don't have him this next year?

[AU64 10,122]

I'm a bit confused. Looking back through and see that Thompson will have surgery but what are the actual odds we don't have him this next year?

That's the big unanswered question.

I know it's football recruiting season now, but it seems that on an issue that has so many implications for our 2016 baseball season someone close to the program like Phillip Marshall would have kept us up to speed on KT's prognosis.

Perhaps, since it now appears that CSG can't be blamed for KT's injury, PM has lost interest in the subject. There must be someone out that who is able to enlighten us.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

I'm a bit confused. Looking back through and see that Thompson will have surgery but what are the actual odds we don't have him this next year?

That's the big unanswered question.

I know it's football recruiting season now, but it seems that on an issue that has so many implications for our 2016 baseball season someone close to the program like Phillip Marshall would have kept us up to speed on KT's prognosis.

Perhaps, since it now appears that CSG can't be blamed for KT's injury, PM has lost interest in the subject. There must be someone out that who is able to enlighten us. :dunno:/>

aha, thank you much, hope it's not too serious and that he can go

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

I had a chance to meet Coach Holliday this afternoon at the WWBA 17U national championship at the Perfect Game complex near Atlanta this afternoon. What an awesome guy, could not have been nicer, talked for about fifteen minutes between games. He obviously is greatly respected by his peers, had about a half a dozen other college coaches apparently hanging on his every word.

As for Thompson, yes he did undergo Tommy John surgery and will be out rehabilitating for the entire '16 season. They do anticipate he will come back to Auburn for the '17 season. Coach Holliday is very high on the arms coming back and the guys on the way. He is clearly a guy who loves teaching and the challenge of building this program to a level that we can compete to go to Omaha year in and year out.

[AU64 10,122]

I had a chance to meet Coach Holliday this afternoon at the WWBA 17U national championship at the Perfect Game complex near Atlanta this afternoon. What an awesome guy, could not have been nicer, talked for about fifteen minutes between games. He obviously is greatly respected by his peers, had about a half a dozen other college coaches apparently hanging on his every word.

As for Thompson, yes he did undergo Tommy John surgery and will be out rehabilitating for the entire '16 season. They do anticipate he will come back to Auburn for the '17 season. Coach Holliday is very high on the arms coming back and the guys on the way. He is clearly a guy who loves teaching and the challenge of building this program to a level that we can compete to go to Omaha year in and year out.

Thanks...great information...thanks for sharing it. Indeed, Holliday did a great job his year with limited staff....lots of new pitching prospects coming our way....look forward to seeing how they develop.