Pitching rotation for SEC Tournament

[Mikey 16,576]

1 minute ago, boomstick said:

If Butch does it this way, I'm guessing the thinking is they're going to throw on Tues-Wed anyway for their regular bullpen session. Might as well let them get their work in on the field in a competitive situation. Keegan could throw 6+ on short rest, and Casey might not throw at all this weekend. I'd be surprised if Keegan has an extended outing on short rest with regionals just around the corner given his arm fatigue issues earlier this year. And I'd be surprised if Casey didn't throw at some point tomorrow because it might be his last chance to work in a live game until a regional.

I hope Butch's thinking is to win the game tomorrow. After that's done, then worry about Wednesday and beyond.

[boomstick 1,315]

2 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I hope Butch's thinking is to win the game tomorrow. After that's done, then worry about Wednesday and beyond.

Strictly from national tournament perspective, I don't know that winning tomorrow is in our best interest. I don't think we will throw the game, but I also don't think we're going to throw everything we have or risk one of our best starters' health just to win an SECT game. 

[AU64 10,122]

4 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I hope Butch's thinking is to win the game tomorrow. After that's done, then worry about Wednesday and beyond.

 Absolutely , don't win the first game and the rest of it is academic IMO

[AU64 10,122]

1 minute ago, boomstick said:

Strictly from national tournament perspective, I don't know that winning tomorrow is in our best interest. I don't think we will throw the game, but I also don't think we're going to throw everything we have or risk one of our best starters' health just to win an SECT game. 

 Just my view but more than just an SEC tournament game is involved . How we come out of that first game could also determine where we play in the in NCAA tournament.

I don't think we have anything wrapped up at this point and should be looking to present the best case for our seeding and location. 

[Mikey 16,576]

It's late in the season. These guys should be in shape to make two starts of 7+ innings every week. I don't see the playoffs looming next week as a concern. If they are a concern then we've been babying these pitchers too much. At every level up to college they've been throwing more than one start a week. If they make the pros they'll have to pitch more than one start a week. There's no reason they shouldn't be doing that now.

[ellitor 33,082]

1 hour ago, AU64 said:

Though it's kind of hard to ignore a team that is ranked #24.....JMO but what's really at stake is the seeding.....where in the national standing..and where we end up playing.   Would prefer not to get in a situation where they send us out to Utah or somewhere to balance up a regional.

You may be right but there have been ranked teams before not make NCAA Regionals & the NCAA basketball tourney (albeit rare) which has a similar # of teams & auto bids involved.

[oldman 23]

14 minutes ago, Mikey said:

It's late in the season. These guys should be in shape to make two starts of 7+ innings every week. I don't see the playoffs looming next week as a concern. If they are a concern then we've been babying these pitchers too much. At every level up to college they've been throwing more than one start a week. If they make the pros they'll have to pitch more than one start a week. There's no reason they shouldn't be doing that now.

Absolutely agree , from Thursday to Tuesday game time is actually 5 days and if any starting pitcher can't do that in a college season, he will for sure not survive a pro season.

[AU64 10,122]

3 minutes ago, ellitor said:

You may be right but there have been ranked teams before not make NCAA Regionals & the NCAA basketball tourney (albeit rare) which has a similar # of teams & auto bids involved.

 All the more reason to take that first conference tournament game seriously . If we screw around and get hammered in game number one , our next baseball game may be in February 2018.

[oldman 23]

Anyway just ordered my tiks for tomorrow ,hope Keegan does start but last game I managed to go to that he started didn't turn out good. A Day 2015, he left game after 2 innings with arm trouble that was the beginning of his troubles before finally having surgery.

[ellitor 33,082]

27 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I hope Butch's thinking is to win the game tomorrow. After that's done, then worry about Wednesday and beyond.

[ellitor 33,082]

23 minutes ago, Mikey said:

It's late in the season. These guys should be in shape to make two starts of 7+ innings every week. I don't see the playoffs looming next week as a concern. If they are a concern then we've been babying these pitchers too much. At every level up to college they've been throwing more than one start a week. If they make the pros they'll have to pitch more than one start a week. There's no reason they shouldn't be doing that now.

You might be right on this but I'm just not sure. I'm 2-3 decades younger than you and the kids we pitched & faced in high school only started 1 game per week when I was in high school. It's probably swung even more that way now a days with kids coming up.

[ellitor 33,082]

6 minutes ago, AU64 said:

 All the more reason to take that first conference tournament game seriously . If we screw around and get hammered in game number one , our next baseball game may be in February 2018.

Exactly. We see the picture the same way.

[augolf1716 21,103]

3 hours ago, jared52 said:

Well, that's good for Golf. He would have lost all his money...

Made $50 bucks if it holds true and I would not have all my money just some of my play money

[80Tiger 899]

49 minutes ago, AU64 said:

 Just my view but more than just an SEC tournament game is involved . How we come out of that first game could also determine where we play in the in NCAA tournament.

I don't think we have anything wrapped up at this point and should be looking to present the best case for our seeding and location. 

Agreed. The fact is we were 2-8 for the final 3 weeks of the season.  I don't think anything is a given. I would certainly feel better with a couple of wins in the SEC tournament.

[boomstick 1,315]

48 minutes ago, Mikey said:

It's late in the season. These guys should be in shape to make two starts of 7+ innings every week. I don't see the playoffs looming next week as a concern. If they are a concern then we've been babying these pitchers too much. At every level up to college they've been throwing more than one start a week. If they make the pros they'll have to pitch more than one start a week. There's no reason they shouldn't be doing that now.

I think the concern comes from the best two starters on staff missing multiple starts due to fatigue and soreness. And I think that's from too much work. While they should be able to pitch every fifth day, I'm not sure either is at that point right now, and I surely wouldn't want to risk further injury to one of them just to win one ball game when I think there are more important games ahead. 

[ellitor 33,082]

14 minutes ago, boomstick said:

I think the concern comes from the best two starters on staff missing multiple starts due to fatigue and soreness. And I think that's from too much work. While they should be able to pitch every fifth day, I'm not sure either is at that point right now, and I surely wouldn't want to risk further injury to one of them just to win one ball game when I think there are more important games ahead. 

Yes but think is the operative word there. They aren't guaranteed like they should have been to get there before the Bama series. We may still have to win a game to even have a NCAA Regional bridge to cross. Plus if they pitch tomorrow they would have 9 days to rest & likely not harming them if we are in the regionals.

[boomstick 1,315]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Yes but think is the operative word there. They aren't guaranteed like they should have been to get there before the Bama series. We may still have to win a game to even have a NCAA Regional bridge to cross. Plus if they pitch tomorrow they would have 9 days to rest & likely not harming them if we are in the regionals.

That's where we differ. I think a winning record in the SEC plus a strong win total against top 100 RPI teams and a decent RPI is enough for us to have a solid 2 seed. A loss may bump us to a 3 because our RPI would fall to the upper 40s, but I think we're in regardless of what happens tomorrow. 

[ellitor 33,082]

16 minutes ago, boomstick said:

That's where we differ. I think a winning record in the SEC plus a strong win total against top 100 RPI teams and a decent RPI is enough for us to have a solid 2 seed. A loss may bump us to a 3 because our RPI would fall to the upper 40s, but I think we're in regardless of what happens tomorrow. 

We should be in but there is no guarantee. When you get swept by a total dump of a team like Bama then all bets are off. Also SEC teams with RPIs in the 40s have had a very hard time making it into NCAA Regionals historically. We have to win 2 in Hoover at minimum to not end up in the 40s. How would you feel as the coach if you manage the game tomorrow like you are talking about looking to the regionals only to lose tomorrow & later not get picked for a regional because you didn't manage to do everything to win the immediate game? It would devastate me if I were a coach that did that costing my kids an opportunity to play later by not doing everything to win the immediate game. Even if you think there is a 1% chance you don't make regionals unless you win tomorrow it calls for doing everything to win the immediate game. It's not worth risking no matter how small the % is unless it's a lock to make regionals.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

5 minutes ago, boomstick said:

That's where we differ. I think a winning record in the SEC plus a strong win total against top 100 RPI teams and a decent RPI is enough for us to have a solid 2 seed. A loss may bump us to a 3 because our RPI would fall to the upper 40s, but I think we're in regardless of what happens tomorrow. 

I agree boom, they've never held out an SEC team with 16 conference wins. Certainly would not expect us to be the first considering we are essentially tied for sixth in the conference, and the SEC will probably get 9-10 teams in. 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

28 minutes ago, ellitor said:

We should be in but there is no guarantee. When you get swept by a total dump of a team like Bama then all bets are off. Also SEC teams with RPIs in the 40s have had a very hard time making it into NCAA Regionals historically. We have to win 2 in Hoover at minimum to not end up in the 40s. How would you feel as the coach if you manage the game tomorrow like you are talking about looking to the regionals only to lose tomorrow & later not get picked for a regional because you didn't manage to do everything to win the immediate game? It would devastate me if I were a coach that did that costing my kids an opportunity to play later by not doing everything to win the immediate game. Even if you think there is a 1% chance you don't make regionals unless you win tomorrow it calls for doing everything to win the immediate game. It's not worth risking no matter how small the % is unless it's a lock to make regionals.

I also see this side though.

[ellitor 33,082]

2 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

I agree boom, they've never held out an SEC team with 16 conference wins. Certainly would not expect us to be the first considering we are essentially tied for sixth in the conference, and the SEC will probably get 9-10 teams in. 

The RPI has rarely been as low as ours is for a 16 conference win SEC team also. Not much water tredded in that territory.

[AU64 10,122]

12 minutes ago, ellitor said:

The RPI has rarely been as low as ours is for a 16 conference win SEC team also. Not much water tredded in that territory.

And also to consider that we end up in Tucson or someplace like that....because we slip to #3. I'm thinking we need to earn a little respect this week.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/baseball/bracketology

As noted...I don't know how a good coach can not plan 100% to put his best team on the field tomorrow. 

[boomstick 1,315]

1 hour ago, AU64 said:

And also to consider that we end up in Tucson or someplace like that....because we slip to #3. I'm thinking we need to earn a little respect this week.

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/baseball/bracketology

As noted...I don't know how a good coach can not plan 100% to put his best team on the field tomorrow. 

Throwing Keegan and Casey could and probably would be seen as trying to put the best team on the field. 

[boomstick 1,315]

2 hours ago, ellitor said:

We should be in but there is no guarantee. When you get swept by a total dump of a team like Bama then all bets are off. Also SEC teams with RPIs in the 40s have had a very hard time making it into NCAA Regionals historically. We have to win 2 in Hoover at minimum to not end up in the 40s. How would you feel as the coach if you manage the game tomorrow like you are talking about looking to the regionals only to lose tomorrow & later not get picked for a regional because you didn't manage to do everything to win the immediate game? It would devastate me if I were a coach that did that costing my kids an opportunity to play later by not doing everything to win the immediate game. Even if you think there is a 1% chance you don't make regionals unless you win tomorrow it calls for doing everything to win the immediate game. It's not worth risking no matter how small the % is unless it's a lock to make regionals.

IMO There are only 6 SEC teams that have a better combination of resume and RPI than us. aTm is pretty equal, and OM is below us in resume but ahead in RPI. And I don't think one game at the SECT is going to change that much, if at all. 

[Mikey 16,576]

56 minutes ago, boomstick said:

Throwing Keegan and Casey could and probably would be seen as trying to put the best team on the field. 

I'm puzzled by this. What about the next day if we win tomorrow? With nearly a full week before regionals start there's no reason to hold back pitching unless they truly belong on the injury list.