Shakeup in the baseball pitching staff

[boomstick 1,315]

Butch said in his weekly conversation that some more drastic or radical changes would be coming to the pitching staff. Tonight we will see Trace Bright start on a short outing. But tomorrow night is the first big shakeup IMO. Mason Barnett will start a midweek game. It probably won't be a long outing, if what Butch says is accurate, but that signifies to me that he won't be in the closer role going forward. He's going to be used in the midweek and in middle relief. I think Carson Swilling will be used as a closer moving forward after his strong performances last week. Interested to see what they do with the starting rotation and if Greenhill makes the move to the pen and Fitts moves to the weekend rotation after is good appearance this past weekend.

Edit: I had typed this up earlier today and never hit post because I got distracted with work. Just saw on twitter that Greenhill is going back to the bullpen. So, I guess Butch was serious after all. Kinda wonder how much Greenhill factored into that decision.

[AUBwins 10,074]

Love having the Bull back in the Pen! He can really bring that heater with less worry about fatigue. Definitely most beneficial to the team. Just hope it didn’t come a little too late. Really hope this all works, time to rally!

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Greenhill was the closer tonight in a close game with Samford. It's really his strength and a natural spot for him. What I thought was the best news though is how effective Peyton Glavine was tonight. He was the important middle reliever that Auburn needed. Samford is a good team and they always are extra motivated when they play Auburn. Those two guys can help get Auburn back on track hopefully. 

BTW.....Auburn has the best middle infield in baseball. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

12 hours ago, Tigerbelle said:

Greenhill was the closer tonight in a close game with Samford. It's really his strength and a natural spot for him. What I thought was the best news though is how effective Peyton Glavine was tonight. He was the important middle reliever that Auburn needed. Samford is a good team and they always are extra motivated when they play Auburn. Those two guys can help get Auburn back on track hopefully. 

BTW.....Auburn has the best middle infield in baseball. 

Is Greenhill's future in MLB as a reliever or still a starter? I wondered when he moved to a starter's role, was this bc he wanted it or Butch thought this was best for our starting rotation? Although you can make more money as a starting pitcher in the bigs, you can have longevity more as reliever, and possibly big money as a closer.

 

[boomstick 1,315]

8 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Is Greenhill's future in MLB as a reliever or still a starter? I wondered when he moved to a starter's role, was this bc he wanted it or Butch thought this was best for our starting rotation? Although you can make more money as a starting pitcher in the bigs, you can have longevity more as reliever, and possibly big money as a closer.

 

His future is probably a reliever in pro ball, but there have been plenty of college starters who become relievers in pro ball. I believe his move to the rotation is something Greenhill wanted but also one thing the staff thought would be best for him this year to get the most out of him. Cody’s history has suggested that he isn’t great in bounceback appearances. So, getting the most out of him in one outing was part of the reason for moving him as well. But his foot injury is bothering him to the point that it’s impacting his longevity in outings right now. So moving him back to the pen might alleviate some of that pain management. 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

I think you have to let Greenhill close just about any game we have a lead late in. 

Swilling should be set-up man. 

MAYBE Glavine/Mullins/Morrison/Thomas can get you a few innings in relief.

Rest of 'em need to throw on the weekdays IMO. For now, you gotta go Owen, Fitts, Gonzalez and just hope you can get something out of the starters. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

2 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Let Greenhill close just about any game we have a lead late in. 

Swilling should be set-up man. 

MAYBE Glavine/Mullins/Morrison. 

Rest of 'em need to throw on the weekdays IMO.

Again. Even Greenhill said, he needs to work and be better on consecutive outings in relief. If you remember, he had difficulty, when he pitched multiple innings, or if he came in on back to back days and being a shutdown reliever..

Not saying he shouldn't be the one...he is...but he has to show he can close 'just about any game', especially since we are in or have the lead in almost every game....

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Just now, steeleagle said:

Again. Even Greenhill said, he needs to work and be better on consecutive outings in relief. If you remember, he had difficulty, when he pitched multiple innings, or if he came in on back to back days and being a shutdown reliever..

Not saying he shouldn't be the one...he is...but he has to show he can close 'just about any game', especially since we are in or have the lead in almost every game....

He is miles better than the options we currently have to close out games. You have to throw have him and Swilling at least rotate close-outs. You can't trust Fitts, Gonzalez, Barnett, Bright, Skipper, Hill, or Fuller right now. It's not personal to those guys at all, but it is rather a comment on the state of the bullpen. You can't trust those guys to effectively produce outs right now. The only guys that you can put a small amount of trust in are Greenhill, Owen, Swilling, Glavine, Morrison, Mullins, and Thomas. 

Since you have to have a bullpen, you've got to bring Fitts and Gonzalez into the picture as starters and just pray they can find you some outs, but Auburn is really only about 7 deep in terms of pitchers. I wish we'd throw Sokol in a game or two and see what he can do. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

2 hours ago, boomstick said:

His future is probably a reliever in pro ball, but there have been plenty of college starters who become relievers in pro ball. I believe his move to the rotation is something Greenhill wanted but also one thing the staff thought would be best for him this year to get the most out of him. Cody’s history has suggested that he isn’t great in bounceback appearances. So, getting the most out of him in one outing was part of the reason for moving him as well. But his foot injury is bothering him to the point that it’s impacting his longevity in outings right now. So moving him back to the pen might alleviate some of that pain management. 

He was also put into the starting rotation because of the injuries to Jack Owen and others. I'm sure he wanted the opportunity, but it was necessary as well. With Fitts working his way back and Owen already pitching on Saturdays Greenhill is needed more as a closer at this point. If Auburn had been able to utilize him as a closer all season some of those lost by 1-run games might've been wins instead. With his lingering injury the move back to closer is going to benefit everyone. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,138]

I am glad to see this but it was something I thought should have happened about two weeks ago.  we could have at least 2 -4 more wins with a solid closer.

[boomstick 1,315]

1 hour ago, Tigerbelle said:

He was also put into the starting rotation because of the injuries to Jack Owen and others. I'm sure he wanted the opportunity, but it was necessary as well. With Fitts working his way back and Owen already pitching on Saturdays Greenhill is needed more as a closer at this point. If Auburn had been able to utilize him as a closer all season some of those lost by 1-run games might've been wins instead. With his lingering injury the move back to closer is going to benefit everyone. 

Nah, the decision to start him was made before the season started and before the injuries happened. We came into the season with the plan of starting Greenhill, Owen, and Fitts Fri-Sun and having Barnett or Skipper as the closer. And all that got derailed by the Owen injury and then further derailed by the Greenhill and Fitts injuries.  

[boomstick 1,315]

34 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I am glad to see this but it was something I thought should have happened about two weeks ago.  we could have at least 2 -4 more wins with a solid closer.

Or we might not have even been in those games that Cody wouldn’t have started. In the last 4 weeks, he started a 2-run loss to UK, won a 2-1 game at Ark, started a 1-run loss to State, and started a 1-run loss to Bama. If you had removed him from those starts with no other viable replacements, how many of those games would’ve been 1-run games? How many chances would he have had to close those games out as wins? Even now, it’s a big risk that puts a lot on Fitts to be as good as his last outing going forward. I think it’s a risk worth taking, but it’s still a risk. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

2 hours ago, boomstick said:

Or we might not have even been in those games that Cody wouldn’t have started. In the last 4 weeks, he started a 2-run loss to UK, won a 2-1 game at Ark, started a 1-run loss to State, and started a 1-run loss to Bama. If you had removed him from those starts with no other viable replacements, how many of those games would’ve been 1-run games? How many chances would he have had to close those games out as wins? Even now, it’s a big risk that puts a lot on Fitts to be as good as his last outing going forward. I think it’s a risk worth taking, but it’s still a risk. 

I agree there is no guarantee more wins by taking Greeny out of the starting spot. And we were still recovering from injuries when some of our pitchers came back to pitch. If Greeny isn't starting, more than likely we are giving up a ton of runs before we even get to the late innings in the lead or behind 1.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

1 minute ago, steeleagle said:

I agree there is no guarantee more wins by taking Greeny out of the starting spot. And we were still recovering from injuries when some of our pitchers came back to pitch. If Greeny isn't starting, more than likely we are giving up a ton of runs before we even get to the late innings in the lead or behind 1.

Personally, I think it makes sense to fix what is biting you one arse cheek before worrying about what MIGHT be biting you in the other at some point. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

Just now, tigerbrotha12 said:

Personally, I think it makes sense to fix what is biting you one arse cheek before worrying about what MIGHT be biting you in the other at some point. 

And we have. But doing it 2 weeks ago probably from Butch's view wasn't the best option from a pitching standpoint. He knows these pitchers better than we do and how they are recovering from their injuries (even the butt hurt ones.)

 

[steeleagle 2,945]

Just now, steeleagle said:

And we have. But doing it 2 weeks ago probably from Butch's view wasn't the best option from a pitching standpoint. He knows these pitchers better than we do and how they are recovering from their injuries (even the butt hurt ones.)

 

.....or arse cheek ones....

[warbiscuit 278]

Well now LaRue is pitching again. Last time he pitched was in one of the exhibition games in 2019. I think they had plans for him as a two way guy originally.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

6 hours ago, boomstick said:

Or we might not have even been in those games that Cody wouldn’t have started. In the last 4 weeks, he started a 2-run loss to UK, won a 2-1 game at Ark, started a 1-run loss to State, and started a 1-run loss to Bama. If you had removed him from those starts with no other viable replacements, how many of those games would’ve been 1-run games? How many chances would he have had to close those games out as wins? Even now, it’s a big risk that puts a lot on Fitts to be as good as his last outing going forward. I think it’s a risk worth taking, but it’s still a risk. 

You're assuming that our starting pitchers.....had they been healthy and had a normal rotation rhythm.....would have been ineffective. I don't think that's the case. We lost a lot of games in late innings. We had no one who could come in and shut things down. That was when so many of those games were lost by that one painful run. Greenhill will help plug the leaks. 

 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

6 hours ago, boomstick said:

Nah, the decision to start him was made before the season started and before the injuries happened. We came into the season with the plan of starting Greenhill, Owen, and Fitts Fri-Sun and having Barnett or Skipper as the closer. And all that got derailed by the Owen injury and then further derailed by the Greenhill and Fitts injuries.  

Did you see where I said he wanted the opportunity? That means it was discussed. It was discussed in 2020 IIRC.

Owen's injury was preseason btw. So there was a big hole to fill before the season even started.  The reshuffling would've happened anyway.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

This Jax State game is once again proving the point about a closer.....

[boomstick 1,315]

11 hours ago, warbiscuit said:

Well now LaRue is pitching again. Last time he pitched was in one of the exhibition games in 2019. I think they had plans for him as a two way guy originally.

His absence behind the plate has been strange. Williams has done well there, and Dyal has been serviceable. But I don't think either have been so far ahead of LaRue that he shouldn't still get an opportunity. Just odd to see such a highly touted prospect not play there. Same thing happened with Steven as a freshman.

[CameronCrazy 1,059]

The biggest difference in this team has been moving Greenhill to starter. His two years as a closer, we went to the Super Regional and World Series. Greenhill can and will be a dominant reliever one day in the big leagues.