Baseball pitching staff shakeup

[boomstick 1,315]

After the weekend throwing 35 innings and Daniel leaving early and likely not available this coming weekend, I figured it was worth discussion/mentioning the pitching rotation and staff situation. Jack Owen was supposed to start Tuesday against Alabama A&M, but his 67 pitches on Sunday have ruled that out. It sounds like Carson Skipper will get the start on Tuesday, and Garrett Wade looks to be getting the start Wednesday, although Brooks Fuller could factor in to that as well. 

For the weekend series, it sounds like Burns will go Friday and that Kyle Gray and Bailey Horn look to be the Saturday/Sunday starters. 

We threw 14 pitchers over the weekend with several guys getting multiple innings of work. I’d suspect Elliott Anderson is available either Tuesday or Wednesday. Greenhill probably has an inning or two available. Will Morrison, Peyton Glavine, and Brooks Fuller should be good for either game. Ryan Watson might be available Wednesday. I doubt we see Richard Fitts or Jack Owen until this weekend. 

[AU64 10,122]

Maybe we get a rain out of two this week.. before UCF.

[boomstick 1,315]

8 hours ago, AU64 said:

Maybe we get a rain out of two this week.. before UCF.

I thought about that, but I’d almost rather play the two midweek games. It should be games where we get a lot of guys on the field, which I think is almost as important as being fresh going into the weekend series. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Yep, innings on the field is needed right now.  Offense desperately needs to see competitive live pitching.

[AU64 10,122]

6 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Yep, innings on the field is needed right now.  Offense desperately needs to see competitive live pitching.

Saw complaint about the slow pitching our guys were not used to affecting the hitting.   Trust pitching the next few days will be at a higher level....but I wonder...

[mustache eagle 2,406]

we had a hard time with that type of pitcher last year ... particularly the curve/slider outside to our rightys

[AU64 10,122]

58 minutes ago, mustache eagle said:

we had a hard time with that type of pitcher last year ... particularly the curve/slider outside to our rightys

Yep...someone commented the other day that our guys were being groomed to hit the 90mph+ pitching of the SEC and the GSU junk ball guys were giving them trouble. ...which is no surprise and likely we won't see much SEC type pitching until the SEC....well maybe one or two guys....but as noted, last year the junk ball pitchers made our guys look really bad.   I think Holland was a frequent victim...but lots of new guys now so will be interesting to see how they handle diversity from the mound. 

[mustache eagle 2,406]

Anthony came around but he and Davis seem to have the tough time in my memory.

i seem to remember a game against Georgia when we couldn’t hit the guys soft curve.  Was maddening to watch.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, mustache eagle said:

Anthony came around but he and Davis seem to have the tough time in my memory.

i seem to remember a game against Georgia when we couldn’t hit the guys soft curve.  Was maddening to watch.

Right....Anthony was who I was thinking of , not Holland.   So hoping for better looks this year...

[boomstick 1,315]

16 hours ago, AU64 said:

Maybe we get a rain out of two this week.. before UCF.

Looks like we’re going to dodge the rain today but maybe not tomorrow. Probably good for the young pitchers to get work today but still not overtax the entire bullpen. 

[boomstick 1,315]

Sounds like Garrett Wade is going to start tomorrow. Really excited to see him pitch. He’s apparently struggled with control throughout the fall and spring, but he has devastating stuff when he’s locating it. Ready to see him in action. 

[boomstick 1,315]

Weekend series 2 has come and gone. Tanner Burns dealt like Tanner Burns deals. He’s locked into that Friday night role for the rest of the year IMO. But behind him, we have some questions. Davis Daniel sounds like he will be out with a flexor pronator strain for a few more weeks, likely returning a couple weeks into SEC play. I think we have a bunch of talented arms. We just need to find two more that are the most consistent and give us the best starts to games.

Butch said after Saturday that he thought Jack Owen has earned a start. So I expect him to get the Saturday start against Cincinnati. And with the amount of talent and depth we have, we don’t necessarily need a start to go 6+ innings every start. We can manage the Saturday and Sunday guy giving us 4 good innings to start each game. That third starter is going to be a toss-up though. I think Carson Skipper has looked the most consistent, and he’s who I’d lean toward. But I also think Garrett Wade has the most dominant stuff of anyone in our bullpen if he can harness that wildness. 

Will be really interesting to see who we go with and how the Saturday and Sunday starters fare over the next 2 weeks before SEC play. 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Owen seems to be much improved. Think he’s earned a start as well 

[AU64 10,122]

Not yet it seems..Owen did OK in relief.  Was disappointed that Davis Daniel did not pitch....some issues yet

[boomstick 1,315]

On 2/25/2019 at 9:32 PM, AU64 said:

Not yet it seems..Owen did OK in relief.  Was disappointed that Davis Daniel did not pitch....some issues yet

Daniel isn’t going to pitch for a while because of an injury. And I thought Owen was better than OK. He’s earned a start, given how the other starters outside of Burns have performed. 

[AU64 10,122]

34 minutes ago, boomstick said:

Daniel isn’t going to pitch for a while because of an injury. And I thought Owen was better than OK. He’s earned a start, given how the other starters outside of Burns have performed. 

Too bad about DD...but you are right...Owen had a good outing....was surprised he did not get a start at UCF but had a nice long relief in a losing cause.  

[AU64 10,122]

Wow...just saw that Davis Daniel expected to out 4 more weeks?      Did not realize the seriousness of his situation....really gonna miss him I think.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

18 hours ago, AU64 said:

Wow...just saw that Davis Daniel expected to out 4 more weeks?      Did not realize the seriousness of his situation....really gonna miss him I think.

The good news is that he won't need surgery.....so he got lucky there. Auburn is deep enough now that a pitching injury is something that can be survived.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Daniel passed on taking the Brewers up on their 11th round pick last year...probably walked away from a pretty big pile of cash. He’s projected as a top 50 prospect in this year’s draft. Butch Thompson will do absolutely nothing to jeopardize his professional future, much less betray the trust shown. That’s a beautiful thing and reason #937 that Auburn baseball is in really good hands.