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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DecaturJacket" data-source="post: 1092606" data-attributes="member: 7369">What you aren't considering is that our #2 and #3 starters were unknown going into last season. Literally zero of the projections that I looked at had either of them in the rotation - granted Riley was projected by a few of them and was that #3 to start the season. Neither of those guys were highly touted transfers (both ranked even further down than that fresh with 7.78 ERA in the B10 you're worried about). Not to mention, a very low percentage of pitchers come in and crush it as a weekend starter regardless of conference.Shadek was Rutgers Friday guy in his first season playing college ball (after a redshirt year in which he had TJ) and was a B10 all freshman team selection. He saw time closing in the Cape (note that mediocre players don't get invited to the Cape) this summer, so there's a decent chance we see him in that role, but with our lack of established starters he'll likely be given a chance to earn a spot in the rotation first. Loy was a top 100 player in the portal and had two great seasons with ERAs of 2.37 and 3.97 throwing over 30 innings in each while playing in the SEC. He was second team freshman All American in 2024. He was a reliever on a very good Tennessee team for his freshman and soph seasons, but I think we may see him in a weekend role here (and think he probably would have been in one there had he stayed - or that may have been the reason he left).Both come in more highly touted than the two guys we lost. I liked both guys, but never felt comfortable with Brady out there. He was always a project imo and you never knew what you were gonna get. He ended the season how he started it - by not making it out of the first inning in a start. He great games against Clemson and Louisville, but was all over the place the rest of the season. I felt a lot better when Paden was out there and thought that he should've been starting earlier in the season (if not Patel), but he only started the back half of the season and while he looked great most of the time (sans the last game) he wasn't exactly a world beater. Again, I loved the kid and his fight (and would've loved him back - though I don't think he got a second medical redshirt like Patel did anyway), but he wasn't a world beater.Chicoli wasn't that different that most decent freshmen that come in and have ups and downs as a midweek starter. I hated to see him leave because I thought he had some potential, but that one didn't really sting that hard other than just the situation (us not having a lot of pitching). He was far from established. We're in a MUCH better spot pitching-wise going into this season than we were last (we are hitting-wise too, but we'll keep this post to pitching). Everything we brought in (even before Underwood confirming that he's coming) is much better than what we had coming in last season. Not to mention Ballard and Buursema (who had already both shown promise, but just hadn't broken through - though many of us thought Ballard would be in the rotation going into last season) having killer summers in the two best summer leagues.Tate will be our Friday guy. Just like last season, that's all we know right now. However, the other arms that we have are MUCH better than what we had heading into last season.</blockquote>

Verification: Who was the starting QB of the 2024 season?