@ Auburn Tuesday on SEC Network 5:30

MWBATL

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Still up 4-1 in the 9th. I always worry about squandered chances on offense, but in truth that happens a lot in baseball. Crapport has been stellar on defense at third base. No real issues except for another base running blunder by Gonzo.
 
Stinger90

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JACKETS WIN! Cole Pitts gets his first win since 3/1/14. #Jackets last undefeated team with 4-1 win at Auburn.
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MWBATL

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I believe this puts us up the ACC-SEC rivalry so far this year: I count 6 ACC wins vs 5 SEC wins as follows

UF 2-1 over Miami (SEC 2 ACC 1)
Ole Miss 2-1 over Louisville (SEC 4 ACC 2)
Clemson 2-1 over Alabama (SEC 5 ACC 4)
N C State 1-0 over Alabama (SEC 5 ACC 5)
GT 1-0 over Auburn (SEC 5 ACC 6)

Have I missed any?
 
Squints

Squints

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MWBATL said:
Squints, you're right. It mystifies me too.

But then I don't know why Hall keeps trotting out a pitcher who walks hitters and hits them to put them on base.
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That one I actually get. Ideally, you want 5 viable starters to make noise in the post-season. We might be able to get by with 4 because of our bullpen depth and have a pen game. So he wants to see if Pitts could potentially be one of those guys by throwing him mid-week in games that won't have a huge effect on our tournament chances (relative to ACC games anyway). I think it's a good idea. And to be fair he pitched progressively better in each start. If he starts consistently scuffling I think we'll see him yanked for one of the young guys.
 

MWBATL

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Squints said:
That one I actually get. Ideally, you want 5 viable starters to make noise in the post-season. We might be able to get by with 4 because of our bullpen depth and have a pen game. So he wants to see if Pitts could potentially be one of those guys by throwing him mid-week in games that won't have a huge effect on our tournament chances (relative to ACC games anyway). I think it's a good idea. And to be fair he pitched progressively better in each start. If he starts consistently scuffling I think we'll see him yanked for one of the young guys.
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Well, except that he is using Pitts as our #4 starter right now. I do get that he might be deliberately doing that to see how he pitches and responds, and I do agree he has gotten progressively better. (Still drive me nuts when he walks a guy to lead off an inning...it is AMAZING how often that guy winds up scoring against Pitts.) Honestly, I am not sure who our #5 starter would be.

I am also curious...with the changes to the post season format, you don't need 5 starters in the Super Regionals, and with all the days off now in the CWS I don't think you need more than 4 there either....why do you say we need 5 starters? Only place I can ever see needing it is a Regional that goes the distance....
 
Squints

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MWBATL said:
Well, except that he is using Pitts as our #4 starter right now. I do get that he might be deliberately doing that to see how he pitches and responds, and I do agree he has gotten progressively better. (Still drive me nuts when he walks a guy to lead off an inning...it is AMAZING how often that guy winds up scoring against Pitts.) Honestly, I am not sure who our #5 starter would be.

I am also curious...with the changes to the post season format, you don't need 5 starters in the Super Regionals, and with all the days off now in the CWS I don't think you need more than 4 there either....why do you say we need 5 starters? Only place I can ever see needing it is a Regional that goes the distance....
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Well I said "ideally you'd like to have" not need which is a big difference. You definitely don't need 5 but if I'm a coach I'm going to be greedy about it and try to have five potential options if my roster allows it. It's a perfect world kind of thing not a hard rule or anything.

And yes it's mostly for the first round if you end up in the loser's bracket. You can throw a guy on short rest but that's a huge risk with the guys at this level. But it's also good just in case something unforeseen happens injury wise at any point. I like having that extra guy who's at least semi-stretched out. Look at what happened in the 2011 regional where (I think) Pope got hurt right before the first game. It pushed everyone up and we were forced to start Smelter, who hadn't even gone two innings in outing before that IIRC, in the final. If you lose a guy late in the season and you have someone else that can step in with minimal fuss.

Who's that guy for us? Not sure. It's really too early to tell. You obviously have Gold and Hughes looking good so far. Considering King has already missed an entire year with shoulder issues his current soreness there terrifies me so I'm not counting on him until he shows he's past it. Then you have Gibson who's looked ok so far but hasn't lit the world on fire. Gotta see more of him for sure. And we're obviously still figuring out Pitts. On Tuesday the announcers said something about letting Zac Ryan start so if they're right he could be that guy.

Assuming everyone's healthy my guess to the depth chart would be: 1) Gold 2) King 3) Hughes (shocker) and then whoever is performing the best of Pitts, Gibson, and Ryan to be the 4th and 5th guys. It could even be one of the other guys. I mean I don't think anyone had Gold as our best starter this time last year. The good news is the coaching staff has like 3+ months to figure this out and they've got options for the first time in a while.
 
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ball4life66

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Squints said:
Well I said "ideally you'd like to have" not need which is a big difference. You definitely don't need 5 but if I'm a coach I'm going to be greedy about it and try to have five potential options if my roster allows it. It's a perfect world kind of thing not a hard rule or anything.

And yes it's mostly for the first round if you end up in the loser's bracket. You can throw a guy on short rest but that's a huge risk with the guys at this level. But it's also good just in case something unforeseen happens injury wise at any point. I like having that extra guy who's at least semi-stretched out. Look at what happened in the 2011 regional where (I think) Pope got hurt right before the first game. It pushed everyone up and we were forced to start Smelter, who hadn't even gone two innings in outing before that IIRC, in the final. If you lose a guy late in the season and you have someone else that can step in with minimal fuss.

Who's that guy for us? Not sure. It's really too early to tell. You obviously have Gold and Hughes looking good so far. Considering King has already missed an entire year with shoulder issues his current soreness there terrifies me so I'm not counting on him until he shows he's past it. Then you have Gibson who's looked ok so far but hasn't lit the world on fire. Gotta see more of him for sure. And we're obviously still figuring out Pitts. On Tuesday the announcers said something about letting Zac Ryan start so if they're right he could be that guy.

Assuming everyone's healthy my guess to the depth chart would be: 1) Gold 2) King 3) Hughes (shocker) and then whoever is performing the best of Pitts, Gibson, and Ryan to be the 4th and 5th guys. It could even be one of the other guys. I mean I don't think anyone had Gold as our best starter this time last year. The good news is the coaching staff has like 3+ months to figure this out and they've got options for the first time in a while.
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How about English? Hall said he is good enough to be a weekend starter and possibly better than Hughes. I think he's been pitching recently after his injury so we could see him soon.
 
RoosterJacket

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ball4life66 said:
How about English? Hall said he is good enough to be a weekend starter and possibly better than Hughes. I think he's been pitching recently after his injury so we could see him soon.
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I heard the same that Engliah started throwing off the mound within the last week. He was definitely the most highly touted incoming pitcher so it will be exciting to see how he comes along over the next few weeks.
 

augustabuzz

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MWBATL said:
I believe this puts us up the ACC-SEC rivalry so far this year: I count 6 ACC wins vs 5 SEC wins as follows

UF 2-1 over Miami (SEC 2 ACC 1)
Ole Miss 2-1 over Louisville (SEC 4 ACC 2)
Clemson 2-1 over Alabama (SEC 5 ACC 4)
N C State 1-0 over Alabama (SEC 5 ACC 5)
GT 1-0 over Auburn (SEC 5 ACC 6)

Have I missed any?
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Didn't Notre Dame lose to 'Bama last week?
 
Squints

Squints

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ball4life66 said:
How about English? Hall said he is good enough to be a weekend starter and possibly better than Hughes. I think he's been pitching recently after his injury so we could see him soon.
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Honestly I completely forgot about him. He could play into it too depending on when he's actually ready to pitch. If there's an established pecking order by then he could be another great weapon out of the pen.
 
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