Wed - Austin Ross Thurs - Ranaudo I'm a little nervous about this. LSU has been vulnerable all season when Ranaudo or Coleman aren't starters. And you know Vandy is going to pitch their ace, whoever that is. With games every day for 5 days, can Coleman and Ranaudo start twice? Seems like they're limited to relief roles after starting. Who are the other two starters? Any chance Ott gets a start?
Ott is a closer. I'm fine with Ross starting. Ross, Renauldo and Coleman have all been hot and not so hot this season. To win the championship we need at least 4 starters. The above 3 and Bradshaw seem to be the ticket. Cain can come in and start or give long relief. The starter on Wed could be a reliever on Sunday. We have a lot of arms in the bullpen, just not a lot in long term relief. But, I think we have more than others and that is the BIG difference.
I think CPM is just employing a different strategy and possibly setting up his pitching for later. Last year we needed the tourny to secure a top 8 seed. We don't need it this year, but we do need a win or two. He doesn't want to throw one of his aces on Wednesday and then have to start them again on Sunday if we make it. That can screw with pitching line up for the regional and super regional if he wants to keep the normal weekend rotation for the regionals and supers. Throwing one of your aces 3 times for long outings over 9-10 days is not exactly what he wants to do when they normally only do it once every 6-7 days.
Living in Birmingham, I haven't had the opportunity to see any of the Baseball games this year. Even when the Tigers were in T-Town I was booked and couldn't make it down for the series so I'm really looking forward to hitting the Met (Regions Park) this week. I have made at least a portion of the tourney every year for the past 9 years. Watching from a distance, it seems this team has had difficulty closing things out when they have a series victory in hand. Has this just been hard luck or is there an issue coaching success and getting this team movtivated once most of the heavy lifting is done? Is there a killer instinct? With a possible national seeding in hand will we see a 2 and the "cue" effort or will this team come out and get on a good roll? Skip never seemed to put a lot of stock in the tourney and always appeared to use this as a warm up for the post season. Will we see Maineri maneuver pitchers and players in an attempt to get the rotation set for the Regional and hopefully Super Regional or will this team go out and try to win the tourney? I would love to see a tourney win because it's always good medicine to take the trophy from the home town favorite. I also believe you play to win and the moment you stop coaching that way you lose more than a pitching rotation. So how should this weekend be played and what do you think we will see? By the way, if you are coming to the park on Saturday make sure you stop by the Holy Apostles Crawfish Boil. We're the first left after you turn on to Stadium Trace from 150. We'll have live music, plenty of bugs and a good time that benefits the church. For those that have never made the tourney in Hoover ... come out! This is a great event that is always well run and enjoyable for all ages. :geauxtige
they are playing to win this thing, that is for sure, but not at the expense of the pitcher's health and the end goal which is a championship in Omaha. I wouldn't say they have had a problem closing. They only went 2-0 in SEC twice. They won one and lost the other. I think it just seems like they have a lack of focus sometimes when it comes to being at the plate. CPM seems to have found the right combination of hitting now though when it comes to left and right handers pitching against us. I think we found some short term relief that we can now use in specific situations. All in all I would expect a good show if I were you, just don't expect him to sacrifice the health and end goal of the team to win this one. Coleman and Ranaudo have already thrown a lot of innings this year.
oh. i thought they were pitching the frosh. EDIT: i read it wrong... it's minor. hmmm... well technically it's not a minor ordeal. i think it's quite significant... i was hoping they threw the frosh righty.
We're bringing some friends (mixture of Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Alabama fans) this weekend. I agree with 420- If you have not had the chance you should consider making the trip.
i think we'll see more of the same of what we saw throughout the season. HOPEFULLY, the guys show a little more tenacity. a lot of times their lackadaisical approach cost them a series (tennessee,) or a sweep (numerous times, frankly.) but as far as pitching. we know who we have. we know what they can do. the question is, HOW will they respond? this team, imo, doesn't like to be put in situations where the outcome seems obvious. i mean, they seem to play to their competition. THAT is a good thing once you start playing better teams. the SEC, in any case, is a damn tough league as we all know. i think we'll be fine, honestly. i really want to see CPM up the ante a bit. i want to see him take a more aggressive approach with this team. i think that they would respond well to that.
I know most folks don't generally care about the SEC tourny as long as we're in the NCAA brackets. But I would HATE to see LSU stumble to Vandy. And the Tigers don't exactly have a great record when they face a team's ace with anyone but Coleman or Ranaudo. So, I'm a bit nervous. If the bats are hot, we'll be fine. If not? We may burn a LOT of relief pitching trying to win this game...
