Anybody worried about Stratton

[Foronce]

after he was shelled against OM something just doesn't seem right... then really after the short stint against LSU. Not real sure though cause he came in for an inning at the end of Arkansas

heard this weekend that his arm is toast. he is in lots of pain

 

[HireCohen]

It is upsetting to me that it seems our pitchers don't develop physically to any extent. Devin Jones still looks like the same Devin Jones that arrived on campus a few years back, same for Stratton. I hope this isn't going to be the norm. Guys like Evan Mitchell and Taylor Stark need to put on more muscle, obviously along with Stratton. This ultimately falls on Butch because it is his responsibility these arms stay as healthy as possible. Our pitching staff is nowhere near the top-tier SEC, regional-hosting level we need to be successful.

 

[Hanmudog]

Stratton's issues starting well before the Ole Miss game. He was doing pretty well until the 18-0 SBW beatdown by Florida. He started that game OK and then a couple of Ogden errors blew everything wide open. It is like he never recovered from that.

 

[studentdawg87]

He is probably the most talented pitcher on the team, but he has played two seasons now and he has yet to have an ERA under 5.00. That is worrisome. Stratton has the potential to be a solid Saturday starter in the SEC, but I've lost hope in his ability to become one.

Routt and Stratton will go a long way towards determining how next season plays out. Both need to play up to their potential if we are going to make a regional again next year. It would help if Routt regains the ability to throw something besides a fastball.

 

[8dog]

Stratton a cutter. In trying to develop it, he has lost command of his fastball. If you look at that inning alone against Florida, you can see it. He seemingly has no idea where its going.

 

[basedog]

"between his ears", he has the pitches and talent to play at the next level, sometimes kids recovery and sometimes they just sink further (see Devon Jones).

I think we will see him in the next game or two. Rest may have done him more good than the others.

I see us playing Usm twice this weekend, hopefully with two wins! My expectations are two wins and that might be high, getting to the finals would make my "wool" thick!

 

[bulldogcountry1]

anyone can look at the way this pitching staff has been handled the last 3 years and not see a major problem. It's one thing after another, and there was no lack of talent this year (at least compared to previous years). We play in a regional in a couple days, and do not have one starter we can send out with any level of confidence.

 

[8dog]

when you consider that Routt can no longer throw his best pitch and that Pollerana is 5 foot nothing from juco.

Stratton's development is incredibly disappointing. But there is still an incredible lack of talent and depth on this staff.

And I don't say this to defend Butch. The bat change is the best thing that ever happened to us. I thought we'd be the biggest beneficiary, and we were.

 

[HireCohen]

I am not an Ole Miss fan by any means, but it sure would be nice to have a Pomeranz, Lance Lynn-type starter for once. A big, strong guy that can pump it in there 94+ and look like he's not even trying.

 

[patdog]

We play in a regional in a couple days, and do not have one starter we can send out with any level of confidence.

This is very true. We basically don't have any starting pitching. If any of our pitchers has a good game or two, you can almost count on him getting shelled his next start. We're 9th in the league in ERA in conference games. Our pitching isbetter than it was, but it's still got a long way to go. No chance wecould win any regional with this pitching staff.

 

[Todd4State]

during the SEC Tournament, and I thought that was pretty encouraging.

I think his problems are a combination of trying to learn to master some new pitches and the fact that he is still a sophomore.

The fact of the matter with Stratton is he is really more of a back of the rotation type starter. He was our best pitcher last year, but that essentially meant that he was the best of a group that was either hurt or guys that were destined to be relief type pitchers, expectations for him were probably a little higher than they should have been. When he got to MSU, he was literally a fastball/curveball guy. You can not be a starter in the SEC with only two pitches because hitters will eliminate one pitch and sit on the other- that's why Stratton got knocked around after the first time through the order a lot of times as a freshman.

As far as the pitching staff as a whole- what we really need are starters that can go deeper into games. And by deeper I mean give us five innings. Because for whatever reason, our relief guys have been pretty good on the year pretty much all year long. I figure next year, we will move Pollorena back to the bullpen where he belongs and we will still have Caleb Reed. Those are guys that can throw multiple innings for us- but next year we will be adding Ben Bracewell to the mix along with Stark and others that can close. So, basically we need guys like Stratton to improve enough to get about 6 more outs. Routt not being 100% all year and having to learn a new pitch has hurt him and the pitching staff as well.

So, we have improved as a pitching staff- but we're not where we need to be quite yet. We just have to continue to develop guys and continue to recruit well. Going to the postseason is going to help us to get a Drew Pomeranz type pitcher- so we are on the right track for that as well. A lot of people forget that we had zero seniors on our pitching staff this year and four juniors- Reed, Devin Jones, Routt, and Tim Statz. The rest are sophomores or freshmen. With our pitching staff, we had to literally almost start from ground zero and build up because Polk recruited crap, and the guys that had promise were hurt by McNickle. Next year, we should have a staff that is junior laden with a few seniors- we should be much better, and we should be a top half of the SEC pitching staff next year.

I think Stratton will take a big step forward. He still looks confident to me- he will pitch in the Cape Cod League this summer and that will allow him to continue to work on his repertoire.