What the pitching staff SHOULD look like

[ZestyJalapeno]

Friday: Bradley Loftin (L)/Jurrangelo Cijntje (S)

Saturday: Cade Smith (R)

Sunday: Landon Gartman (R)

Key relievers: Nate Dohm (R), Tyson Hardin (R), KC Hunt (R), Logan Forsythe (R), Tyler Davis (L), Pico Kohn (L), Graham Yntema (L)

Closer: Aaron Nixon (R)

The pitching staff this year is a lot deeper than what we saw last year, but Foxhall needs to find the right roles for eveyone.

Loftin and Loo starting midweek has me scared that Hunt is going to start again next Saturday and there’s just no way that’s going to be successful long term.

The biggest weakness of this staff imo is that we currently don’t have an ace. Cade probably can’t go toe-to-toe with most SEC Friday night guys so I bumped him to Saturday to maximize our weekend potential. We kind of used this strategy last year starting Brandon Smith on Friday even though Cade was the best starter, but the bullpen just wasn’t good enough to make it work.

Loftin and Loo are probably the two most gifted guys on the team. Get 7-8 from those two every Friday and maybe it blows up in our face or maybe they pitch their butts off. Either way, Cade and Gart give you a chance Sat. and Sun.

Nate Dohm looks like a tough kid that is going to log some meaningful innings for us and I wouldn’t hate the idea of putting him as a starter either. For the most part all of the other guys in the key relievers category throw strikes, and that’s all you really need from this pitching staff with how good I think our offense can be.

This team really lacked a closer of Nixon’s
caliber but the dude looks like a stud. His fastball was impressive but that slider is what really has me excited about what he can be this year. I think the ump was squeezing him on that walk too.

I’m not ready to overreact after one rough weekend. Foxhall has the pieces to make this work, but if he stays loyal to guys like Hunt (who I think can be decent as a spot reliever) and Parker Stinnett then its going to be a long year.

 

[HumpDawgy]

I would still go Cade on Friday. Our hitting should get us enough runs, even on SEC Friday guys. After that, Sat and Sun will be a boat race.

 

[LexSCDOG]

move Cade Smith to Sunday and Gartman to Saturday.

 

[Seinfeld]

I’ll withhold too much judgment about the rotation until I’ve seen how our staff is able to handle midweek games. However, I will say that my faith in Foxhall being able to develop our young players and put them in a position to succeed is on a steep decline

 

[Perd Hapley]

Maybe Loftin steps up, but I can’t see Cijntje in the Friday night starter role. For all his unique talent, he is still very much a project. Its important to remember that he’s not currently a BHP for us and is only currently working from the right side…..and there’s a good chance that is going to be the case all season. He doesn’t have SEC ready off-speed pitches from either side yet.

Really, its hard to expect a true freshmen to step up in that spot even under the best of circumstances. That is why I was hoping either Gartman or Kohn could do it, but as of right now that doesn’t look like an option either. Gartman is the closest comparison to Brandon Smith last year, so maybe we could still use him on Fridays in that role, and manage better than last year with the deeper bullpen.

 

[MStateDawg]

Its important to remember that he’s not currently a BHP for us and is only currently working from the right side

He is a BHP and has throw with both hands in every scrimmage. Lemonis said the only reason he didn't throw lefty on Sunday was because he slept on his wrist wrong and when he woke up it was bothering him.

 

[GTDawg]

They are talented, but it's tough to throw a true freshman out on the mound on Friday nights in the SEC. Could they do it and succeed? Very possible. My thinking is one of them eventually breaks into the weekend rotation at some point.

 

[ZestyJalapeno]

They are talented, but it's tough to throw a true freshman out on the mound on Friday nights in the SEC. Could they do it and succeed? Very possible. My thinking is one of them eventually breaks into the weekend rotation at some point.

From the looks of it they want to get their feet wet against ULM - who should be better than VMI - this week. After that I imagine one of them starts against USM next week with the other going into the rotation in Frisco if they both look good. I just can’t foresee a scenario where they don’t go with the more talent guys over KC Hunt.

 

[Perd Hapley]

He is a BHP and has throw with both hands in every scrimmage. Lemonis said the only reason he didn't throw lefty on Sunday was because he slept on his wrist wrong and when he woke up it was bothering him.

Fair enough, that’s a little bit different than what Bart said on the broadcast. But he still doesn’t have the off-speed stuff yet. Doesn’t matter if you can throw 98mph with both arms if the hitter knows that’s all you can throw for strikes.

VMI got a couple of hits off of him on Sunday in just his one inning. He did seem to have decent control which is an upgrade over what we saw from a lot of guys on Saturday, but I saw absolutely nothing that suggested he was ready for a Friday night SEC role.

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

He is a BHP and has throw with both hands in every scrimmage. Lemonis said the only reason he didn't throw lefty on Sunday was because he slept on his wrist wrong and when he woke up it was bothering him.

That's gotta be a good sign. Remember two years ago when Bednar missed his first start due to neck soreness from sleeping on it wrong at the Texas tourney?...