Bulldawg Junction said:
The issue with Routt is that he has picked up 3-4 MPH and that has caused his pitches to have less movement. He hasn't learned to pitch with the additional power and they are working on finding the rhythm... but obviously it isn't there yet. He hasn't lost his control, just hitters are able to see the ball better against him. I also agree that he may be best fit for the Saturday role.
of if it ain't broke don't fix it. A guy like Greg Maddux had the ability to throw in the mid-upper 90's- but he was a HOF throwing 85-89 MPH cutters, fastballs, change-ups, and breaking balls. You don't have to be Tim Lincecum to win games.
I remember a scout talking about Maddux throwing something like 95 in high school, and how they all thought he was going to be a power pitcher.
I think we need to let Routt go back to being what he was last year.
That said, overall I am pleased with Butch and what he has done with our pitching staff. He is a great recruiter, and has brought a ton of talent in for us. Despite today, our pitching staff has performed pretty well.
As far as Bowen, I don't think he could mentally handle being the ace. He had to be our ace because he had the best stuff on our staff, but we had no safety net for him if he failed, which he did.
As far as Whitney- he is a midweek pitcher. No offense to him, but he is what he is. He should not be a SEC weekend guy, but we were forced to do that with him. I have heard that he is making some minor changes with his delivery, and I want to see what that yields.
Back to Routt, I know a lot of people think that he should be mentioned up there with the Brantley's, DuBose's, and Maholm's, but the fact of the matter is he is a four year guy and should be a Sunday starter at best. His ERA last year was over four, and I think he looked better than he actually is simply because everyone else was so bad.