Shelly and Bracewell take over the 8th and closer. It's our best option. Holder came here as a starter. Pollo and Cox aren't built for SEC starting. Match Ross up with Holders power stuff.
We need to move Holder into the rotation
- Thread starter Will James
- Start date
I guess Cohen has given up on Bracewell as a starter. If I remember right, Bracewell started early last year. I wouldn't mind seeing him get a start. I'm not ready to give up on E. Mitchell yet. I'd like to see him get one more start.
If I were Cohen, I'd start E. Mitchell Saturday and if he did not give us a quality start I'd go with Bracewell against Arkansas.
If I were Cohen, I'd start E. Mitchell Saturday and if he did not give us a quality start I'd go with Bracewell against Arkansas.
I think we just need to get Ammirati out from behind the plate so often first and foremost. Slauter makes our pitchers better when he's back there -- everyone realizes this, but people underestimate the mental effect of having a guy back there that you trust to that extent.
Coincidence that he's caught all of Woodruff's terrible starts...while Slauter caught his one good one? Ammirati has been the guy behind the dish for all of Evan Mitchell's troublesome outings as well, which puts him behind the dish for practically every bad pitching performance we've had this year...
I'm not saying he's a bad catcher -- he's not -- but he obviously doesn't give the pitchers the mental edge that they get from having Slauter back there. I think this is the obvious "fix" before you start talking about making your preseason All-American closer into a starter...
Coincidence that he's caught all of Woodruff's terrible starts...while Slauter caught his one good one? Ammirati has been the guy behind the dish for all of Evan Mitchell's troublesome outings as well, which puts him behind the dish for practically every bad pitching performance we've had this year...
I'm not saying he's a bad catcher -- he's not -- but he obviously doesn't give the pitchers the mental edge that they get from having Slauter back there. I think this is the obvious "fix" before you start talking about making your preseason All-American closer into a starter...
The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Tell us your Sat. SP solution. Mine is the best option.
I like using Evan Mitchell. Last Saturday he gave us a quality outing, but the coaches should have had him on a shorter leash. The combo of him and Ross Mitchell will have batters VERY confused. Evan offers the most as a starter (aside from Woodruff), is there any doubt that if Evan had full command (which will come with time) that he wouldn't be dominant? Not with me.
Holder has the same nasty stuff AND can control it. No questions with him. Why risk Evan when Holder is available.
Not sure about Holder moving to a starter, but Bracewell definitely can be the closer. He was actually our best closer in 2010 as a true freshman. It has really sucked not having him in the fold the past two years.
Holder is so meh in non-save situations though. Purely curious, who would step in as closer if Holder became a starter?
Bracewell...
With Woody and Evan unable to go, Holder is really our only viable option. We can't risk 33% of our league starts hoping someone figures it out.
I'm gonna disagree. We give E. Mitchell a couple of more starts- we really dont have a choice. Now it could be argued that we should possibly move Mitchell to Sunday and let our veteran pitch on Saturdays again this year
What we need to do is get to the 7th with a lead and let Bracewell and Holder finish it. That makes your Friday and Sunday SEC games 6 inning games basically.
You honestly haven't seen any improvement from Evan? He was much improved last week. A few more starts would do him well.
I dont trust them either- but I dont think Holder is the answer. It's a tough problem- but I dont believe in tinkering with an absolute strength and risk making it weaker. We find a way to get thru those 5 innings to get to the bullpen whether it's a Saturday or Sunday.
1. What is the fallout of Bracewell and not Holder closing?
2. Can Shelly handle an expanded role?
3. Can we risk a shaky start every weekend.
While bullpen depth is nice and I'm glad we have tops in the SEC, it's still a SP dominant league. Look at the difference not having Stratton is making. It would be ideal for Bracewell to be that starter but he just can't log the innings. As a closer he could perform the role tremendously as needed. Shelly is a talent and could slide in to the setup right away.
Becuase we have Bracewell, and because Holder gives us the power to go with Ross' finesse, he's our best option. Evan will start this weekend and if he isn't there, and Woodruff is still lost, we gotta call on Holder if we wanna host.
What difference in not having Stratton? We've won every Friday night start except the LSU game- just like Stratton last year. Same exact situation as last year- except we pulled Lindgren too early Friday night.
Your theory is based on Holder being able to transition to a SP without much problem. I think it would be a risky proposition at best. He's a 2 pitch pitcher right now- he cant do that in a SP role. Hell, Holder actually came to State thinking he was going to battle for the 1st base job- not pitch alot.
Dont risk back end dominance for a maybe
I don't think Shelly was on our SEC roster
This past weekend. We would have to take someone off of our roster to get him on. I'm all for letting him pitch more, though.
This past weekend. We would have to take someone off of our roster to get him on. I'm all for letting him pitch more, though.
Exactly. Tonight should have proven the point that Holder has to stay in the closer role. He's been lights out in that role over his entire career -- but in every single other capacity/role, he has struggled.
If there was one thing that was encouraging tonight, it was this. Usually when people try to make a closer a starter, it doesn't work out. There's just a certain mentality that closers have and if they don't have that adrenaline, they just don't perform as well.
I thought Gentry was pretty electric tonight as well... He actually threw 4 hitless innings with 8k's tonight. Gave up 1 run(unearned) on zero hits, 2 walks(one of which he got f'n hosed by the ump), and 1 HBP.
Know how damn far we've come on the mound? Woodruff's current ERA would have been second best among starters on our team in 2010(not far at all behind Stratton). He'd be a full 1.24 better than our team average that year...
At some point, a good coach must realize, hit your best hitter first and pitch your best pitcher often. We are halfway there.
Britton and Hann have no business being on the weekend roster. Trade those two knuckleheads for Shelly and Flair.
We won every Fri night start before conference play in 2006 as well. Stratton allowed our pen to be pretty much saved for Sat and Sun every SEC weekend which is all that matters.