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what happened to ben bracewell?

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studentdawg87

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Feb 24, 2008
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I have been trying to figure out how the rotation will look next year, and I keep wondering if we could see Reed get a shot at a spot in the weekend rotation. Stark and Bracewell, if healthy, are more than capable of being the closer(s), and they have more prototypical closing type stuff than Reed. We are going to have so many decent arms next year that it will be interesting to see how everything shakes out.

Pollorena has earned a starting role, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him revert to being the first guy out of the pen. Mitchell could potentially be a starter next year, Stratton has great stuff but remains a question mark, and Routt could be our Friday night starter if he continues to round into form. That still leaves Graveman, Girodo, Norris, Bradford (I don't really like him as a pitcher), Busby (if he is here next year), Watson (if he ever gets healthy, he could be a huge boost to the pen), Renfroe, Statz, Fitts, Lindgren, Cox and maybe Woodruff. Next year's pitching staff probably won't have any elite starters, but damn we will be deep. Some decent pitchers are going to struggle to get innings.

What say ye?
 
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State82

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Feb 27, 2008
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Do you think there is any chance Caleb may get drafted? Hope the best for him, but I sure would like to have him one more season. What do you think about his chances?
 
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Todd4State

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Mar 3, 2008
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mainly because Reed has been so good and so comfortable coming out of the bullpen. Then again, so was Pollorena.

We return Pollorena, Stratton, and Routt- that's a lot of starts between the three of them. And then we'll see what the freshmen bring next year, Daryl Norris should develop. Routt should be 100% all year, and Stratton should be better. We have a lot of options, so we'll just have to see who performs- I haven't mentioned Evan Mitchell yet. But it probably won't get to the point where we have to use Caleb Reed as a starter.

As far as Bracewell- I don't think it's a slam dunk that he's the closer- we may see something where Reed is the closer for Friday and Sunday and Bracewell closes on Sat. I think with Bracewell coming off of an injury- we may be hesitant to use him more than one inning next year. Reed can go 2- maybe 3 if we stretch him. And we also have Taylor Stark and maybe Hunter Renfroe next year as well.

But as you have said, we have a lot of quality options- we lacked depth this year on the pitching staff because of guys not performing and recovering from injuries, although we've pieced it together pretty well. Next year, we shouldn't have that problem- and in fact we should have a pitching staff that will probably be in the top four of the SEC. We're in the top six right now as it is.
 
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alabamadog

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Oct 7, 2008
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Sidearm pitchers aren't usually weekend starters. If Bracewell, Stark, Reed, and Pollerena are all able to be effective out of the bullpen like they have been up to this point, its going to make things much easier on the starters next year. I'm not saying Pollerena has done a bad job as a starter, but I hope we can move him back to the bullpen because he is a dominant reliever.
 
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Todd4State

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Mar 3, 2008
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I do think that there is a chance that he will get drafted, but if he does it will be very late. He probably won't get drafted at all, though. The reason is because of his size- he's 5'9 or 5'10" something like that. And he simply doesn't throw all that hard. He's a good college player, but he's not very projectable as a pro. I think someone might take a chance on him after his senior year- and even then he will probably get signed as a free agent after the draft. If he was left handed he would be a little more attractive, but relief only guys like him usually don't wow scouts.

The MLB draft is all about potential- that's why a guy like Devin Jones and Jonathan Ogden are better prospects to MLB than Jarrod Parks and Caleb Reed even though they haven't performed as well.

Jaron will get drafted too- he can run and defend, plus he has MLB pedigree. He has to learn how to hit a little more consistently- but he has improved late in the season, so that is encouraging. He has also shown a little power lately. He needs to add some muscle. I also think Wes Thigpen might get drafted as well. He does a lot of things well that MLB wants catchers to do- like defend, handle pitchers, lead and he can hit a little bit.

Parks back is going to scare a lot of people away- someone will give him a chance though. It's hard to ignore .400 with these bats.

Ogden has a reputation as a good defensive player- the fact that he has played hurt impresses me, and I think his injuries have hurt his play in the field. He also has some pop in his bat and he has improved a lot as a hitter. I think he could possibly improve even more with some more coaching and experience. He might project more as a second baseman when it's all said and done, though.

Routt will get drafted- but I think he comes back. I would want him to prove to me that he is healthy before I would pick him. His outing Sat. impressed me when he got through 5+ innings after being sick and having tonsillitis and a blister on his finger.

I've been hearing rumors that Devin Jones might come back as well. He has MLB talent- his fastball and slider are really good. But, upstairs- not so much. His attitude problems is the past would worry me as well.

Brent Brownlee- I could see him possibly getting drafted, but he should be back as well. He can play defense, and run. He is also a decent hitter. His injuries worry me. I also like his competitiveness.

Cody Freeman- I'm not sure that he gets drafted either. He has put up some decent numbers, but I'm not sure what position he could play in the field. Maybe catcher- but he is average there. He doesn't frame pitches very well and he's pretty easy to run on. He doesn't have a lot of speed, and he doesn't have enough power to play a corner position.

I don't think Ryan Collins or Trey Johnson will get drafted.
 
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