Butch Thompson compares deciding on starting pitchers to having multiple starting quarterbacks

The Auburn Tigers are getting ready to host an NCAA Regional. From there, head coach Butch Thompson is hoping to go on a deep run throughout the NCAA Tournament, but to do that, he knows he’ll need to be secure in his pitching staff.

Despite that, Thompson recently declined to share what his starting rotation is going to be for the NCAA Regional. Instead, he made an interesting comparison to the quarterback position in football while explaining that he wants to play matchups this postseason.

“Nothing’s about a safe play right now,” Butch Thompson said. “Nothing’s about taking the wrath of your criticism of we started a guy here. We’ll have to start a different quarterback every game. That’s the difference. We’re in a football culture environment to where we have to start a different quarterback every game we play. So, it is a huge decision.”

As Thompson goes to make his decision, he is going to have a few different options at starting pitcher. In the Tigers’ final weekend series against Ole Miss, he pitched Cam Tilly, Samuel Dutton, and Christian Chatterton. Tilly would also go on to pitch in the SEC Tournament, though Auburn only had that one game.

“That’s why the question is respectful,” Thompson said. “But we’ll make what we think is the best matchup here, and I don’t care about playing it safe. You can’t play it safe and keep your foot on the base this time of year. There’s going to have to be some calculated risk because the margins are so small with all these teams being good. We’re gonna have to jump off a cliff. If we just try to hug the trunk of a tree, we’re going nowhere. So, this may be one of those calculated risks and decisions that’s got to be made along the way if you have any hopes of continuing to advance.”

Clearly, Thompson was willing to turn to Tilly in high-leverage situations. In 17 appearances this season with five starts, he has a 5.00 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched. Dutton and Chatterton, meanwhile, lead Auburn in starts for the season. They both have 14 starts in as many appearances for the season. Dutton has a 3.58 ERA in 75.1 innings pitched while Chatterton has a 4.47 ERA in 52.1 innings pitched.

Auburn has several other pitchers capable of making starts too. Cade Fisher has 10 starts and 12 appearances with a 5.05 ERA this season. In seven starts and 12 appearances, Andreas Alvarez has a 6.00 ERA. Then, Alex Petrovic has a 4.34 ERA in five starts and seven total appearances. On top of that, Carson Myers and Jett Johnston have one start each.

Auburn will first play Central Connecticut State on Friday. Following that, the Tigers will play either Stetson or NC State, depending on the results of the opening games.