No. 13 Seminoles juggle rotation with Friday starter Cam Leiter unavailable this weekend
The No. 13 Florida State baseball team returns to ACC action today at Boston College, but the Seminoles will not have one of their top starting pitchers available.
Sophomore right-hander Cam Leiter, who has been the Seminoles’ Friday night starter this season and boasts a 5-1 record, was scratched this weekend because he didn’t feel “quite 100 percent,” according to Florida State pitching coach Micah Posey.
During an interview with the Jeff Cameron Show on Friday morning, Posey said Leiter will be reevaluated on Monday and added that the Seminoles simply want to take every precaution. Posey noted that Leiter struck out 12 batters last week against Louisville, but he said the hard-throwing righty didn’t feel perfect in the following days.
“Same thing we do every week — we evaluate these guys, how they’re feeling day to day,” Posey said. “And the day one or two afterwards, he didn’t feel quite 100 percent. And day three, he didn’t. And day four, it was just kind of, it was progressing and he was feeling better, but it’s just kind of taking longer for him to get into his bullpen and those things. And so we didn’t really want to push the issue with him too much.
“With an arm like that, you know, you just kind of want to take precautionary [measures]. … We’re going to reevaluate it Monday and see where he’s at from there.”
Leiter, who transferred in this offseason from UCF, has been dominant at times this season. He has recorded 56 strikeouts in just 35 innings. But he also has battled some control issues; he has issued 22 walks, and his ERA is up to 4.63.
Leiter made his last start on a shorter rest than usual because that series began on a Thursday due to the Easter holiday, and his previous outing at Clemson was on a Saturday due to weather. Posey noted that Leiter only threw around 70 pitches in that game at Clemson after surrendering six runs in 2 2/3 innings.
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With Leiter out of the lineup, sophomore left-hander Jamie Arnold will start today’s opener at Boston College. Arnold has actually been the Seminoles’ best pitcher statistically this season, posting a 5-1 record with a 0.66 ERA. He has struck out 60 batters in 40 2/3 innings, while issuing just nine walks.
Normal Sunday starter Conner Whittaker is now scheduled to start Saturday, and the Seminoles haven’t yet decided on who to start Sunday.
“It really just depends on the bullpen,” Posey said. “There’s about four or five guys we feel like could start that game. So we’re just trying to maybe get to Sunday and see what that looks like, see how much we use the bullpen in the first two games. And then it certainly looks like a game on Sunday where we’ll definitely have to lean heavily on the ‘pen.”
Florida State is 24-4 and 5-4 in the ACC heading into this weekend, while Boston College is 16-11 and 5-7.
First pitch today is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
Stay connected to Warchant.com throughout the weekend for continuing Florida State baseball coverage.
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