Will Bolt addresses Nebraska's bullpen plan for Michigan State series

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are looking to end the regular season strong when head coach Will Bolt leads his team into East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans for a weekend series.

Ahead of that series, Bolt addressed Nebraska’s bullpen plan for the Michigan State series, including who he trusts right now and what has caused issues for the Cornhuskers’ bullpen in recent games.

“I think you’ve got the guys that have kind of been in the fire here recently that are throwing the ball well,” Will Bolt said. “That you’ll see, probably, in there. The [Caleb] Clark‘s, the [Drew] Christo‘s.”

This season, Caleb Clark started his first two appearances but has worked out of the bullpen in all but one appearance since then. In total, he’s thrown 27.2 innings and has a 6.18 ERA after giving up three earned runs in his last three outings. Then, Drew Christo started nine of his 13 appearances this season and has a 5.05 ERA. In his last three outings out of the bullpen, he’s given up two runs in seven innings.

Another pitcher who Will Bolt brought up is Jalen Worthley. He’s been reliable in 19 appearances out of the bullpen, but recently he’s struggled, getting touched up for five runs in his last four outings.

“I know Jalen hasn’t been as hot lately but part of that is I think we’ve probably had to go to him midweek and then a weekend and then a midweek and a weekend,” Bolt said. “I’m hoping that him having no midweek this week, he’ll feel stronger. We’ve seen that velo dip a little bit on the days he’s had to throw multiple times a week.”

The series against Michigan State starts on Thursday, May 16th, and goes for three games. This comes after Nebraska’s last series finished on Sunday. So, without a midweek game for the first time since March, the Cornhuskers should be well rested.

Ultimately, Will Bolt knows the bullpen has struggled recently. However, he’s going to trust his high-leverage guys to figure it out.

“So, those guys are all still in that mix. There’s guys in there that have had tough outings but they’re throwing strikes. It’s just a matter of putting guys away. You can’t leave change-ups over the middle of the plate with two strikes. Good hitters are gonna make you pay,” Bolt said.

“So, we’ll see some of those guys that have thrown high-leverage innings that’ll be back out there.”