The Arm Barn: State of Carolina’s Bullpen
Grace Nugent dives deep into the second group of North Carolina's pitching arsenal - the relievers - as the Heels head down the stretch.
The Arm Barn: State of Carolina’s Bullpen
- Thread starter BenSherman
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All I can say is this is another great Grace Nugent piece. My wife and I are constantly impressed with Grace every time we read her or watch her in front of a camera with a mike in her hand. Always with great questions in interviews that show she has been a student of the game for some time. We both think that wherever Grace lands in the next couple of months, some media source is going to get a great reporter. Kudos to Grace. Kudos to UNC's j-school.
Great stuff, Grace. Love reading your take on things. Hoping Cam Seagraves can take that next step. He has always looked a little unsure out there to me. He's gaining confidence and Forbes has given him some great opportunities to show out. Good coaching may help him get there. He's certainly needed down the stretch, IMO.
I am excited about Padgett's last couple of outings. All of a sudden he's hitting upper 90s with what seems to be better control. I feel like we have different tiers of pitching overall (starters and bullpen) and most of it is quite impressive:
Lights out "dudes": Decaro, Lynch, Boaz (might be debated), Duff, Globe
Real good, generally trust them, would be key pieces on other staffs: Rose (although if I'd move anyone up, it'd be him), Matty (getting better), Seagraves
Can be impressive, trust them but IMHO a little behind or less consistent than the other guys: Chewie (could be talked into moving him up), Padgett (almost promoted as well with a few more good outings), Boston.
Not seen enough of them this year to know but they've been good in the past: OJ, Percival
That's 10 arms that I consider above average to elite for D1 baseball. Not bad and there's little chance that we'll have to end up putting anyone out there that is unproven during the tourney.
Lights out "dudes": Decaro, Lynch, Boaz (might be debated), Duff, Globe
Real good, generally trust them, would be key pieces on other staffs: Rose (although if I'd move anyone up, it'd be him), Matty (getting better), Seagraves
Can be impressive, trust them but IMHO a little behind or less consistent than the other guys: Chewie (could be talked into moving him up), Padgett (almost promoted as well with a few more good outings), Boston.
Not seen enough of them this year to know but they've been good in the past: OJ, Percival
That's 10 arms that I consider above average to elite for D1 baseball. Not bad and there's little chance that we'll have to end up putting anyone out there that is unproven during the tourney.
Would be excited to see Cackovic get more opportunities. Good underlying metrics, pitched well today
Padgett pitched well after the solo HR
Boaz just doesn’t have it this year (he and Flannery are not pitchable in the playoffs, IMO)
Still need one (or both) of Seagraves and Mathjis to round into form
Padgett pitched well after the solo HR
Boaz just doesn’t have it this year (he and Flannery are not pitchable in the playoffs, IMO)
Still need one (or both) of Seagraves and Mathjis to round into form
respectfully, disagree ... certainly may not have pitched as we would have hoped, but "not pitchable in the playoffs" ...
GO HEELS
Checking in on the Arm Barn, things are looking a little thin:
- High-end, playoff starter: DeCaro, Lynch
- High-end, long reliever / third starter: Glauber, Rose
- High-end closer: McDuffie
- A whole lot of question marks: Mathjis, Seagraves, Padgett, Chim
- Can’t pitch them in the playoffs, right now: Boaz, Flannery
- Young guy that should probably pitch more: Cackovic
It feels like we’re gonna need a lot more than 5 reliable pitchers come playoff time and I just don’t know where we’re getting that production from right now
- High-end, playoff starter: DeCaro, Lynch
- High-end, long reliever / third starter: Glauber, Rose
- High-end closer: McDuffie
- A whole lot of question marks: Mathjis, Seagraves, Padgett, Chim
- Can’t pitch them in the playoffs, right now: Boaz, Flannery
- Young guy that should probably pitch more: Cackovic
It feels like we’re gonna need a lot more than 5 reliable pitchers come playoff time and I just don’t know where we’re getting that production from right now
Many of these guys are playable as long as you aren’t playing from behind or tied, which we have been, because we haven’t been scoring runs. We don’t have 8 guys who are going to put up 4 scoreless innings, but we have plenty of guys who can get us through a game where we score runs.