Would you flip the rotation again?

[57stratdawg]

Plumlee vs UNC
Small vs Vandy

Kind of sucks Vandy just saw Small in Hoover though.

 

[stateu1]

Plumlee vs UNC
Small vs Vandy

Kind of sucks Vandy just saw Small in Hoover thougi h.

I think so.

 

[G-Dawg]

No. Small lives upstairs with the fastball and Vandy can KILL you on anything up. Plumlee gets alot of ground ball outs. I like him against Vandy's bats. You HAVE to win that first game, too. Small against UNC, Plumlee gets next, and hopefully we get to use J.T. Ginn some.

 

[Cat Duck]

No. Dumb question. This is not a regional.

 

[Shamoan]

I think we need small for Vandy. They got 3 hits off him. We are going to need a similar performance to beat them

 

[gymdawg.sixpack]

This is absolutely the right move.

 

[Go Budaw]

Plumlee vs UNC
Small vs Vandy

Kind of sucks Vandy just saw Small in Hoover though.

I like Small in Game 1 because it lets you come back and throw him again in either the 3rd game (not ideal on 3 days rest, but maybe doable if his pitch count is low in first game), 4th game (if we accrue an L somewhere), or first game of the NC series. The longer you hold him, the less opportunity you have to throw him full strength more than once. The one day between games makes a big difference in how you manage the rotation.

 

[Cat Duck]

I like Small in Game 1 because it lets you come back and throw him again in either the 3rd game (not ideal on 3 days rest, but maybe doable if his pitch count is low in first game), 4th game (if we accrue an L somewhere), or first game of the NC series. The longer you hold him, the less opportunity you have to throw him full strength more than once. The one day between games makes a big difference in how you manage the rotation.

To win the title you need a 3rd starter who can win the bracket championship. That way Small can go in the Finals Game 1.

Any other way is just luck. Trying to throw your ace 3 times rarely works.

 

[Go Budaw]

To win the title you need a 3rd starter who can win the bracket championship. That way Small can go in the Finals Game 1.

Any other way is just luck. Trying to throw your ace 3 times rarely works.

I agree, but throwing your ace in Game 1 maximizes your opportunity of picking the correct critical spot to throw him again. If we lose any of the first 3 games, we’ll want him available in the do-or-die bracket championship in Game 4 or 5, which he’ll be able to throw on full rest. At that point you just hope he is available for a few innings in the 3rd game of the Finals if you get to that point. Of course if we go 3-0, he gets to start the championship series on plenty of rest and its no problem. Maximizing options is what its all about.

 

[Todd4State]

I agree, but throwing your ace in Game 1 maximizes your opportunity of picking the correct critical spot to throw him again. If we lose any of the first 3 games, we’ll want him available in the do-or-die bracket championship in Game 4 or 5, which he’ll be able to throw on full rest. At that point you just hope he is available for a few innings in the 3rd game of the Finals if you get to that point. Of course if we go 3-0, he gets to start the championship series on plenty of rest and its no problem. Maximizing options is what its all about.

Everything you said is true. But Ginn's health is a wild card and complicates things some because pitching him in the third game and then potentially having to bring him back for the finals on short rest isn't ideal. It makes me wonder if we put Ginn on a short pitch count of something like 60 if we have to use him on the third game? I guess we could throw him in game two if we win game one and then that would give him some more "normal" rest while also allowing us to maximize our best options.

 

[Hankp22]

I don't change a thing from this weekend

1. Small
2. Plumlee
3. Ginn

At this point you're playing the best.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

We ain't playin a SWAC school in Omaha - "Throw your ACE & set the Pace"

 

[Drebin]

If Plumlee keeps pitching like he has lately, we have two aces. If the rest fixes Ginn, we have three aces.

We should stick with the plan and get that first win with Small. In the CWS format, you gotta win the first game.

 

[thekimmer]

Yeah, the vandyboys slaughtered him in Hoover**

No. Small lives upstairs with the fastball and Vandy can KILL you on anything up. Plumlee gets alot of ground ball outs. I like him against Vandy's bats. You HAVE to win that first game, too. Small against UNC, Plumlee gets next, and hopefully we get to use J.T. Ginn some.

With that said, you pitch Small game 1. Not that I wouldn't love to see him pitch against vandy but you want to get as many starts out of him in omaha as you can. Pitching small first lets you maximize his innings. Hopefully Louisville will take the vandygirl's butts down in game 1.

I think Plumb is your solid #2 now. I agree Ginn is a wild card that has not been able to give us much in his last two starts. I wonder if Ginn's best role right now might not be middle relief.

 

[MSUDC11]

If Plumlee keeps pitching like he has lately, we have two aces. If the rest fixes Ginn, we have three aces.

We should stick with the plan and get that first win with Small. In the CWS format, you gotta win the first game.

Absolutely. Small in Game 1 is the only way to go, gives you the option of throwing him to get to the championship the following Friday or Saturday if needed.

 

[Cat Duck]

If Plumlee keeps pitching like he has lately, we have two aces. If the rest fixes Ginn, we have three aces.

We should stick with the plan and get that first win with Small. In the CWS format, you gotta win the first game.

It's the same format as the regional, just spread out. You have to win the first 2 games, really no difference in either one.

 

[Cat Duck]

Absolutely. Small in Game 1 is the only way to go, gives you the option of throwing him to get to the championship the following Friday or Saturday if needed.

I do not think we can do that on our side of the bracket. Small will throw Sunday, then if we do like you say, he would throw again on Friday, then have to turn around and throw again on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

I think you have to start a 3rd guy and hope they get you a win on Friday (assuming you won the first two). I honestly do not know who that guy is for us right now. Ginn and Smith are both shaky at the moment.

 

[Drebin]

It's the same format as the regional, just spread out. You have to win the first 2 games, really no difference in either one.

The format is super regional on top of regional. And if you have to fight your way out of the loser's bracket, you aren't doing it against East South Louisiana School for the Mildly Retarded. So yeah, it's a huge difference.

 

[patdog]

The format is super regional on top of regional. And if you have to fight your way out of the loser's bracket, you aren't doing it against East South Louisiana School for the Mildly Retarded. So yeah, it's a huge difference.

You go to the same losers bracket losing game 2 as you do losing game 1, so no difference between W-L or L-W. You've got to maximize your chance to get to W-W, and you do that by pitching the best pitcher in the country against arguably the best team in the country. And that's in game 2. That said, like you said earlier, we really have 3 aces so I don't that we can go too wrong no matter what rotation Lemonis uses.

 

[MSUDC11]

I do not think we can do that on our side of the bracket. Small will throw Sunday, then if we do like you say, he would throw again on Friday, then have to turn around and throw again on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

I think you have to start a 3rd guy and hope they get you a win on Friday (assuming you won the first two). I honestly do not know who that guy is for us right now. Ginn and Smith are both shaky at the moment.

You are 100% correct on this. If we are in the winner’s bracket I would throw Ginn in Game 3 next Friday. Just saying that if we needed Ethan because we were coming through the losers bracket or lost Game 3 and had to play a Game 4, he would be available next Friday or Saturday if we start him in Game 1.

That is exactly how we played it last year: Small, then Pilk, then Billingsley, then Small again with our season on the line. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but it wasn’t because of the strategy, OSU was just better than us. I would rather play it this way than what Cohen did in 2013, using Graveman a second time before we absolutely needed him and therefore blowing him for the championship series.

 

[Go Budaw]

Everything you said is true. But Ginn's health is a wild card and complicates things some because pitching him in the third game and then potentially having to bring him back for the finals on short rest isn't ideal. It makes me wonder if we put Ginn on a short pitch count of something like 60 if we have to use him on the third game? I guess we could throw him in game two if we win game one and then that would give him some more "normal" rest while also allowing us to maximize our best options.

I don’t see how Ginn’s health is that huge of a factor. He’s had one decent outing in 2 months, and Plumlee has been lights out. Ginn is essentially the Sunday guy at this point, the one who we can count on the least as far as being “on” and being able to go deep into the ballgame. Of course, its a bit of a luxury to have his talent as our #3 arm, but that is still where he is right now. No reason to plan things around him getting two good starts in Omaha with the way Small and Plumlee have been throwing. You can’t make room for all 3 of them to start twice with full rest.