campbell and nolan as 1 and 2. wonder who dvh will settle on for the number 3 starter. last year he didn’t settle on murphy until later in the season.
our bullpen is our strongest position, have lots of arms there. i was elated to see all the youngsters work in the memphis game and they performed well. not sure scoggins is the answer, he might be better out of the pen. if he chooses wicklander that would be 2 true freshmen starters.
will be interesting to see what dvh comes up with.
The Taylor kid is interesting to me. He has the physical attributes and seems to have a really good arm. He’s still a little erratic. But…I think he has potential.
Im not sure who are number two and three srarters are to be honest. We have had anybody really be consistent. I still think Wicklander may be our best option b/c of other teams strong left handed batters. I like Connor but he leaves a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate and in this league those are going to get punished. We have a lot to get straightened out in a couple of weeks.
I wonder how much day of the week has influenced who starts. Cody Scroggins started the Thursday game at USC so Campbell could keep his Friday slot and Noland kept his Saturday slot. Then the weather changed the schedule for Stony Brook.
[quote=“youdaman”]
Im not sure who are number two and three srarters are to be honest. We have had anybody really be consistent. I still think Wicklander may be our best option b/c of other teams strong left handed batters. I like Connor but he leaves a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate and in this league those are going to get punished. We have a lot to get straightened out in a couple of weeks.
[/quote]I like Connor too. I’m seeing a lot of confidence that he has in himself. That’s a must. But also, maybe a bit of carryover cockiness from HS whereby he was dominant among his teammates and peers in Arkansas – that is, I don’t see him using the whole plate and the whole N, E, W, S parts around the batting zone… He now needs to learn how to be a pitcher, rather than a thrower. But, he certainly looks like the deal.
[quote=“daBoar”]
There’s plenty of options. So far there’s probably 4 different pitchers you could use in that spot maybe more.
Friday night Campbell
Saturday Noland
Sunday Wicklander
Then other good options
Ramage
Scroggins
Taylor
Kopps
the bullpen has plenty of depth. This will be a fun season.
I would like to see Kostyshock get a look as a starter. If he looks good, you can trade him out with Scroggins or Noland. We still have Kopps, Ramage for middle relief.
[quote=“ArmyHog”]
I think, and hope, that Connor’s last start was an anomaly and he will be OK going forward. What DVH was raving about Connor was his control and mastery of the whole plate. He doesn’t yet have a blazing fast ball, but that will come in the next year or 2. This god-awful cold and damp weather can certainly cause problems for a young freshman pitcher. I don’t remember DVH heaping this much praise on a freshman pitcher in the pre-season, so I’m betting Noland will be just fine.
Me too!
My money is on Wicklander as the season goes along
Mine too Dudley.
I don’t worry too much about control issues in February and early March. When you can’t feel your fingertips because of the cold, throwing quality strikes (or strikes at all) is not easy. Now if he’s still struggling with control at Bama in three weeks, or Auburn two weeks after that…
When they get to April, I’m thinking you may see Kopps in a starting role. That’s always been an option Van Horn has liked. If he wasn’t coming back from Tommy John, you might pitch him twice on the weekend. But I kinda doubt that’s how he’ll be used. I just think he’s going to get to four to six innings soon and that he’ll be a starter.
I would like to see Kopps get the chance to start! I enjoy watching him compete on the mound. The hogs sure missed him last year!
How do you guys think the bullpen shakes out? Middle relief, set up and close when Cronnin can’t close? There’s sure appears to be plenty of option with LHP in the pen this season. Cole Ramage is a wild card on this pitching staff as well. You can add Cody Scroggins to the conversation.