Other posters have said Pogue may not be physically able to go due to the 18-24 month recovery time from Tommy John surgery. Would be great if he's at full strength.
I'm wondering if we might see Milchin get a chance on Sunday as we start the season to get Pogue a chance to "get his work in" as 74 likes to say. Once SEC play starts then we narrow in on the top 3 starters from there. That said I don't think Milchin is our best hope on the weekends but at least he has midweek starting experience which is few and far between right now going forward.
So are we going true freshmen for a Sunday starter if Pogue isn't fully ready? Who would you go with? Its all just hearsay until fall ball anyway.
I have NO idea....thats the scary thing. There is virtually no proven depth. None. Losing the 2 juco signees really hurt. Shocked we haven't brought in at least 2 portal pitchers
We might see one of the freshmen step up. I've read some high praises about Philip Abner & Brandon Neely. I remember when Logan Shore came to UF from a Minnesota high school. He was plugged in as our Friday night starter as a true freshman and stayed there for 3 years. ERA's were 2.16, 2.72 & 2.31 and was 30-11 in his career as a Gator. Or Timmy Manning could get a look. He was highly touted coming into last season, but had control issues. He got several midweek starts, but was inconsistent.
No inside information here but this discussion mixed with our UF Baseball past history with regards to picking up players late— We have picked up JUCO players not only right at the start of fall ball but even as late as over the Christmas break. I don’t have any tracking on JUCO pitchers that were drafted but did not sign, but surely that pool of pitchers exist. And as you said apk—there must be a like pool of college pitchers in the transfer portal. Got to feel like something will shake out……we’ll see.
I hope you are right with regards to one (or hopefully some) of the freshmen stepping up. And yes, without argument, Logan was the man. I hope to see good things out of Timmy Manning too. The times I had the chance to see him throw this past season my impressions match the points that you make in your post— control issues/inconsistency. He has that big sweeping breaking ball that appears to be his go pitch. IMHO if that’s the case then he’s going to have to command all of his other pitches (especially his FB) for that sweeper to be effective for him. Lack of command of any pitcher’s FB is going to have a negative impact on the effectiveness of his breaking pitches. What I remember seeing this past season with Manning that was the most critical part of his game was lack of any maturity in his approach to how he attacked the hitters he faced. The same patterns (pitch sequences, lack of command, pitching in hitters counts, etc) were repeated more than learned from IMHO.
Starting pitching huge question mark, sully has his work cut out for him. Let’s hope he gets his head clear and ready to focus and work. Does anyone have reliable info on pogue or nesbitt?
Yeah, I thought the Mizzou ace was headed here, that went totally quiet. But surely there will be more guys now that the draft/signing window is done. But I also wonder if Sully is a little stuck with roster cap/scholly money. He may not have as much wiggle room as he might need with so many youngsters coming in.
Yep - 11.7 scholarship to spread out among 38 players is a tough juggling act. He has to find guys who are not only really good, but either come from wealthy families or qualify for academic scholarships. Not easy to do and totally unfair.
I'm hoping to see better things out of Manning as well. My recollection he was decent in the first half of the season in midweeks but as conference play started it wasn't long until batters started crowding the plate to put pressure on that sweeping breaking ball to get a HBP or force him to use his fastball which wasn't good enough. I wish we had someone who has seen Abner or Neely in a game because I'll be shocked if we get much duration on the mound from Pogue or Nesbitt this season.
Also @ocalaman I’ve got to feel like Sully’s fully aware of and takes advantage of the “blending rule”. For anyone not familiar this rule applies to any student/athletes that scored 26+ on their ACT test. Any academic dollars they are eligible for do not apply to athletic scholarship dollars. I feel like Sully recruits those guys anyway.
What about incoming freshman Kyle Larson (RHP)? I don't see him on your list. He was an 18th rounder by the Texas Rangers who didn't sign.
Ocala, I feel strongly that freshmen will fit strongly into our pitching rotation. Nice job mentioning Logan Shore. He was a good one.