No matter who he starts, they will probably only go 5 or 6 innings. Then what? Unless we have a 7 or 8 run lead it won't matter who starts because there's no one reliable to close out games. Other than nights when Barco is on, the best night of pitching for a game was probably the way he used 6 different pitchers to beat FSU. May need to try doing it that way for the second and third games of every series, or at least after Sproat comes out from his start. Just run another one out there as soon as somebody gets in trouble and hope they can string 3-5 outs before the next guy comes in.
On the starting bump--- Barco, Sproat and Slater/Neely. Now. those asking for shaking things up- here goes after the left side killed us today. Armstrong, 3rd, Halter SS, Thompson 2nd, Riopelle 1b, and Guscette C Langford LF, Jud CF, Tucker RF. Sully will not do it of course as he has favorites but at minimum play Kris at 3rd. And Tuck seems to have disappeared. Rivera and Cali- seemed to go about their business as if entitled and it's damn irksome, Deric is overmatched in SEC. Does Sully have something against Kris and Tucker- and can they do be worse than the guys that have lost 5 of 6 SEC games? Season slipping away so try something different.
^^^funny you single out Callilao and Rivera. I see quite a few guys on this roster who need to be better. Rivera and Callilao are “entitled” and everyone else is fine. Got it.
Matside, I agree that all the guys need to play better- but Cali and Josh are veterans and should be leaders- and lead by example -- in field and at the plate. Cali today letting that fair ball roll foul not charging and critical at-bats in the clutch that failed to be productive- from a guy who has been around forever. With Josh- lots of talent- but has to take charge of the left side and make the big play in critical situations- did not. I can finger point at a few others- of course but these guys are vets and need to step up.
Relax- you guys are making something out of nothing. The question was posed -- if we were to "shake things up" how would it look and I gave some blue sky suggestions for the sake of baseball conversation. Perhaps 'entitled' was not the correct word to use and I noted you could single out many guys who are not delivering to expectation but Josh and Cali are veterans and with their skills and experience they should be team leaders- same could be said about Jud- and I was critical of Sully for not dropping Jud to 5th or 6th in the order last year when he was killing us in the 2 hole. Think everyone is a little frayed by the shellacking we've taken in the last five SEC games- as we have found just about every way to lose in those games.
I’m sorry, and I went ahead and deleted my comment because I was making false accusations. I believe the team needs Josh’s vocal leadership and Cali’s veteran and clutch presence so hopefully that can click immediately.
Also, we scored 8 runs last night. That should be plenty in a competitive SEC game. Why are we blaming the hitters and not the pitching? I hate to even place blame on anyone but i’m just confused.
You got me thinking and I like most of your lineup ideas but I think it could be better. How about.... 1B - Armstrong/Riopelle 2B - Thompson SS - Rivera 3B - Halter C - Guscette/Riopelle LF - Langford CF - Jud RF - Calilao DH - Riopelle/Armstrong I'm putting KC in RF instead of Talbott because in his last 6 games played in TT is 2 for 14. Sure everyone deserves a chance but KC is batting .279 with plenty more to show for it. Plus we all liked when KC was out in RF before. He might not be very fast but he's great with the glove. I like Halter at third since he has the strongest arm and I don't think Sully is going to give up on Rivera anytime soon. I would expect these guys are really stressed out about now and the young guys probably need a few games off here and there. The next three weeks are going to be pressure packed. I hope Sully considers making some moves to keep this team from sinking any lower.
There isn't a lineup tweak in the world that can overcome what we are seeing on the mound. We have to pitch better - pure and simple.
Hey 87, I like the revised line-up shake-up you lay out here- worth a shot- But agree with No worries- we're all disappointed and a bit on edge because we had expected a great year from our Gators. Still time to make it a solid year if Sully can figure out the pitching- always hopeful.
Hey 87, I like the revised line-up you lay out here- worth a shot- But agree with others- it all comes down to quality consistent pitching-- that is the fly in the ointment.
Oh I agree the pitching is the problem and I'm not trying to say the lineup shakeup will fix the pitching. The pitching is a whole other thing to address which is beyond both of us. The errors are a concern though which puts even more stress on the pitchers just like the untimely walks and hit batters. The pitching troubles seem to come in waves which makes it even more frustrating when you know what's coming.
Sadly the people in charge of figuring it out don’t seem to have any answers either lol. It can only get better.
I'm with @ocalaman on the other days that Barco is not starting. Sully should look at a 3 inning maximum to reduce the times any hitter will see the same pitcher. Sure Sproat looked good for 5 innings the last time out but we have no confidence that will happen again. Instead Sproat went out for the sixth inning and gave up 3 runs and walked off ending in frustration again. For the short term I'd rather Sully get guys out earlier other than Barco and try to build some confidence. If they start walking 2 runners back to back or hit batters then get someone else in there. Sure we have no other confidence in the reliever coming in but at least Sully can try to be situational in who he chooses next. Going into a weekend series is very difficult to only get 3 innings out of each pitcher but if Barco has a good day then we should be able to get by on the two days remaining. The key here is taking guys out more often when they have had success to build their confidence for their next appearance. Billy Donovan used to be a big believer in this approach after a made basket.
I hear what you are saying BUT it isn’t like Abner yesterday was stretched too far. Or Purnell on Thursday. Or Nesbitt yesterday. Simply put, the bullpen is awful and the starters have talent but no consistency. Barco, Sproat, Neely, Abner, Manning, Nesbitt, Pogue, plus a couple more should equal a formidable staff. But so far, they don’t. They equal Barco plus ?.