And now a gold nugget I found looking at FAU.... This week is the first time they are playing two midweek games this season. Why is at of interest. Well their starting pitchers have been set and their three starters pitched this weekend. So we won't see them. The only other pitcher that has started this year is Evan Waterbor (yes I know you're thinking Waterboy) so we probably get him on Tuesday. All their other pitchers have been a hodgepodge. For instance we have 7 pitchers that have pitched 8 innings or more. FAU only has 4. So look for plenty of pitching changes from their coach. Their team ERA is only 3.21 and have beaten Miami and UCF, won their USF weekend series, but got swept by UConn at home this past weekend. I suspect that Wednesday will be a barrage of pitchers coming out of the bullpen by both teams. So be prepared for a long game unless we run rule them early.
Yep, forgot them. Definitely want to see both pitch in Wednesday rotation. Subtract Abner and Purnell for now.
Agree completely, just wonder about guys like Arroyo, Ursitti, Nesbitt who have barely pitched at all if no time this week.
outside of the weekend starters and Fisher, the staff looks a mess. The early stats are downright scary 2023 Baseball Cumulative Statistics - Florida Gators
Not sure our bullpen wants to get in a rock throwing contest with their bullpen—We might run outta rocks……
I had hopes for Jameson based on the first game he threw in (not pitched). He was on quick and effective, then Mr. Hyde appeared and ran the ERA up to a Chinese balloon. Neely was used this past weekend but he had the flu, so I give him an intentional pass on that. Abner is a tease. "A Day Tripper". The staff, combined, is walking and hitting batters to the tune of close to 6 per game. Enough to lose holding the opponent to less than 5 hits in 9. Come SEC play, a Regional or Super Regional, the winners need to go deep to #s 4, 5, 6 and 7 pitchers.
At the Mac baseballs just died when hit to center, but they carry very well at the new place. On the other hand the Mac played pretty small down the lines.
Being Fisher threw three innings on Friday and then made an appearance Sunday (albeit for just five pitches), he may throw again tomorrow but seriously doubt you see him tonight. Neely is coming off an illness but depending on how he feels, he could throw multiple innings if necessary. Outside of those two and assuming Slater starts one of the two games it is basically flip a coin and hope for the best as far as the bullpen goes. I say continue to give Abner some work as he probably has the most upside but until he gets better command, it’s a scary situation anytime he makes an appearance.
Pitching Matchups Tuesday | 6 p.m. (SECN+) Wednesday | 6 p.m. (SECN+) FAU LHP Evan Waterbor (1-0, 1.80 ERA) RHP Tyler Murphy (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Florida RHP Yoel Tejeda Jr. (0-0, 4.05 ERA) TBD
Gotta hope their starting pitcher tonight doesn't feel like coming out and opening a big can of whoop azz on us.
I hope Tejeda gets quality fielding support this time. He's been victimized by poor and sloppy play in his first two starts. I think he has talent and when he gains confidence can contribute this year and my bet he's in the running for a weekend SP slot next year, along with Fisher. On Gators relief pitching woes- Sully has to make some key decisions soon as SEC looms. Saturday was a disaster and I would put Jameson, Finnvold very low in the depth chart at this time. Hoping Abner can get some quality work this week and build confidence- he was ok down the stretch last year after very shaky start and really off his game this year. Have not seen much of Arroyo, including in scrimmages so not sure where he might be on the confidence scale. Perhaps Hartzog can provide some pleasant surprises- he was ineffective in two scrimmages I attended but the hitters have advantage in scrimmages. I'm sure Sully is not taking FAU lighly and with Sienna coming in this weekend perhaps we can focus more energy and talent on the mid-week games.
I am surprised that our relief pitching once again is not very good. We are seeing the same issues as of last year, walks, hit batters, unable to hold leads. Is Sully the pitching coach? The question for me is, are we missing on talent? Are some of these pitchers not as good as advertised? Are these guys not being developed? I don't watch a lot of college baseball, but just doesn't seem other teams walk or hit as many batters as we do. Typically, we are in the top 5 of talent acquisition so just doesn't make sense we continue to have these issues.
Gator Line Up: #4 Kurland 2B #36 Langford LF #14 Caglianone DH #24 Rivera SS #15 Riopelle 1B #2 Evans RF #28 Heyman C #6 Shelnut 3B #11 Robertson CF #17 Tejeda SP
