Exactly ! There shouldn't be any game today that starts before 2pm , in their time zone unless it's a doubleheader, even then a 2pm start works fine .
Slater did pitch 2 innings Friday and I forgot he did throw one inning against Texas Tech Saturday so probably scratch my thought of Slater starting today.
David Rosenberg, who writes a column for Gatorswire.com and generally has pretty good insight, said O'Sullivan indicated that all pitcher are available except Sproat, Waldrep & Fisher. Rosenberg expects either Nesbitt, Tejada or Caglionone to get the start. If it's Jac, he'll definitely be on a pitch count, as Sully is known for protecting the arms of his pitchers.
Jac is not gonna pitch on 2 days rest with a surgically repaired elbow when an injury would take his bat out of the lineup. Come on.
We need another bat in the lineup. Why isn't Deric Fabian starting at 3rd? He has high major league potential, and he bats north of .300. I like the 2 guys who have been playing, but they haven't been hitting consistently for a while now. I also prefer Michael Robinson in CF even if he isn't hitting consistently. The outfield needs his range and his glove plus he is a threat to steal when he does get on base. Hopefully, he has been practicing his bunting.
The good thing is UF is deep enough even without the starters. I wonder what Texas Tech will do having to go out 4 deep.
Do you think Fabian or Thomas make that incredible defensive play yesterday? That would have been 2nd and 3rd with no outs and who knows what happens from there. Plus Halter is probably the best bunter on the team. As far as Robertson he is one of the worst base stealers on the team but can fly on the bases and in the outfield. EDIT: I may have been a little tough on Robertson stealing bases as he is 11 of 15 on the year as I must have seen every game he was thrown out with bad jumps/instincts. Not sure if a few of his steals were double steals etc but I was surprised he was 11 of 15.
Robertson is 1 for his last 30 at the plate, 3 for his last 45. You can't have an automatic out in the lineup no matter how good he is on defense. Halter is solid on defense, is one of our more experienced players and made an MLB gem play last night that saved a double and possible TT rally. Fabian has been given a ton of opportunities to win a spot in the starting lineup (started the season at 2nd), but just has not been able to hit quality pitching on a consistent basis. He did have that weekend series last month where he had 2 great games at the plate against Vandy, but as much as I would like to see the Ocala boy in the lineup, he just hasn't earned it, IMO. His batting average is .278 (not north of .300), but that's a small sample size of 10 starts, 20 appearances and only 36 at bats. He'll get every opportunity to win the SS job in the fall, which is his natural position. But he's got to improve his hitting in the off season. Potential has to eventually show itself on the field and so far it hasn't.
I don't know that Fabian wouldn't have made the play and neither does anyone else. I do know we need another consistent bat in the lineup. Where do we get it if not from Fabian? UF is averaging 6.334 run per game in the regional on about half its normal hit production. If we advance to supers, we will need more hits and runs if we expect to take down South Carolina and advance to and win the CWS.
I'm a Fabian fan, but he hasn't earned more than spot duty. His best play has been high level, but there are too many lapses. He was overmatched at 3B last year on hot corner plays. If he were hitting well, his defense would be good enough to get him in the line up.
Fabian was not making that play…… he had a big game with the bat when he subbed at short the game Rivera sat out but his at bats the following games were pretty bad. Don’t count out Halters bat going forward plus, being a team leader, they respond in a positive way to him.
The Sunday night crowd was the best ever at the Con. The grandstand was more densely filled than even 7k crowds. Plenty of room on the berms, but the packed grandstand was loud and involved. Today's crowd probably will be better than the Conn game, but too many empty parking spaces at 11:00.
Halter is strong on both routine and tough plays. In all three seasons he has hit around .300, but faded the last two seasons. What he does is have the at bats Sully said he wants from Mikey, high pitch counts, plenty of walks, reliable bunting. Halter has half of the team's sacrifice bunts. Last year he ha 66 SO, this year 25. More to batting than average.
ALL IN!!! Nothing held back. Anyone in uniform is live. The Florida Gators are ready, winning and advancing!
