The pitching bridge

[roanoke]

Hickman has pitched well all year - and is no stranger to big games.

He pitched the bracket winner over Louisville... so he will be on five days rest. Tyler Brown threw 40 pitches last night. Fellows over 100 Monday.

The bridge ‘pen is going to get used tonight. Basically, each time Coach has tried to use it in Omaha - we have faltered. It will be interesting to see who gets the call tonight. But someone will. 6 innings from Hickman would be great. I think we will need at least two clean innings from someone. Will coach go with one of the guys who was recently roughed up but had a good year like Eder - or reach back into the pool of younger throwers. Ethan Smith has not pitched in a while (and pitched decently as a bridge guy versus Duke in the tourney)... several young guys have potentially commanding stuff if walks can be avoided.

The coaching staff may have to ride a hunch tonight. I wonder if there will be a plan - or they will just see who has live stuff in the pen tonight?

[dore74]

Just like old adage about the ball finding the weak link, our season is in the hands of our arguably weakest link, middle relief.
Our bats likely will need to awaken to spot us some room for error.
Question, someone noted that our hitters had more an upper cut than level swing, and that level swings work better at Omaha. Is that so? Is it changeable, or would that cause too much consternation to our hitters.

[NYCVandyMan]

Kumar is also available for 25 pitches tonight; basically 2 batters if a tough spot/outs are needed, I am told. I am less concerned about how Coach Corbin and Coach Brown figure out the necessary bridge(s) from the bullpen tonight as I am more focused on if we get the offense launched. Enjoy it; and remember after Monday night, many on here didn't think the #Vandyboys would make it to tonight. Free #extraVandyBoys baseball tonight--enjoy!

[roanoke]

Interesting - I wondered if that might be true.

It's a lot to put on him, though.

Michigan has some real good pitching lined up tonight - but I do think it is about us and not them. We need to stop being so aggressive that we are striking ourselves out with off-speed stuff. As the announcers said, we seem to be trying to pull and homer everything - when we should just drive the pitch & get baserunners and advance them. Wild pitches saved us last night - but we need to make contact when contact scores runs. Martin's two-strike nubber was actually a big play.

I thought a couple of our bats may have awakened last night. But a few more need to be activated. The Michigan starter tonight appears to be a sinker guy who throws 92+. Top 100 draft pick - he will not be a slouch - but he looked hittable versus Texas Tech - if we bat wisely. Chrisley, the "reliever-starter", throws hard and we have seen him briefly. But we tend to be better against heat than deception. Honestly, on paper it should be low-scoring - and that means the pressure of Michigan baserunners needs to be handled well. That is one area where they have really had the edge over us. The game could be decided either way by a couple of walks who come around to score. The wind will matter too - some nights it seems impossible to knock one out of there... if that means we would stop swinging for the fences, it could almost help. (But since we lead the country in homers, I am not rooting for that.)

We and the team should savor this - what a long, long road.

[katmai]

Kumar is also available for 25 pitches tonight; basically 2 batters if a tough spot/outs are needed, I am told. I am less concerned about how Coach Corbin and Coach Brown figure out the necessary bridge(s) from the bullpen tonight as I am more focused on if we get the offense launched. Enjoy it; and remember after Monday night, many on here didn't think the #Vandyboys would make it to tonight. Free #extraVandyBoys baseball tonight--enjoy!

I hope that isn't true. Pitching a 19-year old on no rest after throwing 100+ pitches is playing with fire. Kumar has a potential $100+ Million arm, and I would hope Vanderbilt and Corbin look out for his future above all else.

[Commodoredave]

Going to need 3-6 outs from someone other than Hickman and Brown. That part of the team troubled me all year and here we are. Based on who has warmed up, it will likely be Eder. Fisher hasn't had a look since the Duke blowup, while King and Raby don't have any confidence or command now. Surprised Smith hasn't had a look, and I do believe he is the best RHP setup option.

[wbl]

Agree totally katmai. I just can’t see using Rocker...but I can see tossing it out as a decoy.

[roanoke]

Eder is a likely choice - but he was really roughed up recently. In a tight game, you just don't want to bring in someone who has not thrown in a long time.

Ethan Smith is probably our last decent bridge work - three innings against Duke before the dam burst.

Gillis seems to have fallen off the face of the earth.

King and Fischer were recently roughed up too. Franklin as well. It's a long season. People get roughed up - but we have had some problems lately finding anyone who can hold the fort in the middle innings.

I honestly don't expect us to use Rocker - but when he got pulled after 6 1/3 it crossed my mind. He could have finished the 7th unless there was a reason for him not to...

[AuricGoldfinger]

There was someone on Twitter last night that said Smith was in the dugout for the game and may be injured. I hope not.

[dcdore]

I actually thought Eder performed decently last outing against Louisville. Two innings, one earned run. Defense behind him hurt. Another unearned run and required him to get an extra out or two.

[oakparkDore]

There was someone on Twitter last night that said Smith was in the dugout for the game and may be injured. I hope not.

That would be horrible news if true.

I don’t understand why we haven’t seen Hugh Fisher. He’s been terrific all year. One bad outing doesn’t change that for me.

[Good2BGold]

Kumar is also available for 25 pitches tonight; basically 2 batters if a tough spot/outs are needed, I am told.

I think we would be more likely to see Drake Fellows for 25 pitches tonight than Kumar.

[StarTraveler]

Let’s just hope that Hickman is on target tonight and can get us 6-plus innings and our bats can get us a substantial lead to get him and us the win. Go Dores!

[geeznotagain]

It is what it is. But it's disappointing to me that at season's end the bullpen cupboard is as bare and thin and inconsistent as it appears to be. Inarguably the talent is there, so why are we not in better shape?

[Minoadoc]

Historically, Corbin tends to put the best interest of his players before winning at all cost. I would be surprised to see Fellows/Rocker, or Brown for more than a few batters. I remember in ‘14, he could have used Fulmer in relief game three and that was never going to happen

[VandyFan888]

We won't see Rocker but we could see anyone else.

[EllistonVU]

If Smith can't pitch any, this will be the Hickman/Eder/Brown show for better or worse.

We need Joe-Boo to wake up our bats. Scoring a ton of runs would be the safest thing.

[wbl]

EllistonVU—so when today are you sacrificing a chicken?

[EllistonVU]

EllistonVU—so when today are you sacrificing a chicken?

As soon as I hit the drive-thru.



One whole chicken, right?

[Versus75]

I think we would be more likely to see Drake Fellows for 25 pitches tonight than Kumar.

If we could see his LAST 25 pitches from Monday rather than his FIRST 25 pitches.