Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:51 am
that's a stretch...... true, we have no midweek pitching, but our weekend starters have 1 loss combined, an ERA under 3 combined, and 2 of them threw a combined 13 shutout innings last weekend.
Pondman, this Reb team is very young, but talented. Many of the players, and pichers, just need more PT and seasoning. Until they gain enough experience, they are going to be very inconsistent ---looking like world beaters one game, and lousy the next.
Jeff's claim that we have no pitchers is incorrect. We have enough talent on the mound to get it done on the weekend series. But, we still need some depth. And such pitching depth is having to be developed during the mid-week games. Thus, the losses to teams that are not as talented.
Coach Bianco has to get some PT for some of the players and pitchers that normally do not start on the weekends, but will be needed during the post-season at the SEC tourney and the NCAA Regional. That is what the mid-week games are for. But, this player development must be balanced with getting enough overall wins to qualify for the post-season. This is a dilemma that Coach Bianco gets paid the big bucks to solve.
It is way too early to panic right now. Lots of baseball left to play --conference and non-conference games. Coach Bianco has earned the benefit of my doubt. But, right now, we look like a team that could beat anyone, and lose to anyone.
This coming weekend series at UCLA will tell us a lot about this Rebel team. We will have our best pitchers on the mound, and best players in the field. Should be a good matchup and an early road test against a quality opponent.
