As the SEC Baseball Tournament unfolds this week in Hoover, coaches are of course trying to win the championship, but they also have to walk a tightrope when it comes to managing their pitching staffs ahead of the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
That dynamic was on display in the Kentucky vs. Arkansas game on Thursday. Both squads are squarely in the hunt for a top-eight seed in the big dance and plan on competing deep into the postseason. So, each club threw their top starter but neither lasted as long as they could.
For the Wildcats, starter Trey Pooser went six scoreless innings and was feeling fine, yet he was pulled anyway to prevent any unnecessary wear and tear.
“We made that decision in the middle of the game with Trey,” said head coach Nick Mingione of the decision to pull his starter. “He was at 76 pitches. If we chose to run him back out the score was 6-0, you know, on an average, you’re going to throw anywhere between 16 and 20, 25 pitches in an inning.”
At that point, Pooser would have been close to 100 pitches, and Mingione simply didn’t want to do that with his top arm.
“So we made the decision, okay, if we do that, what we’re saying is we’re going to run him up there to over a hundred pitches. And we weren’t willing to do that. Sure, was the game 6-0? Yes, it was. Was it in a good spot? But ultimately, to your point, we do have to manage that in the right way.”
Nick Mingione then pointed to how Arkansas did the same thing. They started their ace and a future top MLB Draft choice, Hagen Smith, who lasted just two innings before coming out.
“I thought that’s what they did with Hagen Smith as well, right. I mean, they find ways to chip away his innings and just to keep him down because they know just as well as I do that we need these guys to throw well next week and the week after and then two more weeks in Omaha to do what we want to do,” said Mingione.
Whether it’s his own team, or the best pitcher in college baseball, coaches are being very careful with the use of their best arms as the NCAA Tournament looms.
“So it is absolutely in the back of our minds, and we do have to be smart about how we go about it,” aded Mingione, exapling his bullpen decisions.
“It’s why we did (Robert) Hogan and we extended him out to three innings and we built him up. Same thing with Ryan Hagenow. He was able to get two-plus innings and build his pitch count up — but with all the thought in mind that we are trying to win this, but then also to try to protect him and position ourselves to be good next week as well.”
It’s a tough balance to strike during conference tournament week.
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