The idea of it doesn’t sound too bad. But is it sustainable for the long haul?
Because South Carolina doesn’t have a true starting rotation, Mark Kingston has had to adapt and do something different. Over the last six games (including the series finale at Tennessee), he’s gone with a bullpen game approach instead of using a traditional starting pitcher.
Kingston’s plan has been to have a pitcher face an opposition’s lineup one time through and then turn the ball to the next guy. Some pitchers have gone longer than others. But overall, that’s the gist of it.
In a week like the SEC Tournament where the Gamecocks had to play five games in five days, the pitching staff was all but wiped out by the end of their run in Hoover. But Kingston said it was a great opportunity to get more arms in to pitch and see what they can do. In most cases, guys took advantage of their newfound chance and ran with it.
“It’s hard to think that you can have significant growth on a team this late in the season, but we did,” Kingston said. “We did, because there were so many different challenging situations that our kids will be able to learn from. We were able to put so many young guys in situations. Through thick and thin, through good and bad, they’re going to be better because of it.”
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
Over the course of the five games in Hoover, the Gamecocks had to use a plethora of pitching. Here’s a breakdown of how Kingston managed his bullpen this week and how long each pitcher went.
Chris Veach — 7.0 IP, 93 P
Matthew Becker — 5.2 IP, 91 P
Garrett Gainey — 4.0 IP, 77 P
Roman Kimball — 3.2 IP, 75 P
Dylan Eskew — 3.1 IP, 65 P
Eli Jones — 3.2 IP, 62 P
Ty Good — 2.2 IP, 60 P
Parker Marlatt — 3.2 IP, 57 P
Tyler Pitzer — 3.0 IP, 54 P
Connor McCreery — 2.2 IP, 50 P
Sam Simpson — 2.0 IP, 46 P
Jake McCoy — 1.1 IP, 34 P
Tyler Dean — 1.2 IP, 30 P
Michael Polk — 0.2 IP, 26 P
Drake Quinn — 0.0 IP, 12 P
Keep in mind, Kingston really had to dig deep to get 27 outs in each game. It’s remarkable that South Carolina was able to win three games this week with the state of the pitching, combined with the abundance of errors made in the field.
But by the final game of the week, Kingston had to use pitchers he normally wouldn’t use. To put it into perspective, Sam Simpson came into pitch against LSU, and he hadn’t thrown in a game since March 26. So this was how dire the situation had become.
“Yeah, I hope we don’t have to play five straight games next week,” Kingston said. “But we had a lot of kids step up. Sam Simpson pitched for the first time in a long time today, and I thought he handled himself well. Eli got us out of a big jam. Matthew Becker had a couple decent outings this weekend. Garrett gave up that home run there at the end, but he’s one of our guys, and that will not change.”
[On3 App: Get South Carolina push notifications from GamecockCentral]
And he also started Roman Kimball, who hadn’t pitched since May 9. Over his last few outings, he struggled to make it through the lineup one time as an opener for Ty Good who would come in after. But Saturday was a return to form as he tossed 3.2 strong innings.
“I thought Roman Kimball really represented himself today and had poise and gave us a chance to win. Even the box score, it’s hard to imagine he gave up four earned runs,” Kingston said. “That’s probably a topic for an official scorer and myself to talk about. But I thought Roman did a really nice job today and stepped up in a way that was great for him and great for us as we move into the future.”
Obviously, Kingston had to use some arms more than others to get through the week. Most of the time, his moves worked out. But in other cases, it didn’t, like when he had to overextend Chris Veach and Garrett Gainey on short rest.
The good news is that he will now have more capable arms to work with than he did before.
Heading into the new week, South Carolina will await to see where it will be heading for the regional round in the NCAA Tournament. If you look back at last year, the Gamecocks went 3-0 and swept through their regional. Ideally, that would be the scenario Kingston wants to best use the pitching staff. But if they do have to play four or five games this weekend, things could become tricky.
“You have to live with the results, and then you move on to the next one,” Kingston said. Whether it’s who you’re playing, who’s coming in to pitch, do you bunt, do you hit and run, where do you shade your guys. You have to make decisions in the moment that are based on information that you have, and then you live with the results.
“Augie Garrido said it a long time ago and no truer words have ever been spoken: This game was designed to break your heart. It broke our heart today again, but also if you survive it, if you thrive in it, it will make you such a better person moving forward. Look, it broke our heart a little bit this week, but we also played a lot of great baseball. I mean, we’re one of the last four teams standing here. Our kids have nothing to hang their heads about.”
Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!
The post Assessing South Carolina’s pitching usage this week and if it can work moving forward appeared first on On3.