re: Arms available today

I dont think anyone has completely pitched themselves out of being available today. But they will certainly favor a few guys such as Cooper and Little.

after attempting to throw Edwards' arm off last weekend, i would assume he is available to close out the game today

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Cooper will be a decent option out the pen with all of Tennessee's lefties.

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I think Cooper will definitely pitch some today. He’s probably our only left-handed arm available. Ack is probably done for the weekend (if not longer), and I really don’t think they want to use Herring today with the quick turnaround. I’m not sure how many pitches he threw, but they were all very high leverage, and as much as it looks like he’s gonna wind up being a big piece out of the pen moving forward, I don’t think they’ll want to bring him back so soon unless it’s just to face a batter or 2 at the most.

A lot will depend on Hurd, obviously, but I think we see at least Cooper and Edwards (unless the game is out of hand one way or the other). Like Herring, I bet they’d prefer to not have to use Shores with the early start time today, but he could come in for a batter or 2.

Ideally, we’d love to go Hurd to Cooper to Edwards for the win. Maybe give Little an opportunity to start a clean inning somewhere in the middle innings. But if Hurd is off like last weekend and gets bounced early, you probably go to Cooper next, see how much he can give you, and piece the rest together with some combo of Little, Dutton, Money, and Collins, and hope our bats are going and we can hand Edwards a 10-8ish lead in the 8th.

So unless Hurd figured something out and can shove for 7, I think it’s almost 100% we see Cooper. Would only see Herring or Shores for very short stints in a close game if that, and only see Edwards in a close game too, though he could probably go at least 2 if he’s effective and keeping his pitch count relatively low. He only threw like 24 pitches Thursday so he can go, but no need to throw him just to throw him if the game’s not close.

TLDR: Come the frick on Hurd. Need to get at least 5 from you keeping us in the game.

I just watched the last half of the game from last night that I had to miss live. Herring's innings were really sharp. He was pumping strikes and the few balls he threw were just out of the zone. He thrived on the crowd's energy too.

It is about time Hurd has a good outing again. Hes due.

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I just watched the last half of the game from last night that I had to miss live. Herring's innings were really sharp. He was pumping strikes and the few balls he threw were just out of the zone. He thrived on the crowd's energy too.

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Yeah, he was impressive last week, but even more so last night. Like you said, really sharp and seemed to feed off the crowd. He looks like a baby, but Jay was really talking him up the week leading up to the Arkansas series. Said not only does he have great stuff from the left side, but said his demeanor/competitiveness is elite for a freshman. Or maybe anybody. He’s gonna be a big part of the staff moving forward.

Which is why I bet they’ll try to get away without using him today with the quick turnaround. Those were some high leverage pitches he threw last night full of adrenaline, and I doubt he was holding anything back. Probably want to protect him from himself today if they can help it. They may let him face a LH if we need a big K or something, but that’d probably be it. Or they may tell him not to even bother putting his spikes on today.

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Need Hurd to give us a solid 5-6 today,

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SPOT ON! An outing like that could set the tone for him moving forward. Attack the zone TH and know your OFF is going to get you some runs. Let's finish this Tigers.

I think they hold Ack due to his hamstring. He didn’t look great Thursday.

Cooper, ack, Edwards, little

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I noticed that too. I don’t think he’ll be a starter for us. It’s just one game, but he looked like a closer to me. Didn’t look nervous in a tight game. The error allowing the strikeout victim on base didn’t phase him. That’s not to say he couldn’t start, but closing takes a special mentality that he appeared to have. Take it with a grain of salt; it’s one outing, albeit against a top 10 team.

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I mainly agree. Depending on what rabbits Jay pulls out of the portal, I think Herring is probably in line to be in the weekend rotation next year with Shores. And he certainly appears to have the mentality of a closer, or being able to finish close games. But I don’t think this team will have a traditional closer who comes in in the 9th with a lead.

Right now it looks like they trust both Edwards and Herring to come in and throw multiple innings to finish games. Or they may bring them in to protect a 1-run lead in a high leverage inning or 2 (or 3), even if it’s in the 5th or the 6th. I think it’ll depend on who’s available, the opposing pitcher and how he’s handling our lineup, and maybe if the opposing lineup is more RH or LH heavy when they come in.

You’d love to save those 2 guys to finish off close wins, but the highest leverage innings in a game may not always be the 8th or 9th, and you’d hate to not use them when you most need them.