re: is Nola pitching tomorrow?

The "world's most knowledgeable baseball fans" are at it again. There is much fail in this thread. It is laughable.

The brainiac that suggested that some random bullpen pitcher start tomorrow and be on "a short lease" with Nola waiting in the wings to pitch long relief takes the cake.

Anyone that has paid any amount of attention knows that Mainieri uses his 2 main guys in the first two games of this tournament, then shuts them down for the rest of the weekend to have them ready on full rest for next week. So NO, Nola or Poche' will not be "available to throw a few pitches this weekend". And by the way, how has this strategy worked out in the past for the coach? His record in this tournament is 19-4 with 4 titles. I will trust that he knows what he is doing.

The opponent tomorrow is irrelevant. Mainieri knew probably 2 weeks ago that Nola was going to pitch on Thursday of this tournament, regardless of the situation. (believe it or not, coaches sit down and look ahead and plan such stuff). I don't care how weak Arkansas looks on paper. It doesn't matter. He has always coached this tournament based on what LSU needs, not who the opponent is. His main guys get their normal weekly game, some bullpen guys get a chance to do their thing, then you go home and get ready for regionals. So go ahead and pose ridiculous scenarios for the week and weekend. I will go with the guy who has a closet full of SEC tournament trophies.