Hurd has to be used as a starter in postseason

Or he could be great in long relief

Agreed. He’s finding it! LFG Hurd!

Well we have to make it out of a regional first.

He may have turned a huge corner tonight. Battling back from adversity like that has got to be good for his confidence.

Someone has to be ready to come in a sticky situation. Needs to be him as of today.

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Or he could be great in long relief

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Long relief in the postseason means you're either losing big or winning big.

You don't waste one of your best bullets on that.

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Hurd has to be used as a starter in postseason

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Why? He just saved our arse coming out the bullpen. He won the game for us by not walking anyone.

Let him follow Skenes in the 8th & 9th. If he makes short work of it, you still have him for Sunday.

I'm just not going to criticize Johnson on Hurd.

The kid has real stuff. It's legitimate top-end stuff. And he'll show it, and you'll say "OK, it's finally here."

And then he gives up two home runs in the 9th when you've got the game more or less won.

Guys like that are the definition of a coach-killer. You keep going back there because you can't help but think "if he just locks in, he's invaluable." But bad things keep happening.

But I'll tell you who's a comp for Hurd, not in how he pitches but in the results he gave.

Trey Hodges.

All season in 2000, Hodges was a lot like Hurd. He showed just enough promise that Skip stuck with him even though his ERA was sky-high, and then finally it clicked in the postseason.

Maybe that's Hurd, and maybe he keeps getting better and this rough two weeks starts to fade away.

Or maybe in a couple weeks Hurd gives up a bomb that sends Troy State or somebody to a super regional out of Alex Box, and we're all going to want Johnson's head.

But since the rest of our arms aren't any better, I can't fault Johnson for chasing the dream with Hurd.

No he doesnt. He's been pretty solid in late game last 3 of 4 outings