Isaiah Page starting game 2 tonight, Criswell available out of the bullpen
#Michigan will not go with Jeff Criswell tonight as the starter. Erik Bakich and Co. will go with Isaiah Page, who has 5 1/3 innings of work in the postseason. Have to believe Bakich really likes the option to bring Criswell out of the bullpen for extended relief if need be. #CWS
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 25, 2019
Oh dear lord. i think that’s not the best decision... i definitely would have gone criswell tonight, kauffman out of the pen if up tonight, or paige and keizer out of the pen tonight with kauffman tomorrow if we needed to win that game.
Fire Bakich!
MgoBlog when the football coaching staff that has never beaten OSU and never won a B1G title accepts a commit from a low 2 star recruit nobody's heard of and no other power 5 school has offered "TRUST THE COACHES! THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING"
Also MgoBlog when the over-achieving baseball coaching staff names a starting pitcher for the potential national championship clinching game that no one on fucking earth ever thought we'd be playing in "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE THE COACHES THINKING??????
It's like the moment you enter mgoblog.com or click on the bookmark part of your brain is taken away.
Now ain't that the truth.
yeah, i'll trust the coach who has had the team's pulse all year over a bunch of armchair twatwaffles on this blog who just figured out M had a baseball team 3 weeks ago...
Twatwaffles? Okay.
Username chec..,,,,,,
Twatwaffles. Yes there are many on this blog. And you are now my favorite blogger.
Armchair twatwaffle?? Why you dirty rotten legtable junkpuppy.
Is a legtable another word for an ottoman?
Armchair Twatwaffles?
How the hell did you know the name of both my Fantasy Football team AND weekend Toad the Wet Sprocket cover band?
But you also figured out that M had a baseball team 3 weeks ago too?
Who are you to speak?
#twatwaffles totally stealing that...
I'm not crazy about this decision. Criswell has a fresh arm and has earned a crack at this.
Criswell does not have a fresh arm, getting up and down in the bullpen like that counts as pitches thrown and stress on the arm. He would 100% have been on a pitch count tonight.
I'm going to trust the coaches on this as they know their staff and how they all feel better than anyone. I like Kauffmann going tomorrow on 4 days rest. I also like Criswell being available tonite if needed or tomorrow to team up with Kauffmann for all the marbles.
I LIKE EVERYTHING.
Vandy has their ace up tonight. Might be a tactical decision to make sure you have your best pitchers for a probable game 3 instead of using up Criswell tonight on a limited pitch count.
Probably smart...will have everything we need for game 3 in place.
This is the way I tend to lean.
Yeah... I'm no baseball expert but seems we are making sure we are prepared as possible for game three.
Per ESPN, over the past 11 years, teams that win Game 1 and play for Game 3 are <0.500 in Game 3.
We'd also get Vandy's best SP in Game 3.
ADDENDUM: Facts are apparently unpopular on MGoBlog.
Is Kumar not their best SP? He's going tonight.
We have to face their best pitcher 3 nights in a row.
That seriously has been the mixed messaging from those damn ESPN announcers. Tell me which is the #2 starter on Vandy? Nobody seems to know...
He’s either a righty or a lefty
Or, one of those rare switch pitchers.
Vandy season stats HERE.
Hickman (so) 8-0, 2.08 ERA, 90.2 IP, 119 SO, .183 OBA
Raby (sr) 10-1, 3.08 ERA, 76 IP, 81 SO, .260 OBA
Rocker (fr) 11-5, 3.38 ERA, 93.1 IP, 103 SO, .240 OBA
Fellows (jr) 13-2, 4.09 ERA, 116.2 IP, 133 SO, .249 OBA
I feel like Hickman gets the nod. But their entire staff is sick.
Per Vandy's Anchor of Gold (I think) blog, Hickman will be the Game 3 starter if necessary.
Raby threw like 45 pitches last night in relief and they all seem to think he's toast. They're very confident in Rocker & Hickman. That's the duo that got them through the losers bracket in the regional when their backs were against the wall. We're not catching any breaks there.
Yes, Hickman has been their Sunday (#3) starter since mid-season or so--he started out in the bullpen. He started for them on Friday evening, so he will be on the same rest as Kauffmann. Raby was their Tuesday (#4) starter, and really wasn't up to the quality of the other 3--he has been used exclusively in long relief in the playoffs.
Wasn't Raby they guy that got rocked last night? He gave up the home run to Donovan and loaded the bases from what I remember. Personally I'm not impressed with him at all. This lineup has shown the ability to get to any pitcher they face. If they don't get to Rocker tonight they'll have 2 of their best pitchers available tomorrow.
I like Michigan's odds even if they lose tonight.
Yes, Rocker looks like 3rd best there for the season. However, over his last 4 games, he has pitched 26 and two-thirds innings and given up 3 earned runs total, while striking out 35 and walking only 4.
They are all beasts - terrific that we got to Fellows early when he was uncomfortable.
But we can do it - we have been making the other pitchers work their ass off, and getting to them one way or another. Great at bats by our team the whole tourney.
Go Blue!
Yeah, he threw a no-hitter with 19 Ks his last or 2nd to last start, and he's the #1 overall prospect for the 2021 (?) draft. Not to say he's not young or completely consistent, but Rocker is a legit stud.
Basically the numbers say coin flip, coin flip. With Vandy’s being the superior team over the long haul it’s going to be a bit less than that. Criswell is too wild to make it 7 or 8 innings like Henry. Bakich is going to have to throw guys he doesn’t have a lot of faith in tonight. If you get 4 good innings from the bullpen great bring in Criswell to try and close it. If they get blown out you have Criswell for tomorrow.
Reply to Blue Fish ADDENDUM:
Comment checks out. You have joined "Facts" in an unpopularity contest.
That's a point noisy point estimate, and not a statement that we have less than a 50% chance of winning if we lose tonight. People are down voting you for implying we do. Here's a fact: I just flipped a coin 11 times and got 7 heads and told ESPN (this parts not a fact). They just reported that my next coin flip is < 50% chance of being tails.
I don't want to play a game 3.....
Welp, guess I need to change that "H" to an "F" on my "Hire Bakich" sign.
Page hasn't pitched more than 5 innings all year. This sort of feels like Bakich is punting on this game as a bullpen game. If we can get to 5 innings still in the game he will change his strategy but is targeting tomorrows game. Don't love it but if he's getting told Criswell can only go 4 innings max or something like that he'd probably prefer to only do that if we are in the game rather than using 4 innings tonight, having it get blown by the bullpen and then be stuck in a bad spot tomorrow night with only Kaufman available
I believe the "expert" on BTN's Big Show last night after the game said that Page is the one he would go with tonight. I don't follow college baseball to know if this guy knows what he is talking about but if someone that follows college baseball thinks this and our coach who seems to be pretty good and is making this decision it isn't a punt on this game. Just my thoughts.
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I know nothing about the team, like most everybody on this board prior to a month ago. That being said, I can already see all the arm chair pundits opining on this decision as if they have a clue.
Haha, my exact thought.
Here's some comic relief as we wade through the shit.
Isn't the purpose of a forum to express one's opinion?
Yes.
Go Blue!
This makes me less optimistic about tonight's game. Michigan will need to get after their starter with some good hitting to make this work. But, Bakich knows a shit-ton more about baseball than I do. We'll see how it plays out.
This seems like an admission of defeat in Game 2 to set up the ideal Game 3 but what do I know. In Bakich we trust.
Can we please trust the coach? He has brought the team this far and has certainly pushed the right buttons along the way. I hope Paige delivers 3-5 solid innings and puts the team in a position to win.
Go Blue.