Good post, resmith.
I'm beginning to wonder if there really is a noticeable difference in Kilcrease's results when he pitches from the stretch. While I haven't looked at the results to verify this, it seems as if he's more effective when starting an inning, yet struggles with runners on base. He's still an extremely important part of the bullpen, provided that he is allowed to work within his limitations. He is best-suited for 1-2 inning stints. Because he doesn't have much "gas in the tank," not to mention very little margin for error, having him enter a game in long relief and expecting him to eat innings is simply asking for trouble.
Let's hope that returning to the mound after such a lengthy rain delay was the reason behind Scott's shellacking. It's a pretty good indication of the lack of the confidence Coach Wells has in his bullpen when he leaves a guy in to serve up five home runs before finally making a change (that or, he's either: (a) sadistic; (b) stupid; (c) asleep in the dugout; or (d) all of the above). Scott must not allow what happened in Starkville to affect his confidence going forward.
Howell has followed up a truly stellar six-start run with a pair of absolute clunkers against Kentucky and Mississippi State. In those starts, totaling 8.1 innings, he allowed 12 earned runs, due largely to his having issued an absurdly high total of 12 walks. This is pretty alarming, to say the least. Unless the Del Howell that we saw in his first six starts returns immediately, our best chance to win may be to have Hyatt pitch every inning of every game from here on out.
By no means am I suggesting that he's the answer to all of this staff's problems, but maybe it's time for one last roll of the dice on Quigley. I know I posted this earlier, but he's only worked one inning in SEC play. While his performance to date is hardly inspiring, he still has 24 strikeouts in 19.2 innings, which suggests somewhat that the stuff is still there. At this point, I'd rather see him on the mound than others that have been run out there lately.
