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This bullpen is really just awful. Might be a dark end to the season
#23 UConn @ URI (Tuesday 5/15 @ 2p)
- Thread starter huskymedic
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Bad loss. Any team giving up 2 HR's in the 8th inning with a one lead to a pathetic URI team is a team that is likely not doing much damage in the postseason.
No question. Both Wallace and Poulin saw multiple innings on Sunday, and who knows how much they are going to be called on to pitch during the ECU series and then into the AAC tournament. Sometimes you just have to try to win a game with someone else. The AAC games are obviously the much more important at this stage then a midweek game. Wallace and Poulin are being saved for more important work.
Problem with Rajkowski is he clearly has a home run problem, as he has given up 5 in about 11 innings, which is obviously way too much. I would have been more inclined to go with either Dandeneau (assuming he was healthy) or even Joe Simeone.
The other thing is I wouldn't go crazy over losing just 1 New England game this season. They might have lost another one if they had played them all, it is just the law of baseball averages to lose a couple regional games like this.
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Like clockwork...
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The issue isn’t that the bullpen isn’t talented. The issue is that you have no idea what you’ll get out of guys not name Poulin or Wallace. Some days you’ll get 2-3 inning of shutout stuff and the next you get a pitcher who can’t find the strike zone even if their roster spot depended on it.
So much has gone right for this team this season despite the injuries to Cate, Gardner, and others on the pitching staff. With the injuries it is clear to me that the team has over performed. Yet it is amazing how you never hear from someone when so many things are going right, just on those occasions when they don't. Baseball is different from other sports, you aren't going to win them all.
One big positive coming out of this loss. The performance of Colby Dunlop. Six innings is by far the farthest he has gone in a start this season, and it was a quality start to boot. UConn will very well need a fourth starter during the AAC and NCAA tourneys, and it is very likely going to be Dunlop. So it is good to see him head off into the post season with a very positive performance from him.
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Dropped from 19 to 24 in RPI... can be mitigated this weekend 
(URI jumped up +9)
(URI jumped up +9)
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Dropped from 19 to 24 in RPI... can be mitigated this weekend
That's a bigger drop than I expected, as it was a road game (a road game at Rhode Island? Yeeesh!) and URI's RPI is now at 80, which given their sub .500 record, is not exactly bad.
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Colby Dunlop threw strikes. That was the good part. Wallace and Poulin not available, so Penders went with the veteran relievers. Oh well.
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uconnbaseball
Hey there
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Very disappointing loss that kills our chance of hosting barring an unlikely sweep of ECU...but you said it. Dunlop stepping up is a major positive going forward, and our defense quietly continues to excel.
I don't think we can win a regional with this hot and cold offense, but this team has proven me wrong before. This weekend will be very big for us.
Funny, I'm still more worried about the starters other than Feole going long into games than the offense. Gardner was getting there pre injury, but not since. I think in this regard UConn has had some great luck winning the games it did despite the short starts. But sooner or later this luck can very well start to backfire, and that really does worries me. Short starts will be harder to deal with once the tournaments start up.
On the other hand, getting Tim Cate back pitching, even in a relief role, would be a big help. But that is also a big if until it actually happens.
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Think you have to put Wallace in that category as well unfortunately.
I agree with @Baseballguy. Wallace has his hiccups from time to time, but is definitely on a different level of reliability than anyone in the bullpen not named Poulin. Just because he isn't perfect doesn't make him unreliable.
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I wholeheartedly disagree. I think Wallace is easily the best reliever on the team
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I believe he may have the best potential, can get the fastball up there, but the numbers don't lie. He has a good outing, but then will have a bad outing.
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Outside of a slightly higher ERA than PJ every category favors him. More K’s, less walks, better BAA.
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Nobody is 100% reliable, but Raj has been a home-run machine lately. I feel much less angina with Wallace out on the mound.
I also worry that Gardner and Cate will still be too rusty come Regional play. We're gonna need to score early and often to win post-season games.
With that said, what this team has accomplished given all the injuries is nothing short of amazing.
I also worry that Gardner and Cate will still be too rusty come Regional play. We're gonna need to score early and often to win post-season games.
With that said, what this team has accomplished given all the injuries is nothing short of amazing.