Thursday, March 29, 2007

Changes ahead

Interesting shakeup on the Auburn baseball team’s pitching staff…Sophomore Bryan Woodall goes from the Friday night starter’s spot to the bullpen. Taylor Thompson, AU’s usual midweek starter, is the Sunday starter. And Paul Burnside and Evan Crawford move up in the rotation: Burnside goes from Saturday to Friday and Crawford goes from Sunday to Saturday.

That’s a lot of change. But a lot of change is exactly what AU’s pitching needed. Anyone who watched Auburn get swept in three games by Florida knows the Tigers’ pitching staff was in serious disarray. I like Tom Slater’s rationale for the move…I’ve always been a sucker for a convincing argument.

Basically, Slater was saying that Woodall—who’s been Auburn’s most consistent starter despite some struggles in SEC play—is good for 4-5 strong innings every start (Though that’s not exactly great for a No. 1 SEC starter.)

So Slater’s argument is this: Why not spread those 4-5 innings out in a series? Coaches say Woodall’s got a rubber arm: He always feels good after he pitches and he can pitch twice on a weekend if it’s in limited innings. Out of the bullpen, he can pitch in big spots: When AU is trying to protect a lead in the 6th, 7th or 8th innings, for example. And he can

As an argument, it’s great. As baseball? Well, we’ll see.

But remember, Slater used a similar philosophy in 2005, when AU snuck into the NCAA Tournament. That year, John Madden and Michael Nix were Auburn’s most consistent pitchers, and Slater pitched them every chance he got. Those two made a much bigger impact than any of Auburn’s starters. I’m not saying this move will pay off like that, but it’s certainly worth a try, because the original plan clearly wasn’t paying off.

In other news, Slater is clearly sick of hearing about his team’s so-called “16-game losing streak” in SEC play. I’m not wild about the phrasing either…last year’s 10-game losing streak is obviously separate from this year’s 6-game slide. But the fact is, AU has lost its last 16 SEC games.

Of course, Slates doesn’t see it that way. During Thursday’s weekly press conference, he was asked if he was going to do anything to change things “because of the 16-game losing streak.“

His reponse made it pretty clear he’d like that phrase to go away:

“I’m tired of talking about last year. Last year’s team stunk. That was last year. It’s got nothing to do with this year. Hopefully that answers your question.“

I mention this because I’ve never heard a coach actually use the phrase “last year’s team stunk” on the record with reporters. It was pretty cool.

Of course, it begs the question: With two starting pitchers, three key relievers and six regular position players back from last year’s team, what does that say about this year’s group?

I guess we’ll find out as the season continues.