No it is not Florida getting drubbed by Jacksonville last night. Although, we cannot figure out what has happened to Alex Pantaliodis this year. Brian McCann knocking a 2 strike pitch over the wall to tie the Astros with 2 down in the bottom of the ninth and again in extras to give the Braves a 3 run lead? Close, but not quite. Chipper and Jason Heyward returning to the lineup is a big deal, but for the Fighting Gamecock fan it has to be that John Taylor and/or Matt Price not pitching in a ballgame that their team won last night.
Jerry Meyers had some electric staffs throughout his first tenure as pitching coach for the Gamecocks. Most of those teams relied heavily on a handful of relievers that often tired by the close of the season. Don't take this the wrong way. Meyers can develop a pitcher like few others, but he tends to resort to those few arms that he completely trust. Can you blame him with how well Taylor and Price have thrown this season. Coach Calvi took a lot of heat over the last few years for a variety of issues, but he did convince Coach Tanner to use a plethora of arms last year and what did it get them, a National Championship. True, this year Jose Mata is wild, Bryan Harper is wilder, Tyler Webb is inconsistent, Logan Munson can't miss a bat, and Forest Koumas was forced into the starting rotation. Understood, and when they were given opportunities they underperformed. You just wish that some of these midweek games were used to develop reliability so that Taylor and Price were more rested because they both appeared tired last weekend. They will need to be sharp for a repeat title.
