It seems every year depth at pitching is an issue, whether its relief, closers, or starters. Sure every program would like to have a roster of 1st rounders, but how big of a worry is it for a double elimination weekend?
The biggest worry is that if either one of your friday/Saturday pitchers have a bad game, then you will have to rely on your Tuesday/Wednesday guys to get you to that regional game 7 Monday night. At which point depth on the mound is make-or-break for your entire season.
Sure. A host would like to sweep the winners bracket and only play 3 games. But all the times we made it to a regional in the RC-era, I can only think of twice where we fully dominated a regional. 16 and 17, and in 17 the very situation I'm referring to happened to the 1 seed Houston. They lost game 1 and had to fight their way through the losers bracket.
The biggest worry is that if either one of your friday/Saturday pitchers have a bad game, then you will have to rely on your Tuesday/Wednesday guys to get you to that regional game 7 Monday night. At which point depth on the mound is make-or-break for your entire season.
Sure. A host would like to sweep the winners bracket and only play 3 games. But all the times we made it to a regional in the RC-era, I can only think of twice where we fully dominated a regional. 16 and 17, and in 17 the very situation I'm referring to happened to the 1 seed Houston. They lost game 1 and had to fight their way through the losers bracket.