Rotation Madness

That's a bit strong. But something strange is going on here. In an earlier post I laid out what I thought was a pretty logical way for the rotation to unfold this season--a rested Max Perlman Saturday, Brad Unger Saturday afternoon, Shawn Haviland Sunday and Boomer Eadington for as long as you can ride him in the second game.

Not so, says Joe Walsh:

While the Harvard skipper normally sends out freshman Max Perlman and junior Brad Unger on Saturdays, followed by rookie Eric Eadington and junior Shawn Haviland on Sundays, Walsh expects to mix it up this weekend due to the significance of this particular series.

He plans to use Eadington out of the bullpen Saturday and possibly even Sunday and then plug someone else in as a starter alongside Haviland for the second twinbill.

“We’ve got our backs against the wall and we’ve got to win a title,” Walsh said. “We’re going to play every game like it’s our last.”

The most viable candidate as an alternative starter is sophomore Adam Cole, last season’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

So what's this about? My theory is that this has a lot more to do with the pen than Eadington. I think the rough outings by Jake Bruton and Cole lately have eroded Walsh's confidence in the bullpen, and he wants someone like Eadington available as another option.
If this is the reasoning behind this move, and who knows, it's the sort of thing that the commenters will have a field day over. We haven't seen much of Boomer in the pen at all, and none at all in meaningful games. Moreover, it leaves someone like Cole to start what could be a season-deciding game, days after he got shelled by Yale in his first Ivy League start all season. The Adam Cole of 2006 would be a welcome for starter, as would the Cole of recent bullpen outings. But at this point, do you know which Cole you're going to get? Harvard is, of course, saying all the right things:

While Cole was shelled for seven runs in just 2/3 of an inning in his start in Harvard’s 13-0 loss to Yale on Wednesday, he has been near-dominant out of the bullpen, including three shutout relief innings last weekend versus the Bears.

“I really hope he can just clear his mind [of Wednesday’s game],” Haviland said. “Everyone has those bad ones from time to time.”

Walsh expressed confidence in giving Cole another shot at starting. “He’s the kind of kid who can bounce back,” Walsh said. “Would I go back to him? Absolutely.”

What if he doesn't? Whom does he go to other than Cole? Presumably Eadington if he hasn't been used at all (possible against the Dartmouth lineup and with Haviland, Unger and Perlman throwing the first three). And if not? Dan Zailskas? Max Warren?

Stay tuned...

Wet and Cole

Beanpot Thursday... Maybe. Postponed Holy Cross game? Postponed again. Makeup with Yale? Scheduled for Tuesday...

Meanwhile, the Crimson ran an interesting story today about Adam Cole, the onetime ace-in-waiting who simply couldn't throw a strike this season, and his recent positive steps in relief.

With Harvard up, 6-2, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the bases full of Tigers, Walsh took the ball away from sophomore Ryan Watson, and sent Cole to the mound to exorcise his control demons in a situation where control was of the utmost importance.

The move seemed questionable at first, after Cole walked the first batter he faced to bring the score to 6-3. But the second-year fireballer’s next trio of pitches erased any doubt. Power-hitting Princeton catcher Jack Murphy stepped up to the plate, and Cole reared back and retired Murphy on three consecutive strikes to begin his transformation into a closer.

“Things just weren’t the same as last year,” Cole says. “After Coach put me in to get the save I got a lot of confidence back in my head.”

Now, almost two weeks later, Cole has emerged as a force out of the bullpen, and an important piece in a Harvard pitching staff that leads the Ivies with a 3.99 combined ERA.

"Force" might be pushing it at this stage, but the signs are certainly encouraging. I wish they'd asked him a bit about what he felt was at the root of his control problems this year, but I'm glad to hear he's coming around. Not that Harvard's floundered without him.

“You can’t say enough about [Perlman and Eadington],” Cole says. “We had expectations when they came in but I think they’ve surpassed those.”

But with Cole back to form, one might think that he would be clamoring to get his rotation spot back. On the contrary, he seems to relish his new role and the pressure that comes with it, as well as the opportunity to throw his best stuff on every pitch.

“It’s exciting coming in when the game is on the line,” Cole says. “You’ve got to hold that lead. Not having to hold back and being able to pump hard strikes is really a relief to me.”

Just the same, I can't help but think that if we wind up playing four against Brown Saturday and Sunday and two more against Yale on Tuesday, Adam Cole would start one of those Yale games. I don't know who Yale's fifth and sixth starters would be, but I'd happily take that matchup.

Video coming (hopefully)

Harvard beat Barry today and, perhaps notably, Adam Cole only pitched an inning in relief (shaky relief at that, as his struggles finding the strikezone this March continue). I suspect that we may be looking at a Haviland, Perlman, Unger and perhaps Eadington rotation after all. We'll see this weekend, when Harvard plays its first Ivy games at Penn (Saturday) and Columbia (Sunday). I hope to be at the Columbia games, video camera in tow.

Weekend 1: Firsthand Observations

Thanks to everyone who checked in with observations from last weekend's games. We're happy to grant anonymity whenever we can (which is pretty much all the time), and with me no longer being in Cambridge, we're going to depend on SoBB readers as our eyes more than ever.

We've got some comments, first this one on the overall state of the team. Highlights:

Having seen all 4 games, I came away from the weekend feeling very good about this club. Overall, they hit the ball hard throughout. There were many "atem" ball shots that didn't show up in the hit column, but that registered strongly on the field and in the stands. Vance, Rogers, Wilson (when they pitched to him), Stack-Babich, Kramer and Stoeckel were solid throughout. Byrne made a living as a walk machine and along with Douglas, Casey and Prince, also added key hits. The Roth HR was a no brainer at the crack of the bat.

Defensively, Harvard was up and down. Solid in the victories and looking rusty and tired in both losses. I suspect the inconsistency was related to not playing at game speed since last fall. Practice only goes so far. I would say that the middle infield and outfield play was excellent. The speed of Rogers and Vance and the arm displayed by Stack-Babich in right bode well for the upcoming season.

And this on the frosh arms, one of whom was named Ivy Rookie of the Week on Tuesday:

The freshmen shutout of Notre Dame has created an understandable buzz in Florida and Cambridge. With the addition of Perlman and Eadington to a starting rotation that includes last year's Ivy League Pitcher of the year and rookie of the year, Joe W. has a right to be pumped up! ..and don't forget the solid saturday performance turned in by the freshman from Washington, Ian Bolliger.

Another SoBB reader e-mailed with a little more about the freshmen:

Perlman was lights out against ND. Good fastball in the high 80’s. He did not show a pattern. He would thrown either fast, change or curve first pitch with command of all three. He routinely got ahead 0-2 on hitters. Then he tried to nibble a bit but he seems to know how to pitch.
Eadington looked a little wild up n the zone but he was dealing. He had to have been consistently in the 90s with a plus curve. I did not see too many changeups but he got a few hitters on them as a show me pitch. If he develops that along with the other two, he will be a force. He also made a huge play that seemingly went unnoticed when he forced out a ND runner on a bunt situation at third. Two on, none out, ND batter lays down a bunt and he big guy got to the ball and flipped to third for a big out.
Perl and Boomer will almost certainly be weekend guys. Unger and Cole may be battling out for the other spot.

This is interesting. What about Adam Cole, last year's Ivy ROY? We saw those walks in the boxscore...

He was throwing gas early with a good breaking ball but just lost control, command and composure. Duq batters were not even close to hitting him. One infield hit was all they got. Very similar to last year but he either does not seem to know how overpowering he is or simply has command issues with his pitches. He throws so many pitches it is tough to watch.

Seems to me that Cole's start this weekend bears watching as much as anybody's.
Meanwhile, we got an undoubtedly angry Notre Dame team again this weekend. I believe there will be free audio at ND's site, you just have to go through a registration process.