Gaffin with a fracture

#4
#4
Huge lose... We now are down to just two pitchers unless Bush can give us a few good innings.... Gaffin will be done for the season.... I hate it for her and the team.
 
#5
#5
dusbelli said:
Huge lose... We now are down to just two pitchers unless Bush can give us a few good innings.... Gaffin will be done for the season.... I hate it for her and the team.
Click to expand...

I really don't think we will use Bush unless we're forced to in some way. She's shown that she's just not ready yet. It will be Gabriel & Moss pitching back & forth for the most part. Do we have any other players on the active roster than can actually pitch other than Bush?

If Gabriel & Moss pitch well those 2 should be able to handle the load. Even all the way to the CWS if we can make it there. That's what I think anyhow.
 
#6
#6
tonybologna said:
I really don't think we will use Bush unless we're forced to in some way. She's shown that she's just not ready yet. It will be Gabriel & Moss pitching back & forth for the most part. Do we have any other players on the active roster than can actually pitch other than Bush?

If Gabriel & Moss pitch well those 2 should be able to handle the load. Even all the way to the CWS if we can make it there. That's what I think anyhow.
Click to expand...

I agree...but didn't someone say that Moss was hitting the Freshman wall down the stretch? Maybe we could get Bush some work in the regional if we have a good lead.
 
#10
#10
I believe CJ is gonna realize how much she is needed the rest of the way and that she will do some great things to come.
 
#11
#11
BIG loss for us. I absolutely hate it for Rainey. She's a very talented player and one of the emotional (senior) leaders on the team. Last year in the WCWS, Rainey was one player who talked openly about winning the national championship too. What a loss. (To see South Carolina head coach Beverly Smith initially protest the legitimacy of the accident/umpire's call when it happened, I almost feel like she owes TN an apology..At least well wishes). The team must be feeling pretty deflated and depressed. But the coaches have to rally the troops and the players must play with more urgency and purpose now.

This team still has plenty of top-flight talent to get to the WCWS, but it needs a favorable seeding for that to happen. With Rainey done for the season (she's not coming back from this horrific injury. Her career at TN is finished), I'm not so sure the selection committee will award Tennessee a good seeding UNLESS TN wins the SECT this weekend and proves that "yes, we can still play good softball even w/o Rainey and be successful."

Next man up; who's gonna step up now and fill the void? Bria Bush (pitching)? Gretchen Aucoin (pitching)? CJ McClain (hitting)? The thing is that all three have shown throughout the year that they are amply incapable of attaining any degree of sustained excellence or consistency. I'm afraid that this team will bow out of the NCAA in the super regional wherever that may be...sucks...
 
#15
#15
For any single game, the team can make up for Gaffin's absence. The bats are good enough, Moss or Gabriel can pitch good enough for one game, and CJ is a very good fielder, so one game won't hurt.

But 3 or 4 games in a row will be difficult - the team really will miss her in the circle. Moss has self-professed to being worn down and Gabriel is vulnerable to giving up early inning runs.

The circle is where she will be missed.
 
#16
#16
Rainey's stats:

1. Hitting
.380 AVG (5 HR, 20 Runs, 38 RBI), .503 On Base Percentage, .628 SLG%

2. Pitching
9W-3L, 5 Saves, 2.32 ERA (90.1 Innings Pitched), 36 BB, 98 K, .213 BAA

3. Fielding
.949%

Usual Suspects to replace Gaffin:

1. Bria Bush
1W-1L, 3.82 ERA (14.2 Innings Pitched), 14BB, 9K, .241 BAA

2. Gretchen Aucoin
0W-0L, 10.50 ERA (2 Innings Pitched), 1BB, 2K, .500 BAA

3. CJ McClain
.237 AVG (0 HR, 2 RBI), .289 SLG%, .310 OBP

4. Abby Lockman
.172 AVG (2 HR, 13 RBI), 310 SLG%, .347 OBP

If Bria Bush can regain her control somehow and clean up/minimize base on balls, she may be serviceable in a short relief role. Will she??

It's hard to say what Gretchen Aucoin may be able to do since she only pitched 2 (wild) innings this year. But judging by what she did last year, not very promising.

I wouldn't count too much on either CJ McClain or Abby Lockman to provide any significant (needed) offensive spark/production. Neither is capable of matching what Rainey can do at the plate although Lockman has hit the ball hard a few times of late. Logan Lilley is an unproven commodity at best. I wouldn't want the bat to be in McClain's, Lockman's or Logyn Lilley's hands when the game is on the line for sure...
 
Last edited:
#17
#17
As long as it's possible to get a glove on her left hand, is it inconceivable that Gaffin couldn't pitch a few innings? There's nothing wrong with her right hand. Her bat will surely be missed, but she is pure inspiration when she is on the mound.
 
#18
#18
IBlvNTmWrk said:
As long as it's possible to get a glove on her left hand, is it inconceivable that Gaffin couldn't pitch a few innings? There's nothing wrong with her right hand. Her bat will surely be missed, but she is pure inspiration when she is on the mound.
Click to expand...

Agree but that would probably only happen in the regionals or in World Series if make it that far.
 
#19
#19
IBlvNTmWrk said:
As long as it's possible to get a glove on her left hand, is it inconceivable that Gaffin couldn't pitch a few innings? There's nothing wrong with her right hand. Her bat will surely be missed, but she is pure inspiration when she is on the mound.
Click to expand...

I wondered the same thing. The injury is to the outside of the left wrist. I suppose it's possible a soft cast could be put on it and she could still wear a glove. It depends on how bad the break is and what the medical people say. If she has to catch a hard line shot with that hand...it could be painful and cause further injury.
 
#20
#20
2Alum4EverVol said:
BIG loss for us. I absolutely hate it for Rainey. She's a very talented player and one of the emotional (senior) leaders on the team. Last year in the WCWS, Rainey was one player who talked openly about winning the national championship too. What a loss. (To see South Carolina head coach Beverly Smith initially protest the legitimacy of the accident/umpire's call when it happened, I almost feel like she owes TN an apology..At least well wishes). The team must be feeling pretty deflated and depressed. But the coaches have to rally the troops and the players must play with more urgency and purpose now.

This team still has plenty of top-flight talent to get to the WCWS, but it needs a favorable seeding for that to happen. With Rainey done for the season (she's not coming back from this horrific injury. Her career at TN is finished), I'm not so sure the selection committee will award Tennessee a good seeding UNLESS TN wins the SECT this weekend and proves that "yes, we can still play good softball even w/o Rainey and be successful."

Next man up; who's gonna step up now and fill the void? Bria Bush (pitching)? Gretchen Aucoin (pitching)? CJ McClain (hitting)? The thing is that all three have shown throughout the year that they are amply incapable of attaining any degree of sustained excellence or consistency. I'm afraid that this team will bow out of the NCAA in the super regional wherever that may be...sucks...
Click to expand...

Have some faith man!!! This team is talented! Rainey will still be around and will become a vocal leader for this team! She probably still has the ability to pinch run but her voice will help carry this team back to the WCWS this team has a new drive and will play for Rainey
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#21
#21
LVJeff said:
I wondered the same thing. The injury is to the outside of the left wrist. I suppose it's possible a soft cast could be put on it and she could still wear a glove. It depends on how bad the break is and what the medical people say. If she has to catch a hard line shot with that hand...it could be painful and cause further injury.
Click to expand...

I had a similar thought, thinking since it's her left hand maybe they can figure something out. But, in softball, a lot of pitchers use their glove hand in their pitching motion, it plays an important role with balance and power. I found a clip of Rainey pitching and her glove hand is very active, hitting into her left hip/thigh area. With a fracture I doubt she could do that without changing mechanics. Not something that you can easily change in a week or two.

Watch starting around the 55 second mark to see what I'm talking about.

The Start (And Finish) Of Something Great For The Tennessee Lady Vols
 
#23
#23
Admittedly, I know nothing about Bush's readiness--but she did pitch some very early in the year and I didn't understand why the Weeklys didn't give her some starts or innings when we played some easy, mid-year non-conference opponents. (And I raised that point at the time.) I think the coaches were asked that question after they elected to start Gaffin, as I recall, against Tennessee Tech, and the response was, essentially, 'every win is important.' Maybe--but so is getting some players some valuable experience--for situations like this AND for next year. (And we won nearly all of our non-conference games by run rule--they were almost never close.) Let's remember that we will have only one pitcher with experience going into next year--Moss--and she only a second year player. That simply is not ideal, and yet the coaches wouldn't pitch Bush.

Now we've got a problem. Moss has been solid but remains a freshman, and she said after the Ole Miss series that she was tired. It might be mental fatigue as much as physical. Gabriel, meanwhile, rarely seems to pitch more than 4/5 innings. I'd be curious to know how many times this year she went 7 innings. Not many, I think. Whether that was her not having the stamina to pitch well for multiple innings or the Weeklys pitch-by-committee philosophy, I don't know. Both, probably. Aucoin, of course, pitched last year--but she had problems, was basically dropped from the rotation and hasn't pitched at all this year--not in games, anyway.

Yesterday, the commentators were talking about the Mississippi pitching coach, who pitched for Arizona, yes--and beat us (and Abbott) for the national title in, when, 2007? I think they said she pitched every inning of Arizona's last 8 games (or maybe it was 7 of 8) and 5 of them were elimination games. They don't make 'em like that anymore! The game has swung from being dominated by pitching to being (mostly) dominated by hitting in only 10 years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#24
#24
Good stats, 2Alum: I stand corrected on Aucoin. I didn't think she'd pitched at all this year--but in fact 2 full innings!! And not a very effective two innings! Oh, my. The coaches will have to get either her or Bush read, as we may need to get some innings out of one (or both!). Yikes.

RE Gaffin: She could conceivably pitch if it is not a serious fracture and she gets a soft cast on her hand and can still get her hand in her glove, which might be tough. Problem is, as someone pointed out above, she might be so cognizant of her injured hand that it could affect her throwing mechanics, and that would be a problem. There was a linebacker for the Carolina Panthers who fractured his arm in the team's first playoff game late last year--and two weeks later (I think two, might have been three MAX) he started in the Super Bowl, with the bone still not fully healed. And I believe he played the full game and had no major issues with it. I'm still not sure how he was able to play, but he did. So while she's likely done, maybe we'll get a pleasant surprise. We'll miss her bat, for sure--somebody will have to step up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top