For the first time this season, Tennessee baseball is readying to play a weekend series that begins on Thursday night and runs through Saturday instead of the traditional Friday through Sunday series.
For the first time in his head coaching career, Josh Elander is deciding how to manage his starting pitching staff with one less day of rest than usual. This weekend, there’s one more external factor that Tennessee is monitoring as they assess the situation.
*Tennessee announced that it would use its normal rotation with Landon Mack in game one, Tegan Kuhns in game two and Evan Blanco and game three.
“Really, the main thing we’re looking at right now is how the weather is going to play out?” Elander said. “So that’ll be, before we make any decisions, right there, it’ll probably be more of a day-to-day deal this week. But I know (Evan) Blanco is in a good spot, threw about 110 (pitches) last weekend — he feels good. Tegan (Kuhns) feels great and (Landon) Mack should be more than fresh, ready to rock and roll.”
At the time of publication, weather should not impact Thursday night’s opener or the Friday game. But there’s rain in the forecast all day Saturday including thunderstorms in the afternoon. The Weather Channel projects a 70% chance of rain. First pitch is schedule for 1 p.m. ET.
While Elander feels good about where his pitching staff is coming out of last weekend, that could change if Tennessee plays a doubleheader against Alabama on Friday.
Landon Mack threw 104 pitches in a poor outing against Ole Miss last Friday. Tegan Kuhns through 96 pitches on Saturday while Evan Blanco threw a career-high 110 pitches on Sunday.
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“Really, if you think of like in pro ball, they’re on that five-day stretch, right?” Elander said. “I think with having (strength coach) Keegan (Knoll) that’s been in the major leagues and goes through that process, and he’s done it for the five or six years he’s been in professional baseball or the major leagues, it’s easy for them to go to him and say, ‘hey, what adjustments did this starter make? Or this guy for the Brewers? Or this guy for the Cubs?’
“So I know Blanco was actually doing a little bit more today, kind of amping it up, getting ready for the week, hit that reset button a little bit quicker. But, you know, we got great people in the building that’ll get them right. That one day is really not too big of a deal.”
The one day may not be a very big deal but two days could be difficult for Blanco to shoulder his normal allotment of work. But it becomes difficult to manage the Thursday night opener without knowing when game three will be played.
If Tennessee does not start Blanco in game three they could instead elect to start left-handed reliever Brandon Arvidson or maybe even left-handed reliever Cam Appenzeller.
However, Blanco has been one of Tennessee’s best starters all season and particularly in SEC play where he’s posted a 4.33 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 35.1 innings pitched. If he’s limited, it would be a blow to a Volunteer pitching staff that has had lackluster depth.
First pitch for the weekend series is at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night with ESPN2 broadcasting the game. First pitch for Friday night’s game is at 6:30 p.m. ET and Saturday’s series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
