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Monday, May 12, 2008
Tech’s Deck runs for Dog-catcher
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Freshman Deck McGuire has had one heck of an introduction to the Peach State’s biggest rivalry.
On April 9, he struck out seven and allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings to beat Georgia 9-4. Last Wednesday, he was even better, striking out nine, walking none and allowing four hits and one run in 7 innings of an 11-1 victory at Georgia.
He is the first Tech pitcher to beat Georgia twice in a season since reliever Matt Saier did it in 1995. He is the first Tech starting pitcher to beat Georgia twice in the same season since Brent Colson in 1992.
Has any Yellow Jackets pitcher beaten the Bulldogs three times in a season? When last we asked, Tech was still checking. It’s not likely. Nobody would have had an opportunity since 1971.
McGuire hasn’t just been good against Georgia. He has been good against everybody. He’s 8-0. If he looks good again against Georgia, the SEC champion, don’t be surprised if Danny Hall moves him to one of the top spots in the rotation for the postseason. If I were Hall, I’d consider pitching him in one of the first two games of the ACC tournament.
When I asked Hall about shaking up the rotation, he said only, “He’s going to have to pitch a game in the ACC tournament if we’re going to win it.” That, of course, would be true wherever McGuire fit into the top four spots. The way the ACC tournament works, there are two, three-game round-robin brackets with the winners of each bracket playing for the championship. That’s four games for the two bracket winners.
If you save McGuire for the fourth game, and he doesn’t get to pitch, have you wasted one of your top pitchers? OTOH, if you save him for the fourth game and he does get to pitch, does the advantage that might give you in the championship game outweigh the risk of waiting?
Here’s one reason to move him into the round-robin portion of the tournament: If you don’t get him a start, he will sit more than two weeks between Tuesday night’s start and the NCAA regionals. You have to give him a turn to avoid that long layoff.
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