Key to season’s success falls on pitchers arms

By: Chris Towers / Staff Writer
It is, of course, a little bit too early to take anything definitively out of this season.
Twenty games is a very small amount of time in baseball, and there is still a large amount of change or fluctuation possible for this FIU team.
But we are starting to reach a point where this team is forming an identity, and I’m not sure if it’s one that can lead to postseason success for the Golden Panthers.

#Looking back#

At this point last year, FIU was 15-5, just two games better than their mark through 20 this season.
But the way they went about that record through 20 games was a little bit different than this season’s team.
Buoyed by dominant starting pitching from new junior college transfers Scott Rembisz and Tom Ebert, FIU looked like a potential juggernaut. They had stormed through an early conference schedule, going 6-2 against conference opponents.
It wasn’t that there weren’t some chinks in the armor last season.
As we eventually saw, the starting pitchers were overused in the early parts of the season and the bullpen, which was shielded early, was not able to pick up the slack when the starting pitching stalled.
Last weekend, the Golden Panthers took two out of three from conference foe Troy in their conference opener, winning a couple of close games thanks to timely hitting and a bend, don’t break showing from the bullpen, but by Sunday, the pen finally broke, allowing nine runs in three and two thirds innings.
For much of the season, the bullpen has been something of a strong point, relative to last season, and the starting pitching has failed to hold up their end of the bargain.
If last season’s pattern follows, it’s likely that the wheels will come off before long, and FIU may not be able to sustain a deep run in the tournament.

#Looking forward#

The biggest change for FIU from this season to last is the pitching, and it’s been a mixed bag. The bullpen, a real weak point, has mostly improved from last year, but the starting pitching hasn’t been there now.
The bullpen has had to take on a large amount of innings, so much so that against Southern Utah University on March 18, starter Daniel DeSimone threw a 130 pitch complete game to try and save the bullpen for the weekend series.
While they’ve certainly improved upon last season’s showing, the question remains how much of a load can the bullpen carry, and whether they have the depth to pick up the starters as the season wears on.
The key will be for the starters, especially Rembisz, who had his best performance of the season against Troy, and Corey Polizzano, the two seniors, to pick up their game.
While the bullpen may be improved, both in talent and in depth, it may not be enough to make up for the starting pitching’s regression.
The hitting is there to make FIU an elite program, as coach Turtle Thomas has a knack for finding young, talented hitters with mature approaches at the plate, but finding arms to take the next step has been a much tougher task.
Last year, it was the starters who carried the brunt of the load, and now the pressure’s on the bullpen to pick up the slack.
And that may prove to be their undoing.