I don't like it, but I give David Pierce tremendous leeway because he almost always makes the right decision, and obviously I have not watched Simms' practice sessions.
My concern is that Simms has never been good anywhere he's been. He had a 22.40 ERA while barely pitching for Rice (2 innings) in 2012. He had a 5.40 ERA at Weatherford College covering 11 appearances and nine starts for 43.1 innings in 2013. He had a 7.56 ERA in 8.1 innings in 2014 for West Virginia. He has walked 45 batters in 68.1 innings while hitting another 27 in his college career. Those are concerning numbers.
His stuff is electric, but Tulane may be the team that gets burned if he goes out wild and gives up four runs in the first inning while searching for control. Obviously there will be a quick hook, but it's a lopsided pitching matchup on paper with UCF throwing the AAC's ERA leader.
I do prefer using Simms at the start of an inning because his wild pitches don't count until someone is on base, but Patrick Duester and Dan Rankin appear to be safer choices.
Simms pitched a perfect inning in relief when Tulane faced UCF in Orlando, and maybe Pierce saw something there.
The good news is Tulane put up four runs against Robby Howell in Orlando, all earned. He did not give up more than two earned runs in any other AAC game, and his high in non-conference games was three. Maybe Tulane can win 4-3 behind Simms, Duester, Rankin, Yandel and Bjorngjeld. Merrill could be available in short relief, too. He threw nearly 80 pitches in his stint on Friday, and Pierce is still careful not to over-extend him after his arm soreness earlier in the year.
If Tulane gets by UCF, I give the Wave an 80 percent chance of reaching the championship game. Emerson Gibbs has been lights out and would be facing Houston or Cincy's No. 2 pitcher on Thursday. Pierce would have his choice of starters on Saturday morning against whatever team emerged from the losers' bracket, and he would not run out of quality starters through the championship game.
But it all hinges on the performance tomorrow. If the Wave loses, it has to come back on Wednesday night with Gibbs on two days' shorter rest than he is accustomed. A win there would give the Wave Thursday off, but it would need to win Friday morning, twice Saturday and again Sunday to take the championship.
My concern is that Simms has never been good anywhere he's been. He had a 22.40 ERA while barely pitching for Rice (2 innings) in 2012. He had a 5.40 ERA at Weatherford College covering 11 appearances and nine starts for 43.1 innings in 2013. He had a 7.56 ERA in 8.1 innings in 2014 for West Virginia. He has walked 45 batters in 68.1 innings while hitting another 27 in his college career. Those are concerning numbers.
His stuff is electric, but Tulane may be the team that gets burned if he goes out wild and gives up four runs in the first inning while searching for control. Obviously there will be a quick hook, but it's a lopsided pitching matchup on paper with UCF throwing the AAC's ERA leader.
I do prefer using Simms at the start of an inning because his wild pitches don't count until someone is on base, but Patrick Duester and Dan Rankin appear to be safer choices.
Simms pitched a perfect inning in relief when Tulane faced UCF in Orlando, and maybe Pierce saw something there.
The good news is Tulane put up four runs against Robby Howell in Orlando, all earned. He did not give up more than two earned runs in any other AAC game, and his high in non-conference games was three. Maybe Tulane can win 4-3 behind Simms, Duester, Rankin, Yandel and Bjorngjeld. Merrill could be available in short relief, too. He threw nearly 80 pitches in his stint on Friday, and Pierce is still careful not to over-extend him after his arm soreness earlier in the year.
If Tulane gets by UCF, I give the Wave an 80 percent chance of reaching the championship game. Emerson Gibbs has been lights out and would be facing Houston or Cincy's No. 2 pitcher on Thursday. Pierce would have his choice of starters on Saturday morning against whatever team emerged from the losers' bracket, and he would not run out of quality starters through the championship game.
But it all hinges on the performance tomorrow. If the Wave loses, it has to come back on Wednesday night with Gibbs on two days' shorter rest than he is accustomed. A win there would give the Wave Thursday off, but it would need to win Friday morning, twice Saturday and again Sunday to take the championship.
