{"id":52983,"date":"2024-05-23T15:37:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T20:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=52983"},"modified":"2024-05-23T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T20:37:36","slug":"kirk-saarloos-explains-tcu-pitching-plan-for-rest-of-big-12-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/kirk-saarloos-explains-tcu-pitching-plan-for-rest-of-big-12-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Saarloos explains TCU pitching plan for rest of Big 12 Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

TCU Horned Frogs<\/a><\/strong> head coach Kirk Saarloos<\/strong> is currently trying to balance using his pitchers in the Big 12 Tournament with the upcoming NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

The problem for Saarloos is that, as his team plays an elimination game against Kansas State<\/a><\/strong>, it\u2019s unclear how long TCU is going to go in the Big 12 Tournament. On top of that, a trip to the NCAA Tournament isn\u2019t guaranteed. With all that in mind, he explained the team\u2019s pitching plan moving forward in the conference tournament. <\/p>\n

Try Fubo for FREE today and don\u2019t miss any of the action!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you don\u2019t want to ever leave bullets down in your bullpen where you\u2019re worried about game four or five,\u201d Kirk Saarloos said. \u201cWe\u2019ve kind of been in this mode, to be honest with you, because we haven\u2019t had a second starter take hold of that this year or this back half of the season. So, we\u2019ve kind of played that game pretty much the last two or three weeks of the season where everybody is available Friday night and we\u2019ll figure out who we didn\u2019t use and we\u2019ll use them on Saturday. Then we\u2019ll figure out who bounces back and who we can use again on Sunday.\u201d <\/p>\n

For the game against Kansas State, Kirk Saarloos turned to Ben Abeldt, who has been a good reliever this season for TCU but hasn\u2019t been a starting pitcher. That\u2019s part of him mixing and matching options while also trying to make sure to not leave any good arms on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, in this tournament, it\u2019s kind of gonna be the same. We\u2019ve had about six or seven different guys start games but this is Ben Abeldt\u2019s first start of the year. He started a little bit last year and so really at this time of year there\u2019s no rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirk Saarloos on balancing Payton Tolle as a two-way player<\/h2>\n

This season, Payton Tolle<\/strong> has been TCU\u2019s best pitcher. However, he was also supposed to be a power hitter in the middle of the order.<\/p>\n

Toward the middle of the season, Kirk Saarloos removed Payton Tolle from the lineup to help him focus on pitching. Now, in the Big 12 Tournament, he\u2019s back in the lineup, which is something that Saarloos knows he needs to balance. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we decided in the middle part of the season when he really took off was when he stopped hitting and stopped DHing and focused on pitching. So, I think part of that was really good. Part of that was we lost a guy that was our three-hole hitter at the beginning of the year that we were planning on being a big piece,\u201d Saarloos said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, with this tournament what I told him yesterday was you\u2019re not gonna pitch again this week. We\u2019re gonna get you ready for next week so you can go hit. He\u2019ll strikeout just like most guys who have some juice but hopefully when he gets one it\u2019ll be up in the seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Kirk Saarloos explains TCU pitching plan for rest of Big 12 Tournament<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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