Previewing the CWS

Here's a [really] good Cal-based preview from SB*NATION's California blog: College World Series Preview: Looking At Virginia, South Carolina And Texas A&M

And a CWS preview from Perfect Game's college baseball guru Kendall Rogers: Serious Star Power in Omaha


One of the big points of discussion amongst the UVA baseball fanatics is what Brian O'Connor will do with the starting rotation in Omaha.  With games on Sunday and Tuesday, and then potentially Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, who will he start and when?  With staff ace Danny Hultzen, senior battler Tyler Wilson, red-hot Will Roberts, and long reliever / spot starter Cody Winiarski at his disposal, he has a lot of options.  In trying to crack the code, I took a look back at the ten previous games we've played this postseason...

In the ACC Tournament

• Wilson started on Wednesday, against wholly overmatched Wake Forest
• Roberts started the clutch-cargo game against Miami on Friday
• Winiarski started the meaningless (yet hard-fought) game against UNC on Saturday
• Hultzen started the championship game against FSU on Sunday

In the Regional

• Roberts started game 1 against Navy on Friday
• Hultzen started the crucial winner's bracket game against St. John's on Saturday
• Wilson started the clincher against ECU on Sunday (Winiarski pitched an inning of relief in the blowout)

In the Super Regional against UC Irvine

• Hultzen started game 1 on Saturday (Winiarski pitched 3.2 innings of relief)
• Wilson started game 2 on Sunday
• Roberts started the decisive game 3 on Monday

A few thoughts generated by this look back at these ten games:
-- Brian O'Connor is a frickin' genius.  Think Cal knows who we'll start?  We used three different pitchers in the three first games of each postseason session.
-- Conventional wisdom says we should pitch Hultzen on Sunday in Omaha, so he'll potentially be able to go again should we make it to Friday or Saturday.
-- Conventional wisdom also says that with Cal being the weakest team in the entire CWS field, we might be able to get by with Wilson or Roberts in the first game, saving Hultzen for the winner's bracket game (should we beat Cal) or the elimination game (should we lose to Cal) on Tuesday.
-- Is BOC ballsy/bold enough to start Winiarski in that first game on Sunday, saving our three top starters for the rest of the week?
-- If we make it through this four-team "regional" and advance to the championship series, those games would be played on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the following week.  (See the bracket and schedule HERE.)  Whomever pitches Sunday or Tuesday in the first week, they'd be good to go for any of those three games in the championship series.  The Thursday starter would be ready to go for game 3 of the championship series.  The Friday or Saturday starter would most likely be spent for the championship series.  That's worth considering, especially if you're thinking we should start Hultzen against Cal on Sunday.  We'd definitely want him to pitch in that championship series.  Obviously.

With all of that being said, here is my guess at the starting rotation we'll see in Omaha:

• Tyler Wilson starts Sunday against Cal.  He's an experienced senior, but he's been the most shaky of our three stud starters.  This gives him a lower quality opponent to rebuild some momentum and makes him available to pitch in a key elimination game later in the week, OR in one of the games in the championship series.
• Danny Hultzen starts on Tuesday, win or lose against Cal.  Burn his arm in that crucial game, then hope you make it into the next week so he can pitch again with the national championship on the line.
• Will Roberts starts on Thursday if we play then, or on Friday.  It's either the last game of the "regional" or an elimination game.  Good season, Will.  Maybe we'll make it to the following Wednesday, when you can start again, this time for all the marbles.
• If we have to play our way up through the loser's bracket, Cody Winiarski starts on Friday.  Yikes.
• Tyler Wilson starts on Saturday, if needed.
• If he's not needed to start that Friday, Cody Winiarski is exclusively our clutch middle reliever for the CWS, and emergency spot starter in the championship series.

And finally, after exhaustive research, here are my picks for all of the games in Omaha:

• Vandy over UNC
• Florida over Texas
• Virginia over Cal
• South Carolina over Texas A&M
• Vandy over Florida
• UNC over Texas (eliminated)
• Virginia over South Carolina
• Texas A&M over Cal (eliminated)
• Florida over UNC (eliminated)
• South Carolina over Texas A&M (eliminated)
• Florida over Vandy
• South Carolina over Virginia
• Vandy over Florida (eliminated)
• Virginia over South Carolina (eliminated)
• Virginia over Vandy (Hultzen starts)
• Vandy over Virginia (Wilson starts)
• Virginia over Vandy (Roberts starts)

I'm a homer.

GO HOOS!