Phillips deserves his own thread. What a story he's been. I admit, as recently as 3 weeks ago I was thinking he might not get another starting opportunity as a Seahawk. But the coaching staff never gave up on him, and I'm very, very glad he proved me wrong.

Now it seems he could very well be the fulcrum on which our Super Regional hopes rest. Knowing this, how do you think we use him? Do we start him against Tulane, or roll with Ryan Foster, with hopes that we can save his high upside for LSU?

Yes, I get that you have to look only at the opponent in front of you, but you also have to map out an overall tournament plan. LSU will likely be avoiding using one of their top guys against Lehigh for the same reason and saving their Friday guy for the Tulane/UNCW winner, after all.

I would have to think we throw Foster against Tulane and trust that our offense can over power them. Save Phillips for LSU.

A note about Tulane: In their first game of the AAC Tournament against UCONN, they used Patrick Duester. I.E. the same guy they used against us in the midweek game at Brooks Field, March 31. Against us he went 5.2 innings, gave up 3 runs on 8 hits, struck out 8 and walked 3. Decent start but not unhittable. They have a different guy who had been their Friday starter consistently. He pitched the 2nd game of the tournament and lost 3-1.

That sounds like a win-win to me. Either they use Duester, who we're familiar with, or go with a guy they maybe have a little less confidence in.

Not to mention, all of their 4 primary starting pitchers are righties. We won't have to adjust our starting lineup to a lefty for Tulane whatsoever, however many times we face them in this Regional. It'll be nice being able to hit Shields at the # 2 spot rather than 8th (where he bats against lefties). Having 4 lefties in the top 5 or 6 of the lineup (Linkous, Shields, Dick, Stupiensky) is awesome.

Our game against Tulane will have the LSU crowd on our side. They hate Tulane and they loved us when we knocked Tulane out of the regional the last time we were down there. We were the first opponent to be invited to make the trot around the stadium after they beat us in the championship game.

Scalf says Foster Friday & go from there.

Read: Phillips LSU, Monroe Lehigh?

Evan definitely set the table for us to win the CAA tourney.

What a performance from Phillips once again tonight. 6 innings, 1 ER on 8 hits, 3 K's and no walks against the # 3 offense (.321 team batting average) in the country. If this was his last start of the season (hope we can give him another opportunity by reaching the Super Regionals!), I'm looking forward to how he'll progress entering his Senior Season.

(05-31-2015 01:16 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  What a performance from Phillips once again tonight. 6 innings, 1 ER on 8 hits, 3 K's and no walks against the # 3 offense (.321 team batting average) in the country. If this was his last start of the season (hope we can give him another opportunity by reaching the Super Regionals!), I'm looking forward to how he'll progress entering his Senior Season.

I would imagine we'll be seeing him go to the pros.

(05-31-2015 01:23 AM)CoastGuardHawk06 Wrote:  I would imagine we'll be seeing him go to the pros.

I don't see that happening. He's not a mid-upper 90s thrower like Ramsey or Gesell. He won't have any leverage in negotiations as a Junior like those 2 will have. Plus a lot of scouting happens early or over the course of a season. Phillips can't suddenly enter MLB teams' decisions after 3 quality starts to end the season, even after a high profile start like tonight and even after he got drafted out of HS. Scouting doesn't tend to work like that from what little I know. The draft starts on June 8th so that's a very small window with which to make an evaluation.

Maybe some team would take a flier on him in the later rounds, but he can improve his draft stock greatly next year. He needs more seasoning and a full season of scouts looking at him.

Well, if he stays... I'm definitely excited to see what happens with him next year!

I hope he stays. But, he was already being considered by scouts because of his arm. It's my understanding that he dies throw in the nineties enough that somebody may think they can work with him.

Just met Evan's mom today at our community pool. A lady had a UNCW shirt on with the old logo. I told her that I liked that logo and she told me that her son was the starting pitcher last night against LSU. Wow,what a small world! She was very nice and I told her that her son really did a good job.

(05-31-2015 03:05 PM)billthebighawksfan Wrote:  Just met Evan's mom today at our community pool. A lady had a UNCW shirt on with the old logo. I told her that I liked that logo and she told me that her son was the starting pitcher last night against LSU. Wow,what a small world! She was very nice and I told her that her son really did a good job.

That's awesome. Can you squeeze her for some info on Evan's future if you come across her again?

The bigger question is why was she in Raleigh and not there watching her son pitch?