(06-10-2016 04:36 PM)mrbig Wrote: (06-10-2016 03:19 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote: How can anyone justifiably argue that Jon was overused at Rice? Seriously. There is absolutely nothing to base such a claim on. Nada.
Being used on short rest once in the CUSA tournament is all I can think of. Other than that, he was handled extremely responsibly his whole time at Rice. And that instance was kind of a last resort, as Rice was playing its 5th game in 5 days, with 1 of the previous games going into extra innings and in 3 other games, the pitching staff gave up a combined 34 runs (all to LaTech), meaning everyone had been used at that point.
Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger -- excerpts from today's Chronicle:
Hard work to pay off
In Santa Barbara, under Aspegren's direction, Duplantier experimented with different recovery methods after games. He tried different days of the week to long-toss to exercise his arm. He tested out circuits of dumbbell exercises and stretching. He didn't ice his shoulder after starts.
"If you want something bad enough, you'll do what it takes to get it," Duplantier said.
John Manuel, editor of Baseball America, said that playing under longtime Owls coach Wayne Graham likely would hurt Duplantier's draft stock. He said Rice has a history of producing pitchers who develop arm injuries, either in college or during their professional careers.
"Every school has a hickey," Manuel said. "But Rice is one of the most prominent."
Duplantier pitched on short rest in the Conference USA tournament two weekends ago, but he said coaches approached him the day before his second appearance of the tournament to ask if he felt OK to pitch. He wasn't sure at first - he had faced 25 batters in 41⁄3 innings in the Owls' first game of the tourney - but he eventually said yes, throwing 42⁄3 innings in the 3-2 title-game loss to Southern Miss.
"I feel good," Duplantier said. "I want everyone to know I feel good."