Kaladin said:

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Oh boy. Well.. hope he can bounce back

TampaBaySkers said:

Oh boy. Well.. hope he can bounce back

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It really seems like when they wanted him to focus on either pitching or the field, they picked the wrong choice.

Goskers07 said:

It really seems like when they wanted him to focus on either pitching or the field, they picked the wrong choice.

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Seriously!? Nobody expected him to be the Friday guy. He was slated for Saturday or Sunday, hence why he pitched those days before Mac got hurt. Perfect dude for Sunday, or even midweek but not a Friday guy.

WW didn't have a path to seeing the offensive lineup in 2025.

Goskers07 said:

It really seems like when they wanted him to focus on either pitching or the field, they picked the wrong choice.

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Idk. I’m a bigger fan of Walsh than most on the mound because I think he’s shown the ability to use what he’s got and get outs. Like @PonyBoy said, in his intended role this year on the mound he’d have been perfect.

What we didn’t and weren’t able to project is Mac getting hurt and Horn not being ready.

He’s not a guy to out duel some of the top end guys. But he’s certainly a good 3rd starter, IMO.

I don’t know who he’s beating out for a spot this year on offense.

PonyBoy said:

Seriously!? Nobody expected him to be the Friday guy. He was slated for Saturday or Sunday, hence why he pitched those days before Mac got hurt. Perfect dude for Sunday, or even midweek but not a Friday guy.

WW didn't have a path to seeing the offensive lineup in 2025.

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...TrueColors... said:

Idk. I’m a bigger fan of Walsh than most on the mound because I think he’s shown the ability to use what he’s got and get outs. Like @PonyBoy said, in his intended role this year on the mound he’d have been perfect.

What we didn’t and weren’t able to project is Mac getting hurt and Horn not being ready.

He’s not a guy to out duel some of the top end guys. But he’s certainly a good 3rd starter, IMO.

I don’t know who he’s beating out for a spot this year on offense.

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I know he's in a difficult spot as he wasn't expecting to be the lead man. But he was going to be a starter nonetheless and just hasn't seemed to show the consistency you'd want from a starter (really none of our starters have though).

Offensively, it just seemed like he could get hot quickly. I think he's a good enough athlete he had as much of a chance at getting a spot as anyone, especially with how much shuffling we did earlier this year.

Goskers07 said:

I know he's in a difficult spot as he wasn't expecting to be the lead man. But he was going to be a starter nonetheless and just hasn't seemed to show the consistency you'd want from a starter (really none of our starters have though).

Offensively, it just seemed like he could get hot quickly. I think he's a good enough athlete he had as much of a chance at getting a spot as anyone, especially with how much shuffling we did earlier this year.

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His numbers aren't really different than 2024. Which is crazy considering how bad his last 3 starts have been.

The difference is going on Friday nights instead of Saturday/Sunday, where he belongs.

Friday SP under Bolt
2021 Povich - 3rd rounder
2022 Schanaman* - UDFA (not a Friday guy)
2023 Olson - 4th rounder
2024 Sears - 7th rounder
2025 McConnaughey - preseason All American. Now, it's Walsh

* 2022 had multiple Friday guys

Our 3 best seasons under Bolt are 2021 (34-14), 2023 (33-22-1) & 2024 (40-22).

It's not a coincidence each of those seasons we had a legit Friday guy. Nebraska baseball, under the current state of college ball, can't afford to lose the Friday starting pitcher in week 3 and overcome it.

Not only losing Mac, but we lost Tucker Timmerman 13 days earlier as well as Worthley being a shell of himself due to injury. That's 2 extremely high leverage dudes.