I heard he pitched an inning of relief today. Great to hear he's back on the mound... anyone see him? How'd he look? How was the velo?
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quote:Originally posted by vabaseballfan:
I get the point of your post, and I think its great that Ruffin has made the team at Duke and has gotten in a game.
However I think its real important to give factual and accurate portrayals here. I dont think its appropriate to say that he's "nailing down wins", when he's in fact made one appearance with 0.1 innings pitched, striking out the one batter he faced. While certainly a great start, this hardly represents "tearing up D1 opponents" either.
I dont want to come off as being against this young man at all here. He's from VA so Im pulling for him. However, the fact that he's made an ACC team as an unrecruited walk-on and has even appeared in a game this early is impressive enough. No need to exaggerate or make stuff up.
quote:Originally posted by Trepfan:
Silverstein Shines in Long-Awaited Debut
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/27/2011
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Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Scott Silverstein
By Jeff White
jwhite@virginia.edu
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- On an afternoon when his team lost for the first time this season, UVa baseball coach Brian O'Connor still had reason to smile Sunday.
He saw Scott Silverstein pitch for the first time as a Cavalier.
Even better, he saw Silverstein retire each of the three batters he faced.
"It's one thing getting your first opportunity. It's another thing getting your first opportunity and going out there and pitching great baseball," O'Connor said after Virginia's 4-3 loss to East Carolina before 2,914 at Davenport Field.
"That was very, very encouraging to see what he did in a big environment, when the game's on the line, and that will obviously help moving forward."
Silverstein, 6-6, 235-pound left-hander, was considered one of the nation's top recruits as a senior at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. But shoulder problems derailed his career, and he came into this season, his third at UVa, still waiting to make his first appearance on the mound in a college game.
A torn labrum in his left shoulder had required two operations, the first in June 2008, the second in October 2009. Silverstein appeared in 19 games as a UVa freshman in '09 -- O'Connor used him as a first baseman, designated hitter and pinch hitter -- and then missed all of last season.
He came into the new year cleared to play, but he was a spectactor for the Cavaliers' first six games this season. In the seventh game, Silverstein got his chance.
With none on and one out in the eighth inning and UVa down 4-2, Silverstein came in to face Ben Fultz, who had singled in the second.
In the dugout, O'Connor was nervous. Imagine how No. 29 felt on the mound.
"I was shaking a little bit," Silverstein admitted later.
"Obviously I haven't been out there in a while. Really I was just thinking about throwing strikes. I didn't want my first outing to be a four-pitch walk and you're out of the game. I wanted to have some success, and luckily I did."
Silverstein struck out Fultz. He retired Tim Younger on a grounder for the third out. Silverstein opened the ninth by retiring Philip Clark on a fly ball, then gave way to closer Branden Kline.
In high school, Silverstein's fastball routinely topped 90 mph. He's yet to regain that velocity, he said, "but I felt like I could get people out, even with subpar stuff. Right now I'm still working to get back. Hopefully I can get back to full health, full strength, and it's just a matter of time."
For a pitcher recovering from a torn labrum, Silverstein said, doctors "say the first thing that comes back is the velocity, and then it's the feel for the pitches. For me it's kind of gone the other way. I've sort of been able to find the zone and work different pitches, and then the velocity is starting to come. I think the game atmosphere has a lot to do with it, because you get the nerves and you get the adrenaline going, and [the ball] comes out of your hand a little better."
Because of his shoulder injury, Silverstein did not pitch for St. John's as a 12th-grader. Which meant his most recent appearance in an official game had come in 2007.
"He's had some unfortunate things happen to him," O'Connor said. "That's life. That's part of the game. He's worked really hard to get to this point, and he's deserving of that opportunity. I'm sure he was wondering at what point his opportunity would come, but I knew it would come soon.
"I'm sure that Scott was really excited. It wouldn't have surprised me if he would have thrown the ball in the back screen. I'd be excited. You've waited so long for that kind of opportunity, and what a great situation to get your first opportunity. And then to go out and do the job like he did, against some very good hitters, I think really is a testament to who he is and what his character is, in that he didn't back down at all from that situation."
The loss ended UVa's streak of 36 consecutive wins in February games at Davenport. But Virginia, ranked No. 13 nationally by Baseball America, beat East Carolina 10-1 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday, and O'Connor liked much of what he saw from his club in the series.
"That pitching staff that we faced this weekend is a pitching staff like one of the top in [the ACC]," he said, "so it's good for our players to play great people like we have the last two weekends. And to be standing here 6-1 and have played pretty good baseball for the first seven games, you feel good about it.
"There's things that we need to clean up, and that's why you play the whole season. But I'm encouraged that there's some guys that are really stepping forward out of our bullpen, that are starting to show that they can pitch in some roles for us, and that's going to be important. We've got a couple of other things to get figured out, but I'm pretty encouraged by what I see."
East Carolina (4-2) scored all of its runs in the second Sunday. Designated hitter Chase McDonald led off the inning by drawing a walk off UVa starter Cody Winiarski, the first issued by a UVa pitcher in this series, and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Fultz then smacked a line drive that right-fielder Danny Hultzen appeared to snare for the second out. The umpire, however, ruled that Hultzen had trapped the ball.
Winiarski fanned Younger, but Clark loaded the bases with an infield single. If he had it do over, UVa shortstop Chris Taylor would have thrown immediately to first base after fielding the grounder. But the sophomore from Virginia Beach glanced toward second base first, and the delay allowed Clark to reach safely.
The next batter, Mike Ussery, doubled into center field, and it was 3-0.
"Obviously I wish I could have that play back, but that kind of stuff happens, and hopefully I can learn from it," said Taylor, who went 2 for 4 on Sunday and otherwise was flawless in the field.
Pirates starter Mike Wright, a 6-5 right-hander, retired the Cavaliers' first eight batters Sunday. UVa did not get a hit until the fifth inning, when John Barr singled down the third-base line.
Virginia pulled to 4-1 in the sixth, on Steven Proscia's RBI single, and then to 4-2 in the seventh. In the eighth, Taylor led off with a single. He moved to third when the next batter, Keith Werman, singled, and the Wahoos appeared poised for a big inning.
But Werman broke for second on a pitch that struck out Proscia, and catcher Zach Wright's throw beat him to the bag. Taylor scored on the play to make it 4-3, but suddenly there were two outs, and Hultzen flew out to end the inning.
In the ninth, John Hicks led off with a walk. But he too was thrown out trying to steal second, and the Cavaliers went quietly after that.
"You make decisions based on the personnel that you have," O'Connor said, "running the bases and at the plate and [knowing] what they're capable of doing. We just didn't execute what we needed to. We have before, and we will the next time we get that opportunity.
"Sometimes you take chances. We've taken a lot of chances over the years in some of these situations, to go for wins, and when you do that, sometimes it doesn't work out."
Virginia hosts William and Mary at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Niagara plays at Davenport Field at the same time Wednesday.
quote:Originally posted by venkman:
This is all good news, particularly, since my son tore his labrum 3 games into his junior season last year. Its been 10 months since surgery...tons of rehab, and he'll start throwing off a mound next week. Too soon to know how things will turn out...his mechanics have to change if he is to stay injury free.
quote:Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
I don't know how the draft will go, but I would have to agree that anyone who questioned these boys' "makeup" at this point would need to have their head examined.
Venkman, I remember when we first found out about this injury. It was just emotionally devastating, and I had a hole in my gut for weeks (that returned from time to time). So if this lets you know that there can be light at the end of the tunnel, I'm glad for that at least.
Daniel was a 94-98 guy before all this. I don't know whether we'll ever see that again, but then again, we don't know that he's done regaining velocity, either. Right now we're still maybe 5-6 mph short of pre-injury levels. It has been amazing to see him blowing it by guys at 88-89, though. I always thought it would take more to do that!
Chris Carpenter is now our favorite MLB pitcher. If you check his history, and you know his current performance levels, you'll know why.
quote:Easy hobbs.......not looking to tear anything down. First of all, my post is no longer there (someone reposted it after I removed it). Secondly, if you'll re-read what I wrote, it wasn't tearing the kid down at all. Also, to say that what was posted must've be because of a problem with Emerson, PVI, or Duke is a reach. It was 100% objective.
All I was trying to do was encourage straight and honest reporting facts from people who are giving updates on kids. Then I thought better of it so I took my post down. Did not mean to come off as negative, and I really dont think that I was, but Im sorry if it offended anybody. That was not my intent.
quote:All I was trying to do was encourage straight and honest reporting facts from people who are giving updates on kids.