With the Bradley washout in the books, one would hope the Shocks let Cooper pitch Tuesday against Nebraska (assuming conditions are playable by then, as they certainly should be with a little effort). He could then return for the Sunday conference game on four days rest.
Actually, WSU could also do a little maneuvering the following week by starting Kelley against OU on a moderate (85-90 or so?) pitch count and then having him return Sunday for the conference game on three days rest with Flynn ready to take over -- or even better, for Flynn to start Sunday against Evansville with Kelley ready when needed. Flynn seems to have reached the point where he can go five solid innings, so letting Kelley be the long man out of the pen on Sunday with Lowell and Cooper starting the Fri-Sat home games against Evansville might be a way to improve their chances in an important midweek game against OU while not sacrificing the conference finale on Easter.
Unfortunately, there's little recent history to suggest that the latter move could be in the cards, even though in earlier and more successful years it wouldn't have been at all unusual. But maybe we can at least hope to see Cooper this Tuesday.
Actually, WSU could also do a little maneuvering the following week by starting Kelley against OU on a moderate (85-90 or so?) pitch count and then having him return Sunday for the conference game on three days rest with Flynn ready to take over -- or even better, for Flynn to start Sunday against Evansville with Kelley ready when needed. Flynn seems to have reached the point where he can go five solid innings, so letting Kelley be the long man out of the pen on Sunday with Lowell and Cooper starting the Fri-Sat home games against Evansville might be a way to improve their chances in an important midweek game against OU while not sacrificing the conference finale on Easter.
Unfortunately, there's little recent history to suggest that the latter move could be in the cards, even though in earlier and more successful years it wouldn't have been at all unusual. But maybe we can at least hope to see Cooper this Tuesday.
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