Omaha set to toss “big 3” at Yellow Springs this weekend.(44.38)

[niles08]

With 8 games to play, Omaha appears to be moving right ahead with their plan unchanged. While some “internet experts” were calling on Omaha to shift their rotation around a bit, Omaha appears to have not bitten the bullet. Early reports show they will send their “big 3” of Timo Dooley, Aki Kindo, and Norio Hayashi to the mound to face Yellow Springs this weekend rather than save them for the potential season altering finale series against Nashville.

Jorge Hernandez starting in a high pressure situation has Cyclone fans cringing thanks to his 9.42 ERA during the month of September. Fans forget Hernandez having an ERA under 4 throughout the entire season prior to that just as quickly as they forget his overall 2044 ERA of just 3.56, the second lowest in the rotation. Hernandez is actually just one win away from joining 3 of his other rotation mates as double-digit winners this year.

For the record, below is a comparison of Omaha pitchers against both Nashville and Yellow Springs this season. While it doesn’t show home/away splits which are incredibly important thanks to the differences in Omaha & Yellow Springs ballparks, I feel as if the decision made is the right one. After all, if Omaha takes care of Yellow Springs and is able to sweep the series which would be incredible, that final series against Nashville may mean a lot less. It's tough to overlook, but Omaha also has 2 still to finish in Madison, a team that the club is 9-5 this season against.

Timo Dooley:

Vs YS9: 10 IP, 10.45 ERA, 3 HR allowed
Vs NASH: 17.2 IP, 7.13 ERA, 3 HR allowed.

Norio Hayashi:

Vs YS9: 14 IP, 3.86 ERA, 4 HR allowed
Vs NASH: 7 IP, 3.86 ERA, 2 HR allowed.

Aki Kondo:

Vs YS9: 19 IP, 4.74 ERA, 1 HR allowed
Vs NASH: 16 IP, 6.19 ERA, 5 HR allowed.

Jorge Hernandez:

Vs YS9: 14 IP, 2.51 ERA, 1 HR allowed
Vs NASH: 25 IP, 2.88 ERA, 1 HR allowed.

Juan Ruiz:

Vs YS9: 7 IP, 5.87 ERA, 4 HR allowed
Vs NASH: 5 IP, 10.80 ERA, 3 HR allowed.

[Dington]

My only takeaway here is Nashville is better than YS9.