Peyton Plumlee was visibly perturbed.
His 3-2 pitch was tight on Ole Miss catcher Cooper Johnson.
From Plumlee’s vantage point, it looked like a strike. The home plate umpire disagreed. Johnson was granted a walk.
While the runner moseyed his way to first, Plumlee barked at his dugout in frustration.
In previous outings, the irritation may have gotten to the right-hander. But Tuesday was different.
With runners on the corners, Plumlee forced a fly-out to left field the ensuing at-bat to end the inning.
“I thought he was great,” Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said after the 8-1 Governor’s Cup win over the Rebels. “I thought he mixed and pitched. I thought the one run he gave up he actually made a pretty good pitch on. I thought he was really good all night long and it was a really good bounce back for him.”
It’s this version of the senior pitcher that MSU is in dire need of down the stretch.
The MSU starting rotation is shallow at best. Redshirt junior Ethan Small and freshman JT Ginn have been stellar in the No. 1 and 2 roles.
Ginn turned down first-round money from the Los Angeles Dodgers to come to Starkville. He has responded with a 3.38 ERA in 53.1 innings pitched.
Small has been even more dominant. The lefty leads the Southeastern Conference in strikeouts with 103, while his 2.10 ERA is eighth.
Behind Ginn and Small, MSU has used a combination of Plumlee, Keegan James, Eric Cerantola, Jack Eagan and Brandon Smith to start games. Of the five, Plumlee, James and Cerantola have started four or more contests and only Plumlee has an ERA better than 4.36.
In nine starts, he boasts a 3.92 ERA in 43.2 innings pitched. Plumlee has allowed 12 less hits than Ginn in just 9.2 less innings pitched. Yet it’s his wild inconsistency that has plagued him in the No. 3 starting role.
Plumlee has pitched four or more innings five times this season — three of which lasted five innings or longer.
Against No. 19 Ole Miss on Tuesday, he honed his command, giving up just one run and three hits in four innings of work.
By contrast, he allowed five runs on three hits in just two innings against No. 8 Arkansas this last weekend in Fayetteville.
“He made some adjustments, made some better pitches, some things that he didn’t do last weekend he really did tonight which was good to see,” Lemonis said Tuesday.
Thus has been the puzzling paradox of Plumlee this season.
Entering three-game set against No. 4 Georgia this weekend, his availability remains to be seen. Lemonis said after the Ole Miss game the coaching staff would monitor his status.
“We’ll have to wait and see how he feels in the next couple days,” Lemonis said. “He’s a pretty vibrant guy, but we just still have to wait and see.”
Sitting tied for fourth in the SEC West standings, the Diamond Dawgs are in desperate need of a series win. With Small and Ginn slated to pitch Friday and Saturday, that may well come down to Plumlee on Sunday.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
