Sure, Tarleton’s seen him and UCSB has a whole season of film - that’s not really the point. There’s a difference between ‘they’ve scouted him’ and ‘we just let them watch him throw 84 pitches in real time the night before they might face him.’ Coaches don’t usually volunteer that kind of live look in a 13–0 game unless they have to.
And yeah, I get the Ruger shoulder hedge and the Riojas insurance angle - that actually makes more sense than the scouting argument. But that’s kind of my point: if they’re worried about tomorrow’s arms, it means they’re stretching Volantis because they don’t trust the rest of the plan, not because this is some ideal scenario. It’s still a weird amount of work for a blowout. Not trying to argue with you Jeff, just feel this is kind of weird.
And back in the Sandy Koufax days, yeah, he’d have thrown 180 pitches and then asked for the ball tomorrow - but that was before sports science, analytics, and common sense existed 😃