No. 14 Georgia at South Carolina
WHERE: Columbia, S.C.
WHEN: Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m., Sunday Noon
RECORDS: Georgia 22-7, 6-3; South Carolina 14-14, 3-6
TV/RADIO: SECNetwork+; Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, David Johnston)
Georgia’s three-game series this weekend at South Carolina suddenly became much tougher as head coach Scott Stricklin confirmed that pitcher Jonathan Cannon will not make his start after feeling a twinge in the back of his forearm.
According to Stricklin, the injury took place on Tuesday prior to throwing his normal bullpen session before the Bulldogs’ game at Clemson.
“As far as the pitching arm goes, it’s in a good spot. It’s not like it’s near any of the vital stuff in that elbow. It’s quite simply a non-throwing muscle strain that he sustained the other day as he was getting ready to throw his bullpen,” Stricklin told UGASports Thursday morning. “It was his normal routine. For whatever reason, it just got a twinge on him."
Tests performed Wednesday on Cannon revealed no structural damage, so it’s hoped the projected first-round pick just needs a little rest before he’s back on the mound.
“The best way to describe it is if you are at the gym and working out, you’re warming up and you feel a little bit of a twinge in the back of your forearm,” Stricklin said. “It’s non-throwing, it’s non-structural, it’s just a twinge in his forearm that’s kind of sore. We had it checked out yesterday but didn’t talk about it because we didn’t know what was going on. He was getting imaging. Everything came back good but now it’s just a waiting game to get that soreness out.”
Cannon becomes the third member of Georgia’s weekend rotation who will have missed starts this year.
Earlier, the Bulldogs lost Sunday starter Dylan Ross to an elbow injury, while Saturday starter Liam Sullivan has not pitched in a month due to soreness in his left arm.
Sullivan (2-1 3.68) will return this weekend with a start in Sunday’s finale, although he will be on a pitch count. Garrett Brown (0-0, 6.75) will pitch Saturday with Nolan Crisp (0-0, 5.29) replacing Cannon in Friday’s opener.
“It’s certainly a tough blow for us. He’s disappointed, but we’re just going to have to figure out a way,” Stricklin said. “We won two of the three last weekend without Jonathan pitching, so we certainly have it in us. It’s just going to be tougher, a little more adversity for our team. Hopefully, it’s a short-termed thing and he’s back sooner rather than later.”
Injuries to pitchers have seen an uptick across the college baseball landscape so far this spring.
Teams across the SEC have been affected, including this weekend’s opponent South Carolina, which remains without frontline starter Julian Bosnic along with four other hurlers out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
“It’s brutal. When I heard on Tuesday right before the game, when I was told I was just speechless. You’ve got to be kidding me,” Stricklin said. “It’s just another piece of adversity. This team has overcome it so far. This is obviously another tough one, we’ve just got to figure out a way to stick together. Hopefully, it’s just this week or next week, just a short-term thing and we can find a way to get through this.”
Stricklin said Cannon will travel with the team to South Carolina.
“You just shake your head and go back to work. Our kids are resilient,” Stricklin said. “Jonathan is going to go on the trip, he’ll be with us in South Carolina, try to calm it (the forearm) down and see if he can be back throwing soon and get him back on the mound.”
