Austin Maddox had just thrown 61 pitches, the highest single-game total of his UF career.
He had worked 5.2 scoreless innings to help stretch a 16-inning Friday night game into early Saturday morning. The question was posed: Do you think you’ll be ready for Sunday?
“We’ll see,” Maddox said. “I might be a little sore [Saturday], but my arm usually bounces back good.”
Less than 48 hours later, he was back on the mound to claim his 11th save of the season in a series-clinching win against Georgia. This one only took eight pitches.
Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan wasn’t surprised by how Maddox responded. He wasn’t surprised by fellow relief pitchers Greg Larson or Steven Rodriguez, either. They combined to throw six innings on Friday and were right back to combine for four on Sunday.
This has become the norm for No. 5 Florida (31-9), which faces South Florida (27-14) tonight at 7 at McKethan Stadium.
“I said that before the season: I’m not going to be afraid to extend those guys as the season goes on,” O’Sullivan said. “It gives them more experience.”
Injuries to junior Hudson Randall and sophomore Karsten Whitson, who has recently been moved to the bullpen, have made the Gators’ pitching staff vulnerable. With less consistency from starters, Florida has had to risk testing relief arms well before the postseason begins.
Randall and Whitson led the Gators last season in innings pitched with 124.1 and 97.1, respectively. But Whitson now carries a 5.11 ERA in 12.1 innings of work, and Randall missed two starts with a “tired arm.” He was pulled after three innings and 45 pitches in his Sunday return to the mound.
Florida has 16 regular-season games remaining, and its reliance on Larson, Maddox and Rodriguez is clear.
Both Maddox and Rodriguez have already thrown more innings and pitches this year than they did all of last season, postseason included. Maddox’s workload increase is the most drastic. His 42.2 innings are 15.2 more than he notched as a sophomore and his 533 pitches are 173 more than he threw in 2011.
Plenty of variables play into Maddox’s role change. Last season was his first as a collegiate pitcher, and he started 62 games as a position player. He has been in the starting lineup for just 11 of Florida’s 40 games in 2012.
Maddox is one of only two players who has recorded a save for the Gators this year. That number was six in 2011, but Nick Maronde, Tommy Toledo, Anthony DeSclafani and Matt Campbell have all moved on to minor-league baseball.
Rodriguez has become Florida’s multi-inning specialist. He has thrown two or more innings 12 times this season — up from five in 2011. His numbers are gaudy: 52 strikeouts compared to six walks in 38.2 innings.
“When you got seven or eight outs to go and you got Whitson, Rodriguez and Maddox you feel pretty good about your pitching,” O’Sullivan said.
Known for conserving arms, O’Sullivan said the progression is natural. After Larson, Maddox and Rodriguez, Florida’s bullpen consists of five freshmen and four sophomores. The balance from a year ago isn’t there. Maronde, Toledo and DeSclafani helped carry the Gators in 2011, but none of them pitched more than 43.2 innings during the entire season.
In big spots, O’Sullivan will continue to look the way of his three upperclassmen and feel confident about what he will get from them.
“We’ve taken care of their arms,” he said. “We’ve been careful with those guys. We haven’t overused them.”
Florida relief pitcher Austin Maddox throws a pitch against Samford on March 20. Like the rest of the back end of the Gators’ bullpen, Maddox has logged significant innings this season.
