Bill on Baseball:Piggyback formula works

from Bill Hass with Bill on Baseball at www.gsohoppers.com….

Piggyback formula works

When people think of piggyback, the first thing that comes to mind is the space shuttle Discovery being flown to Washington on top of a Boeing 747.

Friday night, two pitchers for the Greensboro Grasshoppers demonstrated how piggyback works in minor-league baseball. Austin Brice started and pitched five innings to earn the win and Jose Urena pitched four innings to get the save as the Hoppers knocked off the Delmarva Shorebirds 5-3.

Greensboro stayed in first place in the Northern Division with the win, improving to 11-5. Hickory stayed one-half game behind by beating Savannah in 12 innings.

Brice and Urena are sharing the fifth spot in the Hoppers’ rotation. The next time out, Urena will start and Brice will come out of the bullpen. It’s the Miami Marlins’ way of seeing both pitchers in the roles of starter and reliever.

“They understand it and know what their job is,” said pitching coach Blake McGinley. “They have to prepare differently each time, but they still have to get people out and develop as pitchers.”

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