As Texas A&M baseball enters its most critical period of the year, coach Michael Earley announced that the health status of rising star starting pitcher Aiden Sims remains to be announced.
Sims has provided a much-needed stabilizing presence in an Aggie starting pitching rotation that has struggled with consistency. At its best, Texas A&M won five straight SEC series, including two against ranked opponents, partly on the back of consistent pitching. At its worst, the top-heavy pitching staff has faltered against the best of the best, including top-10 opponents UCLA, Auburn, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
Through the team’s ups and downs, Sims has remained relatively consistent. His 3.84 ERA is the best among both the Aggie starting pitching rotation and all teammates with over 50 innings pitched. With Sims out for the last SEC series and the conference tournament, the Aggies turned to Ethan Darden, who had only started one game all season, for three starts over the course of a week: Games 1 and 3 against Mississippi State and in the SEC Tournament against Auburn.
Darden started this string of starts hot, allowing just one run in 3.1 innings pitched in the opening match against a highly-ranked Mississippi State team. In Game 3 and against Auburn, however, Darden let in a combined six runs in 3.0 innings. With Sims back, the Aggies would no longer require Darden, a relief pitcher, to play an unusual hybrid starting-reliever role that he showed mixed results in.
The Aggies will host their regional matchup this weekend, beginning with a game against Lamar on Friday, May 29.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M star pitcher’s availability remains unannounced
Reporting by Sam Allred, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
