Vermillion back in weekend rotation for Louisiana Tech series
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FAYETTEVILLE — Zebulon Vermillion is getting another shot at being in Arkansas’ weekend rotation.
After a one-week stay in the bullpen, the right-hander is scheduled to start Saturday’s game at Louisiana Tech, head coach Dave Van Horn announced Wednesday. He replaces Caleb Bolden, who has struggled in back-to-back starts.
The other two days will remain the same, with right-hander Peyton Pallette getting the nod in Game 1 and left-hander Lael Lockhart finishing the series by starting Sunday.
A 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander who has drawn attention from scouts, Vermillion was actually the Razorbacks’ Opening Day starter. However, in two weeks as the Friday guy, he issued an uncharacteristic six walks in seven innings.
That prompted the coaching staff to move him back to the bullpen, where he spent the first three years of his career at Arkansas, and he threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the save in Game 2 against Murray State.
“He mixed it up pretty good,” Van Horn said. “Wasn’t throwing the ball as hard maybe as we would like him to, low 90s, but he did throw everything over the plate, so I think that’s a big key.
“Just his experience as well. We feel good about our bullpen right now. If we took Zeb out of the rotation, he would just join kind of a crowded bullpen. We felt like we just needed to give him a start again.”
Even with the walks, Vermillion still has a 3.86 ERA in 9 1/3 innings so far this season. The free passes are what’s hurting him, as he’s been hard to hit when he throws the ball over the plate. Opponents have just a .200 batting average against him this season after hitting .160 against him in 7 1/3 innings last year.
Facing a Louisiana Tech lineup littered with older players and that hits .313 as a team, Van Horn is hopeful his one outing out of the bullpen will be enough to get Vermillion back on track.
“I don't think he's been bad by any means,” Van Horn said. “I just think we want more. Hopefully, he started a game, has been out of the bullpen, he's been focusing on what he needs to do and he'll go out and have a good outing against a good hitting team.”
Vermillion is taking the Game 2 role from Bolden, who has pitched just two total innings and allowed seven runs - four of which were earned - in his starts the last two weeks.
After failing to get out of the first inning against Southeast Missouri State, the right-hander remained in the rotation because his struggles were believed to be tied to him pitching on only three days rest. However, given more than a week off, he couldn’t get out of the second inning against Murray State.
“He didn't pitch well enough to get the ball back for a start this weekend,” Van Horn said. “He didn't command his breaking ball at all. You've got to throw your breaking ball for a strike unless you're just overpowering or you can really, really locate that fastball. We haven't seen that the last couple of weeks from him.”
Only 37 of Bolden’s 71 pitches have been strikes in his two starts, resulting in three walks and - maybe even more of a concern - hitter’s counts that lead to hard-hit balls. Four of the last seven Murray State batters he faced notched extra-base hits.
Now out of the rotation, Bolden will shift back to the bullpen, where he started the year and had a lot of success against Texas. He actually held the Longhorns hitless in a four-inning save in Arlington, Texas, earning him SEC co-Pitcher of the Week honors.
The hope is that the move will have a similar positive impact as it did on Vermillion.
“We felt like maybe long relief is his role for now,” Van Horn said. “He did such a good job with it Opening Weekend, and if we need to go with that again, that's what we'll do."
First pitch of Game 1 at Louisiana Tech is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. start on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. All three games will be televised on Cox Sports TV and streamed on ESPN-Plus.