Turns out that Cody Satterwhite came out of today’s SEC tourney game because he was sick. Needless to say, the Ole Miss coaching staff seemed less than pleased.

Listen, I don’t want to say anything because, frankly, I don’t know how sick the kid is. I’ve had a really bad flu before and could barely get out of bed, let alone try to pitch in some heat down here. But…there are guys who suck it up and play because their team needs them, they like to compete and not let people doswn. This is the SEC tournament, a pretty big stage. Ole Miss is 2-0 and will be 2-1 if they end up losing this game (it’s 7-2 Vandy in the 4th). Winning the tourney would mean an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They’ll get an at-large bid in all liklihood, but obviously with every win they get here, the better they might do seeding-wise. I think you get the point — this is a pretty big game. And Satterwhite begged out of it.

If this was a one-time thing, I think the reaction would be, “OK, he must really be sick.” But there’s been a pattern with Satterwhite and he doesn’t seem to be the most competitive guy you’ll see. The coaching staff wasn’t upset because he was sick, I’m guessing, but that it was another example of their junior pitcher with a ton of natural talent not stepping up. As one scout I spoke to over the phone about what had happened said, “That sounds about right for him.”