re: I can’t understand why Hilliard is pitching Saturday

What if LSU hits 7 homers and routes Tennessee in game 1 using up their arms?

I think more important than LSU's pitching is the hitting with RISP! When LSU was struggling, they would strand base runners constantly without clutch hits (and with terrible base running). They aren't the most clutch hitting team now, but they've improved! If the big 3 bats can get up with men on from the bottom of the lineup, LSU will be hard to beat, but if the bottom can't get a few baserunners, LSU will struggle to put up big numbers!

If Hilliard struggles early and gets yanked, you go with Edwards and extend him if pitching well! If both struggle, a tough scenario plays out with the bullpen, but you need to trust your dudes to come through on Sunday (and Monday if needed).

If Hilliard makes it through 18 outs, Coleman can close out the final 2-3 innings with maybe another arm for 3 outs depending on scenario/score to keep Coleman fresh for another relief appearance if needed.

I trust PM's decisions at this point because he's tried so many different things this year that made me question him, but I think it's given him a feel for what worked (or didn't work) throughout the season. Maybe there was a reason behind a lot of his tinkering this year which was to put people in the spotlight in different scenarios and see the response/outcome.