Aces will be in short supply in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

A side effect of the expansion of the field to 10 teams, which caused the tournament to start a day earlier than normal, is depleted pitching staffs. Many teams will go with a midweek pitching plan for today’s first-round games, going with players further down the depth chart while giving their best arms as much rest as possible.

Among the pitchers who have been ruled out for games today and Wednesday are All-Americans D.J. Baxendale of Arkansas and Michael Roth of South Carolina, and Ferriss Trophy winner Chris Stratton of Mississippi State.

“He will not pitch on Tuesday. There’s no shot of that. It’s possible on Wednesday. He’s going to have a big say on that Wednesday,” Mississippi State coach John Cohen said after Saturday’s win over Kentucky in the regular-season finale. “He’s only had one start this year where he came back on two or three days rest and he was not fresh. He was a little sore, and we tried to back him down there. So he’ll have a say in that.”