Justin Parker

[Leroy Jenkins]

I don't know if it's going to work, but the things he's working on are the deficiencies we have all witnessed. For example, Dohm. Last year the book on him was good velo, good control, but everything he threw was too straight. Dohm said Parker has had him take some MPH off the slider and get more sweep, also adding a curve for some depth.
And Holcomb, the knock on him was control, and being a one trick pony. He said Parker has slowed down his motion so it's more repeatable and more consistently in the zone. Also Holcomb didn't really have a 3rd pitch last year but he's working on adding the changeup.

Sometimes the answer is to just not make things more complicated than they have to be.

[Coach34]

Hmmm- teaching them to pitch instead of just throw hard. What a novel concept

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

All you're saying is that "Parker is trying to improve them", which yeah I'd hope so.

Well see what the results are this year Need some massive jumps from a lot of guys, Parker is a damned good coach if he can pull it off

[Coach34]

All you're saying is that "Parker is trying to improve them", which yeah I'd hope so.

Well see what the results are this year Need some massive jumps from a lot of guys, Parker is a damned good coach if he can pull it off

Too much talent on the bump. 5-6 of them will be drafted in July

[CaptainObvious]

Too much talent on the bump. 5-6 of them will be drafted in July

So with all this draftable talent, Lemonis has ZERO excuses in 2024.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Too much talent on the bump. 5-6 of them will be drafted in July

Eric Cerantola was a 5th round draft pic. MLB draft is about potential, and they are fine with a guy taking years in the minors to unlock it. Parker has 1 fall

[CaptainObvious]

Eric Cerantola was a 5th round draft pic. MLB draft is about potential, and they are fine with a guy taking years in the minors to unlock it. Parker has 1 fall

This is correct. Parker hitched his buggy to Lemonis. If Lemonis fails another season and Selmon doesn't fire him, the fan mutiny will be epic.

[Coach34]

So with all this draftable talent, Lemonis has ZERO excuses in 2024.

agree 100%

[Coach34]

Eric Cerantola was a 5th round draft pic. MLB draft is about potential, and they are fine with a guy taking years in the minors to unlock it. Parker has 1 fall

Cerantola also grew up in another country getting a late start playing baseball.

I'd rather have talent than not. Much easier to coach. Big Country, Ligon, Loo, Simmons, Dohm, Auger, Loftin..those are guys you can win with

[Todd4State]

Eric Cerantola was a 5th round draft pic. MLB draft is about potential, and they are fine with a guy taking years in the minors to unlock it. Parker has 1 fall

Eh. They have a ceiling. The players in the minors have to perform and show improvement. They're not going to let someone Crash Davis it just because.

And trust me they want polished players. The sooner a player can make it to MLB the better the investment.

Cerentola was just underdeveloped here. Just like Andrew Walling, Jackson Fristoe, Cade Smith, and etc.

[Todd4State]

I don't know if it's going to work, but the things he's working on are the deficiencies we have all witnessed. For example, Dohm. Last year the book on him was good velo, good control, but everything he threw was too straight. Dohm said Parker has had him take some MPH off the slider and get more sweep, also adding a curve for some depth.
And Holcomb, the knock on him was control, and being a one trick pony. He said Parker has slowed down his motion so it's more repeatable and more consistently in the zone. Also Holcomb didn't really have a 3rd pitch last year but he's working on adding the changeup.

Sometimes the answer is to just not make things more complicated than they have to be.

Fans have a hard time believing how bad Foxhall was.

[bulldogcountry1]

Hmmm- teaching them to pitch instead of just throw hard. What a novel concept

I?m sure that played a part in the easy early schedule. That will essentially give the pitching staff another month to learn and improve before things get real.

[Coach34]

I?m sure that played a part in the easy early schedule. That will essentially give the pitching staff another month to learn and improve before things get real.

agree

[The Federalist Engineer]

Parker teaching seems a good thing and is often echoed by the player interviews

But this seems like a rebuild job. Good thing they made a mutt schedule to start the year.

[Coach34]

But this seems like a rebuild job. Good thing they made a mutt schedule to start the year.

You dont rebuild when you have 8-9 draft picks on your team

[MaroonFlounder]

Cerantola also grew up in another country getting a late start playing baseball.

I'd rather have talent than not. Much easier to coach. Big Country, Ligon, Loo, Simmons, Dohm, Auger, Loftin..those are guys you can win with

Who is "Big Country"?

[Coach34]

Holcombe. The pride of Alabama

[Leroy Jenkins]

Holcombe. The pride of Alabama


They call him "Big donkey". We had a mule now we got a donkey.
Loved the white trash mud flap he had sticking out the back of his hat. That's a good look for a power pitcher. "You're f'n out!" -K Powers.

[Leroy Jenkins]

Holcombe. The pride of Alabama

Speaking of Alabama, what's the word on Pico? If I remember correctly it was April or thereabouts they were hoping for his return.

[Saltydog]

Meh, lotsa guys drafted because of "potential" and we have some guys that have that. As David Turner says, that's just a fancy words that means you haven't done it yet.

[Todd4State]

Speaking of Alabama, what's the word on Pico? If I remember correctly it was April or thereabouts.

Ahead of schedule and throwing to hitters. Not sure how much we use him- especially early in the year. Probably a one inning guy for now. May throw more later in the season.

[Coach34]

Meh, lotsa guys drafted because of "potential" and we have some guys that have that. As David Turner says, that's just a fancy words that means you haven't done it yet.

When was the last time a team with a bunch of draft picks sucked?

[Saltydog]

In 2022 we had 6 guys drafted and at least two udfa's (one was the best player on the team Yeager). Do I need to remind you how bad that team was? In 2021 we had 5 guys drafted and one udfa and won the Natty. I wouldn't get too hung up on draft picks if I were you but that's just me.

[Coach34]

In 2022 we had 6 guys drafted and at least two udfa's (one was the best player on the team Yeager). Do I need to remind you how bad that team was? In 2021 we had 5 guys drafted and one udfa and won the Natty. I wouldn't get too hung up on draft picks if I were you but that's just me.

If you remember in 2022- our top draft pick blew out his arm before SEC play so he was of no use to us. Injuries were the outlier for 2022- not lack of talent. Having Sims, Simmons, and Auger logging SEC innings in 2022 makes that a different team

[Leroy Jenkins]

If you remember in 2022- our top draft pick blew out his arm before SEC play so he was of no use to us. Injuries were the outlier for 2022- not lack of talent. Having Sims, Simmons, and Auger logging SEC innings in 2022 makes that a different team

Losing your Friday night guy is like losing 3 starters because you also lose your Saturday guy, who now has to go Friday, and your Sunday guy who now has to go Saturday. Everyone in the rotation is bumped up a level of competition they wouldn't have had to otherwise.

[State82]

Having Sims, Simmons, and Auger logging SEC innings in 2022 makes that a different team

Significantly different most likely.

[BrunswickDawg]

Losing your Friday night guy is like losing 3 starters because you also lose your Saturday guy, who now has to go Friday, and your Sunday guy who now has to go Saturday. Everyone in the rotation is bumped up a level of competition they wouldn't have had to otherwise.

Losing Simmons was just as huge. We blew over 20 7th inning or later leads and only had 4 total saves. Save half of those games puts us at 36-20 and possibly has us hosting.

[MoreCowbell]

Fans have a hard time believing how bad Foxhall was.

As a fan who dod not keep up much with last year team, what was so bad about him?

[BeardoMSU]

As a fan who dod not keep up much with last year team, what was so bad about him?

Nibbling

[State82]

Nibbling
No doubt one of his more aggravating coaching faults.

[Todd4State]

As a fan who dod not keep up much with last year team, what was so bad about him?

To summarize putting too much emphasis on creating velocity and not enough on the art of pitching.

[CaptainObvious]

To summarize putting too much emphasis on creating velocity and not enough on the art of pitching.

And nibbling because Foxhall failed to adjust his pitching staff to the new tighter strike zone put into entice more offense. It just enticed our pitchers to walk more batters leading to more offense for our opponents.

[Patrick Tibbons]

Eric Cerantola was a 5th round draft pic. MLB draft is about potential, and they are fine with a guy taking years in the minors to unlock it. Parker has 1 fall

Same with Brandon Woodruff. He?s an MLB all star now and was drafted in the 5th round after a junior year at State where he had an ERA around 7. Heck, Darryl Norris played 3rd and pitched 4 innings his junior year, and was still drafted as a pitcher.

There are plenty examples of this and Coach34 knows that. Draftability doesn?t automatically equal college success.

[Todd4State]

Same with Brandon Woodruff. He?s an MLB all star now and was drafted in the 5th round after a junior year at State where he had an ERA around 7. Heck, Darryl Norris played 3rd and pitched 4 innings his junior year, and was still drafted as a pitcher.

There are plenty examples of this and Coach34 knows that. Draftability doesn?t automatically equal college success.

He was injured. He would have been a beast had he stayed healthy and we might have won a NC with him in 2013 as our ace. Not a good example. Most guys in MLB were successful in college and those that aren't are exceptions and not the norm.

[Coach34]

There are plenty examples of this and Coach34 knows that. Draftability doesn?t automatically equal college success.

No doubt. But aGAIN- I'd rather have talent and try to fix it than be less talented. I'm betting Parker fixes some shit and our pitching takes a big leap forward

[Leroy Jenkins]

As a fan who dod not keep up much with last year team, what was so bad about him?

Fox was about missing barrels. The new strike zone, coupled with young arms led to us walking the park and keeping innings alive. Parker's philosophy is to challenge hitters in the zone and let your teammates play defense behind you.

[smootness]

He was injured. He would have been a beast had he stayed healthy and we might have won a NC with him in 2013 as our ace. Not a good example. Most guys in MLB were successful in college and those that aren't are exceptions and not the norm.

Obviously there are plenty of reasons why a draft pick might not have played well in college. The bottom line is, those reasons exist. A guy who is a big recruit is likely to still be drafted 2-3 years later even if he has not put it all together yet. Draft picks are great, I agree that I would rather have them than not. No one is arguing we should get fewer guys on the roster who will be drafted. But it absolutely does not mean this team will be successful.

What I want is for everyone to remember what they are saying now - we have the talent and there is no reason not to go out there and get it done. Do not change the narrative to save the coach once things start happening, that is exactly what happened in football this year.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Vanderbilt changed the game on the talent required to win a national championship. They could roll out 1st round pitchers as starters and relievers. Last year, LSU bought a 1st overall pick and would have been an upper mid table SEC team otherwise. LSU bought three 1st Round pitchers (Little, Skenes, and Hurd) they got a stud, a bust, and a one clutch CWS game from those guys.

But there is still a place in the game for Brett Pirtle, Burke Masters, Houston Harding, Jake Mangum, Cody Brown, and Cole Gordon. All great college players that were not ideal MLB prospects. Tommy Raffo (all American and Golden Spikes candidate) the best hitter in 1989, was a non MLB prospect.

The challenge is to collect future Bednar and Sims players without getting stuck with a roster of Cerantolas and Fristoes. Seems the challenge for all college teams, not every good player belongs in college. So many variables at play. Plus you have the psychology of "make up" the willingness to work and grow.

[MoreCowbell]

Absolutely incredible that our pitching coach is working with our guys on things they could improve upon. Outstanding.

[MoreCowbell]

Fox was about missing barrels. The new strike zone, coupled with young arms led to us walking the park and keeping innings alive. Parker's philosophy is to challenge hitters in the zone and let your teammates play defense behind you.

Gotcha, thanks

[Todd4State]

Obviously there are plenty of reasons why a draft pick might not have played well in college. The bottom line is, those reasons exist. A guy who is a big recruit is likely to still be drafted 2-3 years later even if he has not put it all together yet. Draft picks are great, I agree that I would rather have them than not. No one is arguing we should get fewer guys on the roster who will be drafted. But it absolutely does not mean this team will be successful.

What I want is for everyone to remember what they are saying now - we have the talent and there is no reason not to go out there and get it done. Do not change the narrative to save the coach once things start happening, that is exactly what happened in football this year.

I'm sure there are a few guys that make it to MLB that didn't have stellar college baseball careers but again the vast majority of MLB players that do play in college were also very good in college. I can't really think of a MSU player that made it to MLB other than Woodruff- which can be explained by his arm injury- that didn't have a good career at MSU.

IF a team has a lot of TRUE draftable MLB talent and those players don't perform in college it's likely an issue with coaching. It's not as "normal" as some of our fans are making it sound.

No one will change the narrative to save Lemonis. He has to get it done this year. All of his mulligans are gone.

[Todd4State]

Vanderbilt changed the game on the talent required to win a national championship. They could roll out 1st round pitchers as starters and relievers. Last year, LSU bought a 1st overall pick and would have been an upper mid table SEC team otherwise. LSU bought three 1st Round pitchers (Little, Skenes, and Hurd) they got a stud, a bust, and a one clutch CWS game from those guys.

But there is still a place in the game for Brett Pirtle, Burke Masters, Houston Harding, Jake Mangum, Cody Brown, and Cole Gordon. All great college players that were not ideal MLB prospects. Tommy Raffo (all American and Golden Spikes candidate) the best hitter in 1989, was a non MLB prospect.

The challenge is to collect future Bednar and Sims players without getting stuck with a roster of Cerantolas and Fristoes. Seems the challenge for all college teams, not every good player belongs in college. So many variables at play. Plus you have the psychology of "make up" the willingness to work and grow.

Yeah. You have to have a combination of both. You have to have your Jake Mangum's and Tanner Allen's to blend in with your Jordan Westburg's and Justin Foscue's. But you must also have an elite ace and a really good pitching staff to win in Omaha. When we won it we really did it with the bare minimum pitchers we could- Bednar, Sims, Preston, and Harding. The good news is we had the hottest ace and the best closer.