10 games in- 20% of the season down

[Coach34]

Let's look at some stats:

A. Larry- .395 BA/.529 OBP/5 XBH's/15 runs scored....playing well
Dirtbag- .500BA/.542 OBP/2 XBH's/6 runs in 5 games played. Great he's back
Jordan- .342BA/.490 OBP/8 XBH's/14 K's....got to stop trying to jerk too much
Hines- .366BA/.458 OBP/2 XBH's/ Skinny Hines aint the same as Chunky Hines...trying to jerk too much early on also
Kohler- .318BA/.385 OBP/0 XBH's/ playing solid ball especially on D. Lack of power hurting us tho
HugeSak- .296BA/.457 OBP/4 XBH's/seems to be getting hot. 5 HBP's already also.
Trout- .243BA/.364 OBP/4 XBH's/Doesnt K but is a groundball machine. Double play waiting to happen
Long- .235BA/.435 OBP/0 XBH's/team leader-good catcher....anything offensively is gravy
Cupp- .194 BA/.333 OBP/1 XBH/Elite defense with a true freshman bat...playing him everyday is both good and bad

Offensively- we are getting better now healthy but we have a serious lack of power. This team would be a Cohen dream. Needs to bunt some/Run-n-hit/steal bases....it's not a pound the ball line-up. Got to find ways to keep getting Stevens AB's. Need his LH'ed bat in the line-up as the bottom of our order is all righty

[confucius say]

We are 4-1 with Mershon and Kohler in the lineup averaging 10 runs a game.
Yes I know the competition sucks.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Time to cut bait with Chance. There is a reason he is a walkon. Would rather play one of the young guys that actually has some potential

[Coach34]

We are 4-1 with Mershon and Kohler in the lineup averaging 10 runs a game.
Yes I know the competition sucks.

Funny how you are better with all your starters

[Coach34]

Time to cut bait with Chance. There is a reason he is a walkon. Would rather play one of the young guys that actually has some potential

I dont know about cutting bait- but at the very least- the veryyyyyy least- platoon his AB's with Stevens. Maybe put Larry in LF

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I dont know about cutting bait- but at the very least- the veryyyyyy least- platoon his AB's with Stevens. Maybe put Larry in LF
You can play Chance when up/down 10 runs. But he is not an SEC caliber talent(the major issue for this team is there is a lot of roster spots being taken up by non SEC talent). There is SEC talent on the bench. Might as well go youth movement with them.

[Todd4State]

Chance will be here two more years and have a career similar to Cody Brown. It is what it is.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Chance will be here two more years and have a career similar to Cody Brown. It is what it is.
Just further emphasizes the lack of talent on this roster.

[basedog]

Funny how you are better with all your starters

Competition is gonna get much tougher in days ahead, I'm hoping we continue with winning. We sure do seem to not do vey well until middle or late in the game, mostly the mid majors we have played ae not deep in pitching. JMO

[Pancho]

Just further emphasizes the lack of talent on this roster.

you just said there is SEC talent on the bench. the air in west union must be thick today

[Leeshouldveflanked]

you just said there is SEC talent on the bench. the air in west union must be thick today
Nah they all down at Jackson watching Ingomar

[Todd4State]

Just further emphasizes the lack of talent on this roster.

He's a solid college player. It's Ok to have a couple of those starting. See Elijah MacNamee.

[bulldogcountry1]

Just further emphasizes the lack of talent on this roster.

I would take 5 Cody Browns any day. He?s probably one of the most unappreciated players in modern history.

[Coach34]

I dont see a Macnamee or Brown when I watch Chance. I see a back-up role player

[Todd4State]

I dont see a Macnamee or Brown when I watch Chance. I see a back-up role player

People complain when we don't have dirtbags on the team. People complain the dirtbags in the team aren't SEC players.

[Coach34]

People complain when we don't have dirtbags on the team. People complain the dirtbags in the team aren't SEC players.

My complaint is not that he is on the team. I'm glad he is on the team. Knew his dad in college-he is a great guy and maroon to the bone.
Chance is an MRA guy as am I. Love that about him.

My complaint is that a role player is getting starter AB's. As I said earlier- how about platooning his AB's with Stevens? We badly need another LH'ed bat and having a Freshman get the majority of his AB's vs the oppo arm is good coaching/development.
Having Chance platoon against LHP's should help him perform to his top ability. Its win-win

Whats the problem?

[CaptainObvious]

My complaint is not that he is on the team. I'm glad he is on the team. Knew his dad in college-he is a great guy and maroon to the bone.
Chance is an MRA guy as am I. Love that about him.

My complaint is that a role player is getting starter AB's. As I said earlier- how about platooning his AB's with Stevens? We badly need another LH'ed bat and having a Freshman get the majority of his AB's vs the oppo arm is good coaching/development.
Having Chance platoon against LHP's should help him perform to his top ability. Its win-win

Whats the problem?

I think it is because he has 2 first names and Lemonis likes that in a player.

[Pancho]

The problem is in evaluating but that has been discussed previously*********

[basedog]

The problem is in evaluating but that has been discussed previously*********

Evaluating most definitely is a weakness Lemonis has, not just with players either.

I hope we take two today! Regardless of what I think or say, I'm going to always pull for us to win in all sports. For the posters who have the Judge Judy saying "My Opinion is the Only One That Matters" are wrong. LOL

[Bdawg]

What’s Highfill’s story. Any update?

[Homedawg]

What’s Highfill’s story. Any update?

I'll stand by my previous statement, I don't expect him to catch. Maybe he had a miracle or I got bad info. But I've had multiple people give me the same story, and if it's correct he ain't catching and should have already had surgery.

[Bdawg]

I'll stand by my previous statement, I don't expect him to catch. Maybe he had a miracle or I got bad info. But I've had multiple people give me the same story, and if it's correct he ain't catching and should have already had surgery.

Dang. Wonder what he’s waiting on? If it’s got to be done, get it done!

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

You people can't make up your mind- do we have SEC talent, or do we not?

C34 said before the season our offense would be better than it was last year. Todd said last May that Lemo has been bringing in good classes and he doesn't want to tank that by firing him. Both C34 and Todd cited the Cohen to Cann to Henderson chaos as something that harmed the roster and Lemo has been saddled with fixing it.

Well, it's year 6. There's not a player on the team Lemo didn't recruit and sign. Yet we're discussing whether Chance has the potential to be a "decent college player" vs a backup. And our starting SS is basically a copy of Lane Forsythe or Luke "Foambat" Alexander before him- good glove no bat. Where is all this talent from top 10 classes Lemo has signed for several years in a row?

See if Lemo isn't filling the roster with SEC caliber high ceiling guys AND he can't get them to "outperform", then what the hell is he still here for?

[Coach34]

Lol- no. I did not say the offense would be better. I said if we got Montgomery it would be. But we didn’t.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Lol- no. I did not say the offense would be better. I said if we got Montgomery it would be. But we didn’t.

You said Hujesak would be as good or better than Clark (hasn't happened so far), that Hines and Jordan would take steps forward (both look to have done the opposite if anything thanks to Jake G), and yes, that the offense would be better overall this season. You really going to deny that? You made an entire post about how we'd have one of the best offenses in the SEC

[Coach34]

You said Hujesak would be as good or better than Clark (hasn't happened so far), that Hines and Jordan would take steps forward (both look to have done the opposite if anything thanks to Jake G), and yes, that the offense would be better overall this season. You really going to deny that? You made an entire post about how we'd have one of the best offenses in the SEC

Had we gotten Montgomery. I literally listed him in the line-up.

No we'll see about the other 3. I mean Hines is not hitting with power but he is hitting .366 so he isnt garbage. Hugesak is 4-4 his last 2 games and is coming on. Jordan is hitting .342 currently after hitting .300 last year. Now the pitching on the horizon they face will get better for sure. But let's not act like they have been garbage or anything.

[Todd4State]

You people can't make up your mind- do we have SEC talent, or do we not?

C34 said before the season our offense would be better than it was last year. Todd said last May that Lemo has been bringing in good classes and he doesn't want to tank that by firing him. Both C34 and Todd cited the Cohen to Cann to Henderson chaos as something that harmed the roster and Lemo has been saddled with fixing it.

Well, it's year 6. There's not a player on the team Lemo didn't recruit and sign. Yet we're discussing whether Chance has the potential to be a "decent college player" vs a backup. And our starting SS is basically a copy of Lane Forsythe or Luke "Foambat" Alexander before him- good glove no bat. Where is all this talent from top 10 classes Lemo has signed for several years in a row?

See if Lemo isn't filling the roster with SEC caliber high ceiling guys AND he can't get them to "outperform", then what the hell is he still here for?


You said Hujesak would be as good or better than Clark (hasn't happened so far), that Hines and Jordan would take steps forward (both look to have done the opposite if anything thanks to Jake G), and yes, that the offense would be better overall this season. You really going to deny that? You made an entire post about how we'd have one of the best offenses in the SEC

I find people like you that don't understand baseball recruiting cycles hilarious. Yes- saving Lemonis allowed us to get guys like Luke Dotson, Nolan Stevens, Dylan Cupp as well as our current class who signed LOI's in November and won't be here until 2025. So you don't think that Dylan Cupp is a SEC caliber player? LOL. We also have some good freshmen that are injured too- Rives Reynolds, Mikahail Grant who is a better prospect than Dotson or Stevens honestly, and Jace Norton. I never said anything about turning the roster over from Cann to Henderson to Lemonis being an issue. The majority of the issue was Foxhall. He's gone and the pitching has improved. So has the defense- which you claimed wouldn't get better.

Why are you complaining about Dakota Jordan's development? He hit a building today for goodness sakes. Leads the team in home runs RBI's and has a slugging percentage of .711 while hitting .333? What are we bitching about here? The only thing Hunter Hines isn't doing is hitting for power. I think all of us with any shred of baseball IQ knows that the home runs are going to come for him. At least he is hitting for average so it's not like he has been completely unproductive. The offense has improved a good bit with Mershon and Kohler back in the lineup and we have only lost one game with them back so far.

[Commercecomet24]

I'll stand by my previous statement, I don't expect him to catch. Maybe he had a miracle or I got bad info. But I've had multiple people give me the same story, and if it's correct he ain't catching and should have already had surgery.

100% accurate!

[Commercecomet24]

Pitching through 12 games compared to
2023:

2023: 142 ks 79 walks
2024: 136 ks 35 walks

Huge difference! Same k numbers but way less walks!

[Coach34]

Highfill should have had surgery in November. Every day he wastes now is ridiculous

[Commercecomet24]

Highfill should have had surgery in November. Every day he wastes now is ridiculous

Makes no sense putting off the inevitable surgery and rehab

[Cowbell]

Georgia Southern is going toe-to-toe with a top 25 Campbell team this weekend so that makes me feel better about last weekend.

[CaptainObvious]

Austin Peay is 9-2 after losing 5-1 to Rio Grande Valley today. We will find out how for real they are next weekend when they play a 3 game set at Auburn.

[Todd4State]

Makes no sense putting off the inevitable surgery and rehab

It's because doctors like to exhaust all options usually and all it takes is for one to be optimistic and players and families cling to that but a lot of times with elbow ligament injuries it's just better to get it out of the way and over with and start the rehab process. If it's torn it's just a matter of time even if it's partially torn.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Makes no sense putting off the inevitable surgery and rehab

Is Highfill expected to develop into a hitter? Seems like Powell and Long catch handle catching and hit better. They are both on 100% fielding and they hit better than 200.

[Todd4State]

Austin Peay is 9-2 after losing 5-1 to Rio Grande Valley today. We will find out how for real they are next weekend when they play a 3 game set at Auburn.

We still shouldn't have lost to them like we did. We played like crap. But that also happens sometimes early in the season. Really kind of a perfect storm situation.

[Todd4State]

Is Highfill expected to develop into a hitter? Seems like Powell and Long catch handle catching and hit better. They are both on 100% fielding and they hit better than 200.

Well, Highfill isn't exactly 100% himself right now. I wouldn't judge his long term future on this year.

Powell is looking like a really good pick up. Long is a good leader but he is what he is as a hitter. He was recruited essentially to be the back up and then things happened.

[Commercecomet24]

It's because doctors like to exhaust all options usually and all it takes is for one to be optimistic and players and families cling to that but a lot of times with elbow ligament injuries it's just better to get it out of the way and over with and start the rehab process. If it's torn it's just a matter of time even if it's partially torn.

Yep I understand that completely. I went through that with my youngest son in juco. Wound up with a torn labrum and it cost him his career. He's been rehabbing for over a year and his fastball is back to 93-94 but he can't lift his arm the next day. It's a tough situation and no one wants to miss time but 99% of the time it's for the best to go ahead and get it done.

[R2Dawg]

Pitching through 12 games compared to
2023:

2023: 142 ks 79 walks
2024: 136 ks 35 walks

Huge difference! Same k numbers but way less walks!

Pitching is way better this year so far just from eye test and numbers back that up.

[PGHBulldogBG]

Parker has done a great job improving the pitching. While we clearly still have issues, I am much more confident with this team than last years

[basedog]

8-4 is good but not great, but in saying that we are playing better than last year. Also, after seeing us play, we are around 10th in Sec but it's still early. Just keep winning!

[Coach34]

Positives on the weekend:

The pitching. Quality starts from all 3 this weekend. Caribbean Jerk may be our best SP out of the 3 and he is currently pitching Game 3. He got loose in the 4th inning yesterday and really started lighting the gun up with movement on the ball. Dohmer and Steve threw well also. As they should have against a weaker hitting club. The shine has come off of Scheulke- he will get lit up in the SEC. He needs to be a 1 AB match-up moving forward. We look to be adding a couple more leftys to the pen instead of just Davis.

Hugesak is coming on. 5/9 on the weekend. Scored 5 runs. Now batting .324. Cupp had a decent weekend at the plate going 2/7 with 7 RBI's. Dirtbag went 7/12 this weekend and looks to be in midseason form. I still wish we would flip him and Larry vs RHP's.

Negatives:

Bryce Trout is an albatross on the line-up and has erned the nickname "rally killer". Not only did we keep him batting 5th- we didnt get Stevens or anybody else some AB's in his place. Cant play SEC weekends with only 9 guys. Need to develop some bench. Need to find a guy to play LF. 2/11 weekend and hitting .227 overall

22 K's at the plate on the weekend. That's discouraging vs a MSM- altho half of them were in Game 3 in which they started their best pitcher and pitched probably their best reliever after. Our 3 and 4 hole looked bad yesterday. They have got to relax and quit trying to hit that 5 run HR. Let the game come to them.

Still some sloppy baserunning. Hugesak got picked. Larry had the play in front of him and still got caught in no man's land. Got to be smarter.

Need another 4-0 week. Big midweek game Tuesday. Siary and Loftin did not pitch this weekend. I'm hopeful we will start Loftin. Curious what kind of work Holcombe and Ligon got over the week. Need those 2 arms to get it figured out.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Hines hasn't reached base but once in the 5 games I have attended. No idea how his average is that high. Seems like every single at bat is an automatic out.

[Coach34]

Hines hasn't reached base but once in the 5 games I have attended. No idea how his average is that high. Seems like every single at bat is an automatic out.

Hines has reached base in every game we have played except for the last 2 on Saturday.

https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/stats/bb/2024/plyr_44.htm

[Homedawg]

Hines has reached base in every game we have played except for the last 2 on Saturday.

https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/stats/bb/2024/plyr_44.htm

Don't start rolling in here w facts and documentation.

[Commercecomet24]

Hines has reached base in every game we have played except for the last 2 on Saturday.

https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/stats/bb/2024/plyr_44.htm

Facts! He does need to cut down on the K's but he's getting base hits and walking some.

[Homedawg]

Facts! He does need to cut down on the K's but he's getting base hits and walking some.

I think the automatic assumption w a guy like Hines is, no HR equals not hitting. He'll get one soon and will come in spurts!

[Commercecomet24]

I think the automatic assumption w a guy like Hines is, no HR equals not hitting. He'll get one soon and will come in spurts!

Yep and you know like I do power hitters traditionally start slow and then when they get going it comes in bunches.