Todd4State
02-13-2025, 01:38 AM
Here we go. Don't let us down Diamond Dawgs.
Rotation:
We know it's Pico, Ligon, and Stone for this weekend. That probably means Pruett starts Tuesday although he may pitch in relief after Ligon or Simmons most likely. I think Pico is going to surprise some fans. I don't trust Ligon's command but I hope he proves me wrong. Here's my prediction for the season. Pico is solid and we win at least 5 of his SEC starts. Ligon struggles and we bring along Makhai Grant in the meantime who we progress into the Sat or Sun slot. Stone Simmons has a really good year and wins a ton of Sunday games and is the Eddie Harris of the staff. Pruett becomes a solid midweek pitcher for us and plays the Houston Harding role. We'll see Charlie Foster makes some starts here and there especially when we play two midweek games.
Bullpen:
It's anyone's guess as to who the closer is but I'm going to go with Gavin Black. By the end of the year I'm going to predict that we're going to see Dane Burns and Black used like we used Tyler Davis and Tyson Hardin last year. Chase Hungate is going to be the arm angle guy that eats up innings. Kevin Mannell is going to pitch a lot as well. My bold prediction is that Nate Williams surprises fans and takes a set up role.
Catcher:
It's going to be Ross Highfill and Joe Powell. We'll see Ross play some in the OF. Can Jackson Owen continue to rake? We're in a much better situation here than last year when we were really thin because of injuries and essentially had a guy from Pitt, an EMT, and a JUCO walk-on.
Infield:
Going to be Hines at first and he sets the MSU career record for home runs this year. Sawyer Reeves probably starts at second with Dylan Cupp at SS. With those two, our MIF defense is going to be much better and yes, I know Mershon was elite. Ace Reese will start at third and the only question there is his defense. If he is adequate that's going to be the best case scenario. If not, we'll shift him to the OF because we have to have his bat in the lineup. If he can't handle third, it will likely be Gehrig Frei there. Frei may be an option at second base as well. May see Ethan Pulliam play second and that's probably our worst case scenario which is not a bad thing at all.
Outfield:
Probably the most unsettled part of the team. Nolan Stevens will start and he will pitch some in relief. Probably in RF although LF is a possibility. CF is probably going to be between O'Brien and Bryce Chance. If O'Brien can hit decently he will probably start there so I think he will get the first look probably. Fans are going to complain about Chance all year and yes, he has some limitations BUT we aren't a MLB farm team. The reality is he is a good college player and you need a couple of those in college to be leaders. He reminds me a bit of Rusty Thoms. He has some power. He can run. Not the strongest arm. Works hard. Doesn't strike out a ton. You can win games with a guy like that. We'll probably see Highfill some in CF and it wouldn't shock me if he ends up being the primary guy if it gives us our best lineup. LF will probably be Chance or Reed Stallman who has good power. As I said you may see Reese in the OF somewhere if he struggles at third. I think Aaron Downs will play some as well. He's another solid college player as well. We're going to have to do some mixing and matching here to see what works best. Biggest concern here is speed and range because we don't really have a true CF other than O'Brien and we don't know if he can hit.
DH:
It's going to be Noah Sullivan. He's going to be another good addition for us. A lot of people think he may hit 20 home runs but with SEC adjustments and etc. I'm going to be happy with anything over 10. He will also pitch in relief for us as well.
The biggest thing I want to see is us sweep Manhatten. I don't want to see us drop a game because of sloppiness or lack of focus. If Ligon doesn't have it- we need to give him the hook early. We shouldn't have to "save" pitching against a team like this. Actually like playing a DH because we can have an extra day of practice to iron some things out before we play USM which is not going to be an easy game at all. I think we are going to be better offensively because we have guys that make more contact but at the same time we aren't sacrificing power for contact. Might be slightly worse defensively because Kohler, Dakota, and Hujsack were pretty elite there. Just need to be adequate though.
As always it never quite plays out like we think it will but looking forward to a fun season hopefully!
Rotation:
We know it's Pico, Ligon, and Stone for this weekend. That probably means Pruett starts Tuesday although he may pitch in relief after Ligon or Simmons most likely. I think Pico is going to surprise some fans. I don't trust Ligon's command but I hope he proves me wrong. Here's my prediction for the season. Pico is solid and we win at least 5 of his SEC starts. Ligon struggles and we bring along Makhai Grant in the meantime who we progress into the Sat or Sun slot. Stone Simmons has a really good year and wins a ton of Sunday games and is the Eddie Harris of the staff. Pruett becomes a solid midweek pitcher for us and plays the Houston Harding role. We'll see Charlie Foster makes some starts here and there especially when we play two midweek games.
Bullpen:
It's anyone's guess as to who the closer is but I'm going to go with Gavin Black. By the end of the year I'm going to predict that we're going to see Dane Burns and Black used like we used Tyler Davis and Tyson Hardin last year. Chase Hungate is going to be the arm angle guy that eats up innings. Kevin Mannell is going to pitch a lot as well. My bold prediction is that Nate Williams surprises fans and takes a set up role.
Catcher:
It's going to be Ross Highfill and Joe Powell. We'll see Ross play some in the OF. Can Jackson Owen continue to rake? We're in a much better situation here than last year when we were really thin because of injuries and essentially had a guy from Pitt, an EMT, and a JUCO walk-on.
Infield:
Going to be Hines at first and he sets the MSU career record for home runs this year. Sawyer Reeves probably starts at second with Dylan Cupp at SS. With those two, our MIF defense is going to be much better and yes, I know Mershon was elite. Ace Reese will start at third and the only question there is his defense. If he is adequate that's going to be the best case scenario. If not, we'll shift him to the OF because we have to have his bat in the lineup. If he can't handle third, it will likely be Gehrig Frei there. Frei may be an option at second base as well. May see Ethan Pulliam play second and that's probably our worst case scenario which is not a bad thing at all.
Outfield:
Probably the most unsettled part of the team. Nolan Stevens will start and he will pitch some in relief. Probably in RF although LF is a possibility. CF is probably going to be between O'Brien and Bryce Chance. If O'Brien can hit decently he will probably start there so I think he will get the first look probably. Fans are going to complain about Chance all year and yes, he has some limitations BUT we aren't a MLB farm team. The reality is he is a good college player and you need a couple of those in college to be leaders. He reminds me a bit of Rusty Thoms. He has some power. He can run. Not the strongest arm. Works hard. Doesn't strike out a ton. You can win games with a guy like that. We'll probably see Highfill some in CF and it wouldn't shock me if he ends up being the primary guy if it gives us our best lineup. LF will probably be Chance or Reed Stallman who has good power. As I said you may see Reese in the OF somewhere if he struggles at third. I think Aaron Downs will play some as well. He's another solid college player as well. We're going to have to do some mixing and matching here to see what works best. Biggest concern here is speed and range because we don't really have a true CF other than O'Brien and we don't know if he can hit.
DH:
It's going to be Noah Sullivan. He's going to be another good addition for us. A lot of people think he may hit 20 home runs but with SEC adjustments and etc. I'm going to be happy with anything over 10. He will also pitch in relief for us as well.
The biggest thing I want to see is us sweep Manhatten. I don't want to see us drop a game because of sloppiness or lack of focus. If Ligon doesn't have it- we need to give him the hook early. We shouldn't have to "save" pitching against a team like this. Actually like playing a DH because we can have an extra day of practice to iron some things out before we play USM which is not going to be an easy game at all. I think we are going to be better offensively because we have guys that make more contact but at the same time we aren't sacrificing power for contact. Might be slightly worse defensively because Kohler, Dakota, and Hujsack were pretty elite there. Just need to be adequate though.
As always it never quite plays out like we think it will but looking forward to a fun season hopefully!