Todd4State
03-06-2025, 01:32 AM
It's probably going to be announced as Pico and TBA and TBA.
Here's who I think they might look at:
Ryan McPherson- 13K's 3 BB's and 5 hits allowed in 8 innings. .179 AVG against and has a 2.25 ERA. Already up to 3 innings and about 50 pitches per outing. His last outing was strong with 6K's in 3 IP. I could easily see him getting stretched out to 5 IP with our bullpen.
Ben Davis- 18 K's 2 BB's and 7 hits allowed in 10.2 IP. Has the same .179 against that McPherson does and a very similar 2.53 ERA. He is also at 3 IP and his pitch count has been gradually stretched out to 38-44 pitches per outing. Has pitched pretty well against good competition- USM in Hattiesburg, Troy(Did allow the game winning HR but had 5 Ks and HR was the only hit he allowed in 2.1 IP), and Oklahoma State. Very similar to McPherson as you can see.
Jacob Pruitt- Has to be mentioned and is favorite to land a weekend spot at some point. He has shown glimpses of being really good and glimpses of his command wavering which is why he hasn't won a spot yet. 12K's and 5 BB's in 8.2 IP and 6 hits allowed bear this out. His ERA is one of the highest on the team at 6.23 however, this is skewed by a rocky relief outing and I don't think relief is his best role. He is already stretched out to 67 pitches meaning that if he does come back and pitch this weekend it would have to be Sunday to give him the proper amount of rest. That seems a bit unlikely to me and I suspect we see him pitch next in Biloxi against Old Dominion if not against Texas. One thing in his favor is his AVG against is only .188 which is similar to McPherson and Davis.
Charlie Foster is a possibility as well. He hasn't pitched in awhile likely due to being very young and the glut of pitching that MSU has been trying to sort through in pre-SEC play. But he has started a game and his ceiling is as high as any pitching prospect MSU has on the roster. All in all, he did pretty well against a good USM team on the road even though he had to fight through some nerves. Really the only knock on him given the small sample size compared to the others is his command where he has 7K's and 5 BB's in 5.2 IP. That said, he also has only allowed one hit this year albeit a home run to USM. His ERA is 1.59 and the AVG against is only .053. If he can harness his command he could be very good this year. I suspect that MSU will bring him along fairly slowly but he could be good option on Sunday's. He is at 46 pitches an outing so stretching him out likely won't be much of an issue.
Luke Dotson- So far MSU has used him more as a 1 inning closer type but he has the ability to start and the staff really likes him. We'll see if they like him enough to start him but that seems a bit unlikely given his workload compared to the other candidates plus he has more walks that K's even in a small sample size. It just seems like others should be ahead of him.
Evan Siary- I think he is a darkhorse because he is a veteran who has started SEC games before even though he has basically been a one inning option for MSU this year. As it is though, he has performed very well in that role with 4 K's, 0BB's, and 1 hit allowed in 3.1 IP for an AVG allowed of .091 and an ERA of 0.00. A lot of people will point to his extremely high ERA in his career as to why he shouldn't start however he has been MSU's mop up man essentially eating innings and sometimes taking a beating to save pitching- most notably in 2023 against LSU when he went up against Paul Skenes in Baton Rouge which then allowed MSU to pitch their better pitchers later in the series which MSU won.
Now some thoughts on the old starters for MSU. I just think Stone Simmons is a better relief pitcher than he is as a starting pitcher. His primary issue has been walks and I think if they tell him "Hey gets through the order once" he may be able to be a little more aggressive with how he attacks and that may lead to a better performance. Ligon the issue has always been about command and I have doubts that he will find it consistently. So, I'm not sure what his best role would be. I could see him coming back as a midweek starter to see if something clicks. But it's a work in progress that no one has seemed to be able to answer yet if ever.
Here's who I think they might look at:
Ryan McPherson- 13K's 3 BB's and 5 hits allowed in 8 innings. .179 AVG against and has a 2.25 ERA. Already up to 3 innings and about 50 pitches per outing. His last outing was strong with 6K's in 3 IP. I could easily see him getting stretched out to 5 IP with our bullpen.
Ben Davis- 18 K's 2 BB's and 7 hits allowed in 10.2 IP. Has the same .179 against that McPherson does and a very similar 2.53 ERA. He is also at 3 IP and his pitch count has been gradually stretched out to 38-44 pitches per outing. Has pitched pretty well against good competition- USM in Hattiesburg, Troy(Did allow the game winning HR but had 5 Ks and HR was the only hit he allowed in 2.1 IP), and Oklahoma State. Very similar to McPherson as you can see.
Jacob Pruitt- Has to be mentioned and is favorite to land a weekend spot at some point. He has shown glimpses of being really good and glimpses of his command wavering which is why he hasn't won a spot yet. 12K's and 5 BB's in 8.2 IP and 6 hits allowed bear this out. His ERA is one of the highest on the team at 6.23 however, this is skewed by a rocky relief outing and I don't think relief is his best role. He is already stretched out to 67 pitches meaning that if he does come back and pitch this weekend it would have to be Sunday to give him the proper amount of rest. That seems a bit unlikely to me and I suspect we see him pitch next in Biloxi against Old Dominion if not against Texas. One thing in his favor is his AVG against is only .188 which is similar to McPherson and Davis.
Charlie Foster is a possibility as well. He hasn't pitched in awhile likely due to being very young and the glut of pitching that MSU has been trying to sort through in pre-SEC play. But he has started a game and his ceiling is as high as any pitching prospect MSU has on the roster. All in all, he did pretty well against a good USM team on the road even though he had to fight through some nerves. Really the only knock on him given the small sample size compared to the others is his command where he has 7K's and 5 BB's in 5.2 IP. That said, he also has only allowed one hit this year albeit a home run to USM. His ERA is 1.59 and the AVG against is only .053. If he can harness his command he could be very good this year. I suspect that MSU will bring him along fairly slowly but he could be good option on Sunday's. He is at 46 pitches an outing so stretching him out likely won't be much of an issue.
Luke Dotson- So far MSU has used him more as a 1 inning closer type but he has the ability to start and the staff really likes him. We'll see if they like him enough to start him but that seems a bit unlikely given his workload compared to the other candidates plus he has more walks that K's even in a small sample size. It just seems like others should be ahead of him.
Evan Siary- I think he is a darkhorse because he is a veteran who has started SEC games before even though he has basically been a one inning option for MSU this year. As it is though, he has performed very well in that role with 4 K's, 0BB's, and 1 hit allowed in 3.1 IP for an AVG allowed of .091 and an ERA of 0.00. A lot of people will point to his extremely high ERA in his career as to why he shouldn't start however he has been MSU's mop up man essentially eating innings and sometimes taking a beating to save pitching- most notably in 2023 against LSU when he went up against Paul Skenes in Baton Rouge which then allowed MSU to pitch their better pitchers later in the series which MSU won.
Now some thoughts on the old starters for MSU. I just think Stone Simmons is a better relief pitcher than he is as a starting pitcher. His primary issue has been walks and I think if they tell him "Hey gets through the order once" he may be able to be a little more aggressive with how he attacks and that may lead to a better performance. Ligon the issue has always been about command and I have doubts that he will find it consistently. So, I'm not sure what his best role would be. I could see him coming back as a midweek starter to see if something clicks. But it's a work in progress that no one has seemed to be able to answer yet if ever.