Who will be the SEC starting rotation next season?

[AlSwearengen]

I guess Valincius is one. I?m assuming McPherson will move into a starter role.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Depends on draft:
My Top-10 most likely but 3 dudes may never see Fall Ball.

(1) Valincius
(2) McP
(3) Hickson (Draft Risk Very High)
(4) Siary (Draft Risk)
(5) Davis
(6) Foster
(7) Kirk (high pedigree recruit)
(8) Duke Stone (Cape talent and Sophomore)
(9) Harmon (1st Round recruit draft risk)
(10) Burns (Parker says he's a superstar in progress)

[ZedFedder]

My three would be
1. Valincius
2. McPherson
3. Siary
*Hickson if Siary leaves.
**Foster if Siary and Hickson both leave.

[Hot Rock]

Let's see who we get to keep after the draft.

The top ten list above has a lot of very good options and backup plans if we do lose players to the draft.

There are two huge differences BOC from previous coaches and not just the last one. I am not sayin why, just what is.

1) State is now beating other top teams for players at a competitive rate where as before it was rare we got a guy others really wanted.

2) State seems to have a backup plan to the backup plan if a guy is lost to injury, draft or simply out maneuvered for a player.

That makes roster construction such that it can withstand a losing 3 starting quality pitchers to the draft. If we keep one or two of those guys then we may have 5 starting caliper SEC pitchers and a bull pen full of live arms. Lots can happen on the way to the bank and we may lose more than I think or BOC thinks but I am betting he is planning for that as well.

This guy seems to dot all the i's and cross all his t's when it comes to building a roster. I truly am excited to see what he do here with the support he seems to be getting.

[AlSwearengen]

i forgot about Foster. If he gets his command down, he will be a weekend starter on most staffs. That dude's stuff is legit.

[Coach34]

I wouldnt exactly just auto-say Valincius is a weekend guy just yet. Is he likely to be? Absolutely. But when we have him/McPh/Foster/Burns to choose from thats a fun job to have. That's 4 guys with Top 2 round draft talent. Makes the PC job a helluva lot easier just like in 2024. Just got to see what the draft does and who is healthy come Feb 1st

[The Federalist Engineer]

How come nobody talks about the 2024 Alabama Player of the Year on the roster?

Hitter and Pitcher. But more highly rated as a Pitcher. Was the injured this past year it seems, coached 1st base. SEC schools and MSU in particular has gotten great mileage from Alabama POYs. For MSU: Pico Kohn, Hunter Stovall, Maddux Bruns (1st Rounder from HS). Auburn: Tanner Burns (1st Rounder), Garrett Wade (Freshman All SEC). MLB: Gunnar Henderson (1st Round), Braxton Garrett (1st Round), Cody Reed (Vandy 2nd Rounder)...

Seems there are lots of Millionaires with Alabama Player of the Year plaques in their house. Not all, but many.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRblDH4FjM-YyPYJjmHnf1NDHGTHAvIHQLa1w&shttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRblDH4FjM-YyPYJjmHnf1NDHGTHAvIHQLa1w&s

[Homedawg]

How come nobody talks about the 2024 Alabama Player of the Year on the roster?

Hitter and Pitcher. But more highly rated as a Pitcher. Was the injured this past year it seems, coached 1st base. SEC schools and MSU in particular has gotten great mileage from Alabama POYs. For MSU: Pico Kohn, Hunter Stovall, Maddux Bruns (1st Rounder from HS). Auburn: Tanner Burns (1st Rounder), Garrett Wade (Freshman All SEC). MLB: Gunnar Henderson (1st Round), Braxton Garrett (1st Round), Cody Reed (Vandy 2nd Rounder)...

Seems there are lots of Millionaires with Alabama Player of the Year plaques in their house. Not all, but many.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRblDH4FjM-YyPYJjmHnf1NDHGTHAvIHQLa1w&shttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRblDH4FjM-YyPYJjmHnf1NDHGTHAvIHQLa1w&s

Bc he got hit hard in the fall and getting rocked this summer.

[Pancho]

As it stands currently, I do not look for him to log many innings unless he makes drastic improvements.

[Tbonewannabe]

How is he as a hitter? Is this where he needs time to bounce back after injury or just not missing bats at a higher level?

[Pancho]

I am not aware of him doing any batting this summer.

[HoopsDawg]

Let's revisit after the draft but as of today:

1, Valincius 2. Hickson 3. Foster

Siary midweek starter, long relief
Burns and Davis out of the pen
McPherson possible closer

That's 7 legit arms there.

[Coach34]

Let's revisit after the draft but as of today:

1, Valincius 2. Hickson 3. Foster

Siary midweek starter, long relief
Burns and Davis out of the pen
McPherson possible closer

That's 7 legit arms there.

If that were to happen then we would have the best pitching staff in the country

Davis is coming back thinking he has a chance to be a weekend SP. He is not coming back on a guarantee to be a pen guy

[The Federalist Engineer]

If that were to happen then we would have the best pitching staff in the country

Davis is coming back thinking he has a chance to be a weekend SP. He is not coming back on a guarantee to be a pen guy

A staff this deep would win 18 to 22 SEC games. So you host and could be a National Seed. Then you need 2 or 3 guys to go Superman for a spell. Like Bednar and Sims. With other fellas doing the Preston Johnson and Houston Harding.

[Coach34]

A staff this deep would win 18 to 22 SEC games. So you host and could be a National Seed. Then you need 2 or 3 guys to go Superman for a spell. Like Bednar and Sims. With other fellas doing the Preston Johnson and Houston Harding.

With a staff like you are thinking 20-22 wins depending on what we lose offensively. I dont think we end up with all that talent on the staff because of the draft- but we have a week or so to find out

[HoopsDawg]

If that were to happen then we would have the best pitching staff in the country

Davis is coming back thinking he has a chance to be a weekend SP. He is not coming back on a guarantee to be a pen guy

Agree. I just don't know who he starts over. I'm a big fan of Foster. He may start on Saturday bc we likely lose Hickson.

[Coach34]

Think of this- Bauer is not an auto sign for MLB. We have to wait on the draft. Imagine that insane talented Mf’er added to the mix. We just don’t know until the draft fallout and then who stays healthy on Feb 1st

[Todd4State]

There's going to be a lot of competition for the rotation and top bullpen roles this fall and spring.

Tomas Volinicus is probably the favorite for Friday.

McPherson will have a chance to be in the rotation and if he isn't I expect him to be used in a role similar to Landon Sims when he was here where he was basically the closer but could go a little longer than most closers. We could bring him in during the 7th inning if needed. That said, I think he has a chance to potentially be the Friday starter even.

If we get Hickson through the draft and it could be a NIL vs MLB bonus deal as I think we're going to probably end up forcing someone to go over slot to get him I would have to believe he would be the lead candidate for Sunday.

One guy to watch who has done well in the Cape is Tyler Pitzer. I'm not sure what his role will be but I think he will contribute a lot for us. I absolutely think he will be a rotation candidate. If not I think he will have a prominent role out of the bullpen. It could very well come down to Pitzer, Chuck Foster, and Dane Burns for the Sunday spot and the roles in the bullpen.

Another pitcher who I think is a darkhorse is William Kirk who we acquired from Virginia. He was hurt all of last year but he was one of the top pitching prospects in the country his senior year.

As far as Ben Davis goes- to me he really fits in perfectly as the midweek starter who can come in and pitch in relief some if needed like Houston Harding in 2021. If we get Siary back then that obviously changes a lot. I almost don't know how you couldn't let him start out in the rotation for us. He would be a senior that has pitched in a lot of big games and has performed well for us. I get that we may have some guys that are just better- and if that is the case he might end up being our best midweek starter ever. It seems to me like he would probably go pro if I had to guess. I would be very pleasantly surprised if he returned. Jackson Logar is another pitcher we got out of the portal that kind of falls into the either/or draft category.

And call me crazy- and this is bullpen only. I really like Maddox Webb who we picked up from The Citadel. I could see him being more of a traditional closer for us. And with our pitching lab resources I could see him making a big jump.