Woodruff

[msstate7]

If he doesn't make it out of the 2nd tonight, is it time to worry?

[RossDawg82]

I agree, he needs to throw strikes and hopefully his Defense will have his back. I think he will be fine today and I think we put up at least 7 runs.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I'm not worried yet, but if he has a similar start to the one he had last week, I'd start to be a little worried.

That being said, I expect him to bounce back and be solid tonight. Remember, last week was his first competitive outing since surgery, and he likely had a lot of nerves.

[Will James]

If he doesn't make it out of 2 tonight then yes I will begin to worry about him. Maybe he needs to be a pen guy as well.

[bully99]

AS I said the other day, if he struggles today, will he see the mound again this year.

[Goat Holder]

Whatever happens, we need to leave him in there and force him to battle it out. Unless he just throws like 10 straight balls and is getting rocked, let him fight through it. That's something I don't think Butch has allowed him to do. We don't really have a choice, we HAVE to have him at his best to make a run, so may as well try it. What we've been doing with him isn't working. Sacrifice a game and make him dig deep and work.

[thedawg]

Im almost sure they tried that last year against Alcorn and we ended up down 5-0 to a team that was striking out in BP before the game... Im 99% sure that was Woodruff

[maroonmania]

If he doesn't make it out of the 2nd tonight, is it time to worry?

Hey, beat the rush, worry early. After Wednesday night I'm worried about alot more things than just Woodruff. Hopefully that will prove out to be an anomaly though.

[Goat Holder]

You are correct, but he was pretty much hurt all last year too.

The guy just needs SOMETHING positive to happen to him in an actual game. I think if he gets that monkey off his back he'll become dominant again.

[Goat Holder]

Does anyone ever wonder if Woodruff would have been better suited for RF for us? Hindsight is 20/20, but he'd have been a good power arm for us out in RF now that Renfroe is gone. Plus the guy batted over .500 in his last two years of HS. I know he didn't hit well his freshman year, but neither did a lot of freshman, Renfroe included. And did he really have any other great pitching performances other than 2 games in the 2012 SEC tournament?

It's a legitimate question to be asked. Bole transfers, Norris doesn't pan out, now Woodruff isn't either. Do our coaches maybe have trouble with the high profile guys?

[thedawg]

Im pulling for the kid... I really am... but if he doesnt make it through the second inning tonight he needs to prove it a few times on Tuesdays before we trot him back out there on a weekend

[Will James]

Does anyone ever wonder if Woodruff would have been better suited for RF for us? Hindsight is 20/20, but he'd have been a good power arm for us out in RF now that Renfroe is gone. Plus the guy batted over .500 in his last two years of HS. I know he didn't hit well his freshman year, but neither did a lot of freshman, Renfroe included. And did he really have any other great pitching performances other than 2 games in the 2012 SEC tournament?

It's a legitimate question to be asked. Bole transfers, Norris doesn't pan out, now Woodruff isn't either. Do our coaches maybe have trouble with the high profile guys?

He did play 1A ball too though right. Best and only option was pitcher with his potential.

[bully99]

Goat, I've questioned the whole hitting philosophy since Cohen has been here. He recruits a lot of small players and the bigger size guys, he turns in to singles hitters. Cohen is convinced that NO player can drive the damn ball.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Goat, I've questioned the whole hitting philosophy since Cohen has been here. He recruits a lot of small players and the bigger size guys, he turns in to singles hitters. Cohen is convinced that NO player can drive the damn ball.

Yep, he sure turn Renfroe into a singles hitter... The guy only led the damn conference in HRs last year in what is probably the most difficult park in the SEC to hit a ball out.

Your whole theory on Cohen not letting players play is ridiculous- when he gets good starting pitchers and power hitters (Graveman, Stratton, Renfroe, etc.), he let's them be who they are. At the same time, he's not going to force guys to do things they aren't comfortable with.

[smootness]

Uh, no, we definitely should have kept him at P. We have a guy with 1st-round potential as a pitcher, and we're wondering if we should have put him in RF?

I get that he's struggled some, but can we be a tad bit patient?

[Goat Holder]

True, but Renfroe also played at Copiah Academy.

[smootness]

Goat, I've questioned the whole hitting philosophy since Cohen has been here. He recruits a lot of small players and the bigger size guys, he turns in to singles hitters. Cohen is convinced that NO player can drive the damn ball.

I'm with you, man. We've had so many huge guys who can crush the ball who Cohen will not allow to hit the ball hard. I'm pretty sure he actually tells them when walking up to the plate, 'Your job here is to swing at about 50%. If you hit a gapper or hit it over the fence, you're out of here.'

Guys like CT Bradford, Adam Frazier, Demarcus Henderson...we have so many big mashers that Cohen just will not let hit the ball.

[Goat Holder]

I disagree with that. That's not really what I meant by my post. My concerns are the following:

- Woodruff may have been a pretty good hitter and we didn't use him

- High profile recruits not panning out (specifically Bole, Norris, and possibly Woodruff)

I don't think we have a hitting problem. At all. That's just your Cohen hate. Don't latch onto me with that agenda just because I'm questioning a few things.

[Goat Holder]

I'm simply asking the question. Don't try and make it more than it is. Also, it's possibly to play more than one position.

[Todd4State]

I'm with you, man. We've had so many huge guys who can crush the ball who Cohen will not allow to hit the ball hard. I'm pretty sure he actually tells them when walking up to the plate, 'Your job here is to swing at about 50%. If you hit a gapper or hit it over the fence, you're out of here.'

Guys like CT Bradford, Adam Frazier, Demarcus Henderson...we have so many big mashers that Cohen just will not let hit the ball.

LOL.

Your point is spot on. You have to do what your players can do. Everyone wants power because home runs are American and awesome. But it's also pretty rare and hard to get- MLB pays a lot of money to guys from around the world that can actually legitimately hit with power, which means no one in college ball gets a ton of them.

Usually when we or anyone else gets a guy that has a lot of power like Renfroe or Rea- it's at least in part because they are pretty raw from a power standpoint. Look at their home run totals as freshmen and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[Lefthandersrule]

I think Woody will pound the zone tonight and be just fine. The first game of the season he was trying to be too cute and pitched from behind.