This baseball team can still go on a run.......

[Goat Holder]

....but our pitching and defense is going to have to go ice cold and carry us. Laster will get the ball Wednesday. After that, the weekend rotation at Auburn has to be Fitts, Real Deal and Woodruff. Go with your best and see how far they take us.

The big difference I see between this year and last is that honestly, our pitching is better while our offense is not. Quite simple, right? Well, to take advantage of this and not let it beat us, we have to quit giving up leads before we can get to our relievers. Therefore, let your best guys pitch. Terrible decision to start Brown Sunday, but Cohen admitted it, owned it, so let's move on.

Our hitting is what it is. I'd like to see the lineup stabilized, but it generally doesn't matter. So I say play the seniors in the OF (Armstrong/Bradford/Henderson) and let it fall where it may. DH really seems to be the only leftover piece, ie do you sacrifice Humphreys/Brown/etc.'s bat for Britton's glove? But it still doesn't matter.

Pitching will take us as far as we want to go in this thing. Opposite of last year. If we want to play like UCLA, we need to start playing like UCLA. They didn't have anybody hitting over .300 in their lineup last year. But they had 2 stud pitchers and they played ice cold.

10 games left, let's see what we got. Can we host? Probably not, unless we go 10-0. We may have room for one SEC loss in there. I don't think 18-12 gets it anymore. Need 19-11. Cohen said there was something special in the dugout, well let's see it. Some bad decisions and bad bounces and bad calls cost us the Texas A&M series. But no excuses from this point on.

[mic]

I don't think this team has the Intestinal Fortitude to make a run....

[Goat Holder]

Maybe not. But Cohen did say he saw something in the dugout. If true, surely they won't lose their nuts because of one bad series. Surely they didn't think the world would be easy due to one little 5-0 run. There's an awful lot of seniors on this team. And while they are not overly talented, they are still solid players who've been in the clutch before. 2011 comes to mind, although I think this team's ceiling is much higher primarily due to pitching.

I just have a weird feeling we'll all be surprised.

[HereComesTheSpiral]

I don't think this team has the Intestinal Fortitude to make a run....

Hopefully this season is growing pains and lessons learned for the young players.

[MsStateBaseball]

I wouldn't doubt we have a run left. We have had mini runs but they have died out. The bright spot is we are hitting the ball hard and not striking out much. That is a very good sign. We shall see.

[RossDawg82]

I cant see us making a run like we did last year. But I can see a good run through a regional. You never know. We are on the cusp and all we need once a regional starts is for a starters to be dominate and our the balls will need to fall our way. I haven't given up on them.

[MsStateBaseball]

I would like this: 10 games left (win 6), SECT (go 2-2), get a 2nd seed in regional in Texas (why not? we play well away for some reason). If we are hot in the Regional we can win it.

[Coach34]

We just have to get in the right Regional. Fitts/Lingo in Game 1 followed by Mitchell in Game 2 gives us a chance. But we can't get sent to some matchbox stadium where the ball flies or we will get smoked. ULL for example.

[quickstrike2]

I haven't given up on this team, but i have no expectations for them.

[RossDawg82]

We will go nowhere unless we can find that 1 reliable pitcher outside Mitchell and our bats need to wake up. If we do that I think we have what it takes to make another run to Omaha

[Goat Holder]

Fitts and Woodruff are our only chances to do this. They are upperclassmen, it is time. Give them the ball and let them work. And it appears that both of them are coming around. Woodruff would have rolled along further than he did against A&M if it weren't for errors. Sunday is a good place for him.

[Jacksondevildog]

I'm tired of holding out hope. Our batting average with runners in scoring position is a joke. We have to piece together a staff to get us through the weekend. Our starting pitching gets off to a bad start nearly every game and we are down early. Things would have to drastically change with a lot of our players for us to make a serious run at anything. I think reality may hit them and us this weekend on the Plains.

[Goat Holder]

How did you feel last season? With 10 games left at this point last year, we were 33-13, but 10-11 in the SEC.

[Todd4State]

Last year at this time we had just gotten swept by Vanderbilt. We didn't have our now infamous turnaround game in Oxford until the next to last week of the regular season.

As Goat said, we had 33 wins at this time last year as well. This year we had a tougher OOC schedule and instead of sweeping Purdue and Samford we lost two games to Cal- Santa-Barbara and one to Arizona. We also lost a game to Hofstra this year to rainout which I doubt we will make up and we replaced Hofstra with Western Carolina who beat us once with the National Pitcher of the Week for week one. And we lost to Memphis this year. You can switch some things around a little bit with the teams- but basically the conclusion is we did better OOC last year than this year.

A lot of people blame the hitting. Which is no doubt worse than last year, but I think the difference might surprise people a little bit. Last year we finished at .293. This year we are at .275. Two weeks ago, our team batting average was .260 or so. Of course the power numbers are down. If some of our players didn't have their head up their ass early in the year, our hitting stats would be even better.

The pitching numbers for ERA- last year we were at 2.79 and currently we are at 3.30.

Goat is right that pitching Preston was a mistake in hindsight by the coaching staff. We just need to shut him down and then get him ready for next year. And because of his durability or lack thereof he probably fits in best at midweek. We need to let Fitts go deeper. His ERA is 2.17 in SEC games. I think he can consistently give us 6-7 innings. Ross needs to stay, but I think he needs to mix up his pitches a little bit better. Woodruff needs to be the Sunday guy. We need to use him like we used Fitts- for 3-4 innings and then go with Lindgren at the first sign of trouble and follow up with Holder.

I'm not too upset with how we played from an effort standpoint- which was the issue in the Ole Miss series. That's not to say that the effort was 100% like it should be all the time from everybody- but just in general. We should have won the Texas A&M series- but we had some BS happen that I anticipate won't happen going forward. It's going to be tough going forward, but 5-4, 6-3 is realistic. We probably will lose the Alabama series, probably win the Tennessee series, and then we will probably lose the Auburn series. I'm hopeful that we will at least win one of the road series. Our team needs to be shooting for winning the road series and sweeping Tennessee. That's a 7-2 SEC finish.

[Todd4State]

I'm tired of holding out hope. Our batting average with runners in scoring position is a joke. We have to piece together a staff to get us through the weekend. Our starting pitching gets off to a bad start nearly every game and we are down early. Things would have to drastically change with a lot of our players for us to make a serious run at anything. I think reality may hit them and us this weekend on the Plains.

We just have to take it one game at a time. We only have one midweek game left- and that will help the pitching staff a little bit going forward.

[Todd4State]

We just have to get in the right Regional. Fitts/Lingo in Game 1 followed by Mitchell in Game 2 gives us a chance. But we can't get sent to some matchbox stadium where the ball flies or we will get smoked. ULL for example.

I totally agree.

[Drugdog]

History my friends is why we will make a run. Count on it.

[Will James]

Why not look at 2012 for a more apt comparison?

Shitty hitting, no power, shitty coaching.


OBP
2012- .358
2014- .372

SLG
2012- .333
2014- .337

I said early on this is going to be 2012 all over again. Wouldn't surprise me to go down to Tallahassee and get waxed with dumb coaching just like 2 years ago.

[Goat Holder]

Because 2011 is a better comparison. That 2012 team was very young and only really had one true pitcher. 2015 will be more like 2012. We've got a lot of JUCO upperclassmen and seniors, just like 2011. Top averages are similar. Pitching is similar, but better overall, and with no true stud.

You are really off base on the shitty coaching part. It's gotten old.

We are on the same track, only better. This team is better than the 2011 team, and the 2015 team will be better than the 2012. Then 2016 will be comparable to 2013, only better yet again.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

What we're missing is a 5-tool player...

[DapperDawg]

Last year was a once in a lifetime event. I don't expect that to happen again anytime soon, especially this season, with this team. The only bright spot on our team, Ross Mitchell, is trending downward lately. We just aren't very good, and I know this because Engie said so.

[State82]

But Cohen did say he saw something in the dugout. If true, surely they won't lose their nuts because of one bad series. Surely they didn't think the world would be easy due to one little 5-0 run.

If they do, then that is on the coaches. And what Cohen thinks he saw in the dugout was a mirage. Or a ghost. We may get to see where the program is, in general, over the next 4-5 weeks. As far as handling adversity goes.

[Todd4State]

If they do, then that is on the coaches. And what Cohen thinks he saw in the dugout was a mirage. Or a ghost. We may get to see where the program is, in general, over the next 4-5 weeks. As far as handling adversity goes.

No doubt he is going to have to stay on their ass. I might be giving them too much leeway, but I think Sunday was more about pitching a guy that wasn't 100% and a horseshit umpire than anything.

We can't control the umpires, but we can control not putting hurt guys on the mound.

[Todd4State]

Because 2011 is a better comparison. That 2012 team was very young and only really had one true pitcher. 2015 will be more like 2012. We've got a lot of JUCO upperclassmen and seniors, just like 2011. Top averages are similar. Pitching is similar, but better overall, and with no true stud.

You are really off base on the shitty coaching part. It's gotten old.

We are on the same track, only better. This team is better than the 2011 team, and the 2015 team will be better than the 2012. Then 2016 will be comparable to 2013, only better yet again.

I agree. I think this group of players is for the most part a bridge class. We're going to transition to where we have more power guys like hopefully Chase Vallot, Dale Burdick, Cole Gordon and of course Gavin Collins, Joey Siwinarski, and Reid Humphreys. We're trying to get ready for the new baseball and the new seams- and that's going to mean more power from our guys- all the while continuing to do the things that we do to put pressure on the other team. A few of those guys I mentioned can run too.

[MarketingBully01]

No doubt he is going to have to stay on their ass. I might be giving them too much leeway, but I think Sunday was more about pitching a guy that wasn't 100% and a horseshit umpire than anything.

We can't control the umpires, but we can control not putting hurt guys on the mound.

Or not pitching Bracewell with a 50+ pitch count to A&M's hottest hitter with the bases loaded.

[Goat Holder]

We made a lot of coaching mistakes Sunday. Cohen admitted it. Time to move on.

[Will James]

Or not pitching Bracewell with a 50+ pitch count to A&M's hottest hitter, who happens to be left handed, with the bases loaded, with the best bullpen lefthanded pitcher in the country available

Fixed it

[MarketingBully01]

We made a lot of coaching mistakes Sunday. Cohen admitted it. Time to move on.

I think the biggest bone headed move of the weekend is something everyone keeps missing. With Heck at the lead off spot this weekend, we were 1-0. Without him at the lead off spot, 0-2. Coincidence? I don't think so. Cody Brown and Jake Vickerson were 1-12 in games two and three and really didn't contribute much at all against A&M. A&M is a team you have to jump out early on so they can't do their small ball game and put pressure on the defense. That was one of the reasons for our break downs in the field. If we had the lineup we used for Thursday's game, we might have gone in front early and forced them to abandon their game plan. This constant shifting of the lineup is also one of our struggles as well and that is on Cohen.

[MarketingBully01]

No doubt he is going to have to stay on their ass. I might be giving them too much leeway, but I think Sunday was more about pitching a guy that wasn't 100% and a horseshit umpire than anything.

We can't control the umpires, but we can control not putting hurt guys on the mound.

I think we have a chance to be very good in the post season if we stick to this lineup no matter the situation

1. Heck
2. Detz
3. Pirtle
4. Collins
5. Rea
6. Armstrong
7. Henderson (LH pitching)/Brown (RH pitching)
8. Britton
9. Bradford

We make that one change, that is it for Lefties or Righties. That stabilizes the lineup and still let's Cohen do his thing in the LH/RH situation. To me, that type of lineup will go a long way to determine the type of run we go on.

[bulldogcountry1]

I feel we are going to make a run, but having to"reassess my expectations" still sucks. Omaha is always the goal, but hosting was avery reasonable expectation. We won'tmake a run strong enough to pull that off, especially since the RPI is workingagainst us.

The most frustrating thing over these last couple weeksis that some players have a good few games while others stink it up. Then, they play musical chairs and swap up. We just can't get to all come together atonce. I blame Cohen more than anything.

We could beat Nola 20-0 with everyone in the lineup going3 for 4, and he would jumble the lineup the next day because one guy didn'texecute the sac bunt properly and the other guy didn't eat all his green beansat dinner. It's as if the guy HAS tointerfere in some way just trying to achieve some sort of managerialperfection. He has no problems benchingguys for making mistakes (or going 4 for 4), but yet he won't bench himself, figurativelyspeaking, and take a step back. That'sthe biggest thing I noticed last year when things started to cometogether. It was obvious that Cohenloosened the reigns and essentially just let them play without constant interferenceduring the game.

[Goat Holder]

I like that lineup, but I'd swap Pirtle and Collins, move Bradford to 7 and move the other two down.

[maroonmania]

I think we have a chance to be very good in the post season if we stick to this lineup no matter the situation

1. Heck
2. Detz
3. Pirtle
4. Collins
5. Rea
6. Armstrong
7. Henderson (LH pitching)/Brown (RH pitching)
8. Britton
9. Bradford

We make that one change, that is it for Lefties or Righties. That stabilizes the lineup and still let's Cohen do his thing in the LH/RH situation. To me, that type of lineup will go a long way to determine the type of run we go on.

We definitely need more stability in the lineup and I think what you have sets us up nicely. One addition I would make is that while I would use your lineup for LH pitching I would swap Bradford and Armstrong in the lineup for RH pitching (i.e. Bradford at 6 and Armstrong at 9). Bradford is pretty good against righties but sucks against lefties. I still don't get why Armstrong has never been given the chance to leadoff but its obvious Cohen is not going to allow that for whatever reason.

[MarketingBully01]

We definitely need more stability in the lineup and I think what you have sets us up nicely. One addition I would make is that while I would use your lineup for LH pitching I would swap Bradford and Armstrong in the lineup for RH pitching (i.e. Bradford at 6 and Armstrong at 9). Bradford is pretty good against righties but sucks against lefties. I still don't get why Armstrong has never been given the chance to leadoff but its obvious Cohen is not going to allow that for whatever reason.

I could see that. My point though is subtle changes are fine. We had subtle changes last year but the first 5 were always set. It's just stupid as hell to have so many different people in the lead off spot. The first five spots in a lineup should never change IMO and especially this late in the season. I don't mind shuffling the lineup a little bit to fine tune it but this is just ridiculous. Seth Heck batted in three different spots this weekend when in all reality if he had batted in the lead off spot all three games we at least take 2 out of 3 from A&M.

[MarketingBully01]

I like that lineup, but I'd swap Pirtle and Collins, move Bradford to 7 and move the other two down.

That is fair as well. I just want some variation of the above and for Cohen to stick with it. Cody Brown (at least as a freshman) should not be leading off for us. Seth Heck should be hitting lead off. That gives us the best chance to strike first.

[Jack Lambert]

You guys are looking at the past weekend and say we missed a opertunity and the season is over however we did play seven games in nine days, went 5 and 2 in those game. Something was going to give.

[Goat Holder]

Good point.

[DownwardDawg]

I fully expect this team to make a run. Hosting would be great but I can see us winning a regional and taking a Super Regional to the full 3 games. The only thing I got pissed about was the LSU series. I'm sick of losing to them.

[maroonmania]

I guess my biggest concern is continually thinking every year we are going to have certain guys contribute in certain ways coming INTO the year and then it not happening. Maybe it is something I should just learn to expect but last year it was mostly the starting pitching that didn't show up. Namely we were expecting big things from Woodruff, Lindgren and EMitchell as starters and we basically got little to nothing from any of them. Without Graveman our starting pitching would have been a total crapfest. This year its been both position players and pitchers as Detz and Rea have not lived up to even the years they had last year much less improved and pitching wise both Woodruff and Bracewell have been disappointing as starters and we've gotten no SEC help at all from any of our freshman pitchers. Fitts is not dominate but he seems to have settled in more as a starter now.
And it has cost our bullpen a LOT having to use up Ross Mitchell in a starting role. We basically now only have Lindgren and Holder as reasonably reliable relievers at this point. Everything else is just throw them out there and see how they do.