Seth Hecks interview

[MsStateBaseball]

W Brandon Walker of dispatch gives more clues to the season.

He believes offense will be a lot better. He thinks freshman Jesse McCord will have a great year. Highly impressed w Preston Brown pitching.

For one, Walker is a great upgrade in a reporter from the last one!

I think we are in for a special year. I have been on board with this thinking for a while. Offense, defense, starting pitching seems to be really good. Just need the bullpen to shape up.

[msstate7]

McCord a starter?

[Todd4State]

I agree with him about the offense and about Preston Brown. I had my doubts about Preston being healthy, but he has proved me otherwise- which is huge for us. He was our best starting pitcher last year when he was healthy. I think the key with him is not overextending him because he is injury prone. I would limit him to 100 pitches/5-6 IP a game.

We will have more power than we did last year- Collins, Humphreys, Rooker, and yes, Wes Rea will all help us out in that department and I think Britton will surprise some people except for Coach34. There is no reason each of those guys won't give us at least five home runs apiece- and yes, being extremely conservative on that figure because it is very realistic to expect those four to hit more than five as well.

We need one of the sophomores or McCord to step up and be SEC caliber right away. Dakota Hudson has the best chance if you are looking at that group from purely a skill and talent standpoint, however it looks like his career arc is going to be similar to Stratton. McCord is probably the second most talented behind Hudson- although Sexton and Tatum are awfully close. If McCord can step up and take one of the weekend rotation spots, it will be HUGE for us. Not having starters that can go deep into games has hurt us even though we have been able to cover it because it has forced us to use guys like Lindgren and Holder for longer stints rather than save them. One of the younger pitchers stepping up means Ross can go back to the bullpen where he is much more effective.

I don't think Vance Tatum will be in the rotation if they can help it. All indications are they want him to come out of the bullpen and be a 3-5 inning guy. Odds are he will be a starter next year however.

Paul Young is a wild card for us. If he pitches to his talent level, he could be the guy that college baseball fans wonder "where did he come from?" He has the talent to tip the scales in our favor when we play our midweek games against Ole Miss, USM, Memphis, etc. after he comes back. By the time the postseason rolls around, hopefully he will be in good enough shape that he can slot into the rotation. Let's keep our fingers crossed and not get our hopes up though because he is coming off of Tommy John surgery and we just have to hope that things continue to go well.

[Todd4State]

McCord a starter?

As I Heck and I said- it's very possible. McCord will be right there with Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton, and maybe even Vance Tatum. Hudson has been hurt and that has put McCord ahead of him.

Jesse McCord is a legit prospect, if not underrated. He made MaxPreps All-American as a junior in high school, and I expect him to be a weekend starter by the time his career is over. Possibly as soon as this year.

[MsStateBaseball]

McCord was rated #200 by PG. Highest rated player we got the last few years. He is legit. When Butch said he can be Freshman AA, that sold me.

[CadaverDawg]

Breathe it in boys, baseball season is almost upon us. I can't wait! In my opinion, this board is the most fun during baseball season, because we have incredible knowledge and some classic debates and arguments. Will James ought to be waking up from his hibernation shortly. Hurry up opening day.

[msstate7]

Breathe it in boys, baseball season is almost upon us. I can't wait! In my opinion, this board is the most fun during baseball season, because we have incredible knowledge and some classic debates and arguments. Will James ought to be waking up from his hibernation shortly. Hurry up opening day.

Baseball season is great here. I look forward to freaking out with every pitch in the game threads haha

[CadaverDawg]

Baseball season is great here. I look forward to freaking out with every pitch in the game threads haha

Me too man, gonna be great

[Todd4State]

Baseball season is great here. I look forward to freaking out with every pitch in the game threads haha

I don't look forward to reading posts from people freaking out.

[msstate7]

I don't look forward to reading posts from people freaking out.

Avoid game threads

[Todd4State]

Breathe it in boys, baseball season is almost upon us. I can't wait! In my opinion, this board is the most fun during baseball season, because we have incredible knowledge and some classic debates and arguments. Will James ought to be waking up from his hibernation shortly. Hurry up opening day.

DVD's not likely to be in his collection:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Aj3rk6cCA0

[Todd4State]

Avoid game threads

I try to at all costs. I only posted in a few last year during the actual game and usually if I did post in them it was after the game was over.

[shoeless joe]

What's funny is, while there is some knowledge on the board, it doesn't show up in game threads. Which is why most can do it from the couch but not from the dugout. Emotional decisions rarely end well in baseball.

As for the team, I expect a good solid year. If a young pitcher could step up and be solid then it could become a great year. Offense should improve exponentially. Defense will be stout, even with the loss of CT in center. Again, one or two young pitchers could turn this into a special year. Who's got the nutsac to make that jump?

We should expect little to nothing from the tommy john guys and then be pleasantly surprise of they provide anything at all.

[War Machine Dawg]

We keep saying every year offense and power should improve, but it's failed to materialize every year. I'm not going to hold my breath and/or fall for the trap again this year. I'm expecting the same crappy Wes Rea who looks like Tarzan but hits like Jane, Humphries to mysteriously disappear, and Rooker to ride the pine. I also fully expect Cohen to never settle on a lineup, meaning we run a new order out there every game.

[preachermatt83]

We keep saying every year offense and power should improve, but it's failed to materialize every year. I'm not going to hold my breath and/or fall for the trap again this year. I'm expecting the same crappy Wes Rea who looks like Tarzan but hits like Jane, Humphries to mysteriously disappear, and Rooker to ride the pine. I also fully expect Cohen to never settle on a lineup, meaning we run a new order out there every game.

I really hope you are wrong but Im afraid you are gonna be exactly right.

[CadaverDawg]

If he gets us back to the CWS, he can do whatever he wants and I'll be fine with it

[DownwardDawg]

Me too man, gonna be great

Me three!!!! I love the game threads!! One, it's the best way for me to keep up at work and two, I get to freak out with the rest of the freaked!!!!!!!! Oh, and Will James is great in the threads!!!!!

[msstate7]

Me three!!!! I love the game threads!! One, it's the best way for me to keep up at work and two, I get to freak out with the rest of the freaked!!!!!!!! Oh, and Will James is great in the threads!!!!!

Speaking of will... What's he mad about?

[CadaverDawg]

Speaking of will... What's he mad about?

If I had to guess...Todd and Engie.

I used to despise Will James, but once I began to quit arguing with him and just laugh at the stuff I disagree with, I now kinda enjoy his posts. He can be a smartass, and a dumbass, but he's "OUR Dumbass". Ha

#OURdumbass

[msstate7]

If I had to guess...Todd and Engie.

I used to despise Will James, but once I began to quit arguing with him and just laugh at the stuff I disagree with, I now kinda enjoy his posts. He can be a smartass, and a dumbass, but he's "OUR Dumbass". Ha

#OURdumbass

I miss will. He's very opinionated, but knowledgeable about baseball

[CadaverDawg]

I miss will. He's very opinionated, but knowledgeable about baseball

Yea. It's hard to say that though, bc he will easily confuse that with us saying he's always right. Ha

[msstate7]

Yea. It's hard to say that though, bc he will easily confuse that with us saying he's always right. Ha

He doesn't need us to tell him. He knows he's always right*

[Todd4State]

We keep saying every year offense and power should improve, but it's failed to materialize every year. I'm not going to hold my breath and/or fall for the trap again this year. I'm expecting the same crappy Wes Rea who looks like Tarzan but hits like Jane, Humphries to mysteriously disappear, and Rooker to ride the pine. I also fully expect Cohen to never settle on a lineup, meaning we run a new order out there every game.

If I recall, most of us said last year that it would be hard to replace Renfroe and it would take Humphreys contributing at a high level early for that to happen- which is never a sure thing with freshmen. Without protection in the lineup, it affected Rea negatively- although that wasn't the only factor.

One thing to keep in mind is the new baseball will be used next year. That will help our power out some. There were definitely some bigger "if's" regarding our offense at this time last year.

[Todd4State]

Speaking of will... What's he mad about?

He got pissed off and stopped posting after I won the Elitedawgs award for "most knowledgeable baseball poster" or whatever over the summer. The funny thing about that is while the voting was going on, he attempted to call me out by saying that I only cared about Internet cred. And then he stops posting after he lost the award.

That and the whole Daniel Garner should be starting saga.

[msstate7]

He got pissed off and stopped posting after I won the Elitedawgs award for "most knowledgeable baseball poster" or whatever over the summer. The funny thing about that is while the voting was going on, he attempted to call me out by saying that I only cared about Internet cred. And then he stops posting after he lost the award.

That and the whole Daniel Garner should be starting saga.

Haha that's will. Suck it up, will, Todd knows more

[CadaverDawg]

C Collins
3B Britton
SS Heck
2B Holland
1B Rea
OF ? Some combo of Brown, Vick, Robson, Humphreys, Rooker, who am I missing? And one of the ones not starting in the outfield will DH I would guess.

Does that sound about right?

I just don't expect any incoming guys to start right away, with the exception being Holland. That's why I lean towards this lineup or something similar ( since guessing Cohen lineups is impossible)...

SS Heck
RF C. Brown
C Collins
1B Rea
DH Hump
LF Vickerson
2B Holland
3B Britton
CF Robson

[Todd4State]

C Collins
3B Britton
SS Heck
2B Holland
1B Rea
OF ? Some combo of Brown, Vick, Robson, Humphreys, Rooker, who am I missing? And one of the ones not starting in the outfield will DH I would guess.

Does that sound about right?

I just don't expect any incoming guys to start right away, with the exception being Holland. That's why I lean towards this lineup or something similar ( since guessing Cohen lineups is impossible)...

SS Heck
RF C. Brown
C Collins
1B Rea
DH Hump
LF Vickerson
2B Holland
3B Britton
CF Robson

I'd say that's about right, but I would add Micheal Smith platooning with Robson in CF.

[CadaverDawg]

I'd say that's about right, but I would add Micheal Smith platooning with Robson in CF.

I don't know much about Smith. I think you told me once already, but where is he coming from again?

[Todd4State]

I don't know much about Smith. I think you told me once already, but where is he coming from again?

He's from a JUCO in Tennessee. He's really fast and he was offered by us and Vanderbilt. The thing is he is a RH hitter so that's why we will probably see a platoon with Robson at the beginning of the year. He can play 2B as well and he will be in the mix there possibly next year after Heck graduates.

[CadaverDawg]

He's from a JUCO in Tennessee. He's really fast and he was offered by us and Vanderbilt. The thing is he is a RH hitter so that's why we will probably see a platoon with Robson at the beginning of the year. He can play 2B as well and he will be in the mix there possibly next year after Heck graduates.

That's right, the one we beat Vandy out on. I remember now. Yea, he sounds like a guy that will see a lot of action, especially against lefties.

[messageboardsuperhero]

We keep saying every year offense and power should improve, but it's failed to materialize every year. I'm not going to hold my breath and/or fall for the trap again this year. I'm expecting the same crappy Wes Rea who looks like Tarzan but hits like Jane, Humphries to mysteriously disappear, and Rooker to ride the pine. I also fully expect Cohen to never settle on a lineup, meaning we run a new order out there every game.

So our power numbers didn't improve from 2012 to 2013?

Throwing out 2012 because of the ridiculous amount of injuries, 2014 is the only season of the true Cohen era where I've really been disappointed with our power numbers.

[I seen it dawg]

I miss will. He's very opinionated, but knowledgeable about baseball

Well will won't be ever seen again.,

[engie]

I miss will. He's very opinionated, but knowledgeable about baseball

He was knowledgeable about what he could read about online and infer about sabermetrics. Along with the benefit of being able to attend scrimmages and get a head start on evaluations. I just wish Todd had found Bill James's bunting recant about 2 years earlier -- and we could have avoided the primary statistical backing of his viewpoint.

He didn't have a great deal of actual knowledge of the ins and outs or mental aspects of the game. That's why Iseenit stayed on him about never playing the game which was pretty obvious to some of us. I dunno that there is any particular "level" you've got to play at to get that perspective -- but you've got to spend alot of time playing for a bad ass coach somewhere along the way at a position of situational importance. Will's inability to see the mental aspect of the game over his pure numbers was his problem. It was purely mechanical to him. Philip Sanderson.

I do wish he was here to eat his statement about how minimally the new balls effect the game though....

[engie]

We keep saying every year offense and power should improve, but it's failed to materialize every year. I'm not going to hold my breath and/or fall for the trap again this year. I'm expecting the same crappy Wes Rea who looks like Tarzan but hits like Jane, Humphries to mysteriously disappear, and Rooker to ride the pine. I also fully expect Cohen to never settle on a lineup, meaning we run a new order out there every game.

Sure didn't seem to have a problem settling on a lineup in 2013...

[Todd4State]

He was knowledgeable about what he could read about online and infer about sabermetrics. Along with the benefit of being able to attend scrimmages and get a head start on evaluations. I just wish Todd had found Bill James's bunting recant about 2 years earlier -- and we could have avoided the primary statistical backing of his viewpoint.

He didn't have a great deal of actual knowledge of the ins and outs or mental aspects of the game. That's why Iseenit stayed on him about never playing the game which was pretty obvious to some of us. I dunno that there is any particular "level" you've got to play at to get that perspective -- but you've got to spend alot of time playing for a bad ass coach somewhere along the way at a position of situational importance. Will's inability to see the mental aspect of the game over his pure numbers was his problem. It was purely mechanical to him. Philip Sanderson.

I do wish he was here to eat his statement about how minimally the new balls effect the game though....

I agree. You can't manage a game on a macro level. It's more about the individual match-ups and situation at the present at bat more than anything. Sabermetrics certainly has it's place in baseball, but the mathematicians have had to learn the game over the years and they're just now starting to tackle things like defense that they largely ignored in the past.

And it's neat because baseball people/purists have always known that there is value in defense, but the sabermetrics people are actually quantifying exactly how valuable and how good a player is.

Bill James probably changed his viewpoint when some manager told him "Hey, you think I should let this guy that is hitting .200 and trying to hit Randy Johnson swing away rather than move the runner over? OK."

[BrunswickDawg]

[QUOTE= Will James ought to be waking up from his hibernation shortly. Hurry up opening day.[/QUOTE]
You only have to Say his name 2 more times ....

[DownwardDawg]

Well will won't be ever seen again.,

Free Willy!!!!!!!!!!