We need Sexton to step up tomorrow

[Todd4State]

Our starting pitching has been less than stellar so far. I'm ok with Preston, and a Laster/Ross tandem, but I was not too impressed with McCord today. I would strongly consider Vance Tatum for a rotation spot. If Sexton does well tomorrow, I would advocate for a rotation of Preston, Tatum, and Sexton.

[smootness]

I don't think Ross is going to be paired with Laster as a strategy. I think Ross will just come in whenever need. Considering they're both left-handed and softer in velocity, it wouldn't make sense to keep Laster and Mitchell together.

[msstate7]

I don't think Ross is going to be paired with Laster as a strategy. I think Ross will just come in whenever need. Considering they're both left-handed and softer in velocity, it wouldn't make sense to keep Laster and Mitchell together.

I'd love to see Ross follow McCord/sexton spot.

I think I might would go...

Preston --Friday

McCord/sexton followed quickly by Ross -- Saturday

Laster -- Sunday

[engie]

I think McCord will be fine... He certainly had bad command issues today. He struggles again next time, and I'll begin to worry...

[Todd4State]

He had some command issues in some of the scrimmages too. He's just a freshman though. I think he will get better and eventually get drafted.

[engie]

His "stuff" is electric. I see why they are high on him. His mechanics were breaking down today though, which is why I really thought the moment got to him. We do need Sexton to step up though...

[smootness]

I wouldn't really plan anything for Mitchell. I'd just have him ready to come in whenever. If Preston goes deep on Friday but it's a close game, bring him in for an inning or two and still have him available for later games. If we're up or down big, save him. He gives you a lot of flexibility that way.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Have you guys ever pitched? It's the first weekend. Can they settle down and work out the kinks before you guys determine who is and who is not good enough to be in the rotation?

[Bubb Rubb]

Have you guys ever pitched? It's the first weekend. Can they settle down and work out the kinks before you guys determine who is and who is not good enough to be in the rotation?

Exactly. It's way too early to be worried about pitching. Cohen knows what he's doing.

[messageboardsuperhero]

You can tell Cohen is really pulling for Sexton or McCord to get it together. If we could keep Mitchell, Tatum, and Brown in the pen, it would have a chance to be the deepest of his entire tenure- but to do that, we need our starters to be better than they have been this weekend.

Michael Smith is such a dynamic player- we need him back ASAP. Once he and Collins are both healthy and in the fold, our offense will be very good. I'd like for us to see better pitching than the freshmen Cincy is running out there before making a real prediction of how good.

[mstatefan91]

3-0, have won each of the three games convincingly, and someone still finds something to whine/worry about. Amazing...

Edit: Season's early, rotation is still getting decided on, pitchers are still getting settled in... blah blah blah it's the effing beginning of the season and we don't have an L in the column. Not even close. We're in good shape

[KB21]

My biggest concern going into the season was whether a couple of the younger pitchers would step up and become innings eating pitchers in the rotation. My hope was that Dakota Hudson would step up and make a Chris Stratton type jump. That hasn't happened yet, but you have to remember that Chris didn't make his jump till his junior year. That was also after he started that year out in the bullpen. The other two I was looking at as starters were Vance Tatum and Austin Sexton. I really like being able to use Tatum out of the pen though now, and I like Jesse McCord's upside as a starter.

I'm not sure we are going to have a 6+ inning starter unless Preston Brown just becomes a work horse and avoids injury. I do like the depth of the bullpen with Ross Mitchell, Vance Tatum, Daniel Brown, Dakota Hudson, and Zack Houston with Trevor Fitts closing out the games. We may have enough depth to overcome the lack of innings from the starters. That's how we did it when making the run to the championship game.

[bulldogcountry1]

I want to get 3 weekends in before drawing any conclusions concerning pitching. Some of the young guys will settle down and get better. Others will need more time to develop. As long as the veteran pitchers do their jobs, things will sort out with the newcomers.

[Todd4State]

We have a good bullpen, but if we are going to win a NC, we're going to need guys that can match the other teams aces. Cincinnati is not a very good team- no disrespect to them, but we're not going to face a team in the SEC with a ton of freshmen like them. And we can't count on scoring 17 runs in SEC play to bail whomever out.