If you could hire a hitting coach at MSU, who would it be, and why?

[Thick]

Go!!!

[msstate7]

Kevin Seitzer... He's made a hell of a difference with the Braves. Ok, a realistic answer is the ull guy

[gravedigger]

Anyone in baseball history? Ted williams or tony gwynn

[TXDawg]

Ricketts from the softball team. She's made a heck of a difference on that squad!!

[tcdog70]

I heard John Cohen was an excellent Hitting Coach----****

[cheewgumm]

Dave Kingman

[chainedup_Dawg]

Kent Murphy

[hoopdawg92]

Jim Page...

[Ralph]

Raffy

[godlluB]

Polk **

[Thick]

I did not know we had so many comedians on ED.....really shitty ones too!

[Original48]

I did not know we had so many comedians on ED.....really shitty ones too!
Tom Emanski

[Todd4State]

Tony David- Samford. Team leads the nation in home runs again. Top 40 in batting average.

http://samfordsports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1031&path=baseball

Kevin Schnall- Central Florida- fourth in the nation in home runs. Hitting .298 as a team. Connections in Florida.

http://www.ucfknights.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/kevin_schnall_804079.html


Also- I would hire Jarrod Parks as the volunteer assistant.

[Todd4State]

And for my sarcastic answer- Smitty.

[tcdog70]

Really, when we Hired JC, he was hyped as one of the best hitting coaches anywhere. If he could get some help from. Another hitting coach , then great. I think he will have us back on top next year.

[Todd4State]

Really, when we Hired JC, he was hyped as one of the best hitting coaches anywhere. If he could get some help from. Another hitting coach , then great. I think he will have us back on top next year.

Right now we are 9th in the SEC in batting average and seventh in OBP. We are also near the bottom in most power categories- 10th in doubles, 13th in triples, and home runs, and I believe we are last in slugging percentage as well. That really isn't too shocking when you consider the types of hitters that we have.

From my point of view, we're not awful as far as hitting goes- but there is certainly room for improvement. On the surface, looking at it the best thing we could do is bring in more power hitters- like Rooker, Cole Gordon, Humphreys, and hopefully we can steal a Riley or a Pickett. We just don't have that extra base threat that helps lead to big innings. A lot of that is recruiting.

I do think that Cohen is also stretched thin a little bit- and having someone that could help him out would be good for everyone. Ideally that would be someone that can teach hitting, and improve our base running while also being a really high end recruiter. I am all for making a Butch Thompson type hire at hitting coach- basically find the best one out there with the best track record of my above criteria and then pay him so much he won't leave.

For comparisons sake, our pitching is 13th in the SEC right now- only one tenth of a point out of dead last.

[ShotgunDawg]

I'd probably just hire the best recruiter in the country as my hitting coach, and then get the best pitching coach in the country, which is IMO, Wes Johnson from Dallas Baptist.

A great pitching coach can have far more effect on your pitchers than a great hitting coach can have on the hitters. The hitting coach needs to be an elite evaluator

[Todd4State]

I'd probably just hire the best recruiter in the country as my hitting coach, and then get the best pitching coach in the country, which is IMO, Wes Johnson from Dallas Baptist.

A great pitching coach can have far more effect on your pitchers than a great hitting coach can have on the hitters. The hitting coach needs to be an elite evaluator

Johnson recruited a lot of those pitchers on that Central Arkansas team that we played in a regional a couple of years ago that were really good. Even though Johnson wasn't with the team at that time when we played them, I imagine he made an impact on their careers.

[ShotgunDawg]

Johnson recruited a lot of those pitchers on that Central Arkansas team that we played in a regional a couple of years ago that were really good. Even though Johnson wasn't with the team at that time when we played them, I imagine he made an impact on their careers.

Wes Johnson is a mad man. He's from the Brent Strom/Ron Wolforth school of pitching that specializes in building bigger engines.

Most pitching coaches can be broken down into two different styles: 1. Teaching pitchers how to locate, change speeds, & throw multiple pitches for strikes. This is the style that most professional & college coaches take. 2. This group of pitching coaches build bigger engines & specialize in making the pitcher throw harder & building better, more powerful breaking balls. This group of coaches don't care as much about "pitching" as they do about building MLB prospects & stuff. Wes Johnson belongs to this group of pitching coaches & is the reason why Dallas Baptist consistently has harder throwing pitchers than most any team in America.

Personally, I prefer the second group because I think it produces higher end players and the cream rises higher. The risk of the first style is that the pitching coach focuses so much on command, control, & changing speeds, that the pitcher's stuff actually backs up over time, while the "stuff builders" have the ability to take guys and make them significantly better.

Lastly, the other beauty of the 2nd group of pitching coaches is that they are usually so in tune with bio-mechanics, flexibility, strength, twitch, etc.. that they are actually the best evaluators as well. Because of the in-depth research that they have at their disposal in order teach guys how to throw harder, they are also uniquely qualified to properly evaluate & recruit guys that have the ingredients to throw harder. Simply, they have a better idea of what they are looking for.

[Todd4State]

Wes Johnson is a mad man. He's from the Brent Strom/Ron Wolforth school of pitching that specializes in building bigger engines.

Most pitching coaches can be broken down into two different styles: 1. Teaching pitchers how to locate, change speeds, & throw multiple pitches for strikes. This is the style that most professional & college coaches take. 2. This group of pitching coaches build bigger engines & specialize in making the pitcher throw harder & building better, more powerful breaking balls. This group of coaches don't care as much about "pitching" as they do about building MLB prospects & stuff. Wes Johnson belongs to this group of pitching coaches & is the reason why Dallas Baptist consistently has harder throwing pitchers than most any team in America.

Personally, I prefer the second group because I think it produces higher end players and the cream rises higher. The risk of the first style is that the pitching coach focuses so much on command, control, & changing speeds, that the pitcher's stuff actually backs up over time, while the "stuff builders" have the ability to take guys and make them significantly better.

Lastly, the other beauty of the 2nd group of pitching coaches is that they are usually so in tune with bio-mechanics, flexibility, strength, twitch, etc.. that they are actually the best evaluators as well. Because of the in-depth research that they have at their disposal in order teach guys how to throw harder, they are also uniquely qualified to properly evaluate & recruit guys that have the ingredients to throw harder. Simply, they have a better idea of what they are looking for.

Give me number two as well. I think that's going to be the trend going forward with pitching as far as what's "in". With the Tommy John stuff being on the forefront of baseball right now, health (bio mechanics) is going to be a big part of that in terms of training pitchers how to stay as healthy as possible and not break down.

[Really Clark?]

Wes Johnson is a mad man. He's from the Brent Strom/Ron Wolforth school of pitching that specializes in building bigger engines.

Most pitching coaches can be broken down into two different styles: 1. Teaching pitchers how to locate, change speeds, & throw multiple pitches for strikes. This is the style that most professional & college coaches take. 2. This group of pitching coaches build bigger engines & specialize in making the pitcher throw harder & building better, more powerful breaking balls. This group of coaches don't care as much about "pitching" as they do about building MLB prospects & stuff. Wes Johnson belongs to this group of pitching coaches & is the reason why Dallas Baptist consistently has harder throwing pitchers than most any team in America.

Personally, I prefer the second group because I think it produces higher end players and the cream rises higher. The risk of the first style is that the pitching coach focuses so much on command, control, & changing speeds, that the pitcher's stuff actually backs up over time, while the "stuff builders" have the ability to take guys and make them significantly better.

Lastly, the other beauty of the 2nd group of pitching coaches is that they are usually so in tune with bio-mechanics, flexibility, strength, twitch, etc.. that they are actually the best evaluators as well. Because of the in-depth research that they have at their disposal in order teach guys how to throw harder, they are also uniquely qualified to properly evaluate & recruit guys that have the ingredients to throw harder. Simply, they have a better idea of what they are looking for.

I agree with most you are saying here but the last paragraph. There are a bunch of good coaches from your first group that know the bio mechanics as good as any one. Their philosphy doesn't stop them from understanding that or being great talent evaluators. And they use that for control purposes as well. Now, I've always been more of a max effort, stronger, better harder stuff type of guy. Building a strong powerful engine that will last but I do believe a staff needs more than just that type of pitcher. And hopefully the coach is versatile enough to work with control type of pitchers.

[CadaverDawg]

Rouge.

http://media.giphy.com/media/13py6c5BSnBkic/giphy.gif

[Smitty]

Turtle Thomas

[engie]

Best slugging teams - past 4 years.
TEAM
New Mexico 0.45775
Samford 0.4515
Tennessee Tech 0.4495
La.-Lafayette 0.445
Western Caro. 0.44425
Dallas Baptist 0.44325
Mercer 0.44325
Austin Peay 0.4415
Eastern Ky. 0.44025
UNCG 0.4395
Morehead St. 0.43825
San Diego 0.432
North Florida 0.431
Southeast Mo. St. 0.42975
Georgia St. 0.42875
LSU 0.42875
Col. of Charleston 0.42625
Delaware St. 0.42325
Furman 0.42075
Arizona St. 0.4205
Nevada 0.41975
Georgia Tech 0.41925
Bryant 0.4185
Delaware 0.4175
James Madison 0.41675
UNCW 0.41475
Richmond 0.4145
Indiana 0.41425
Arizona 0.41325
William & Mary 0.41325
Vanderbilt 0.413
Penn 0.41225
Appalachian St. 0.41175
East Tenn. St. 0.41175
Belmont 0.4115
Jacksonville St. 0.41
Utah Valley 0.40975
Virginia 0.40975
Kentucky 0.40925
UCF 0.408
Troy 0.40775
Kent St. 0.4075
New Mexico St. 0.4075
Cal Poly 0.40725
Illinois St. 0.407
FIU 0.40675
Fla. Atlantic 0.4065
Towson 0.40625
Florida St. 0.406
North Carolina St. 0.40475
Saint Louis 0.40425
Virginia Tech 0.40425
Texas A&M 0.404
Wright St. 0.404
Canisius 0.40375
Florida 0.40325
Milwaukee 0.40275
Southern U. 0.4005
UTSA 0.40025

[Todd4State]

New Mexico has Denver, Colorado conditions. Something to keep in mind.

I don't know if there is something going on at the Albuquerque Airport or what it is.

[ShotgunDawg]

New Mexico has Denver, Colorado conditions. Something to keep in mind.

I don't know if there is something going on at the Albuquerque Airport or what it is.

Correct, Albuquerque's ballpark is actually the highest in minor league baseball. So it's no surprise that New Mexico drops bombs.

Dallas Baptist's ballpark actually has the highest park factor in all of college baseball. It's a band box that built on top of a hill. Home plate there faces due north, which allows balls to get blown out of the park when the wind is coming from the south, which is quite often.