2016 Baseball Roster

[RBritt]

What's it going to look like? Lose Ross, Fitts, Rea, Laster, etc... Some need processing. The draft will take it's tole on us. Any guesses...

[ScottH]

If there is a merciful god, we will need to buy programs the first month of the season to get a handle on the new names.

From someone in the MSU baseball inncer circle, expect 8ish processings. (That was as of two weeks ago)

[msstate7]

If there is a merciful god, we will need to buy programs the first month of the season to get a handle on the new names.

From someone in the MSU baseball inncer circle, expect 8ish processings. (That was as of two weeks ago)

I wouldn't mind processing every one of the players and coaches. This abortion of a season has been that bad

[weblow]

What's it going to look like? Lose Ross, Fitts, Rea, Laster, etc... Some need processing. The draft will take it's tole on us. Any guesses...

Small, skinny, fast, with excellent bunt technique with no one on and pretty shitty base running skills.

[confucius say]

Position wise, I want Reynolds, Collins, rooker, robson, gridley and maybe holland back. Don't care about rest.

Pitching wise, Hudson, Houston, sexton, Tatum, mintz. Might be missing one.

Not counting redshirt guys. Can any of them play?

[msstate7]

Position wise, I want Reynolds, Collins, rooker, robson, gridley and maybe holland back. Don't care about rest.

Pitching wise, Hudson, Houston, sexton, Tatum, mintz. Might be missing one.

Not counting redshirt guys. Can any of them play?

I like Collins, but him catching makes me sick to my stomach. He needs to dh or play somewhere else in the field

[BankerDog]

If Marreo comes, except him to catch and Gavin to either RF or 1B. People forget Collins played RF his senior year in HS. 1B could be a log jam with Rooker, Hump, Lowe, Gordon. 3 of those bats need to be in the lineup, though. Could possibly be 4 depending on how Lower adjust and if Dillion doesn't mess with his swing. I would give up good defense for great offensive production.

At the end of the day, though, the players have to perform under pressure. The striking out when a guy is on 3rd is on the players. They need to have their nuts dropped and become men. This isn't high school and travel ball anymore. Get it done when your name is called or don't show up to practice the next day.

[confucius say]

I like Collins, but him catching makes me sick to my stomach. He needs to dh or play somewhere else in the field

I agree 7. We need an elite defensive catcher.

[confucius say]

If Marreo comes, except him to catch and Gavin to either RF or 1B. People forget Collins played RF his senior year in HS. 1B could be a log jam with Rooker, Hump, Lowe, Gordon. 3 of those bats need to be in the lineup, though. Could possibly be 4 depending on how Lower adjust and if Dillion doesn't mess with his swing. I would give up good defense for great offensive production.

At the end of the day, though, the players have to perform under pressure. The striking out when a guy is on 3rd is on the players. They need to have their nuts dropped and become men. This isn't high school and travel ball anymore. Get it done when your name is called or don't show up to practice the next day.

I can understand a screw up here and there in that situation, but It was a program wide problem this year. Again and again we have had guys on third with less than two outs and effed it up. It speaks more to our mindset to me. I want a bunch of pissed off guys who are ready to kick someone's door in and burn their damn house down! Not pampered whiny babies.

[Todd4State]

If Marreo comes, except him to catch and Gavin to either RF or 1B. People forget Collins played RF his senior year in HS. 1B could be a log jam with Rooker, Hump, Lowe, Gordon. 3 of those bats need to be in the lineup, though. Could possibly be 4 depending on how Lower adjust and if Dillion doesn't mess with his swing. I would give up good defense for great offensive production.

At the end of the day, though, the players have to perform under pressure. The striking out when a guy is on 3rd is on the players. They need to have their nuts dropped and become men. This isn't high school and travel ball anymore. Get it done when your name is called or don't show up to practice the next day.

Collins can also play third base. If we don't get Riley, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him there. If we get Riley, I think we move Collins to the OF.

[msstate7]

Collins can also play third base. If we don't get Riley, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see him there. If we get Riley, I think we move Collins to the OF.

So do we feel Marreo will be here? Is he capable of taking catching duties day 1.

What happened with lovelady?

[Todd4State]

If there is a merciful god, we will need to buy programs the first month of the season to get a handle on the new names.

From someone in the MSU baseball inncer circle, expect 8ish processings. (That was as of two weeks ago)

That's what I am hearing too- and on paper it makes sense based on the recruiting class numbers. My question is whether or not that number includes the three that have left or are inevitably gone- Mahoney, Stover, and Young.

I will say that I expect most of the processing to occur on the pitching staff- mainly because most of the position players that need to be processed are graduating anyway.

[Todd4State]

So do we feel Marreo will be here? Is he capable of taking catching duties day 1.

What happened with lovelady?

I personally feel pretty good about Marrero being here. I think I had him at 60% coming to school. Even if he doesn't come to school we have Hunter Stovall who can catch and will be very good as well. Don't let his size fool you- he has legit power and he plays with a Mitch Slauter-esque attitude. Really the only question is whether Stovall catches or plays second base. Either way, I expect him to contribute and he will be a very good player for us.

We also have Lovelady as you mentioned. We know he is a proven commodity behind the plate defensively who can completely shut down the running game. It's just that Collins has more offensive potential- and we need all the runs we can get.

As far as Marrero taking over on day one- you never know with freshmen, and I personally do not expect any freshman catcher to be able to completely take over on day one. The fact that he has a former MLB catcher in his house everyday probably gives him an advantage though. Marrero really doesn't have to take over since I fully expect Lovelady to be back. And Collins for that matter.

[Todd4State]

What's it going to look like? Lose Ross, Fitts, Rea, Laster, etc... Some need processing. The draft will take it's tole on us. Any guesses...

Hopefully the junior year magic kicks in for these guys and we see a rotation like this:

Fri- Hudson
Sat- Tatum
Sun- Sexton

Midweek- Preston (if he doesn't go to med school- could go either way at this point)

Kale Breaux IMO is the closest of the freshmen pitchers to being ready to take over a rotation spot even though his ceiling isn't as high as some of the others. He knows how to pitch and is a candidate for National High School player of the year.

I think Zac Houston is going to be the closer. The rest of the freshmen class and the JUCO pitcher will make up the rest of the bullpen. That sounds scary, but we have some guys with power arms that are likely to come to school- it's just a matter of finding a couple with balls. I'm sure they'll have some freshman moments as well- but I hope our staff can get deeper into games. We really need Ryan Grigsby to be elite.

C- Lovelady, Collins (might be moved as has been discussed in this thread), Marrero and Stovall. Big talent upgrade here- I expect the two freshmen to mentor under Lovelady and maybe Collins.

1B- Lowe, Rooker (anyone else notice that he played LF tonight? Hmmm..), Gordon, possibly Humphreys especially if Lowe has difficulty making the transition.

MIF- Holland and Gridley, but I expect them to get pushed big time by Hunter Stovall and Luke Alexander- who is better defensively than our current starters, but we don't know how quickly he will transition to SEC pitching. Delvin Zinn is very raw. He's basically Demarcus Henderson 2.0.

3B- If Austin Riley comes to school, he starts on day one. If not, it's probably Luke Reynolds.

Corner OF- Humphreys, Collins, Rooker, if Greg Pickett comes to school, I think he starts, you can't count Cody Brown out. I like Brant Blaylock from a talent standpoint- but it's hard to tell how much progress he has made because of injuries this year.

CF- Michael Smith will be the front runner as I am expecting Jacob Robson to leave for the draft. Jake Mangum will push him though. Cody Brown can play here too.

Synopsis of who I would start:

Fri- Hudson
Sat- Tatum
Sun- Sexton

Midweek- Breaux

C- Lovelady
1B- Humphreys
2B- Gridley
3B- Riley and if he doesn't come to school, Luke Reynolds
SS- Luke Alexander
LF- Rooker
CF- Michael Smith
RF- Collins
DH- Reynolds if Riley comes to school, Lowe if Riley goes pro.

[Homedawg]

If you count the guys already gone, it's not that much attrition, not near as much as one thinks. We have 22 commits and if 18 show up we have to have 17 returnees to get to 35. It will work itself out for sure

[Tripp McNeely]

So, if the 2016 season started tomorrow, and we didn't lose ANYBODY to the draft, I count 48 players on next years roster. Is this list accurate?

C - 3 - Gavin Collins, Josh Lovelady, Elih Marrero
1B - 3 - Nate Lowe, Brent Rooker, Cole Gordon
2B - 3 - John Holland, Hunter Stovall, Delvin Zinn
SS - 2 - Ryan Gridley, Luke Alexander
3B - 3 - Matt Spruill, Luke Reynolds, Austin Riley
OF - 9 - Michael Smith, Cody Brown, Jacob Robson, Reid Humphreys, Tanner Poole, Joey Swinarski, Greg Pickett, Jake Mangum, Brant Blaylock
P - 25 - Preston Brown, Myles Gentry, Trent Waddell, Austin Sexton, Dakota Hudson, Vance Tatum, Zac Houston, Logan Elliot, Daniel Brown, Ryan Rigby, Levi Mintz, Jacob Billingsley, Jesse McCord, Aaron Dominguez, Gray Fenter, Parker Ford, Keegan James, Noah Hughes, Ryan Cyr, Konnor Pilkington, Jared Padgett, Kale Breaux, Trysten Barlow, Ethan Small, Alex London

[Big4Dawg]

C- Lovelady - Sr - .222
1B- Humphreys - Jr - .241
2B- Gridley - So - .236
3B- Riley or Luke Reynolds - Jr - .333
SS- Luke Alexander - Freshmen
LF- Rooker - So - .239
CF- Michael Smith - Sr. - .217
RF- Collins - Jr. - .231
DH- Reynolds if Riley comes to school, Lowe if Riley goes pro.

So your predicted starting line up is 7 players who are currently on the team, who half can't start now? And only one hitting above .241?

Hard getting excited about that.....

[Saltydog]

nt

[SouthMsDawg]

Why in the hell do so many of you have Lovelady as our starting Catcher next year? If he was any good he would have been playing at least some the last few weeks. Cohen has actually played Cody Walker ahead of him.

[maroonmania]

Sorry but Robson is all but gone........I doubt he'll be back

Will be tough to replace one of our all-time great cleanup hitters.

[Todd4State]

C- Lovelady - Sr - .222
1B- Humphreys - Jr - .241
2B- Gridley - So - .236
3B- Riley or Luke Reynolds - Jr - .333
SS- Luke Alexander - Freshmen
LF- Rooker - So - .239
CF- Michael Smith - Sr. - .217
RF- Collins - Jr. - .231
DH- Reynolds if Riley comes to school, Lowe if Riley goes pro.

So your predicted starting line up is 7 players who are currently on the team, who half can't start now? And only one hitting above .241?

Hard getting excited about that.....

I understand where you are coming from. A couple of those guys have been injured a good bit- Collins and Smith, and two are freshmen this year that I think will improve a good bit- Rooker and Gridley. There are a lot of question marks next year there is no doubt about that though.

I think we will be better next year because of the fact that we have three really talented starting pitchers who will be juniors, a guy that is a junior that can close, and while their batting averages aren't stellar, I think we will have more power next year. That may mean that our team batting average and OBP are lower. Our infield defense is an issue that a lot of people don't notice as well- and Alexander and Gridley in the middle would improve that quite a bit.

[Todd4State]

Why in the hell do so many of you have Lovelady as our starting Catcher next year? If he was any good he would have been playing at least some the last few weeks. Cohen has actually played Cody Walker ahead of him.

You can afford to have a weak hitting catcher if he is a high end defender. He's sitting because we need to get Collins into the lineup to get offense in the lineup.

[BankerDog]

nt

Not the vibe I get from him.

[shoeless joe]

I will be shocked if zinn does a whole lot while here.

To say he is raw is an understatement. Does he have some talent? Yes, but when you watch him he does nothing that screams SEC talent. On top of that he has some bad habits that he gets away with because of his talent, that actually still hurt him in high school and will make it next to impossible for him to succeed at a higher level unless he breaks them. Also, he is small...so some here would hate him rite away despite his ability.

[Todd4State]

I will be shocked if zinn does a whole lot while here.

To say he is raw is an understatement. Does he have some talent? Yes, but when you watch him he does nothing that screams SEC talent. On top of that he has some bad habits that he gets away with because of his talent, that actually still hurt him in high school and will make it next to impossible for him to succeed at a higher level unless he breaks them. Also, he is small...so some here would hate him rite away despite his ability.

I think he will be redshirted next year more than likely. If he works hard, he could be a solid player by the time he is a RS junior though. He has some things to work with.

[yjnkdawg]

What happened with lovelady?


I was wondering the same thing. He just vanished after Collins came back.

[BankerDog]

Preston Brown will not be returning next year per several guys on campus I know.

[BankerDog]

Collins hasn't been hitting well lately though. But I have over heard several pitchers complain about his catching, etc.

[msstate7]

Preston Brown will not be returning next year per several guys on campus I know.

I'm sure Preston would probably be an asset if for nothing more than midweek, but I won't be upset if none of these players are back

[msstate7]

Collins hasn't been hitting well lately though. But I have over heard several pitchers complain about his catching, etc.

Collins is terrible. I wouldn't want to throw breaking pitches to Collins if runners were on

[msstate7]

Tatum has regressed big time as the year went on

[JohnnyQuid]

Tatum has regressed big time as the year went on

He has and when I've seen him later in the yr his stuff just looks averge at best. 88ish fastball and a non-sharp loopy Curve.. and gets rocked pretty regular lately. Hopefully improves over the summer

[Todd4State]

I'm sure Preston would probably be an asset if for nothing more than midweek, but I won't be upset if none of these players are back

I think he would be an asset throwing batting practice. He would certainly help our hitters confidence.

[Todd4State]

He has and when I've seen him later in the yr his stuff just looks averge at best. 88ish fastball and a non-sharp loopy Curve.. and gets rocked pretty regular lately. Hopefully improves over the summer

Tatum needs to get his ass in shape.

[I seen it dawg]

It won't matter if Butch and Cohen don't do a 180. Won't make a shit who comes or goes.

[shoeless joe]

I think he will be redshirted next year more than likely. If he works hard, he could be a solid player by the time he is a RS junior though. He has some things to work with.

Agreed. And my observations on him came from one game we played them. He struggled catching up to a 81-83 fastball because he had a ton of extra movement in his hands.

Also what really stood out was that he didn't. I'd heard about him and when they started warming up I couldn't pick him out rite away...unlike what is usually the case from a D1 talent on a high school field.