MsStateBaseball
10-24-2015, 10:18 AM
I will start with the closers since that would be easier! The candidates are juniors Paul Young, Zac Houston and sophomore transfer Ryan Rigby. Young had 2 or 3 excellent outings in the fall where he struck out more than half the batters he faced. He was low 90's with his fastball. His nickname is the Iceman so he has that going for him. Houston had a good 2015 and an even better summer. He got us out of a few jams in the spring. Rigby is a side armer that can tough 90 mph with this fast ball. He was consistently inducing ground balls in the fall.
To determine the rest of the bullpen at this point would be impossible. We have a new pitching coach that will have his own thoughts and style. We have a ton of other pitchers to choose from. Each one has their "out" pitch. We do have immense talent to choose from for the bullpen. We do have the most left handers we have had since John Cohen took over 8 years ago. Junior transfer Blake Smith pitched a lot in the fall and did well in spots.
I expect a few newcomers to make a great impact in the spring. Freshman Parker Ford, Noah Hughes, Keegan James, Ryan Cyr, Jared Padgett, Kale Breaux, Konnor Pilkington, Trysten Barlow and OF Jake Mangum all pitched in the fall. We will have to see what their roles are in the spring.
Returnees Logan Elliott, Andrew Mahoney, Jacob Billingsley and Myles Gentry all figure to compete for innings.
The early spring will go a long way in figuring out the bullpen roles.
To determine the rest of the bullpen at this point would be impossible. We have a new pitching coach that will have his own thoughts and style. We have a ton of other pitchers to choose from. Each one has their "out" pitch. We do have immense talent to choose from for the bullpen. We do have the most left handers we have had since John Cohen took over 8 years ago. Junior transfer Blake Smith pitched a lot in the fall and did well in spots.
I expect a few newcomers to make a great impact in the spring. Freshman Parker Ford, Noah Hughes, Keegan James, Ryan Cyr, Jared Padgett, Kale Breaux, Konnor Pilkington, Trysten Barlow and OF Jake Mangum all pitched in the fall. We will have to see what their roles are in the spring.
Returnees Logan Elliott, Andrew Mahoney, Jacob Billingsley and Myles Gentry all figure to compete for innings.
The early spring will go a long way in figuring out the bullpen roles.