Baseball thoughts

[Todd4State]

Very disappointed overall and this team has a LONG way to go.

The most puzzling thing to me was not having a starter go more than five innings. That HAS to be fixed NOW. It needs to be Hudson, Tatum, and Sexton. Brown is still too wild and Houston needs to come to grips that he is a relief guy. I wasn't real impressed with how the coaches handled the pitching- especially in game one which to me is totally on them. We had just tied the game and Breaux allows two runners to get on. Our genius coaches decide what a great time for someone to make their MSU debut! And predicatably it didn't work out, so then Billingsley who has been getting hit all spring long is brought in and guess what? He gets hit. And then they decide to bring in not one- but TWO more true more true freshmen to make their debut and we get down 10-2. The bad thing about it is we had Rigsby, Young, Blake Smith, Tatum, and Humphreys who all would have been better options. Yet we decide to save them for some team we run ruled. You do not put true freshmen into a high leverage situation like that for their debut. Even MLB normally doesn't do that with guys that they just call up from AAA. Humphreys didn't even get to the mound once.


Someone needs to teach our outfielders to hit the cut off man. That's all I'll say about that.

I see a bunch of guys right now that are trying to do too much.

As far as Cohen- he better straighten this shit up if he wants to stay around. At the same time it's a two way street. We have two of our top players getting suspended for a game on opening day and that says a lot about them too. On that two way street- Cohen needs to lighten up on his side of the road and the players need to stop worrying about who is and isn't cut, stop trying to be something they aren't and acting like a bunch of sissies on their side of the street.

It wasn't all doom and gloom- we hit the ball pretty well. Yes, SDSU is a bad team- but we didn't hit like that against bad teams last year. We hit well in game one against FAU and probably again would have won had it not been for the bullpen management. We went away from our hitting fundamentals in the second game against FAU for whatever reason- again probably pressing because we lost game one.

I do like the talent that we have and I like the pieces of the team that we have put together- but right now I question whether they have it together upstairs because it's not looking like it right now.

[Taog Redloh]

Smith and Young were suspended Friday, genius.

[Todd4State]

Smith and Young were suspended Friday, genius.

Not been a good year for you so far- Reynolds will definitely start at third base- asked to redshirt. Tatum looked good. Made yourself look like a complete ass by saying I "bashed Reid Humphreys and Northwest Rankin HS" because I called them a "powerhouse".

Among other things.

I'd suggest you sit this one out.

[mstatefan91]

I just don't get the feeling that it's the players. There is a common denominator for all of this, and it is Cohen.

Do I hope that he gets it together? Yes

Do I think he will? I'm about 50/50 on it

I want Cohen and co. to get their sh*t together and play some damn fine ball. I'm just not sure it will happen with Cohen at the reigns.

[missouridawg]

Not been a good year for you so far- Reynolds will definitely start at third base- asked to redshirt. Tatum looked good. Made yourself look like a complete ass by saying I "bashed Reid Humphreys and Northwest Rankin HS" because I called them a "powerhouse".

Among other things.

I'd suggest you sit this one out.

They were both most certainly suspended.

[CarolinaDawgs]

Well the Tatum tune has changed... He and Sexton are easily our 1-2 guys.. This isn't rocket science.

[bulldogcountry1]

I don't know who was actually suspended and who just had to sit the bench, but Cohen obviously tried to make some statement to the upperclassmen on Friday by playing 9 true freshmen. He was willing to lose the game to make that statement, and it wasn't as clear until the rest of the weekend played out.

The timing of cutting Reynolds and Gentry was a dick move. Yeah, I know someone has to be cut, but what did Cohen learn about these guys the last week of practice? He should have taken care of that earlier.

I'd like to know what is going through Cohen's mind right now. I know we are only hearing on side of parts of the story, but it smells really bad.

1. He cuts two veteran guys the day of the first game.
2. We had two returning .300 hitters from 2015. He cuts one, and the other barely sniffs the field all weekend.
3. Guys got suspended for the first game of the season. I've heard as many as 4 names attached to that rumor.
4. Where was Collins in game 1? See #3?
5. I still see no leadership, fire, enthusiasm, etc.

[HoopsDawg]

The biggest mistake of the weekend was not bringing in Tatum in Game 1. If you make the decision that Tatum is not going to start, what better time to use him than Game 1 vs the better opponent in a tie game. If we bring in Tatum to start the 6th we win Game 1, we go 3-1 on the weekend and everything is fine.

[Bucky Dog]

Well it may all be for show but I saw some interviews with players last night and they were saying things like, "we are going to have a really special team this year" and, "there is a lot of enthusiasm in that dugout". Sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions and initially they will seem like an ass hole move or whatever, but I'm just not buying the whole Cohen has lost the clubhouse thing.
Let's see where we are after our preseason of 17-19 games before starting SEC play. I am trying to hold back and give that a chance first and see if Cohen settles on a lineup and how quickly our guys grow up.

[CJDAWG85]

I'm certainly disappointed that we couldn't at least split with FAU this weekend, but I'm not going to jump all over Cohen yet. Season still has a long way to go. Let's see where we stand once SEC play starts.

[HoopsDawg]

Well it may all be for show but I saw some interviews with players last night and they were saying things like, "we are going to have a really special team this year" and, "there is a lot of enthusiasm in that dugout". Sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions and initially they will seem like an ass hole move or whatever, but I'm just not buying the whole Cohen has lost the clubhouse thing.
Let's see where we are after our preseason of 17-19 games before starting SEC play. I am trying to hold back and give that a chance first and see if Cohen settles on a lineup and how quickly our guys grow up.

Honestly, Cohen didn't meddle with the lineup as much as I expected. Kruger looks like he is going to be a major addition offensively. Rooker looks like he is carrying over his summer success. Humphrey's is swinging a good bat. I like what Alexander is bringing to the table. We are going to need some production from Marrero at C or we will need to move Collins/Kruger back there. Humphrey's or Stovall could play 3rd.

I agree with Todd that the rotation needs to be Hudson-Tatum-Sexton in that order. I like the R-L-R combo plus the mix in styles to keep teams off balance over the weekend. I'm still holding out hope that we are going to be good, but our starters have to go 6 and we have to develop some reliable arms out of the pen.

[bulldogcountry1]

Well it may all be for show but I saw some interviews with players last night and they were saying things like, "we are going to have a really special team this year" and, "there is a lot of enthusiasm in that dugout". Sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions and initially they will seem like an ass hole move or whatever, but I'm just not buying the whole Cohen has lost the clubhouse thing.
Let's see where we are after our preseason of 17-19 games before starting SEC play. I am trying to hold back and give that a chance first and see if Cohen settles on a lineup and how quickly our guys grow up.


Well, I'm hoping as much as anyone that things come together and they make us look like a bunch of idiots by season's end.

[AlSwearengen]

I would like to see four outfielders, five infielders, and two catchers that play. Every now and then (when we are up or down big), throw some others out there to keep them interested.

I'm tired of the constant platooning. No one else that is worth a shit does it (that I know about). We need to concentrate on getting top notch talent and playing them. If they aren't going to pan out, get them transferred out early in their careers. Talent stands out and it doesn't take long to figure out who to keep.

[Blackout]

I would like to see four outfielders, five infielders, and two catchers that play. Every now and then (when we are up or down big), throw some others out there to keep them interested.

I'm tired of the constant platooning. No one else that is worth a shit does it (that I know about). We need to concentrate on getting top notch talent and playing them. If they aren't going to pan out, get them transferred out early in their careers. Talent stands out and it doesn't take long to figure out who to keep.

Our talent takes 3 years to develop, or is outsourced to JUCO.

Hudson, Stratton, Lindgren, Renfroe, Rooker, Humphreys

[cujo]

I would like to see four outfielders, five infielders, and two catchers that play. Every now and then (when we are up or down big), throw some others out there to keep them interested.

I'm tired of the constant platooning. No one else that is worth a shit does it (that I know about). We need to concentrate on getting top notch talent and playing them. If they aren't going to pan out, get them transferred out early in their careers. Talent stands out and it doesn't take long to figure out who to keep.
we wouldn't need to worry so much about our pitching, as long as they could keep the ball in the ballpark. **

[chef dixon]

The Hudson tag line is wearing thin fast. He didn't pitch terribly but some of our fans continue to put him on a pedestal when he has done absolutely jack shit so far in his career. I think Sexton and Tatum have shown enough in actual games to have weekend spots, but as far as I'm concerned Hudson, Brown, and whoever else wants to step up are all on a level playing field for the 3rd spot.

[HoopsDawg]

The Hudson tag line is wearing thin fast. He didn't pitch terribly but some of our fans continue to put him on a pedestal when he has done absolutely jack shit so far in his career. I think Sexton and Tatum have shown enough in actual games to have weekend spots, but as far as I'm concerned Hudson, Brown, and whoever else wants to step up are all on a level playing field for the 3rd spot.

Probably has a little do with being the best pitcher in the Cape Cod League over the summer. It's not just our fans either, he was named the #6 college pitching prospect recently. He struck out 8 in 5 innings, that's pretty good. I'm still concerned about his control, but I like him as our Friday night guy as of now. Agree on Tatum and Sexton.

[preachermatt83]

Good Grief some of you guys are insane. None of our starting pitchers were just awful. Houston make a couple of mistakes but was very accurate. Hudson was very solid after the first inning and you could tell he was putting to much pressure on himself the first inning. Our hitting was as good as it's been under Cohen. We hit more doubles this weekend than any of us were expecting. Reid, Kruger, Gridley, Lowe, Alexander, And Gordon all looked very comfortable at the plate. Get a grip guys. I really like this team.