Here's the bottom line

[Todd4State]

We need better players. We only have about 4-5 in the lineup that belong in the SEC and about three pitchers that are healthy that belong in the SEC.

I think Cann will get better ones in.

[Dawgface]

You sound like Freeze.

[msstate7]

Same players that were 17-7 in the sec Friday night. This was just an old fashioned choke job

[Todd4State]

You sound like Freeze.

And like Freeze I'd be willing to pay top dollar to get some better ones in. Using our boosters money of course.

[Todd4State]

Same players that were 17-7 in the sec Friday night. This was just an old fashioned choke job

Good players don't choke as much as Sun Belt players.

[CadaverDawg]

Same players that were 17-7 in the sec Friday night. This was just an old fashioned choke job

Yep. Very disappointed in the older guys and veterans the last 2 days.....Rooker, Gridley, Brown, Mangum, Billingsley. You gotta be focused and have good at bats with the SEC on the line. You gotta throw strikes as a pitcher.

These guys need to rise up this coming week, or a special season will come crashing to a quick painful end.

[I seen it dawg]

Lol yeah Hugh

[Todd4State]

Yep. Very disappointed in the older guys and veterans the last 2 days.....Rooker, Gridley, Brown, Mangum, Billingsley. You gotta be focused and have good at bats with the SEC on the line. You gotta throw strikes as a pitcher.

These guys need to rise up this coming week, or a special season will come crashing to a quick painful end.

I couldn't agree more.

[I seen it dawg]

Honestly this is natural regression. We are pretty good. Not great. We've been on a "great" run. We are bound to regress. Now that being said I made a late night post last night about great coaches being able to pull teams out of nose dives faster than just good coaches. So far Cann has been able to keep our nose dives at innings instead of weeks. I think we snap out of it this coming wkd and make a good show if not win 2/3.

[Todd4State]

Lol yeah Hugh

If I get caught I'll just say mistakes were made. They'll buy it.

[West Tn Dawg]

I saw several solid hits that were just right at someone or players making some exceptional plays. I don't think it was as bad as some would like to beleive.

[I seen it dawg]

Yep. Very disappointed in the older guys and veterans the last 2 days.....Rooker, Gridley, Brown, Mangum, Billingsley. You gotta be focused and have good at bats with the SEC on the line. You gotta throw strikes as a pitcher.

These guys need to rise up this coming week, or a special season will come crashing to a quick painful end.

And I agree with this as well. Should be some soul searching on the trip home.

[Todd4State]

I saw several solid hits that were just right at someone or players making some exceptional plays. I don't think it was as bad as some would like to beleive.

We're not a dumpster fire. But we're also not championship caliber. I'm talking about what we need to do to get to championship caliber level.

[I seen it dawg]

I saw several solid hits that were just right at someone or players making some exceptional plays. I don't think it was as bad as some would like to beleive.

Agree. Our 3 pitchers that wouldn't compete and throw strikes melted our team this weekend. They were the primary reason we lost. Crushed our tempo and allowed an inferior team life. Not throwing strikes decimates a team in all facets of the game which is what happened to us. This series loss is at the feet of Mcquarry, Plumlee, and Billingsley. Not that hitters don't have some of it but the pitching or lack thereof crushed this team.

Hard to drop names and lay blame but when it's that glaring it is what it is. I'd like to think they were already thinking that way and will use it to get better. If not they don't need to be here.

[I seen it dawg]

If I get caught I'll just say mistakes were made. They'll buy it.

I'd have to say yeah

[CadaverDawg]

Agree. Our 3 pitchers that wouldn't compete and throw strikes melted our team this weekend. They were the primary reason we lost. Crushed our tempo and allowed an inferior team life. Not throwing strikes decimates a team in all facets of the game which is what happened to us. This series loss is at the feet of Mcquarry, Plumlee, and Billingsley. Not that hitters don't have some of it but the pitching or lack thereof crushed this team.

Hard to drop names and lay blame but when it's that glaring it is what it is. I'd like to think they were already thinking that way and will use it to get better. If not they don't need to be here.

Yep. I'd have to think there will be some attrition happening between this season and next. There's some guys that don't have the intestinal fortitude, aka "stones", to be a key cog in a SEC power going forward.

[Intramural All-American]

We're not a dumpster fire. But we're also not championship caliber. I'm talking about what we need to do to get to championship caliber level.

The thing is, no one expected championship caliber this year, and even as we continued to win, everyone said " How are we doing this?" Now this weekend was absolutely frustrating and disappointing, but overall this year has far, far exceeded expectations. And we still have a shot at winning the West and hosting after next weekend. All is definitely not lost after this disappointing weekend by any means, but yes, the future is extremely bright and we are very much on the right track.

[ShotgunDawg]

Same players that were 17-7 in the sec Friday night. This was just an old fashioned choke job

Small sample size. They played above their heads for most of the season and that affected your expectations.

The more games, the more talent or the lack there of is exposed.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I'm not ready to say the magic is gone. Every time this team has faced adversity this year they've responded. I want to see how they bounce back next weekend before throwing in the towel.

[msstate7]

Small sample size. They played above their heads for most of the season and that affected your expectations.

The more games, the more talent or the lack there of is exposed.

You say me listing our sec record going into Saturday's game is a SSS, but say the last 2 losses to one of the worst sec teams are a more accurate representation? Have we played above our heads? Yeah, but we're better than Georgia... does Georgia have better talent?

[maroonmania]

Good players don't choke as much as Sun Belt players.

The fact is we all have known that we've been living a charmed life in the SEC so far this year. A lot of things have gone right for a team built with what, 24 players on the roster, for us to have been sitting at 17-8 prior to the last 2 games. Fact is, in baseball especially, the longer you play the more things gravitate to the mean. And we are a team that can beat some good teams but totally capable of losing to anyone. Georgia just totally took Rooker out of the last 2 games and we didn't have anyone else step up and make them pay for it. I expect other teams to likely follow the same strategy going forward.

[CadaverDawg]

What is best case scenario, worst case scenario, assuming we win say 1 game in the SECT in yalls opinion?

Get swept by LSU = 2 seed in a Regional far away (or 3 seed)
Lose 2 of 3 to LSU = 2 seed Hattiesburg Regional
Win 2 of 3 over LSU = longshot at Possibly hosting, or high 2 seed
Sweep LSU = Hosting

Your Thoughts?

[ShotgunDawg]

You say me listing our sec record going into Saturday's game is a SSS, but say the last 2 losses to one of the worst sec teams are a more accurate representation? Have we played above our heads? Yeah, but we're better than Georgia... does Georgia have better talent?

No, it's baseball and we aren't a great team. The Padres are ass this year but will beat Cubs this year likely a few times. Unless you have dominate starting pitching, your going to go through droughts.

[maroonmania]

Lol yeah Hugh

Well we can certainly say this weekend that mistakes were made.

[Saltydog]

this low after that 2013 World Series run. I really expected Cohen to have been a better recruiter than he was. That of course will all be solved with the new park, after all "build it and they will come" (wink, wink).

[TNDawg35]

What is best case scenario, worst case scenario, assuming we win say 1 game in the SECT in yalls opinion?

Get swept by LSU = 2 seed in a Regional far away (or 3 seed)
Lose 2 of 3 to LSU = 2 seed Hattiesburg Regional
Win 2 of 3 over LSU = longshot at Possibly hosting, or high 2 seed
Sweep LSU = Hosting

Your Thoughts?

I think if we take 2 of 3 from LSU, we will host... We were a very hard host and damn near a NS. We lost one bad series, that shouldnt take us out of a host. I think we host we win next wknd... But something we are forgetting, we have a very tough Troy team coming in midweek also....

[I seen it dawg]

What is best case scenario, worst case scenario, assuming we win say 1 game in the SECT in yalls opinion?

Get swept by LSU = 2 seed in a Regional far away (or 3 seed)
Lose 2 of 3 to LSU = 2 seed Hattiesburg Regional
Win 2 of 3 over LSU = longshot at Possibly hosting, or high 2 seed
Sweep LSU = Hosting

Your Thoughts?

Here's one for you....we take 2/3 and Arkansas sweeps AM...they win the west by half a game

[CadaverDawg]

this low after that 2013 World Series run. I really expected Cohen to have been a better recruiter than he was. That of course will all be solved with the new park, after all "build it and they will come" (wink, wink).

True, but give us Cohen's recruited arms healthy, and we may be a Top 2 National Seed

[I seen it dawg]

We take 2/3 we will host bc we will get a tourney bye.

[ShotgunDawg]

this low after that 2013 World Series run. I really expected Cohen to have been a better recruiter than he was. That of course will all be solved with the new park, after all "build it and they will come" (wink, wink).

Our talent would be fine if we didn't have numerous injuries and didn't have tons of guys drafted last year. Baseball is different than football because of limited scholarships and the best players going pro.

Most every team has to rebuild. Look at Vandy this year and they are the Alabama SEC baseball recruiting. This is the worst LSU team I've seen in years and they are fortunate that the SEC Is a little down this year overall as are we.

You can't apply football talent level accumulation standards to baseball. The structure of the sport is completely different.

[CadaverDawg]

Here's one for you....we take 2/3 and Arkansas sweeps AM...they win the west by half a game

Interesting. Isn't that series at College Station? If so, Ark will have earned it if they win it

[Maroon Wizardry]

This is the same Georgia team that took 2 of 3 from Kentucky on the road. They aren't a dumpster fire like Alabama. Our problem this weekend was putting too many players of Georgia's players on base. If you do that consistently you will not win. The only thing wrong with this team is a lack high level pitching depth. There is still time to regain our stride, but we better find it soon.

[Bothrops]

We need better players. We only have about 4-5 in the lineup that belong in the SEC and about three pitchers that are healthy that belong in the SEC.

I think Cann will get better ones in.

I agree on the avaliable pitchers. We have SEC players at most positions, and the record proves that. We lost Kruger and the 1st baseman (forgot name), that would have given us and unstoppable lineup.

[MarketingBully]

This is the same Georgia team that took 2 of 3 from Kentucky on the road. They aren't a dumpster fire like Alabama. Our problem this weekend was putting too many players of Georgia's players on base. If you do that consistently you will not win. The only thing wrong with this team is a lack high level pitching depth. There is still time to regain our stride, but we better find it soon.

We scored two runs against the worst pitching staff in the league the last 18 innings and you are saying it's walks.

[Todd4State]

You say me listing our sec record going into Saturday's game is a SSS, but say the last 2 losses to one of the worst sec teams are a more accurate representation? Have we played above our heads? Yeah, but we're better than Georgia... does Georgia have better talent?

Honestly, they might have better talent. They're just very young. About half of our lineup had to go to the JUCO route to start with.

[msstate7]

I agree on the avaliable pitchers. We have SEC players at most positions, and the record proves that. We lost Kruger and the 1st baseman (forgot name), that would have given us and unstoppable lineup.
Lowe

[Todd4State]

The fact is we all have known that we've been living a charmed life in the SEC so far this year. A lot of things have gone right for a team built with what, 24 players on the roster, for us to have been sitting at 17-8 prior to the last 2 games. Fact is, in baseball especially, the longer you play the more things gravitate to the mean. And we are a team that can beat some good teams but totally capable of losing to anyone. Georgia just totally took Rooker out of the last 2 games and we didn't have anyone else step up and make them pay for it. I expect other teams to likely follow the same strategy going forward.

Mangum and Gridley need to step up to protect Rooker. If they're coming through and we have runners on base opponents will be forced to pitch to him. Mangum went 3-5 on Friday and we kicked their ass in. Gridley only had three hits the entire series.

[MarketingBully]

this low after that 2013 World Series run. I really expected Cohen to have been a better recruiter than he was. That of course will all be solved with the new park, after all "build it and they will come" (wink, wink).

It's actually quite simple really. We got one year from Lowe and Kruger who were supposed to be here for more then a year. JUCOs and transfers aren't supposed to bolt after one year but unfortunately those two did. The draft really killed us last year even more so then A&M. Imagine if Kruger batted second, you moved Rooker to third in the lineup and had Lowe hitting cleanup. You could move Rooker to left take Poole out of the lineup and just bat Alexander eighth. You potentially would only have one hole in the lineup. Cohen made some gambles thinking Lowe and Kruger would be here more then a year and was burned.

[Maroon Wizardry]

we have a solid lineup. our only problem is we have 2 great pitchers that are injured and a couple others that would have seen given some good relief. The bottom line is for you to enjoy life a little more. its baseball shiit happens

[MarketingBully]

Mangum and Gridley need to step up to protect Rooker. If they're coming through and we have runners on base opponents will be forced to pitch to him. Mangum went 3-5 on Friday and we kicked their ass in. Gridley only had three hits the entire series.

Gridley was trying to hit grand slams instead of base hits and it screwed us both yesterday and today.

[Todd4State]

We scored two runs against the worst pitching staff in the league the last 18 innings and you are saying it's walks.

Absolutely it's both that are a problem. We walk too many guys I don't think there is any debate about that. If you walk people the other team has more of an opportunity to score runs and that makes it more difficult on your offense. We have too many pitchers that don't challenge the strike zone at all. Being behind changes your offense and how you approach it and also it changes how the other team attacks you. Hitting is a problem too because we expand the zone too much and that leads to more strike outs.

[Todd4State]

Gridley was trying to hit grand slams instead of base hits and it screwed us both yesterday and today.

MSU baseball players trying to do too much when a championship is on the line is a perpetual problem. And then when he got his hit yesterday, his ass gets picked off.

[CadaverDawg]

It's actually quite simple really. We got one year from Lowe and Kruger who were supposed to be here for more then a year. JUCOs and transfers aren't supposed to bolt after one year but unfortunately those two did. The draft really killed us last year even more so then A&M. Imagine if Kruger batted second, you moved Rooker to third in the lineup and had Lowe hitting cleanup. You could move Rooker to left take Poole out of the lineup and just bat Alexander eighth. You potentially would only have one hole in the lineup. Cohen made some gambles thinking Lowe and Kruger would be here more then a year and was burned.

What a dream lineup....

Mangum CF
Kruger C
Rooker RF
Lowe 1B
Gridley SS
Brown LF
Macnamee DH
Alexander 3B
Stovall 2B

Plus a healthy staff of guys like Rigby, Small, Ford, Padgett, Hughes, James, B Smith, etc, in addition to Pilk, Self, Price, etc....whew, what coulda been. And somehow Cann has us in 2nd despite losing all that.

[Todd4State]

It's actually quite simple really. We got one year from Lowe and Kruger who were supposed to be here for more then a year. JUCOs and transfers aren't supposed to bolt after one year but unfortunately those two did. The draft really killed us last year even more so then A&M. Imagine if Kruger batted second, you moved Rooker to third in the lineup and had Lowe hitting cleanup. You could move Rooker to left take Poole out of the lineup and just bat Alexander eighth. You potentially would only have one hole in the lineup. Cohen made some gambles thinking Lowe and Kruger would be here more then a year and was burned.

That's one of the bad things about JUCO's. In baseball you can not realistically expect good players to stay for four years, or in a JUCO's case two. And the really good ones usually go pro and never even get to campus. We're actually lucky we got both of them in the first place for even a year. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose more JUCO recruits to MLB out of our current class than we do high school guys. Some of those JUCO guys go the JUCO route so that they can potentially get drafted another time. So, a lot of the JUCO guys that stay around for their senior year usually aren't anything more than average.

[MarketingBully]

What a dream lineup....

Mangum CF
Kruger C
Rooker RF
Lowe 1B
Gridley SS
Brown LF
Macnamee DH
Alexander 3B
Stovall 2B

Plus a healthy staff including Rigby, Small, Ford, Hughes, James, B Smith, etc....whew, what coulda been. And somehow Cann has us in 2nd despite losing all that.

Biggest difference between us and LSU. Players like Kruger and Lowe come back to LSU. Neither were top 10 round guys but they took the money instead of coming back to try to repeat as champions and if we had those two bats to add to this lineup we win it easily.

[CadaverDawg]

Biggest difference between us and LSU. Players like Kruger and Lowe come back to LSU. Neither were top 10 round guys but they took the money instead of coming back to try to repeat as champions and if we had those two bats to add to this lineup we win it easily.

Hopefully Canny can help us there

[Todd4State]

What a dream lineup....

Mangum CF
Kruger C
Rooker RF
Lowe 1B
Gridley SS
Brown LF
Macnamee DH
Alexander 3B
Stovall 2B

Plus a healthy staff of guys like Rigby, Small, Ford, Padgett, Hughes, James, B Smith, etc, in addition to Pilk, Self, Price, etc....whew, what coulda been. And somehow Cann has us in 2nd despite losing all that.

I think Cann is going to start to get us away from recruiting and relying on JUCO's so much. At least I hope he is. A program like MSU shouldn't have to rely on them as much as they do. Cohen's plan seemed to be roll the dice on guys that are high end and if they don't come to school go get a JUCO guy to take their spot. I think that's where Cann's ability to evaluate signability and also be able to retain upper class players is going to make a BIG difference for us going forward and hopefully put us over the top.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Honestly this is natural regression. We are pretty good. Not great. We've been on a "great" run. We are bound to regress. Now that being said I made a late night post last night about great coaches being able to pull teams out of nose dives faster than just good coaches. So far Cann has been able to keep our nose dives at innings instead of weeks. I think we snap out of it this coming wkd and make a good show if not win 2/3.
This^^
We've been fun to follow this season, but then we (the fans) got wrapped up in the title chase and suddenly forgot that this team really has no business competing for the title. It sucks, and I wish we had capitalized on the opportunity, but we've done a hell of a job to get to where we are.

[MarketingBully]

That's one of the bad things about JUCO's. In baseball you can not realistically expect good players to stay for four years, or in a JUCO's case two. And the really good ones usually go pro and never even get to campus. We're actually lucky we got both of them in the first place for even a year. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose more JUCO recruits to MLB out of our current class than we do high school guys. Some of those JUCO guys go the JUCO route so that they can potentially get drafted another time. So, a lot of the JUCO guys that stay around for their senior year usually aren't anything more than average.

Meh, those guys come back to LSU. They had a number of guys get drafted that came back to do something special there. Word was they came back for Cann. I'm hoping that Cann can do two things that Cohen could never do A) get more players to come to school (through scouting and understanding who is just going to go vs wants to be at college, he was a wizard at it at LSU) and B) get more then one year out of our big time players. Whether it's been Renfroe, Hudson, or some others, it seemed Cohen could only get one special season out of his players that were draft risks. Mangum was the exception. I think Cann can do it.

[MarketingBully]

I think Cann is going to start to get us away from recruiting and relying on JUCO's so much. At least I hope he is. A program like MSU shouldn't have to rely on them as much as they do. Cohen's plan seemed to be roll the dice on guys that are high end and if they don't come to school go get a JUCO guy to take their spot. I think that's where Cann's ability to evaluate signability and also be able to retain upper class players is going to make a BIG difference for us going forward and hopefully put us over the top.

This and his ability to get the most out of the players when they are here IMO will be the biggest difference between him and Cohen.

[MarketingBully]

Padgett would have been our ace. He had a 93-95 mph plus fastball with a major league breaking pitch. He is a guy that I think Johnson really did a number on. I think if Padgett never would have seen Johnson he would have been our Friday starter over Pilk. He was a much better prospect then Pilkington and wanted to come to college. The Cubs wanted to draft him in the third round but Padgett said no. It really sucked that we lost him to TJ. He was the prospect I was most excited about besides Austin Riley from that 2015 class.

[MarketingBully]

What a dream lineup....

Mangum CF
Kruger C
Rooker RF
Lowe 1B
Gridley SS
Brown LF
Macnamee DH
Alexander 3B
Stovall 2B

Plus a healthy staff of guys like Rigby, Small, Ford, Padgett, Hughes, James, B Smith, etc, in addition to Pilk, Self, Price, etc....whew, what coulda been. And somehow Cann has us in 2nd despite losing all that.

Cann is definitely getting the most out of his players. When he gets a lot of his talent in here, he will get the most out of them to which will mean a lot of CWS trips and possibly winning one or two.

[Commercecomet24]

I'm not ready to say the magic is gone. Every time this team has faced adversity this year they've responded. I want to see how they bounce back next weekend before throwing in the towel.

Nail on head! Every time this teams been counted out this year they've answered the bell. Don't count em out just yet. I've got confidence in this bunch.

[Todd4State]

Meh, those guys come back to LSU. They had a number of guys get drafted that came back to do something special there. Word was they came back for Cann. I'm hoping that Cann can do two things that Cohen could never do A) get more players to come to school (through scouting and understanding who is just going to go vs wants to be at college, he was a wizard at it at LSU) and B) get more then one year out of our big time players. Whether it's been Renfroe, Hudson, or some others, it seemed Cohen could only get one special season out of his players that were draft risks. Mangum was the exception. I think Cann can do it.

That's one good thing- everyone talks about LSU like they're the 27 Yankees. Cann is pretty much responsible for most of their players right now. Adam Frazier would be the other exception. I would include Holder but to be honest it's a lot easier to make an impact sooner as a relief pitcher than it is at most of the other positions. He has a lot of impact on the top two teams in the SEC West right now which is pretty impressive.

I guess we'll see if he is like that old quote about Bear Bryant where "he can take his and beat yours and he can take yours and beat his."

[Todd4State]

Padgett would have been our ace. He had a 93-95 mph plus fastball with a major league breaking pitch. He is a guy that I think Johnson really did a number on. I think if Padgett never would have seen Johnson he would have been our Friday starter over Pilk. He was a much better prospect then Pilkington and wanted to come to college. The Cubs wanted to draft him in the third round but Padgett said no. It really sucked that we lost him to TJ. He was the prospect I was most excited about besides Austin Riley from that 2015 class.

Here's what sucks about that- I think Padgett actually would have been our closer and our rotation would have been Pilkington, Small, and Breaux. And then Keegan James is no slouch- one of those four would have been our midweek guy. You add a 93-95 guy to Price, Self, and Rigby and that's probably the best staff in the league.

[CadaverDawg]

That's one good thing- everyone talks about LSU like they're the 27 Yankees. Cann is pretty much responsible for most of their players right now. Adam Frazier would be the other exception. I would include Holder but to be honest it's a lot easier to make an impact sooner as a relief pitcher than it is at most of the other positions. He has a lot of impact on the top two teams in the SEC West right now which is pretty impressive.

I guess we'll see if he is like that old quote about Bear Bryant where "he can take his and beat yours and he can take yours and beat his."

Great quote

[CadaverDawg]

Wonder how many of our TJ arms will impact next year, if any? I hope people aren't giving up on Ford, he has electric stuff...I'm hoping a fresh start in summer ball will help get him some confidence and get things headed back to pre-TJ form. Do we expect he and any other TJ guys to play summer ball?

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

Offense was the problem, especially today. Cann even mentioned that if you give up only 4 runs on a Sunday in SEC ball, you should win the game.

[Todd4State]

Wonder how many of our TJ arms will impact next year, if any? I hope people aren't giving up on Ford, he has electric stuff...I'm hoping a fresh start in summer ball will help get him some confidence and get things headed back to pre-TJ form. Do we expect he and any other TJ guys to play summer ball?

There's no way to tell at this point. I think the stat (top of my head) of success rate for Tommy John is around 75% or so. I could be wrong on the exact number but whatever it is the percentage of coming back is pretty high. So, realistically we can expect 5-6 guys to come back and contribute if that stat holds up. Blake Smith is already done just because of his eligibility. I've heard that Noah Hughes has looked good. I expect him to pitch some this summer. I think those Ford, Hughes, and Mahoney are the only ones that will possibly play summer ball.

Padgett and Small will be at the one year mark in July, so that's around the time summer ball is ending and the most that I could see them doing is an appearance or two so I doubt we'll even fool with it. Both of them and of course the three mentioned above will be able to participate in fall ball for us so we may get an idea of where they are at that time. Small and Padgett will be at the 18 month benchmark in January so they should be able to pitch for us next year.

Keegan James will be at the one year mark in January. I think we redshirt Breaux next year because he will be at one year in February and I think he will basically be on the same plan as Hughes is this year. Redshirt and then probably play summer ball.

[CadaverDawg]

There's no way to tell at this point. I think the stat (top of my head) of success rate for Tommy John is around 75% or so. I could be wrong on the exact number but whatever it is the percentage of coming back is pretty high. So, realistically we can expect 5-6 guys to come back and contribute if that stat holds up. Blake Smith is already done just because of his eligibility. I've heard that Noah Hughes has looked good. I expect him to pitch some this summer. I think those Ford, Hughes, and Mahoney are the only ones that will possibly play summer ball.

Padgett and Small will be at the one year mark in July, so that's around the time summer ball is ending and the most that I could see them doing is an appearance or two so I doubt we'll even fool with it. Both of them and of course the three mentioned above will be able to participate in fall ball for us so we may get an idea of where they are at that time. Small and Padgett will be at the 18 month benchmark in January so they should be able to pitch for us next year.

Keegan James will be at the one year mark in January. I think we redshirt Breaux next year because he will be at one year in February and I think he will basically be on the same plan as Hughes is this year. Redshirt and then probably play summer ball.

Good stuff. Where do you see Hughes fitting into the staff? Middle relief?

[Maroon Wizardry]

you can absolutely blame it on walks. eventually even with a team of players averaging .325 the hits won't line up... there will be a game where you will need to rely on your pitching staff. it really is that simple. if we had a healthy lineup you could easily argue we shut them out in one of the games. bitching about talent considering how far we've come is ridiculous. hell we'll probably win the whole dam thing next year with a healthy rotation.

[Todd4State]

Good stuff. Where do you see Hughes fitting into the staff? Middle relief?

Possibly. It's just too soon to know. I want to see how he looks when he comes back. It also depends on what recruits we get and that's an unknown until July. If I had to guess right now our staff next year will probably be Pilkington, McQuary, and Ashcraft. f we get Pearson McMahan through the draft, he's a JUCO guy that I think would be in the rotation. The Pirates drafted him out of high school. I don't expect to get him though. I also want to see how Parker Ford looks after this summer.

[CadaverDawg]

Possibly. It's just too soon to know. I want to see how he looks when he comes back. It also depends on what recruits we get and that's an unknown until July. If I had to guess right now our staff next year will probably be Pilkington, McQuary, and Ashcraft. f we get Pearson McMahan through the draft, he's a JUCO guy that I think would be in the rotation. The Pirates drafted him out of high school. I don't expect to get him though. I also want to see how Parker Ford looks after this summer.

I agree about Ford. With the way Andy recruits, is it fair to say that nobody's scholarship is 100% safe in terms of pitchers? Outside of Pilk, McQ, Barlow, Self, and Price? Or do you think AC is a guy that will allow all TJ guys the opportunity to come back? Some coaches wouldn't....and as much as I want them all to bounce back and help us, Andy's job is to win, and it's hard to do that with 7-8 question marks tying up roster spots, right? Seems he may have some tough decisions to make.

[Todd4State]

I agree about Ford. With the way Andy recruits, is it fair to say that nobody's scholarship is 100% safe in terms of pitchers? Outside of Pilk, McQ, Barlow, Self, and Price? Or do you think AC is a guy that will allow all TJ guys the opportunity to come back? Some coaches wouldn't....and as much as I want them all to bounce back and help us, Andy's job is to win, and it's hard to do that with 7-8 question marks tying up roster spots, right? Seems he may have some tough decisions to make.

I think Cann will allow the TJ guys a chance to come back. There have been some guys on other teams that have had Tommy John in college and were productive pitchers for their college team after rehab. It's just a case by case basis- guys like Breaux will probably be redshirted next year and probably won't take up a spot on the 35 man roster. If Ford and Mahoney are still struggling in January then I would say that we might and probably would let them go at that point.

I'm against cutting a pitcher that has had Tommy John before they are 18 months post op. The thing I would worry about is what kind of reputation that would give us in the baseball community which I think would hurt recruiting with pitchers if we started cutting guys that had Tommy John before 18 months was up. And on top of that, the odds of them coming back and being productive pitchers is pretty good.

I don't think we're going to have much more if any attrition with the baseball team than normal based on what I'm guessing the numbers are going to look like once the dust settles. That said, I do think we will see more competition at just about every position and we may see some guys that are starting in the field sitting more next year if some of them don't improve their game. Especially two outfielders that are playing a lot right now- we have some freshmen outfielders coming in that I think could push for playing time next year but we'll see how that goes. There's never a guarantee with any freshmen.

Catcher actually worries me more than the pitching does. It's literally Skelton and a JUCO named Marshall Gilbert. Gilbert's put up good numbers in JUCO ball but he plays in a league where the numbers haven't really translated well to the SEC. Stovall would be our third catcher right now. We need to find another HS catcher for this class or a JUCO walk-on for depth purposes.

[CadaverDawg]

I think Cann will allow the TJ guys a chance to come back. There have been some guys on other teams that have had Tommy John in college and were productive pitchers for their college team after rehab. It's just a case by case basis- guys like Breaux will probably be redshirted next year and probably won't take up a spot on the 35 man roster. If Ford and Mahoney are still struggling in January then I would say that we might and probably would let them go at that point.

I'm against cutting a pitcher that has had Tommy John before they are 18 months post op. The thing I would worry about is what kind of reputation that would give us in the baseball community which I think would hurt recruiting with pitchers if we started cutting guys that had Tommy John before 18 months was up. And on top of that, the odds of them coming back and being productive pitchers is pretty good.

I don't think we're going to have much more if any attrition with the baseball team than normal based on what I'm guessing the numbers are going to look like once the dust settles. That said, I do think we will see more competition at just about every position and we may see some guys that are starting in the field sitting more next year if some of them don't improve their game. Especially two outfielders that are playing a lot right now- we have some freshmen outfielders coming in that I think could push for playing time next year but we'll see how that goes. There's never a guarantee with any freshmen.

Catcher actually worries me more than the pitching does. It's literally Skelton and a JUCO named Marshall Gilbert. Gilbert's put up good numbers in JUCO ball but he plays in a league where the numbers haven't really translated well to the SEC. Stovall would be our third catcher right now. We need to find another HS catcher for this class or a JUCO walk-on for depth purposes.

Thanks for the thorough response. I agree about the TJ guys. I didn't realize we were about to be in such a tight spot at catcher...hopefully we can find a HS guy.

What do you expect the infield to look like next year outside of Stovall at 2B? Will LA be at SS even if he continues to hit so poorly? Will Bragg play 3B or a youngster? Could Bragg get drafted? Who plays 1B? We will have a lot of new faces in the starting lineup with the potential of Brown, Mangum, Gridley, Rooker, Lovelady, and Alexander out of it.

(Sorry for all the questions. Obviously there aren't answers to all, but I like hearing what people are thinking about the holes and how we'll fill them next year. We could be very green next season.)

[Todd4State]

Thanks for the thorough response. I agree about the TJ guys. I didn't realize we were about to be in such a tight spot at catcher...hopefully we can find a HS guy.

What do you expect the infield to look like next year outside of Stovall at 2B? Will LA be at SS even if he continues to hit so poorly? Will Bragg play 3B or a youngster? Could Bragg get drafted? Who plays 1B? We will have a lot of new faces in the starting lineup with the potential of Brown, Mangum, Gridley, Rooker, Lovelady, and Alexander out of it.

(Sorry for all the questions. Obviously there aren't answers to all, but I like hearing what people are thinking about the holes and how we'll fill them next year. We could be very green next season.)

I think Gridley will come back for his senior year. Cann loves him and I think he will talk him into coming back for his senior year. I don't think he will be drafted all that high- probably somewhere between round 10-20. LA is going to the Cape this summer and he really needs it because I think some of his struggles are because he missed summer ball last year due to injury. If Gridley leaves, and that is possible too, then LA will probably be at SS.

LA (assuming Gridley returns), Bragg, and a freshman named Jordan Westberg, and a freshman named Tanner Allen I think will be the guys competing at third base. It's totally up for grabs. LA needs to improve his hitting. Bragg needs to improve his work ethic which he has gotten better at. Allen profiles more as a second baseman in the pros but as you know we have Stovall. Allen could play the OF. If Gridley goes pro, Bragg would be the leader to win the position.

First base is a big question mark because it has the most unknowns as far as who we are going to get into school. I think absolute worst case scenario would be Bragg or Cole Gordon. We have a couple of JUCO prospects- Rey Riviera who would be my frontrunner if he comes to school. He was the JUCO player of the year for the Florida panhandle and was drafted by I think the Cubs out of high school. I doubt we get him. Alex Pener is the other JUCO guy and I think he will end up at MSU for sure. Then there are some freshmen that I think will compete for the job too- Owen Lovell and Bryce Hutchinson. Hutchinson is more of a draft risk than Lovell but as long as we keep Gary Henderson (we flipped him from Kentucky after Henderson was fired) I think we have a decent shot at keeping him. Hutchinson has hit some absolute bombs this year in high school and he could pitch too. Lovell is one of the best players in Alabama and I think he has a good chance of competing for playing time right away if not as first base the outfield or DH. He was one of the freshmen I was referring to competing for an outfield spot along with Tanner Allen and I'm thinking we probably get Jordan Anderson now because he had an injury in high school. Or at the very least our odds go up as far as getting Anderson. I could see Cole focusing on pitching only after this year too.

I could see Bragg getting drafted because of his physical traits and raw potential. He looks like a big leaguer. I think he will come back unless he just wants to leave which I could see as a possibility.

[I seen it dawg]

Belmont better take a bat with him to the cape and a manual on how to use it.

[lamont]

Belmont better take a bat with him to the cape and a manual on how to use it.

Its funny cause its true

[MarketingBully]

you can absolutely blame it on walks. eventually even with a team of players averaging .325 the hits won't line up... there will be a game where you will need to rely on your pitching staff. it really is that simple. if we had a healthy lineup you could easily argue we shut them out in one of the games. bitching about talent considering how far we've come is ridiculous. hell we'll probably win the whole dam thing next year with a healthy rotation.

Yep. And UGA should have had just as many walks as our guys but we had players swing at balls out of the strike zone. Effectively wild means the opposing batters have no plate discipline. The pitcher Saturday for UGA had four walks and six strikeouts. He could just as easily of had 2 strikeouts and 8 walks. If that happens, we win Game 2 and we would have been going for a sweep yesterday. The UGA pitcher was so wild that he couldn't locate balls in the strike zone on 3-2 so he absolutely depended on us bailing him out throwing ball fours on 3-2 out of the strike zone we chased. Luke Alexander had two of the ball four strike outs. He was absolutely horrible this weekend.

[MarketingBully]

Its funny cause its true

He's horrible. He brings absolutely nothing to the table. How Bragg isn't getting playing time is beyond me.

[msstate7]

Its funny cause its true

Funny that such a non-talented player is invited to the premier summer league.

[I seen it dawg]

He's horrible. He brings absolutely nothing to the table. How Bragg isn't getting playing time is beyond me.

Well same can be said for some of your posting....as far as Bragg he must not be bringing as much to the table as Belmont if he continues to be a ghost. This shit is on Bragg as much as anyone. I doubt Belmont just isn't trying.

[CadaverDawg]

Funny that such a non-talented player is invited to the premier summer league.

LA will probably light it up next year. He's talented, and a summer in the cape should help him. A year with Cannizaro will help too. I think he will be one of our most improved...or else he will not be playing much.

[CadaverDawg]

Well same can be said for some of your posting.....

Dear Lord that is funny

And unlike some, marketing can probably laugh at himself on this one.

[ScoobaDawg]

LA will probably light it up next year. He's talented, and a summer in the cape should help him. A year with Cannizaro will help too. I think he will be one of our most improved...or else he will not be playing much.

Exactly.. Cann has had barely 6 months with these guys. Let LA go off to summer ball to work on this and then a fall with Cann.. and let's see what happens.
But yes for now He's not the strongest part of the team.

[ScoobaDawg]

Dear Lord that is funny

And unlike some, marketing can probably laugh at himself on this one.

Nah he can get pretty pissed at some Mods too...

[MarketingBully]

Nah he can get pretty pissed at some Mods too...

Lol, I don't care you guys call me out. I do deserve it. My problem is my dumb posting is based more off emotional reasoning then sound thought out reasoning.

[ScoobaDawg]

Lol, I don't care you guys call me out. I do deserve it. My problem is my dumb posting is based more off emotional reasoning then sound thought out reasoning.

It can bite ya in the @ss. But yea we are all very emotional about the teams.

[State82]

It can bite ya in the @ss. But yea we are all very emotional about the teams.

And that's one of the things that makes this place so good. It's as passionate a group as you will find on a college message board. Especially baseball. I don't think you could find a better board for college baseball anywhere in the country.

[CadaverDawg]

And that's one of the things that makes this place so good. It's as passionate a group as you will find on a college message board. Especially baseball. I don't think you could find a better board for college baseball anywhere in the country.

Amen brother.

[msbulldog]

This is the last regular season series for the grand old lady known as Polk-Dement. She was the classy broad when she was built! Over the years she has witnessed our cheers and our tears, she has always been there for us as we always come back. We owe Her our loyalty, in this final weekend of her life, against our true rival, that we made hire Skip Bertman just to keep up with us. Turn out Bulldogs, show them the power of the Bulldog Baseball Nation!

[CadaverDawg]

This is the last regular season series for the grand old lady known as Polk-Dement. She was the classy broad when she was built! Over the years she has witnessed our cheers and our tears, she has always been there for us as we always come back. We owe Her our loyalty, in this final weekend of her life, against our true rival, that we made hire Skip Bertman just to keep up with us. Turn out Bulldogs, show them the power of the Bulldog Baseball Nation!

Well said