New Baseball Grad Transfer, potential weekend starter???

[CadaverDawg]

JP France from Tulane.

https://i.imgflip.com/1rcwb1.jpg

[Todd4State]

Yes! I saw him pitch for Tulane last year against USM in NOLA and he is very good. He also has a history of dominating LSU.

[runwildjerious]

Here is his bio: http://tulanegreenwave.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4058

[Leeshouldveflanked]

5-5 96 IP Started 15 games 3.84 era 3-1 so to walk ratio

[Homedawg]

5-5 96 IP Started 15 games 3.84 era 3-1 so to walk ratio

Nice. 3-1 k ratio that's more like it!

[msstate7]

9.38 h/9
2.81 bb/9
6.84 k/9

Not sure if weekend guy, but certainly glad to have him. Is not being drafted an indication of his stuff? Only 2 of our regular pitchers (McQ and barton) had k/9 rates lower than 7

[HoopsDawg]

9.38 h/9
2.81 bb/9
6.84 k/9

Not sure if weekend guy, but certainly glad to have him. Is not being drafted an indication of his stuff? Only 2 of our regular pitchers (McQ and barton) had k/9 rates lower than 7

He beat LSU twice. looks like an innings eater.

[Todd4State]

He pitches to contact. He would have been the number two for us this year.

[Commercecomet24]

This is a great pickup. Know him well. He's gonna help us! Great job by Cann and staff!

[Todd4State]

He beat LSU twice. looks like an innings eater.

They call him the Tiger Tamer in Louisiana. And it's not because he majored in zoology or was born in a circus.

[ShotgunDawg]

This is a HUGE pickup.

Not a MLB prospect but, due to his inning eating capability, he will take a ton of pressure off the Tommy John guys and put them in positions where they will be relied upon more in relief stints than expected to accumulate a ton of innings.

If this guy could give us 80 innings as a Sunday guy to go along with 90 innings from Pilkington on Friday, you've really helped your bullpen and allowed guys to assume roles.

[Commercecomet24]

Yes! I saw him pitch for Tulane last year against USM in NOLA and he is very good. He also has a history of dominating LSU.

This kid really knows how to pitch. Works both sides of the plate and up and down. Changes speeds well and has great command of all his pitches.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

Here is his bio: http://tulanegreenwave.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4058
Love that Tulane is using the vintage logo on their site.

[CadaverDawg]

Lefty or Righty?

[msstate7]

Lefty or Righty?
RHP

[Todd4State]

This kid really knows how to pitch. Works both sides of the plate and up and down. Changes speeds well and has great command of all his pitches.

Yes. When I saw him against USM he was absolutely on. He really impressed me that day and I was surprised that he was their midweek guy at that point although Tulane was pretty good that year.

[Todd4State]

This is a HUGE pickup.

Not a MLB prospect but, due to his inning eating capability, he will take a ton of pressure off the Tommy John guys and put them in positions where they will be relied upon more in relief stints than expected to accumulate a ton of innings.

If this guy could give us 80 innings as a Sunday guy to go along with 90 innings from Pilkington on Friday, you've really helped your bullpen and allowed guys to assume roles.

If our rotation is Pilkington and then two fifth year seniors in Billingsley and France we should be pretty solid. Aside from the SR, I thought Billingsley finished the year very strong. We'll see how he does in the Cape and see if he can refine his command and be more consistent. I think France also takes pressure off of some of the younger guys like Ashcraft, McQuary and Self and will allow them to develop with less pressure. And who knows? Maybe Gordon figures things out and becomes a decent option as well.

If Cann starts adding Grad transfers to fill holes I like that option better than going after a JUCO guy. Their D-I college experience should help eliminate the transition that JUCO guys- even Lowe and Kruger- usually go through. Plus if we get a really good JUCO guy like Lowe the odds are they are going to be with us one year like a grad transfer anyway. I think Cann's MLB connections help with guys like France who like you said may not be a MLB prospect but it has to be attractive for a guy like him to see guys like Cody Brown and Lovelady get free agent deals that Cann helped them get so that they get a shot at playing pro if they don't get drafted.

Now we just need to add a grad transfer at catcher.

[I seen it dawg]

I don't think people fully understand what we have in our head coach of baseball....

[Commercecomet24]

I don't think people fully understand what we have in our head coach of baseball....

If they don't now they certainly will in the next couple years. Cann will be the one that brings the NC home!

[Bully13]

so is this guy choosing MSU for his final year of eligibility to see if his can improve his draft stock? is that his current mindset?

[HoopsDawg]

If our rotation is Pilkington and then two fifth year seniors in Billingsley and France we should be pretty solid. Aside



Now we just need to add a grad transfer at catcher.

I feel good about catcher with Skelton and Gilbert.

[Todd4State]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_v5O3zJIVQ



Here’s some video of France against LSU last year. First 30 seconds of video.

[Todd4State]

so is this guy choosing MSU for his final year of eligibility to see if his can improve his draft stock? is that his current mindset?

That or at least get a shot at the pros like Cody Brown and Lovelady.

[Ari Gold]

I don't think people fully understand what we have in our head coach of baseball....

The guy got Lovelady a FA contract. I think Lovelady would be the first person to say Holy Shit.

[Todd4State]

I feel good about catcher with Skelton and Gilbert.

We need another one for depth and to compete for a starting spot with Skelton. We only have two catchers and the third is Stovall. Gilbert played in a JUCO league where guys haven't typically translated as well to the SEC. I don't know that we can count on him. Skelton would have to carry the load and I would prefer to have two solid options at catcher if possible with a decent third guy in case of emergency. A fifth year senior that is a Mitch Slauter/Josh Lovelady type would be fine.

[Commercecomet24]

The guy got Lovelady a FA contract. I think Lovelady would be the first person to say Holy Shit.

Exactly! Loved josh but I absolutely thought he played the last game of his career at that super regional. Cann got that done for him. Cann is at the leading edge of the new generation of baseball coach. We're looking at the Nick Saban of college baseball

[preachermatt83]

I don't think people fully understand what we have in our head coach of baseball....

Amen!

[Homedawg]

so is this guy choosing MSU for his final year of eligibility to see if his can improve his draft stock? is that his current mindset?
I think more like, he'd like to win.

[Todd4State]

I think more like, he'd like to win.

This is a good point. He has a much better chance of going deep in the postseason with us than he does Tulane.

I think sometimes as fans we get caught up in the going pro aspect that we do forget that at some level it's also about MSU doing well and it's mutually beneficial for both the player and the school.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Cannizzaro is about to make USM, Tulane, and South Alabama our new JUCO programs...snake all their good Seniors

[Dawg61]

11 of his 14 starts he thew over a hundred pitches. He's an innings eater which is always nice to add.

[CadaverDawg]

Canny + Gautreau = We're about to have more talent than any team in program history by 2019/2020

[CadaverDawg]

We need another one for depth and to compete for a starting spot with Skelton. We only have two catchers and the third is Stovall. Gilbert played in a JUCO league where guys haven't typically translated as well to the SEC. I don't know that we can count on him. Skelton would have to carry the load and I would prefer to have two solid options at catcher if possible with a decent third guy in case of emergency. A fifth year senior that is a Mitch Slauter/Josh Lovelady type would be fine.

Yea, another would be nice. That being said, if Skelton had started all season he would have probably had better hitting numbers than Josh, and controlled the running game much better.....but Josh's leadership and control of the pitching staff made him so much more valuable than we all realize. I think Skelton will make a jump this offseason, and claim the job. If we can get a .250+ hitter in him, good run game control, and similar pitcher control as Josh...that's a win in my book for 2018.
But I agree with you, we have got to have a 3rd catcher not named Stovall, Bc Gilbert is an unknown

[msstate7]

11 of his 14 starts he thew over a hundred pitches. He's an innings eater which is always nice to add.

That's not always the case, but it is with France. He avg'd over 6 ip per start

[ZedFedder]

I agree that Skelton will be good. He's strong, has good power as evidenced by his top of the wall double to dead center. Think he ends up being one of the better catchers we have had in a while!