I'm trying to be optimistic about Lemon

[Coach34]

Much like football- our baseball team is coming into the season highly ranked and talented. People outside the program are heaving expectations on us- not just our own fanbase. Football failed miserably with the new hire/staff- but I have more faith in the baseball program living up to expectations. Here's why:

A) Pitching- pitching is the backbone of your baseball team and we have experience and talent. We have a 1st round draft pick throwing on the weekend. We have a Friday night guy working to improve his draft stock after a great bounce back season last year off TJ surgery. We have an experienced bullpen. Plus- we have hired an experienced, talented pitching coach. Our pitching staff has the talent and experience to be a top 10 level group.

B) Position players- we have experience and talent returning in our everyday players. Our CF'er is an AA and will be a .330 hitter. Our RF'er was a postseason animal that has played good baseball the last 2 seasons. Our LF'er had a great freshman season and is the prototypical "dirtbag". We had others play last year as freshmen and play well in the SEC. Thats encouraging. We have to solve the riddle of SS defensively- but if we can even get average play there- we will be fine. Youth that played well as freshmen coming back after a year of experience should be better correct? We signed a juco that can rake- how long is his transition to the SEC- that will be something to watch as will Westburg's transition to full-time starter.

We have a team good enough to make a Super- and thats all you can ask. Hopefully we dont see the underachievement we painfully watched this past Fall. Cmon Lemon- be solid.

[Coursesuper]

That's about all you can ask.

[msbulldog]

Relax Coach, we got this!

[AlSwearengen]

I keep coming back to the fact that McDonald suggested Lemonis. I don?t think he would vouch for him if he weren?t up for the job, considering that McDonald and Cohen are supposed to be pretty good friends.

I don?t think McDonald would put Cohen in the position of gambling on a coach, especially when you take into account everything that was happening at the time.

I also think McDonald expressed interest but got shut down by the wife. In that scenario, McDonald has to be sincerely interested in helping Cohen.

Also, Lemonis did pretty well while he was at Indiana, so he has been a head coach.

I?m really praying Lemonis works out if you can?t tell.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think something else that makes baseball different is they have faced a shit ton of adversity. Seniors are on their 4th head coach; 3rd pitching coach; and have had a lot of player turnover via draft, transfers and suspensions. They have achieved a lot too and never quit. And I don't see it having given any of them big heads - and if a player got a big head I think the leadership on the team would knock it out of them. Barring injury or another Cann-tastrope, I think we make it back to Omaha.

[Liverpooldawg]

Much like football- our baseball team is coming into the season highly ranked and talented. People outside the program are heaving expectations on us- not just our own fanbase. Football failed miserably with the new hire/staff- but I have more faith in the baseball program living up to expectations. Here's why:

A) Pitching- pitching is the backbone of your baseball team and we have experience and talent. We have a 1st round draft pick throwing on the weekend. We have a Friday night guy working to improve his draft stock after a great bounce back season last year off TJ surgery. We have an experienced bullpen. Plus- we have hired an experienced, talented pitching coach. Our pitching staff has the talent and experience to be a top 10 level group.

B) Position players- we have experience and talent returning in our everyday players. Our CF'er is an AA and will be a .330 hitter. Our RF'er was a postseason animal that has played good baseball the last 2 seasons. Our LF'er had a great freshman season and is the prototypical "dirtbag". We had others play last year as freshmen and play well in the SEC. Thats encouraging. We have to solve the riddle of SS defensively- but if we can even get average play there- we will be fine. Youth that played well as freshmen coming back after a year of experience should be better correct? We signed a juco that can rake- how long is his transition to the SEC- that will be something to watch as will Westburg's transition to full-time starter.

We have a team good enough to make a Super- and thats all you can ask. Hopefully we dont see the underachievement we painfully watched this past Fall. Cmon Lemon- be solid.

Never too soon to set a negative marker.

[Coursesuper]

Never too soon to set a negative marker.

I hate Mithipy Tate people I really do. It's enough make me stop driving 4 hours from the coast to see any game.

[I seen it dawg]

Negative? You're just shit stirrring. I'd call it cautiously optimistic.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

He has a cool ride.

[preachermatt83]

That's the one hire I feel very confident in. I think he's gonna be the next mcdonnell. I really do.

[Coach34]

Never too soon to set a negative marker.

damn CNN- when did optimism become a negative?

[Captain Falcon]

Baseball is just so different from any other sport because as long as you get in the postseason, what you do in said postseason is all that really matters. Many great teams never make it Omaha, and many OK teams do make it there. So it’s hard to set a clear expectation level.

We should be a better overall team than we were last year, but we also overachieved with that group so I don’t know if Final Four of the CWS is a fair or reasonable expectation to hold Lemonis to. And we also play in a league that is incredibly deep so we can be a really good team and only finish 5th in the conference (see our 2013 team).

If we’re safely in a Regional and in the hosting discussion then I don’t think you can really consider it a bad year. This roster still has questions to be answered. We have some proven guys in the lineup but also some spots that are TBD (catcher, most of our infield, etc.) and there’s always a worry about sophomore slumps with as many freshmen as we played last year. The pitching has talent but we also lost a lot on the mound from last year.

My worry is that our postseason run inflated how good many of our fans thought we were last year. We were an OK team that got hot at the right time. If we’re only a little bit better in the regular season this year then I don’t think that means we had a bad year. And the postseason is a total crap shoot. Our 2016 team was far better overall than the 2017 and 2018 teams but won fewer postseason games than both of those teams. Doesn’t mean 2016 was a failure, because we won the SEC for the first time in 25 years and that was a legitimately great team. Just shows that baseball is just a different game than most other sports.

[Coach34]

Baseball is just so different from any other sport because as long as you get in the postseason, what you do in said postseason is all that really matters. Many great teams never make it Omaha, and many OK teams do make it there. So it’s hard to set a clear expectation level.

We should be a better overall team than we were last year, but we also overachieved with that group so I don’t know if Final Four of the CWS is a fair or reasonable expectation to hold Lemonis to. And we also play in a league that is incredibly deep so we can be a really good team and only finish 5th in the conference (see our 2013 team).

If we’re safely in a Regional and in the hosting discussion then I don’t think you can really consider it a bad year. This roster still has questions to be answered. We have some proven guys in the lineup but also some spots that are TBD (catcher, most of our infield, etc.) and there’s always a worry about sophomore slumps with as many freshmen as we played last year. The pitching has talent but we also lost a lot on the mound from last year.

My worry is that our postseason run inflated how good many of our fans thought we were last year. We were an OK team that got hot at the right time. If we’re only a little bit better in the regular season this year then I don’t think that means we had a bad year. And the postseason is a total crap shoot. Our 2016 team was far better overall than the 2017 and 2018 teams but won fewer postseason games than both of those teams. Doesn’t mean 2016 was a failure, because we won the SEC for the first time in 25 years and that was a legitimately great team. Just shows that baseball is just a different game than most other sports.

Thats why I say making a Super is a successfull season. A really good baseball team makes the Super- Sweet 16. You earned a regional at home or were a #2 in a winnable regional. Anything less than a Super for this bunch would be a letdown- but anything past that is a success.

[Captain Falcon]

Thats why I say making a Super is a successfull season. A really good baseball team makes the Super- Sweet 16. You earned a regional at home or were a #2 in a winnable regional. Anything less than a Super for this bunch would be a letdown- but anything past that is a success.

I think that’s a reasonable take, especially since we’ve done it three years in a row with three different coaches.

[maroonmania]

The one big difference with Lemonis is that he has at least run a Power 5 baseball program as a HC and taken that program, which has WAY less advantages than MSU baseball has, to the NCAA regionals 3 out of his 4 years there. Moorhead had never been an FBS HC until he took over at MSU. And yes, Mullen had not either, but its always a big risk to put a guy in a position he has never been in before. There is no track record to base anything off of.

[Liverpooldawg]

Negative? You're just shit stirrring. I'd call it cautiously optimistic.

"I'm trying to be optimistic" for a headline kind of speaks for itself, to me anyway. Hopefully the optimistic part turns out to be correct.

[Bubb Rubb]

"I'm trying to be optimistic" for a headline kind of speaks for itself, to me anyway. Hopefully the optimistic part turns out to be correct.

That, and calling the guy Lemon.

But I'm hoping the rest of his post is right. Biggest question for me is Westburg playing short specifically, and our IF defense generally. Our pitching has a chance to be really great, but you gotta catch the ball behind them.

[beretta]

count me in as skeptical with lemonis...I want him to succeed, but i have this feeling that he is a rah-rah guy and the first person that pops in my head is Orgeron.....my optimism hearing/reading the Indiana folks that would have paid him anything to not leave and thinking he was inches away from omaha.....then i bring myself back to its supers or bust with me....with this talent....

my gut is telling me im seeing mirror images of our 2018 football team from head to toe....and that doesnt set well with me....

[Dawg61]

I call him Lemons. I'm not fixing my autocorrect for it until he gets us to Omaha.

[Dawg61]

damn CNN- when did optimism become a negative?

Liverpool definitely ain't CNN. If anything he's BBC or SKY News.

[CadaverDawg]

Never too soon to set a negative marker.

Liverpool says the team just showing up to the games this year is considered a success in his eyes. In fact, he's ready to call it a success right now just because Lemonis is a good guy and he can't be held responsible either way for the talent he inherited. He deserves a 4 year pass, at least...I mean, it's not like we've ever won a Natty, it would take OM level delusion to expect more than about a .500 season. Give the man an extension already.*

[Pit Bull]

Much like football- our baseball team is coming into the season highly ranked and talented. People outside the program are heaving expectations on us- not just our own fanbase. Football failed miserably with the new hire/staff- but I have more faith in the baseball program living up to expectations. Here's why:

A) Pitching- pitching is the backbone of your baseball team and we have experience and talent. We have a 1st round draft pick throwing on the weekend. We have a Friday night guy working to improve his draft stock after a great bounce back season last year off TJ surgery. We have an experienced bullpen. Plus- we have hired an experienced, talented pitching coach. Our pitching staff has the talent and experience to be a top 10 level group.

B) Position players- we have experience and talent returning in our everyday players. Our CF'er is an AA and will be a .330 hitter. Our RF'er was a postseason animal that has played good baseball the last 2 seasons. Our LF'er had a great freshman season and is the prototypical "dirtbag". We had others play last year as freshmen and play well in the SEC. Thats encouraging. We have to solve the riddle of SS defensively- but if we can even get average play there- we will be fine. Youth that played well as freshmen coming back after a year of experience should be better correct? We signed a juco that can rake- how long is his transition to the SEC- that will be something to watch as will Westburg's transition to full-time starter.

We have a team good enough to make a Super- and thats all you can ask. Hopefully we dont see the underachievement we painfully watched this past Fall. Cmon Lemon- be solid.

Damn.....haven't even played a single game yet and ulcers abound. Fans need to remember that while Ginn is a great prospect, he still is a freshman coming out of high school right into SEC competition. He WILL have his moments and challenges. He WON'T be perfect. I will hope by the end of the season he will be ready for the rigors of post season play when we will need him the most.

[Todd4State]

Cohen has been historically good at identifying good baseball coaches. I'm curious to see what we can do without a lot of craziness off the field. We should be pretty good. Having Foxhall is a big upgrade over Henderson as a pitching coach. We kept Gautreau which was very important. We added a guy that can coach catchers which I don't think we had since Cohen first took over. MSU has the ingredients to host a regional and be a SR team and Omaha team again this year.

[I seen it dawg]

Baseball is easy to call and hard as hell to get past B...1. Get to post season. B. And most important is host a regional. After that it's a crapshoot you just need to be hot and hopefully not run into a hotter team.

This team should host a regional. Anything less is disappointing. Anything more is gravy, a crapshoot, and a very successful season. People should get on board with this as it will help you if we slip up and have a that's baseball game, which we and everyone else in the country will. I'm glad last years team didn't just pack it in early in the season after losing a game.

[ShotgunDawg]

- We are relying on FR in important roles
- We don't have a SS.

I think this team "could" host a regional, but it's gonna be close unless the two FR are really really good.

We forget that last year's team was extremely average and just got hot.

[Saltydog]

time and got a little lucky too....You have to have that unless you're just super talented like Oregon State, etc.......Do I think we're going to be good, yes I think we can be but I'm not making my reservations for Omaha just yet either......Our 2B and SS are major question marks right now.......

[ShotgunDawg]

Good baseball teams are strong up the middle. C, SS, 2B, CF and at those positions, we only have 1 proven player

[Liverpooldawg]

Liverpool says the team just showing up to the games this year is considered a success in his eyes. In fact, he's ready to call it a success right now just because Lemonis is a good guy and he can't be held responsible either way for the talent he inherited. He deserves a 4 year pass, at least...I mean, it's not like we've ever won a Natty, it would take OM level delusion to expect more than about a .500 season. Give the man an extension already.*

It beats melting down over EVERYTHING like y'all have been doing. The football team did what I expected it would do, 8 wins. That was perfectly realitic for a team with a great defense with an offense that had to be suspect going in. I also believe our over/under for wins going into the season was right at 8. When you don't meet unrealistic expectations is that a failure?

[BB30]

Don't be surprised if we drop some games we shouldn't early. I still think we have some things to work out on the mound. Putting a lot of weight on Ginn, as talented as he is there will still be a learning curve with him. It's still a pretty nice sized jump from high school ball to the SEC. I do think we should be firing on all cylinders early to mid way through the SEC schedule which IMO is when you want to start heating up.

Looking forward to the season for sure.

[Dawg61]

We have a 3 game series vs USM in Starkville late in February.

https://www.ledger.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Popcorn_time.jpg

[I seen it dawg]

I'm slow to come around but the core of this team has stones. We've had so many issues the last 3 years and the runs we have made I believe the core will lead us to a great season. All the other talent will figure it out by nut cutting time.

This is super important....EVERYONE NEEDS TO FLUSH FOOTBALL BEFORE BASEBALL STARTS SO AS NOT TO OVERREACT TO EVERY SINGLE PITCH THAT DOESNT GO OUR WAY...yes I'm yelling it. Those of you that can't seem to grasp that baseball is a loooonnnnngggggggg season will make it rough on those of us that do. Football and baseball are 2 different animals please try to remember that.

[msbulldog]

I'm slow to come around but the core of this team has stones. We've had so many issues the last 3 years and the runs we have made I believe the core will lead us to a great season. All the other talent will figure it out by nut cutting time.

This is super important....EVERYONE NEEDS TO FLUSH FOOTBALL BEFORE BASEBALL STARTS SO AS NOT TO OVERREACT TO EVERY SINGLE PITCH THAT DOESNT GO OUR WAY...yes I'm yelling it. Those of you that can't seem to grasp that baseball is a loooonnnnngggggggg season will make it rough on those of us that do. Football and baseball are 2 different animals please try to remember that.

YELL IT MANNNNNN!!!!!!!! +1

[BrunswickDawg]

I'm slow to come around but the core of this team has stones. We've had so many issues the last 3 years and the runs we have made I believe the core will lead us to a great season. All the other talent will figure it out by nut cutting time.

This is super important....EVERYONE NEEDS TO FLUSH FOOTBALL BEFORE BASEBALL STARTS SO AS NOT TO OVERREACT TO EVERY SINGLE PITCH THAT DOESNT GO OUR WAY...yes I'm yelling it. Those of you that can't seem to grasp that baseball is a loooonnnnngggggggg season will make it rough on those of us that do. Football and baseball are 2 different animals please try to remember that.

But what if, God forbid, we BUNT?????

[MzTerry]

I keep coming back to the fact that McDonald suggested Lemonis. I don?t think he would vouch for him if he weren?t up for the job, considering that McDonald and Cohen are supposed to be pretty good friends.

I don?t think McDonald would put Cohen in the position of gambling on a coach, especially when you take into account everything that was happening at the time.

I also think McDonald expressed interest but got shut down by the wife. In that scenario, McDonald has to be sincerely interested in helping Cohen.

Also, Lemonis did pretty well while he was at Indiana, so he has been a head coach.

I?m really praying Lemonis works out if you can?t tell.

Do you mean McDonnell? Not trying to be a smartass, I just really don't know who you're talking ab if that's not what you mean because I would surely hope we weren't looking at Ben McDonald. Also, if you do mean McDonnell and don't know how to spell his name, I'm assuming the wife thing is conjecture on your part?

[Tbonewannabe]

Do you mean McDonnell? Not trying to be a smartass, I just really don't know who you're talking ab if that's not what you mean because I would surely hope we weren't looking at Ben McDonald. Also, if you do mean McDonnell and don't know how to spell his name, I'm assuming the wife thing is conjecture on your part?

Rumor was McDonnell's wife HATED living in MS.

[TNDawg35]

17 IT, WERE GONNA WIN THE WHOLE MOTHER 17N THING!! 17N LSU And 17 OLE MISS!!!

[Coach34]

That was perfectly realitic for a team with a great defense with an offense that had to be suspect going in

We in no way had a ?suspect? offense going into 2018- that?s an outright lie. The 2018 offense returned 8 starters from an offense that was 41st in the country and 7th in SEC games at 26.5 per. When you?re in the top 1/3 of college football with 8 starters returning- that?s not suspect no matter how you try to spin it

[Commercecomet24]

I'm slow to come around but the core of this team has stones. We've had so many issues the last 3 years and the runs we have made I believe the core will lead us to a great season. All the other talent will figure it out by nut cutting time.

This is super important....EVERYONE NEEDS TO FLUSH FOOTBALL BEFORE BASEBALL STARTS SO AS NOT TO OVERREACT TO EVERY SINGLE PITCH THAT DOESNT GO OUR WAY...yes I'm yelling it. Those of you that can't seem to grasp that baseball is a loooonnnnngggggggg season will make it rough on those of us that do. Football and baseball are 2 different animals please try to remember that.

Dang Skippy! Have some rep!

[Pit Bull]

17 IT, WERE GONNA WIN THE WHOLE MOTHER 17N THING!! 17N LSU And 17 OLE MISS!!!

And if we can just pop up a foul ball between first, RF, and the dugout with 2 outs and 2 strikes left in the game......we will beat Arkansas and thus WIN IT ALL !!!

[Pit Bull]

The one big difference with Lemonis is that he has at least run a Power 5 baseball program as a HC and taken that program, which has WAY less advantages than MSU baseball has, to the NCAA regionals 3 out of his 4 years there. Moorhead had never been an FBS HC until he took over at MSU. And yes, Mullen had not either, but its always a big risk to put a guy in a position he has never been in before. There is no track record to base anything off of.

I would argue that Don Merlins had 2 Nattys on his resume as OC, and Moor had none.

[West Tn Dawg]

You could start by calling him by his name instead of a childish name.

[Tbonewannabe]

We in no way had a ?suspect? offense going into 2018- that?s an outright lie. The 2018 offense returned 8 starters from an offense that was 41st in the country and 7th in SEC games at 26.5 per. When you?re in the top 1/3 of college football with 8 starters returning- that?s not suspect no matter how you try to spin it

We also had as close to a GA Tech option football team as you can without straight up running the triple option. Mullen tried to pass the ball with Fitz in 2016 and got a 5 win season from it. I do blame Moorhead for not figuring out that Fitz can't go through progressions in games but I imagine in practice he looked the part. Fitz just couldn't do it in games against good to great defenses.

Bottom line is Moorhead's seat is slightly warm but now his offense has to show up or he will lose a lot of the fanbase.

[Schultzy]

You totally skipped A...1 and A...2 we need to know those going into a season with so much promise as well as uncertainty.

[bulldogcountry1]

count me in as skeptical with lemonis...I want him to succeed, but i have this feeling that he is a rah-rah guy and the first person that pops in my head is Orgeron.....my optimism hearing/reading the Indiana folks that would have paid him anything to not leave and thinking he was inches away from omaha.....then i bring myself back to its supers or bust with me....with this talent....

my gut is telling me im seeing mirror images of our 2018 football team from head to toe....and that doesnt set well with me....


You're definitely the first person I've seen that categories Lemonis as a rah-rah guy. I've seen nothing that would make me think he's that type. Part of the reason our fan base didn't buy in is because he didn't win the press conference.

If anything, he been very mature and bit boring with the media. Maybe that's just what we need.