BIG TIME baseball commit- Jared Johnson from Smithville

[Todd4State]

There is always a late bloomer or under the radar guy in Mississippi every year and this year it's Jared Johnson. He didn't do the major travel ball circuits which is why he was under the radar and he pitches at a 1A school. But he has a fastball that is in the low 90's and tops out at 96 and is a guy that will be drafted in June. He's 7-0 with 80K's and 19 walks and only 11 hits allowed in 47.1 IP with an ERA of 0.47.

He's also 6'3 220 and is a RHP. He was committed to Itawamba Community College but I expect him to either go to MSU or possibly go pro. There is some draft risk here but I think we have a good chance of getting him on campus.

https://www.djournal.com/monroe/sports/smithville-s-johnson-signs-with-icc-baseball/article_4dec6bd5-667b-5dd9-bdfb-7fd5a43cfa59.html

[Jarius]

Lemonis must have stopped recruiting 8th graders and found this guy **

[The Federalist Engineer]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/pop-up-prospect-getting-attention-in-mississippi/

Another interesting article

[Dawg61]

You're welcome

[Leeshouldveflanked]

My son?s team is playing against him Thursday in North Half finals.... he picked up 5-6 mph on his fastball since last year....you usually don?t see 5-10 scouts at a 1A Baseball game, but you do at his.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Lemonis must have stopped recruiting 8th graders and found this guy **


If story I heard is correct Cohen is the person that brought the kid to Lemonis attn....

[Cooterpoot]

He and the kid at PCS are two that popped up on the radar this year. Both throw it hard. Both are raw and still developing.

[timotheus]

He is extremely raw but you simply can't teach 96 mph and for that reason the attention is very real. He gets many K's from the batters simply having to decide to swing before the pitch is released. His efficiency must be refined at the next level(whether juco or not). At this point he gets folks to swing over his slider but I get why he's being looked at. The large frame with 220 pounds is good for sustaining velo so the sky is the limit for the young man. I am betting that he goes juco or takes draft money but I would be glad to see him develop and pitch at the dude.

[ShotgunDawg]

I need to see video

[Saltydog]

He's a big strong boy. He's got a great arm but seems to be a bit raw. He's got to learn how to pitch and not throw. He's playing against questionable competition (1A high school) but is definitely worth a shot.

[ScoobaDawg]

I need to see video

I would think you have way more access to that type stuff than we do..

[Todd4State]

He is extremely raw but you simply can't teach 96 mph and for that reason the attention is very real. He gets many K's from the batters simply having to decide to swing before the pitch is released. His efficiency must be refined at the next level(whether juco or not). At this point he gets folks to swing over his slider but I get why he's being looked at. The large frame with 220 pounds is good for sustaining velo so the sky is the limit for the young man. I am betting that he goes juco or takes draft money but I would be glad to see him develop and pitch at the dude.

If he comes to MSU he will potentially develop into a first round pick and answer the questions scouts have about him. If he was going to JUCO he wouldn't have committed to us after being at ICC as a commit.

[Liverpooldawg]

I don't think he is going juco.

[Liverpooldawg]

He is extremely raw but you simply can't teach 96 mph and for that reason the attention is very real. He gets many K's from the batters simply having to decide to swing before the pitch is released. His efficiency must be refined at the next level(whether juco or not). At this point he gets folks to swing over his slider but I get why he's being looked at. The large frame with 220 pounds is good for sustaining velo so the sky is the limit for the young man. I am betting that he goes juco or takes draft money but I would be glad to see him develop and pitch at the dude.

The slider is around 89.

[Saltydog]

There is always a late bloomer or under the radar guy in Mississippi every year and this year it's Jared Johnson. He didn't do the major travel ball circuits which is why he was under the radar and he pitches at a 1A school. But he has a fastball that is in the low 90's and tops out at 96 and is a guy that will be drafted in June. He's 7-0 with 80K's and 19 walks and only 11 hits allowed in 47.1 IP with an ERA of 0.47.

He's also 6'3 220 and is a RHP. He was committed to Itawamba Community College but I expect him to either go to MSU or possibly go pro. There is some draft risk here but I think we have a good chance of getting him on campus.

https://www.djournal.com/monroe/sports/smithville-s-johnson-signs-with-icc-baseball/article_4dec6bd5-667b-5dd9-bdfb-7fd5a43cfa59.html

There's a good and bad about not being on the travel ball circuit. Bad in that he's not very polished as a pitcher but good in the fact that he doesn't have all those innings on his arm and that's a big deal for power pitcher.

[Belegal]

That class 1 guy from Wheeler we signed ever make anything of himself? Think his name was Woodruff or something

[Cowbell]

That class 1 guy from Wheeler we signed ever make anything of himself? Think his name was Woodruff or something

Rep given

[TALL DAWG]

That class 1 guy from Wheeler we signed ever make anything of himself? Think his name was Woodruff or something

He turned out to be an A+ guy...🤔

[timotheus]

The slider is around 89.

I have seen it in person. That particular day the slider was about 85 mph per the KC scout I was chatting with.

[MarketingBully]

If he comes to MSU he will potentially develop into a first round pick and answer the questions scouts have about him. If he was going to JUCO he wouldn't have committed to us after being at ICC as a commit.

Agreed. He only signed JUCO because he didn’t have any other offers. He’s not a Carter Stewart situation.

[Dawgcap]

That class 1 guy from Wheeler we signed ever make anything of himself? Think his name was Woodruff or something

I remember people shitting on him a few years back.

[KB21]

This is similar to Mississippi State recruiting Hunter Renfroe back in the day. Hunter was playing academy ball at a small school in South Mississippi. Scouts knew about him, but many didn't. He was committed to Meridian CC at the time, and then Cohen came in late with an offer. That offer had the caveat of he had to tell pro teams that he was going to come to MSU.

[Saltydog]

That class 1 guy from Wheeler we signed ever make anything of himself? Think his name was Woodruff or something

Woodruff never lived up to the hype while at State! It can be argued that he?s a better pro than a collegiate player! Don?t confuse the two!

[Todd4State]

This is similar to Mississippi State recruiting Hunter Renfroe back in the day. Hunter was playing academy ball at a small school in South Mississippi. Scouts knew about him, but many didn't. He was committed to Meridian CC at the time, and then Cohen came in late with an offer. That offer had the caveat of he had to tell pro teams that he was going to come to MSU.

There is always someone. Last year it was Brad Cumbest. And as you mentioned Renfroe. Johnson's story is similar to Renfroe's in that Hunter didn't do the summer ball stuff as much as most recruits as well.

We do recruit 8th graders- but we always save room for the guys that emerge late as well.

[Todd4State]

Woodruff never lived up to the hype while at State! It can be argued that he?s a better pro than a collegiate player! Don?t confuse the two!

He is a better pro than college player. No question. But that was only because he was hurt a lot of the time at MSU.

[Dawgcap]

Woodruff never lived up to the hype while at State! It can be argued that he?s a better pro than a collegiate player! Don?t confuse the two!

Slamming a guy who didn’t give you your dream memory?

[Todd4State]

Slamming a guy who didn’t give you your dream memory?

Woodruff was the winning pitcher in the 2012 SEC Tournament Championship Game and outdueled Tyler Beede.

[Dawgcap]

Wasn’t aiming that at you. My point is they are young ang come from different backgrounds. Some pan out , some don’t. Some are amazing early, some get better after they leave here but the key is they choose our school and we should appreciate each and every one of them that chose us over other schools. These are impressive athletes. They ain’t bulletproof in sports. Some will make us super proud but I don’t understand the disappointment some feel over a player who doesn’t produce at a level that is unobtainable

[Todd4State]

Wasn’t aiming that at you. My point is they are young ang come from different backgrounds. Some pan out , some don’t. Some are amazing early, some get better after they leave here but the key is they choose our school and we should appreciate each and every one of them that chose us over other schools. These are impressive athletes. They ain’t bulletproof in sports. Some will make us super proud but I don’t understand the disappointment some feel over a player who doesn’t produce at a level that is unobtainable

I didn't take it that way.

[Dawgcap]

I didn't take it that way.

Good deal. I love the fact we take chances on small school guys in Mississippi. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not but I’m gonna say I love our coaching staffs taking those chances the last 30 years. How many have we missed out on in the last 10

[Todd4State]

Good deal. I love the fact we take chances on small school guys in Mississippi. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not but I’m gonna say I love our coaching staffs taking those chances the last 30 years. How many have we missed out on in the last 10

We always take a few and it's just the nature of our recruiting territory. Some of our best players came from small schools like Jeffrey Rea, Hunter Renfroe, Luke Alexander, Mitch Moreland, and etc.

[Dawgcap]

We always take a few and it's just the nature of our recruiting territory. Some of our best players came from small schools like Jeffrey Rea, Hunter Renfroe, Luke Alexander, Mitch Moreland, and etc.
I agree but when we sign them we should celebrate them , which we do. My problem is if they don’t produce amazing we tend to shit on them. Hell no player deserves that.

[Todd4State]

I agree but when we sign them we should celebrate them , which we do. My problem is if they don’t produce amazing we tend to shit on them. Hell no player deserves that.

I would say IMO we treat pretty much all of the baseball players well and certainly probably criticize them the least by far of the major three men's sports. They also seem to get more defense from our fans if someone criticizes them as well. I've witnessed our fans treating our baseball players like they are rock stars after games.


And I'll be honest- we probably treat our baseball players better than anyone else in the SEC. Good and bad players.


So, I'm not exactly sure that I understand or agree with your stance on this. I'm not saying that they are never criticized but when they are often times it seems like the fans that are doing that are called out by our fans- see Foam Bat.

[Dawgcap]

I would say IMO we treat pretty much all of the baseball players well and certainly probably criticize them the least by far of the major three men's sports. They also seem to get more defense from our fans if someone criticizes them as well. I've witnessed our fans treating our baseball players like they are rock stars after games.


And I'll be honest- we probably treat our baseball players better than anyone else in the SEC. Good and bad players.


So, I'm not exactly sure that I understand or agree with your stance on this. I'm not saying that they are never criticized but when they are often times it seems like the fans that are doing that are called out by our fans- see Foam Bat.

Easy to say when ranked 5. We ain’t a special fan group. Remember Arkansas

[Dawgcap]

I agree. Never hear boos at a game but it’s embarrassing to shit on a player on a message board but act like you are a true fan in public.

[Todd4State]

Easy to say when ranked 5. We ain’t a special fan group. Remember Arkansas

There is a difference between directing criticism at the team as a whole and the players as individuals. There is nothing wrong with not being happy when we are not playing well and discussing it. Or discussing why something happened and what needs to happen to correct it. That's the majority of our fans. And there is nothing wrong with any of that. There were plenty of people on here and other places saying that they weren't worried and that we would bounce back. Probably more than were going off on the team.

Now are there a minority of fans that jump off the ledge? Sure. But it's a double edged sword because while their bitching may be misplaced they are bitching because they care and want to succeed. Honestly I think where it gets to be an issue is when some of our more sensitive fans get upset at that minority and it makes it seem worse than it actually is. Actually the really confusing thing to me is why some of our more sensitive fans attack them and give them attention. And the thing the sensitive people need to remember is MSU baseball can't be what it is without people that care.

I'm not sure if the sensitive people feel like they are taking up for the players or something like that- because that's all I can really figure out logically. And if that's the case I can tell you that the players don't really care what the fans say all that much good or bad. I know this from my family members who have both had success and failure at MSU and the MLB level. And I can tell you that what they are going to do after the game with their girlfriend and friends is 10000x more on their mind than someone who has never played the game at their level on Twitter telling them that they suck. The other thing I can tell you is they also don't really care or need our other fans to take up or them. They have the ability to block/mute etc. idiots on social media just like the rest of us and after that three seconds is over it's off to The Cotton District or wherever they are going.


In short- you're going to be a lot happier and more productive in life ignoring people that jump off the ledge.

[Todd4State]

I agree. Never hear boos at a game but it’s embarrassing to shit on a player on a message board but act like you are a true fan in public.

Embarrassing to who? Them? Why do I care if someone embarrasses themselves? Why do you care?

[Jarius]

I would say IMO we treat pretty much all of the baseball players well and certainly probably criticize them the least by far of the major three men's sports. They also seem to get more defense from our fans if someone criticizes them as well. I've witnessed our fans treating our baseball players like they are rock stars after games.


And I'll be honest- we probably treat our baseball players better than anyone else in the SEC. Good and bad players.

So, I'm not exactly sure that I understand or agree with your stance on this. I'm not saying that they are never criticized but when they are often times it seems like the fans that are doing that are called out by our fans- see Foam Bat.



We are really good in baseball every year. I would imagine that's why they all get treated better.