Baseball Program is in a full rebuild mode

[Todd4State]

Our best and most talented players are the freshmen. And a couple of notable sophomores- Hunter Hines and Slate Alford. Larry and Ledbetter are really good players too that will bridge the gap.

Biggest issue is pitching right now. Our team ERA right now is 5.00 which is bad against the competition we have faced.

Our best chance is to get Loo and Loftin in the weekend rotation. Thing is with them being freshmen we can't overexpose them.

I think our rotation should eventually be:

Fri- Loo with Gartman paired up with him.

Sat- Loftin with Hunt

Sun- Cade with Dohm

Let Nixon close.

Highfill needs to be the catcher from here on out.

Hancock should be at first. Only other change would be Mershon for Forsythe when Mershon is healthy.

Ourfield should be Jordan, Ledbetter, and Kellum when he is healthy. Work in Chance and Downs too some.

Hines should be the DH.

The talent is there. But it's young. Gonna be a long year.

[MStateDawg]

Fri- Loo with Gartman paired up with him.

Sat- Loftin with Hunt

Sun- Cade with Dohm

Let Nixon close.


Why in the world should KC remain in weekend mix? Cade Smith would be a much more consistent pick.

KC has been consistently bad his entire career (career ERA is over 7)

Cade has been much more steady (career ERA in the 3s)

[AlSwearengen]

Yeah, without the injuries, last year probably would have been a mediocre year where we make the tourney but not do a whole lot and then this year is a transition year. But, because last year was so miserable, everyone is antsy as hell and ready to do some winning now.

We had a good freshman class but freshmen don’t win consistently at this level. We had a good portal haul of position players and a couple pitchers. Our problem is that we needed to be the Yankees and buy every difference maker that was available, especially pitchers. Lsu are the Yankees with unlimited funds and they outbid just about everyone for those types.

We have to wrap our heads around the fact that other schools have good facilities and good support, just like us. The difference is, money. We have lsu and ark and olemiss beat in the fan/stadium experience by a little. Lsu, arky, Tenn, florida have us beat in the money department by a huge margin. Money trumps everything else most of the time.

I think what we need to look for this year is improvement. There is a lot of room for it at this point, so let’s see what happens.

Sucks, but this is where we are. Scott Berry was talking the other day about usm’s success being attributed to stability and not much change over multiple decades. We have had a huge amount of change and turnover in just this decade, so us having a knee jerk reaction and start firing people simply because of the won/loss record probably hurts more than helps. Hopefully the freshmen take their lumps and improve and not get drowned and beaten down by life in the SEC.

[Ari Gold]

Rebuild from what ?

Hinds soph ( freshman all American )
Clark jr
Hancock 6th year
Larry transfer
Ledbetter transfer
Forsythe jr

Cade jr
Hunt jr
Nixon transfer
Memphis kid transfer
Stinnette whatever he is graduate
Dohm transfer

With a Head coach and staff .. YEAR 5
That’s a pretty veteran ball club with lots of D1 games and experience .
Rebuild no , underachieving yes, not recruiting well enough at certain spots for sure

I do agree roll with some of the younger arms ..
you keep Cade on Friday
And figure out Sat / Sunday

[MStateDawg]

I do agree roll with some of the younger arms ..
you keep Cade on Friday
And figure out Sat / Sunday

Right now, I'd go:
Smith - Friday
Gartman - Saturday
Sunday - Loftin/Lo

With the possibly of both Loftin & Lo starting on weekends by the end of the season.
Barring injury, there's no reason to start KC or Stinnett on the weekends anymore. They're just too inconsistent and Loftin & Lo are already both better right now.
Hell, I'd start Dohm before I ran KC out there again but I think Dohm can be most useful giving us a couple mid-inning appearances on the weekend.

[Hypnodawg]

Over the last 5 or so games I did not see a Bednar, Sims, or even a Johnson. I saw 1 that looked like he might get to Johnson's level. No baseball expert, but our pitching looks terrible. The walks are killing us.

[Rawdawg]

Our best and most talented players are the freshmen. And a couple of notable sophomores- Hunter Hines and Slate Alford. Larry and Ledbetter are really good players too that will bridge the gap.

Biggest issue is pitching right now. Our team ERA right now is 5.00 which is bad against the competition we have faced.

Our best chance is to get Loo and Loftin in the weekend rotation. Thing is with them being freshmen we can't overexpose them.

I think our rotation should eventually be:

Fri- Loo with Gartman paired up with him.

Sat- Loftin with Hunt

Sun- Cade with Dohm

Let Nixon close.

Highfill needs to be the catcher from here on out.

Hancock should be at first. Only other change would be Mershon for Forsythe when Mershon is healthy.

Ourfield should be Jordan, Ledbetter, and Kellum when he is healthy. Work in Chance and Downs too some.

Hines should be the DH.

The talent is there. But it's young. Gonna be a long year.

Id keep Chance in the outfield until proven otherwise. Clark doesn?t have it mentally

[StarkVegasSteve]

Yea I don't want to say we're in rebuild mode. That gives Lemonis and Co. an out. Last year should've been rebuild mode. You should've been playing guys like Bryce Chance, Alford, and Downs by about mid April to see what you had. The transfer portal is literally there so you don't have to rebuild.

[SaintDawg]

Lo is making the rounds on espn.com and mlb.com.

[LibraryDawg]

I think to say that we're in rebuild mode at this point is a little premature. They're young, sometimes it takes time for them to mesh and everything to click. Baseball is like 70% mental.

[Cooterpoot]

I don't think we're in rebuild except on the pitching side and that includes the pitching coach.
I will say, I'm disappointed in past recruiting overall, because this last class is the first good one under this staff. They haven't recruited adequately in the past and it's obvious.

[PMDawg]

Our best and most talented players are the freshmen. And a couple of notable sophomores- Hunter Hines and Slate Alford. Larry and Ledbetter are really good players too that will bridge the gap.

Biggest issue is pitching right now. Our team ERA right now is 5.00 which is bad against the competition we have faced.

Our best chance is to get Loo and Loftin in the weekend rotation. Thing is with them being freshmen we can't overexpose them.

I think our rotation should eventually be:

Fri- Loo with Gartman paired up with him.

Sat- Loftin with Hunt

Sun- Cade with Dohm

Let Nixon close.

Highfill needs to be the catcher from here on out.

Hancock should be at first. Only other change would be Mershon for Forsythe when Mershon is healthy.

Ourfield should be Jordan, Ledbetter, and Kellum when he is healthy. Work in Chance and Downs too some.

Hines should be the DH.

The talent is there. But it's young. Gonna be a long year.

I don't agree. I think there is enough pitching talent already on the staff to win a lot of games. I think it all falls on Foxhall. He's been horrible at developing pitchers. Just look at MacLeoud and Fristoe. They literally forgot how to pitch under him.

I didn't see Cijntje pitch yesterday, but I listened to the game. Sounds like he may have what it takes to at least compete for the Saturday or Sunday role. I know he lacks experience and will have a learning curve, but he's already a better option than Hunt. Hunt is just too unpredictable to rely on. He may come in and strike out the side on 9 pitches, and then the next inning he gives up 5 runs before you can blink. Just be done with that experiment already. I'm sure he can be a fine pitcher under the right coach, but Foxhall doesn't have what it takes. I'm worried for our young guys at this point. Foxhall needs to go before he ruins anyone else.

[smootness]

Id keep Chance in the outfield until proven otherwise. Clark doesn?t have it mentally

Do you mean offensively or defensively?

Because offensively he was a big factor in our run to the title in '21, he OPS'd .925 last year, and he's been great offensively so far this year - 2 bombs, 4 BB, and only 1 K in 18 PA.

[SPMT]

Do you mean offensively or defensively?

Because offensively he was a big factor in our run to the title in '21, he OPS'd .925 last year, and he's been great offensively so far this year - 2 bombs, 4 BB, and only 1 K in 18 PA.

Yeah, I don?t know why anyone would be down on Clark. Not sure he?s a huge issue in RF either. Had a bad play. I don?t recall another error.

[Rawdawg]

Do you mean offensively or defensively?

Because offensively he was a big factor in our run to the title in '21, he OPS'd .925 last year, and he's been great offensively so far this year - 2 bombs, 4 BB, and only 1 K in 18 PA.

He?s also been picked off, ran into an out at third and collided with the center fielder allowing two runs to score.

[Goldendawg]

2021 - National Champions
2022 - Last in SEC West in losing season
2023 - Full Rebuilding Mode?

Not exactly what I would call stability or winning culture. Very stunning fall from the top.

[AlSwearengen]

I don't think it is in full rebuild mode and i doubt Todd meant it at that extreme. We are good in spots, talented but young in spots, and have holes in spots, especially the pitching staff. The thing is, pitching determines alot. Great pitching can cover for an otherwise weak team. Bad pitching, on the other hand can kill a really good team.

[Saltydog]

It's easy for bad teams to always say "we're in rebuild" mode. I get that it happens sometime but it shouldn't be happening two freaking years in a row. There's got to be some accountabilty and someone has to own it.......

[Goldendawg]

It's easy for bad teams to always say "we're in rebuild" mode. I get that it happens sometime but it shouldn't be happening two freaking years in a row. There's got to be some accountabilty at someone has to own it.......

Gotta spread rep around before giving it to Saltydog.

[R2Dawg]

Our best and most talented players are the freshmen. And a couple of notable sophomores- Hunter Hines and Slate Alford. Larry and Ledbetter are really good players too that will bridge the gap.

Biggest issue is pitching right now. Our team ERA right now is 5.00 which is bad against the competition we have faced.

Our best chance is to get Loo and Loftin in the weekend rotation. Thing is with them being freshmen we can't overexpose them.

I think our rotation should eventually be:

Fri- Loo with Gartman paired up with him.

Sat- Loftin with Hunt

Sun- Cade with Dohm

Let Nixon close.

Highfill needs to be the catcher from here on out.

Hancock should be at first. Only other change would be Mershon for Forsythe when Mershon is healthy.

Ourfield should be Jordan, Ledbetter, and Kellum when he is healthy. Work in Chance and Downs too some.

Hines should be the DH.

The talent is there. But it's young. Gonna be a long year.

Totally agree. After 5 games this is exactly where I am as well. Not really sure what happened to reload instead of rebuild but that is where we are. I really like a lot of the young talent we have. I think we are in beginning of another potential great run.

Agree on pitching too as our best guys. We got a few pitchers that need to be Certanolaed to bench. Really if we had managed pitching to win we could be 5-0 right now but early the rotation is about finding the right guys to play and you are gonna take some lumps doing that. Well we found out some that probably can't and some that can. We'll still refine this more and look bad doing it but part of the process. I think we have some good pitching, just some young and inexperienced. Is Nixion a senior? He looked like a dark haired Sims out there the other day hitting 96-97 and the filthy breaking ball. Hope he has one more year to play.

[R2Dawg]

2021 - National Champions
2022 - Last in SEC West in losing season
2023 - Full Rebuilding Mode?

Not exactly what I would call stability or winning culture. Very stunning fall from the top.

Agree. This should not happen to a program like MSU. It don't happen to Bama football. What we did in baseball 5 years leading to NC was unprecedented in college baseball - 5 straight supers and 3 straight CWS - no one ever done before. How do you follow that up with SEC potentially twice? So could you see UGA or Bama not going to a bowl? That is about the equivalent.

[SpaceBully]

I'm a bit more optimistic. See a lot of young talent that's about to step forward. Gonna take about half a season to get them to SEC player level, but I think they'll get there. My starters this weekend would be...........

Friday.........Cade Smith
Saturday.....Landon Gartman
Sunday.......Committee of KC Hunt, Cijinje, Loftin, Nixon, and Yntema.

AZState will be the first SEC level opponent of the year. Need 2 of 3 from them if possible.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'm a bit more optimistic. See a lot of young talent that's about to step forward. Gonna take about half a season to get them to SEC player level, but I think they'll get there. My starters this weekend would be...........

Friday.........Cade Smith
Saturday.....Landon Gartman
Sunday.......Committee of KC Hunt, Cijinje, Loftin, Nixon, and Yntema.

AZState will be the first SEC level opponent of the year. Need 2 of 3 from them if possible.

I would be surprised to see Cijntje for more than an inning or two this weekend and would actually prefer it be Friday tbh. I think the plan is probably to start him on Tuesday against USM and get him a little work in Frisco. I think we would then turn him loose to start the next weekend against Lipscomb in the Sunday game and either throw him Saturday or Sunday against UK. I still think you keep Cade on Fridays

[TNDawg35]

I'm a bit more optimistic. See a lot of young talent that's about to step forward. Gonna take about half a season to get them to SEC player level, but I think they'll get there. My starters this weekend would be...........

Friday.........Cade Smith
Saturday.....Landon Gartman
Sunday.......Committee of KC Hunt, Cijinje, Loftin, Nixon, and Yntema.

AZState will be the first SEC level opponent of the year. Need 2 of 3 from them if possible.

You still have to save someone for midweek games. We can’t concede them. You save either Loftin or Lo for it. I would go Cade on Fri, Gartman on Sat, then Lo on Sunday.

You take out the walks, Loftin pitched just as good as Lo did against the same team. Both are gonna be HUGE for us next year with a experienced team coming back. Don’t forget. We are a VERY young team this year whether we want to admit it or not. We have a lot of people we haven’t seen a lot of action. 2024 has a chance to be really special again.

To be honest, I wish Hancock would have left. Highfill looks ALOT better behind the plate and his bat will come around the more at bats he gets. Hines will come around, I’m just worried about him in the field. The outfield is set in my opinion and pretty solid at the plate and field. You can rotate Clark and Chance if need be.

Alford looked alot better, Armani is excellent, 1b is kinda suspect, and I don’t know what to do at SS. I think Once Mershen is healthy you give him a look. Lane is killing us in the field and at the plate. We can’t Make our pitchers get 4 or 5 outs an inning.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Rebuild from what ?

Hinds soph ( freshman all American )
Clark jr
Hancock 6th year
Larry transfer
Ledbetter transfer
Forsythe jr

Cade jr
Hunt jr
Nixon transfer
Memphis kid transfer
Stinnette whatever he is graduate
Dohm transfer

With a Head coach and staff .. YEAR 5
That?s a pretty veteran ball club with lots of D1 games and experience .
Rebuild no , underachieving yes, not recruiting well enough at certain spots for sure

I do agree roll with some of the younger arms ..
you keep Cade on Friday
And figure out Sat / Sunday

On the mound, we got Cade as the only dependable Junior that is not a transfer. He came great already, so we have Zero developed pitchers with a Zac Houston or Dakota Hudson arc. Had to raid Memphis State and Ball State for new blood.

[Goldendawg]

On the mound, we got Cade as the only dependable Junior that is not a transfer. He came great already, so we have Zero developed pitchers with a Zac Houston or Dakota Hudson arc. Had to raid Memphis State and Ball State for new blood.

Man, this really seems bad/sad, having to "raid" Memphis State and Ball State for new blood one year removed from winning a NC.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Man, this really seems bad/sad, having to "raid" Memphis State and Ball State for new blood one year removed from winning a NC.

I think we all know who is to blame. Andy Cannizaro did not recruit seventh and sixth graders when he was here that year. Also basedog, for not having more grandsons.

[CaptainObvious]

Baseball is NOT in rebuild mode.

It is in FULL RETREAT mode!!!

FireTheCandyMan.com!!