Big Weekend/Month for our Baseball Program

[Todd4State]

Getting past the draft is a big hurdle. I thought we did OK. Would have really liked to have gotten Aiden Smith and we came close to getting Kellum undrafted. But getting Nixon and Larry back are good breaks for us and we didn't lose any of our JUCO guys that are in the Cape.

Now that we know more about what our team will look like we can really focus on the portal. Team USA should be done in a couple of days so if things play out like I think they are with visits and things like that we should have a good idea of what our team will be in August.

The focus is going to shift to the starting rotation as far as the portal. I expect to add at least two potential rotation guys over the next few weeks. As it is I agree with Coach34 that we have good core group with some talent that will compete for spots as well. Loo and Loftin have a lot of talent. Holcombe could be very good as well. Evan Siary is having a big summer where he has been pretty dominant. I think Will Passeau is a JUCO guy that will figure in as well. Parker has his work cut out for him but with the offseason being fairly long I think he has time to make some big strides with this group.

As it stands right now I think we have really improved our bullpen a lot. Nixon is a proven closer. We know what Nate Dohm can do- him coming back gives us a guy that can go multiple innings in a game and really gives us flexibility with our staff. The two JUCO guys- Gavin Black and Cam Schuelke are going to help us a lot I think. I think Black can be a set-up/closer type of guy. We really haven't had anyone like Schuelke in awhile. He has three different arm angles at least and like Dohm he can go multiple innings. Having two guys that can do that takes a lot of pressure off of the rotation. We'll see what Stone Simmons and Brett Auger give us this spring after they have recovered. Nolan Stevens might be able to help the bullpen out some as well.

Our infield should be solid and I think defense is going to be a big focus this year. Ross Highfill should be better and we got a quality back up in Johnny Long out of the portal. Hunter Hines should have a big year. He's going to be quite a tandem with Dakota Hudson. Larry is a solid second baseman. He almost had a 1.000 OPS last year and was 19 of 21 in stolen bases. I also like that he had more walks than strikeouts too and he has some pop. Really the only knock on him is his arm strength. He can hit at the top or the bottom of the order. We added Logan Kohler the best hitter on Memphis's team last year and he should be an upgrade at third base. He has some power and speed and only made 8 errors last year. I'm not sure how he will do in the SEC but it's not like we're going to ask him to carry us offensively. Mershon is probably our SS and he did a good job last year although I could see Dylan Cupp getting some playing time next year if he adjusts quickly. Jace Norton is another freshman that might figure in at third base as well.

Getting Dakota Jordan back was huge obviously. The guy can hit baseballs over the lofts. He's a future Big Leaguer. I think if the season started today we would likely be looking at an outfield of Jordan, Hujsack, and Aaron Downs or maybe Bryce Chance. But I don't think that's what our opening day outfield will actually be. Obviously we are going after Brayden Montgomery which would be a huge addition for us. He would give us potentially two first round pick outfielders and a first baseman that looks like a second round pick. He can also potentially pitch as well. Hujsack needs to play whether it's the OF or DH. Talk is that he will start in CF. I don't know how I feel about that. Regardless of what happens with Montgomery I think we go after at least another OF or potentially two including Montgomery.

The way I see it we have filled our holes outside of the starting rotation which we are working on. As it stand today I think we are a much much better team than we were when we last played against Texas A&M. If we can get the elite guys out of the portal we can have a really strong season and maybe have a season like we expect. Still some work to do- but off to a very solid start without question. Say what you will about Lemonis but I think we have an excellent chance of turning this around. If we don't he really should be fired because the talent is there. Let's hope for the best and donate to the Bulldog Initiative and let things fall where they may.

[K9 Avenger]

Really nice summary, excited to see what the next few weeks can bring.

[basedog]

Let's hope the team is highly motivated and will compete like Miss State Baseball teams have in the past. I didn't see this after the Natty, gotta have a bunch of dirt baggers, coaches who are involved with motivating and coaching guys up. Way too laid back the last two years, we have been a very soft program.
It's time, we shall see, I will be watching and pulling hard for us to get back to the top once again, lots of questions moving forward for me.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The biggest pieces are Montgomery and Holman. Get both and you probably start the season in the Top 10. Get one and you are probably still a Top 15-20 type team. Get none…..let the question marks begin.

[basedog]

The biggest pieces are Montgomery and Holman. Get both and you probably start the season in the Top 10. Get one and you are probably still a Top 15-20 type team. Get none…..let the question marks begin.

Top 10? Not sure we will be ranked but pre season rankings don't matter.

[Cooterpoot]

We're going to bring in arms. Downs may not be here much longer. He's struggling in summer ball and really hasn't shown much. Hujsak is going to play. Passaeu is primarily a relief guy.
I suspect fall ball will be rather intense this year. We've built up our depth at some critical spots, so let the best man win the job and then hope the odd man out doesn't hit the portal. That's the big problem. Losing depth to the portal.

[maroonmania]

Losing Kellum won't be an issue if we get Montgomery but we don't need to end up with neither. As mentioned, if we get Montgomery and a bona fide SEC starter we would be in reasonably good shape. Even with that though we will need to win a lot of games with offense unless we have quite a few pitchers make big jumps.

[Cooterpoot]

Top 10? Not sure we will be ranked but pre season rankings don't matter.

I'll say it again, Holman is not the only arm on the radar. We're on some guys. IF (Big IF) we get a couple the arms we're on, & Montgomery, we can be top 10 without a doubt.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Not trying to be Mr negative but context matters. Yes with NIL, Portal, 1x transfer, better mechanics leading to harder throwers were getting more talent to campus than ever before. BUT, so is our competition, and I think a lot here forget that. For example vandy and LSU fans are very happy with how their drafts went.

We need Montgomery just to replace Ledbetter. We need to get lucky and have Hujesak take a huge step forward on his .227 BA to replace Clark's. 300 in the SEC average. That's basically just to hold par with our #9 scoring offense from last year- we need to replace Cade and Hunts 8ish quality innings a weekend AND add another 10 innings of quality pitching on top that just to be a mediocre staff overall. Whether that comes from the Portal, our newcomers, injured players returning, or Fr taking big steps forward, I don't care. We need about 18 innings to come from people who didn't give it to us last year/weren't on the team, and that's a big ask. Doable but not easy. Feels like Holman is a necessary 1st step and if we miss him we're DOA on the mound.

[Homedawg]

Not trying to be Mr negative but context matters. Yes with NIL, Portal, 1x transfer, better mechanics leading to harder throwers were getting more talent to campus than ever before. BUT, so is our competition, and I think a lot here forget that. For example vandy and LSU fans are very happy with how their drafts went.

We need Montgomery just to replace Ledbetter. We need to get lucky and have Hujesak take a huge step forward on his .227 BA to replace Clark's. 300 in the SEC average. That's basically just to hold par with our #9 scoring offense from last year- we need to replace Cade and Hunts 8ish quality innings a weekend AND add another 10 innings of quality pitching on top that just to be a mediocre staff overall. Whether that comes from the Portal, our newcomers, injured players returning, or Fr taking big steps forward, I don't care. We need about 18 innings to come from people who didn't give it to us last year/weren't on the team, and that's a big ask. Doable but not easy. Feels like Holman is a necessary 1st step and if we miss him we're DOA on the mound.

I'll repeat cooter, Holman is NOT the only big arm we are after.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I'll repeat cooter, Holman is NOT the only big arm we are after.

Ok I'll rephrase. In my opinion we need Holman, Burns, or another comparable Friday 6+inning starter or there's no way our pitching can be at the midling level it needs to be for us to host.

My bet is getting one of these guys comes down to NIL. if we offer more than LSU, TN, A$M, UF Etc then we get a Friday starter. If we get outbid we don't. I believe we should be a top 15 NIL for baseball school, but those other programs can dwarf us if they want too. This will be an interesting test of how we actually stack in baseball compared to our competition

[confucius say]

Larry
Hunt
Nixon

Will Any of those guys sign free agent deals?

[Cooterpoot]

Larry
Hunt
Nixon

Will Any of those guys sign free agent deals?

Hunt probably

[Coach34]

hearing Hunt wont be back.

[The Federalist Engineer]

From a Billy Bean perspective, we are getting better.

(1) Kohler is a better fielder and hitter than E5
(2) Cupp is a better everything than Foreskin, he is a potential Piatt, Westburg, or Hildreth MIF.
(3) Hines is a real 1B and let's MSU put a Switch Hitter at DH (Mershon), upgrade on the "Captain"
(4) Lost Ledbetter, but Jordan should be a very good CF and be a better hitter next year
(5) Lost Clark, but Hujsak could match the numbers that Clark provided.
(6) Passeau, Black, and Cam Schuelke ... much better than Enema, Hunt, and Stinnett
(7) Parker > Fox, so watch out for Holcombe, JC, and Loftin
(8) Larry and Highfill (2024) are going make a leap from Larry and Highfill (2023), Larry was already a good player

MSU makes Hoover, no concerns

To host, need some players, probably

[R2Dawg]

Let's hope the team is highly motivated and will compete like Miss State Baseball teams have in the past. I didn't see this after the Natty, gotta have a bunch of dirt baggers, coaches who are involved with motivating and coaching guys up. Way too laid back the last two years, we have been a very soft program.
It's time, we shall see, I will be watching and pulling hard for us to get back to the top once again, lots of questions moving forward for me.

This.

I don't follow baseball recruiting so I don't know any specifics on players but we gotta get the Moorhead out of our dugout. The apathy and lack of toughness and grit ain't MSU baseball. We get that back with some talent and we'll be competing for championships again soon.

[confucius say]

hearing Hunt wont be back.

Can't blame him

[confucius say]

Hunt probably

Only two can play middle infield between Larry, Mershon, and cupp.

[SPMT]

From a Billy Bean perspective, we are getting better.

(1) Kohler is a better fielder and hitter than E5
(2) Cupp is a better everything than Foreskin, he is a potential Piatt, Westburg, or Hildreth MIF.
(3) Hines is a real 1B and let's MSU put a Switch Hitter at DH (Mershon), upgrade on the "Captain"
(4) Lost Ledbetter, but Jordan should be a very good CF and be a better hitter next year
(5) Lost Clark, but Hujsak could match the numbers that Clark provided.
(6) Passeau, Black, and Cam Schuelke ... much better than Enema, Hunt, and Stinnett
(7) Parker > Fox, so watch out for Holcombe, JC, and Loftin
(8) Larry and Highfill (2024) are going make a leap from Larry and Highfill (2023), Larry was already a good player

MSU makes Hoover, no concerns

To host, need some players, probably

A lot of ?ifs? for me. Clark is proven as what he is. Must have that production or better ideally.

[SilentSteel16]

3B seems to be a question mark, so you have 3 good fielders and 3 spots. Would not be the first time a SS moved to 3B and succeeded.

Bregman was a SS, Ripken was a SS, ARod was a SS, hell Westburg is playing 3B some now ?..

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

3B seems to be a question mark, so you have 3 good fielders and 3 spots. Would not be the first time a SS moved to 3B and succeeded.

Bregman was a SS, Ripken was a SS, ARod was a SS, hell Westburg is playing 3B some now ?..

We got a transfer from Memphis for 3B. Decent stats, not all SEC or anything but he'll be an improvement

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

A lot of ?ifs? for me. Clark is proven as what he is. Must have that production or better ideally.

That's how I feel. "This Sr who's never hit well in college will totally improve his average 70 points this offseason", "these pitchers with ERAs over 8 will become solid SEC starters next year", "our returning players are all going to make a leap", "this guy that's never been a leader before is going to step up and provide the dugout leadership we've been missing". Lot of maroon colored glasses round here

[BigDawg81]

The biggest pieces are Montgomery and Holman. Get both and you probably start the season in the Top 10. Get one and you are probably still a Top 15-20 type team. Get none…..let the question marks begin. Montgomery and Burns wants to play together is what I am hearing.

[BigDawg81]

I'll say it again, Holman is not the only arm on the radar. We're on some guys. IF (Big IF) we get a couple the arms we're on, & Montgomery, we can be top 10 without a doubt. after Burns and Molina too

[Coach34]

We got a transfer from Memphis for 3B. Decent stats, not all SEC or anything but he'll be an improvement

The thinking at this point today is that Larry will play 2nd, Mershon at SS, Cupp will battle the Mempho transfer at 3rd and also get some games/time at SS

Hugesak to play CF…Jordan in LF and Montgomery hopefully in RF

[The Federalist Engineer]

A lot of ?ifs? for me. Clark is proven as what he is. Must have that production or better ideally.

That's college baseball, you have to replace people.

I think we had some historically bad players. Hardin, Enema, and Stinnett are like Jackie Sherrills Western Arizona JUCOs. MSU's pitching was not just the worst pitching team in the SEC. They were far the worst. They were orders of magnitude worst than competitive teams. Just regression to the mean is great.

The players we expect to play are truly blue chip kids. Cupp, Jordan, and Highfill are players anybody would have wanted. Not plucky walk-ons. MSU is replacing the worst 3B in my memory, a non hitting and declining SS, a soft hitting 1B, and will actually have a sparky DH.

I feel good about Hoover next year.

Need some pitching to say something more.

[Really Clark?]

after Burns and Molina too

Burns to WF
Molina to Ark, Most likely
Miami pitcher has already visited us. He is deciding between us and FSU

[Homedawg]

Burns to WF
Molina to Ark, Most likely
Miami pitcher has already visited us. He is deciding between us and FSU

so, you aren't giving us a shot w burns, before he even visits us? Maybe he won't pick us but he's gonna pass up a nice package to do so.

[Really Clark?]

so, you aren't giving us a shot w burns, before he even visits us? Maybe he won't pick us but he's gonna pass up a nice package to do so.

Unless he chances his mind, he has cancelled the rest of his visits.

[BigDawg81]

Burns to WF
Molina to Ark, Most likely
Miami pitcher has already visited us. He is deciding between us and FSU who is the Miami pitcher?

[Really Clark?]

who is the Miami pitcher?

Ligon. Their Friday night guy but was injured some this year and only got 50 innings. Was good as a true freshman last year

[confucius say]

Montgomery and Burns wants to play together is what I am hearing.

I was told this two months ago fwiw

[confucius say]

Unless he chances his mind, he has cancelled the rest of his visits.

He's already visited us once. We will see how it shakes out. Not as confident with him as others.

[Really Clark?]

He's already visited us once. We will see how it shakes out. Not as confident with him as others.

Like I said previously, unless he changes his mind, he has cancelled visits, Auburn people is stating the same with them. It's between WF and Georgia and hearing that WF is the leader. It's the portal world and everything changes within a few hours. We are and have been putting the full court press on Holomon and have the last visit. Hopefully we get that last visit and close him.

[confucius say]

Like I said previously, unless he changes his mind, he has cancelled visits, Auburn people is stating the same with them. It's between WF and Georgia and hearing that WF is the leader. It's the portal world and everything changes within a few hours. We are and have been putting the full court press on Holomon and have the last visit. Hopefully we get that last visit and close him.

Holman has been more likely than Burns imo.
Our best shot with Burns has been the Montgomery connection.

[CaptainObvious]

I just hope Lemonis isn?t standing on the Roof Playing his fiddle while Dudy Noble burns.

[Really Clark?]

Holman has been more likely than Burns imo.
Our best shot with Burns has been the Montgomery connection.

I agree

[BigDawg81]

Holman has been more likely than Burns imo.
Our best shot with Burns has been the Montgomery connection. Holman is visiting LSU this weekend and will have his final visit with State.

[Really Clark?]

Ligon committed to us

[Coach34]

Us getting Burns has always been less than 10%. Not much chance.

We got the Miami guy and need 1 more solid arm.

[Coach34]

Wake Forest got a huge boost from their advertising this postseason about their pitching lab. Gonna land them a big arm- maybe two

[The Federalist Engineer]

Ligon committed to us

Solid get with lots of experience. Must be a Parker guy. Top-100 PG player as a recruit.

Instant Junior level experience. By performance, he would be the MSU Ace today. Another upgrade, a top recruit, starter from a baseball power school.

[Really Clark?]

Like I said earlier today, Burns to WF

[The Federalist Engineer]

With

Potential Starters: Ligon, CJ, Loftin, Holcombe, +

Relief: Nixon, Dohm, Simmons, Auger, +

This is a decent staff again. Now I can have a sense of calm about Nate Lamb from D3. Another legit former ACC recruit that is doing all right in MLB summer league baseball.

Get at least two more good Dudes, post season is not going to be a problem.

[pilldawg]

Don?t forget about Tyler Davis and Schuelke looks like a great bullpen piece. Unproven, but I believe Justin Parker will make a big difference. Stone and Auger could be big pieces depending on how they come back.

[Todd4State]

Don?t forget about Tyler Davis and Schuelke looks like a great bullpen piece. Unproven, but I believe Justin Parker will make a big difference. Stone and Auger could be big pieces depending on how they come back.

I forget about Tyler Davis. But he did well at VCU and was OK after Foxhall was fired.

Could be a good rebound candidate.

[Todd4State]

With

Potential Starters: Ligon, CJ, Loftin, Holcombe, +

Relief: Nixon, Dohm, Simmons, Auger, +

This is a decent staff again. Now I can have a sense of calm about Nate Lamb from D3. Another legit former ACC recruit that is doing all right in MLB summer league baseball.

Get at least two more good Dudes, post season is not going to be a problem.

Lamb is a bit of a wait and see guy. He may be good. He may be a bust. Not sure how much I expect him to contribute this year.

[Todd4State]

Holman is visiting LSU this weekend and will have his final visit with State.

I'm glad we have the final visit.


Ligon committed to us

That's a solid addition for us. I'm interested to see what Parker does with him.

[TNDawg35]

When will Pico be back from surgery?

[Coach34]

When will Pico be back from surgery?

He’ll be a year about April. Any chance of him helping us in 24 will be May most likely

[Quaoarsking]

Wake Forest got a huge boost from their advertising this postseason about their pitching lab. Gonna land them a big arm- maybe two

We should build our own pitching lab that's just as good.

[mparkerfd20]

We should build our own pitching lab that's just as good.

We have one and it probably is as good , if not better or close from a technological standpoint anyway. We just had shit running it the last few years.

[Cooterpoot]

We should build our own pitching lab that's just as good.

We are. Money is available for that upgrade. Really it's more about additional "staffing" as anything.

[maroonmania]

We have one and it probably is as good , if not better or close from a technological standpoint anyway. We just had shit running it the last few years.

Exactly, no matter how good your pitching lab is, you can't market it when you have one of the worst pitching staffs in the nation. Nobody would have cared about the WF pitching lab if they weren't getting such good results out of it with their pitchers.

[Cooterpoot]

Exactly, no matter how good your pitching lab is, you can't market it when you have one of the worst pitching staffs in the nation. Nobody would have cared about the WF pitching lab if they weren't getting such good results out of it with their pitchers.

And they had a totally different approach than Lil Foxy. Foxy was a one trick pony who didn't do his job.

[The Federalist Engineer]

We should build our own pitching lab that's just as good.

We should pay Paige Spiranac to visit, feature a video on "HailstateBB" instagram, and have our dorks analyze her bio mechanics. Instantly, the most famous collegiate pitching lab in the world. Golf dads and uncles would be forcing lads to MSU.

Now that we don't have Nelle running the show, we should be playing hardball.