MSU Baseball is in good shape
MacLeoud and Bednar both pitched really well. Maybe they're turning the corner and becoming dominant. Remember they are both essentially first year guys because of COVID and illness. They lost some development time. I expect that they will perform well from here on out. I think that once the postseason starts we will see Harding start as the number three. Fristoe may start against a four seed in our regional. Not using Sims today was questionable in my opinion but also understandable. I think it will pay off for us in the long run. If this was a Super Regional you better believe Lemonis would have gone to Sims. See how we used Cole Gordon two years ago. Sims is obviously on another level but we have a lot of good relief options which is a luxury because we shouldn't really have to overwork anyone. Stone Simmons has closed games out. Brandon Smith and Preston Johnson have both been solid. And Parker Stinnett and Cam Tullar have come on recently.
Tanner may be an all-SEC catcher. The infield has question marks. Kellum Clark looks like he may be recovering and I'm wondering if Lemonis is about to look at him a first base during the midweek. Dubrule and Forsythe have been solid in the middle. Third base is complicated by Kam's fielding. Leggett is much better defensively- but not as good offensively. If we DH James we may lose Hancock unless we put him at first. Clark could really complicate this situation if he turns out to be really good. I think Lemonis would probably keep James at third and use Leggett as a defensive replacement late. We've found our best OF with Allen, Rowdey, and Cumbest. Brayland Skinner needs to consult Willie Mays Hayes and learn to bunt.
As far as the SEC schedule and winning the SEC- I think Arkansas and Tennessee will cannibalize each other. And then Arkansas has Florida. So it comes down to MSU and Vandy. Vandy losing Leiter hurts them a LOT. If Bianco keeps DUI Dougie at Saturday with Hoglund out and Leiter is out I think Ole Miss wins at least one. Sunday could be a toss up but you have to like Ole Miss's odds at Swayze Lake. Vandy then has UK who they could sweep without Leiter. We just have to take care of business against Mizzou and I think we will even though baseball is a funny game sometimes. And then Bama is going to be tough in Tuscaloosa. They always seem to have a day like South Carolina had against us today when we play them over there.
And then we have two RPI killers in UT Martin and Jacksonville State. We need to use those two games to experiment and rest guys like Tanner behind the plate. I want to see Cerentola and Spencer Price get some innings in to see what we have there. And then play Clark at first base. Keep starting Cade Smith midweek.
Anyway- despite a few people questioning Gautreau our offense has been steadily climbing the ranks and are now 6th in the SEC in batting average, and 5th in OBP. We are 9th in slugging but we make up for that by being third in the SEC in stolen bases. Also despite our players being "short" we have 55 home runs to Ole Miss's 56 on the year. And we have Mizzou and their team ERA of 7+ at home coming up.
Right now we have 16 SEC wins plus really good wins over Texas, Texas Tech, and USM. It's probably a formality but one more SEC win probably locks up a regional for us and three more probably completely lock up a National Seed. Two more might lock it up as well with our resume being what it is. Buckle up! It looks like it's going to be a fun June.
