NCAA Baseball Transfer Portal

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Well, while we are certainly a baseball blue blood- some people need to realize no matter who our coach is- if certain teams want certain players- we are going to lose most of those battles. The rest of the SEC prioritizing baseball also is simply making it harder for us than it used to be. Our best teams have always had a few stars with a bunch of blue-collars. I don’t see us having the crazy amounts of draft picks like LSU, Vandy, or Tenn having. LSU had 13 drafted, Tenn 8, Vandy 7.

No matter who coaches us- we aren’t going to have draft classes of 8-10 players

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Very true.

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

Had we not pissed away that '21 championship by sitting on our lazy asses and we'd been competing, we could get anyone. We can handle the money rush. It's not just the money. Holman has a massive offer from us. But he seems to like Yeskie and LSU is winning. I'd say let's wait and see. It's not over. It's just a battle for the only legit arm available.

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Not sure if this means anything or not but it appears to me as if he is taking his visits geographically. Cary, NC to Knoxville, Knoxville to Starkville, Starkville to Baton Rouge.

Maybe we can get him to visit again on the way home.

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

Had we not pissed away that '21 championship by sitting on our lazy asses and we'd been competing, we could get anyone. We can handle the money rush. It's not just the money. Holman has a massive offer from us. But he seems to like Yeskie and LSU is winning. I'd say let's wait and see. It's not over. It's just a battle for the only legit arm available.

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When you are last place, recruiting is harder and more expensive. Should have been Portal Hunting this hard in 2021. Should have gotten the fat boy from Samford. But with a message of "open arms for top talent" many kids would have jumped to be the new Bednar, MacLeod, or replace Sims as the closer - in 2021.

But there will be a Holman and Skenes next year too. The best future recruiting in July 2024 is winning and having electric atmospheres at DNF in Spring 2024. Just being decent will do wonders for future portal work.

Plus, if Parker can cut team ERA 25 to 37% in one season, that's a great selling point too.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Not sure if this means anything or not but it appears to me as if he is taking his visits geographically. Cary, NC to Knoxville, Knoxville to Starkville, Starkville to Baton Rouge.

Maybe we can get him to visit again on the way home.

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I hear that Auburn is in the mix too. When he visits Tuesday, make him shut it down and don?t take those visits. Honestly, he is more important to this team than Montgomery.

Tenn, Us, LSU and probably Auburn is Holoman's schedule for visits. LSU was behind other schools until they hired Yeski, that has put them in good position.

We are still on some other arms but they are below Holoman level. If we lose out on him, get the next best starter we can and bolster our pen with as much depth as possible. Circle back on Burns after / if we get Montgomery.

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Originally Posted by BigDawg81

I hear that Auburn is in the mix too. When he visits Tuesday, make him shut it down and don?t take those visits. Honestly, he is more important to this team than Montgomery.

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I agree but I would guess we are running 3rd right now

One of the reasons Montgomery is in the portal is to find more opportunities on the mound.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

We won the CWS being 8th or 9th in the SEC in runs scored. Our problem has been pitching and everybody knows it

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No no no, you don't get to say we have a lot of talent and the only issue has been lack of pitching. Offense matters. Defense matters. Yes you can be middle of the pack in one if you elevate in the postseason and still win it all (see OM '22), but the total team talent matters too. The final 4 teams in Omaha were national seeds. Why? Because they had talent in their lineups and on the mound and you have to score runs AND pitch AND play D to win it all.

If you have talent in your lineup, the offense will produce. Just like if you have talent on the mound, the ERA will reflect that. You don't get to just say "10th placed offense and 14th placed defense are fine, we just need to improve on the mound because that was 14th".

I understand WHY you're saying that- so you can pin all blame on Fox. But Lemo has let every aspect of this team crumble and it's getting worse the more of his players we get to campus

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Originally Posted by sack07

One of the reasons Montgomery is in the portal is to find more opportunities on the mound.

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I mean he pitched 12 innings and had an ERA of 15... he sounds like a reverse Zack Greinke

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

No no no, you don't get to say we have a lot of talent and the only issue has been lack of pitching. Offense matters. Defense matters. Yes you can be middle of the pack in one if you elevate in the postseason and still win it all (see OM '22), but the total team talent matters too. The final 4 teams in Omaha were national seeds. Why? Because they had talent in their lineups and on the mound and you have to score runs AND pitch AND play D to win it all.

If you have talent in your lineup, the offense will produce. Just like if you have talent on the mound, the ERA will reflect that. You don't get to just say "10th placed offense and 14th placed defense are fine, we just need to improve on the mound because that was 14th".

I understand WHY you're saying that- so you can pin all blame on Fox. But Lemo has let every aspect of this team crumble and it's getting worse the more of his players we get to campus

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We were tied for 5th in the SEC in fielding and 5th in BA in 2022- so why did we finish dead last in the conference?

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Originally Posted by Coach34

We were tied for 5th in the SEC in fielding and 5th in BA in 2022- so why did we finish dead last in the conference?

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Bc we were last in pitching would be my guess.

We were middle of the pack offensively and won a national title. Baseball is about pitching. That's why state, Mississippi, and lsu won it - dominant pitching when it mattered.

It's also fair to say 2023 defense was an anomaly given our defense in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Just like 2022 defense for lsu was an anomaly when they finished last in fielding.

Fix the pitching and everything else will fall into place.

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

I mean he pitched 12 innings and had an ERA of 15... he sounds like a reverse Zack Greinke

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We have Roster Cats without All American Hitting that only pitch, with poor numbers too.

But Montgomery actually pitched well in their Regional. 2 or 3 good innings versus Texas A&M. They desperately needed quality innings and they got it.

https://www.secsports.com/boxscore/baseball/401551131

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Originally Posted by Coach34

We were tied for 5th in the SEC in fielding and 5th in BA in 2022- so why did we finish dead last in the conference?

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Pitching was awful. But I love how you have to cherry pick a stat like BA because the overall offensive stat that does matter (scoring) isn't favorable to your case.

But lets take your point: We were decent on offense, good on defense, and so bad on the mound we finished 14th. So what did Lemo do? Lemo let the pitching somehow get worse, let the defense turn into the worst in the conference, and let the offense be sub average. After finishing 14th, Lemonis' way of fixing the team meant we finished 13th.

It's pretty clear we've got problems other than Fox, and Lemo doesn't know how to fix them.

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

We have Roster Cats without All American Hitting that only pitch, with poor numbers too.

But Montgomery actually pitched well in their Regional. 2 or 3 good innings versus Texas A&M. They desperately needed quality innings and they got it.

https://www.secsports.com/boxscore/baseball/401551131

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Maybe he can I've only glaced at the stats. I saw Kendall Rogers say he throws 97 so he's got potential.

Either way, of he wants to both go to a big time program AND pitch, I'm not sure what better landing than us there is. He knows we were awful there and by now he can see we haven't brought in enough Portal arms to deny him opportunities

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

Pitching was awful. But I love how you have to cherry pick a stat like BA because the overall offensive stat that does matter (scoring) isn't favorable to your case.

But lets take your point: We were decent on offense, good on defense, and so bad on the mound we finished 14th. So what did Lemo do? Lemo let the pitching somehow get worse, let the defense turn into the worst in the conference, and let the offense be sub average. After finishing 14th, Lemonis' way of fixing the team meant we finished 13th.

It's pretty clear we've got problems other than Fox, and Lemo doesn't know how to fix them.

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Run rule games will hurt scoring. We got run ruled what? 10 games? That's a lot of innings without ABs.
When you lead the world in walks, it puts your defense in a bad spot. Almost half our errors were two players.
We were 8th in fielding in '21. Not like we were great.

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Originally Posted by confucius say

Bc we were last in pitching would be my guess.

We were middle of the pack offensively and won a national title. Baseball is about pitching. That's why state, Mississippi, and lsu won it - dominant pitching when it mattered.

It's also fair to say 2023 defense was an anomaly given our defense in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Just like 2022 defense for lsu was an anomaly when they finished last in fielding.

Fix the pitching and everything else will fall into place.

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Odd how actual coaches disagree with you about offense. Of course it matters! MLB drafts position players and gives huge contracts to them. College coaches use NIL on position players. To say "baseball is about pitching" is to say "Jay Johnson was an idiot for using NIL to get Tommy White". It's to say "we shouldn't have bothered to upgrade Alford at 3B".

Pitching is super important, nobody is denying that. But to make a statement like "baseball is about pitching" is just... man it's ignorant. It's like saying 3 ppibt shooting in basketball doesn't matter if you play good defense. It's like saying your defensive line doesn't matter if you have good LBs. It's like saying you don't need to know how to manage money if you have a high income.

The TEAM has issues. The TEAM needs to be improved.

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Originally Posted by confucius say

Bc we were last in pitching would be my guess.

We were middle of the pack offensively and won a national title. Baseball is about pitching. That's why state, Mississippi, and lsu won it - dominant pitching when it mattered.

It's also fair to say 2023 defense was an anomaly given our defense in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Just like 2022 defense for lsu was an anomaly when they finished last in fielding.

Fix the pitching and everything else will fall into place.

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Exactly


LSU was 12th in the SEC in fielding this season- turned out ok for them

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

Run rule games will hurt scoring. We got run ruled what? 10 games? That's a lot of innings without ABs.
When you lead the world in walks, it puts your defense in a bad spot. Almost half our errors were two players.
We were 8th in fielding in '21. Not like we were great.

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Unreal how far some of yall with twist yourselves into a logic knot to pin all blame on Fox and say all is well. Getting blown the F out = a defense for the offense, wow.

And no, getting run ruled doesn't say what you think it does. Say you're a coach and your team's up 14-3. Do you put in your best reliever like you would in a close game? No. You bring in your 10+ ERA guy in case tomorrows game is close. Then if tomorrows game is a blowout too (in either direction) , you dont ride your good pitchers hard. Maybe just let them get some work in but not more than that. SO, I'd argue our offense saw worse pitching than SEC average due to those blowouts. Moreover, getting run ruled = less opportunities for errors. No, it's not true that Alford and Forsythe were the only issues on D. And even if they were, it's on Lemo for having those be the best we had available.

Turns out there were no secret portal guys. Just secret hopes. Lemon doing his best Cohen expression with the hype...what irony...

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Exactly


LSU was 12th in the SEC in fielding this season- turned out ok for them

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I have a personal saying. I've seen bad hitting and fielding teams win championships. I've never seen a bad pitching team win one.

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Originally Posted by Cowbell

Turns out there were no secret portal guys. Just secret hopes. Lemon doing his best Cohen expression with the hype...what irony...

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Nah. The staff just wasn't talking to the media very much about it. Rumor is Lemonis wasn't real happy with some things that were leaked during the pitching coach search.

Holman and Montgomery have been names of interest for awhile now.

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

No no no, you don't get to say we have a lot of talent and the only issue has been lack of pitching. Offense matters. Defense matters. Yes you can be middle of the pack in one if you elevate in the postseason and still win it all (see OM '22), but the total team talent matters too. The final 4 teams in Omaha were national seeds. Why? Because they had talent in their lineups and on the mound and you have to score runs AND pitch AND play D to win it all.

If you have talent in your lineup, the offense will produce. Just like if you have talent on the mound, the ERA will reflect that. You don't get to just say "10th placed offense and 14th placed defense are fine, we just need to improve on the mound because that was 14th".

I understand WHY you're saying that- so you can pin all blame on Fox. But Lemo has let every aspect of this team crumble and it's getting worse the more of his players we get to campus

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Lemons owns the Fox performance. Period. MsState7 was always right about that. He was just too expensive to fire or the AD did not want to do it. There is a rumor that buyout money was donated.

The good news is that Muscara is still a PC. I wonder if he is a candidate for MSU HC if he continues to excel and Lemons fails in 2024. That said, I think MSU competes for a hosted regional with Montgomery and two more quality portal arms (not factoring Holman that is being so competitively recruited.)

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I have a personal saying. I've seen bad hitting and fielding teams win championships. I've never seen a bad pitching team win one.

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Tommy Tanks was a 850 fielding guy but I never saw an error in Omaha. LSU rose to the occasion.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I have a personal saying. I've seen bad hitting and fielding teams win championships. I've never seen a bad pitching team win one.

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Memory tells me ucla beat us in 2013 with pitching. Lots of fly outs. And they

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

Tommy Tanks was a 850 fielding guy but I never saw an error in Omaha. LSU rose to the occasion.

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Morgan making the best play I've ever seen a 1B make at any level is the only reason they beat Wake. Tanks hitting that extra inning HR was also a huge reason they beat Wake.

Pitching may be most important, but hitting and defense matter too.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I have a personal saying. I've seen bad hitting and fielding teams win championships. I've never seen a bad pitching team win one.

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Ole Miss was 9th in ERA in conference only games in '22. In baseball teams can get hot, doesn't mean much. Being good in the regular season correlates strongly to being good in the postseason. That's true for subcategories like pitching, hitting, and defense.

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

Ole Miss was 9th in ERA in conference only games in '22. In baseball teams can get hot, doesn't mean much. Being good in the regular season correlates strongly to being good in the postseason. That's true for subcategories like pitching, hitting, and defense.

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That's because you have to be good in the regular season to make the postseason. Ole Miss's pitching carried it in the postseason in 2022. I don't think there is much argument about that. Or there shouldn't be.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

That's because you have to be good in the regular season to make the postseason. Ole Miss's pitching carried it in the postseason in 2022. I don't think there is much argument about that. Or there shouldn't be.

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I can't believe I'm actually having to argue that offense and defense affect how good the team is.

Yes, you need pitching.

You also need to score 1+ run to win.

Ole Miss had great pitching in the postseason but they also scored runs.

Having a good offense = you'll score runs and the pitching doesn't have to be as good for you to win.

Playing good defense means your pitching doesn't have to be as good for you to win.

Pitching great takes pressure off the offense and means you can still win even if the offense struggles vs a great pitcher.

To say "pitching is all the matters" if the equivalent of saying in football "defense is all that matters, who cares what our QB play looks like", or of saying in basketball "defense? Nahbro just hit 3s at a high rate". And again, actual baseball coaches say you're wrong. They bend over backwards to recruit, develop, and Portal in good hitters. Because it matters

Listen to yourselves. You're so desperate to say "Fox was the only problem" that you're actually saying the quality of out lineup and defense has no affect on postseason success. That the equation "Wins = runs for us - runs allowed" is wrong because scoring doesn't matter.

Hell, C34 literally made a whole thread just to say our lineup will be good next year lol. Yall don't even believe that "pitching is all that matters", you're just willing to lie to win an argument

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I have a personal saying. I've seen bad hitting and fielding teams win championships. I've never seen a bad pitching team win one.

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I've never seen a team that can't score runs win won. Have you?

I've seen teams that couldn't hit in the regular season get hot in the postseason, and I've seen teams that couldn't pitch in the regular season become unhitable in the postseason (see LSU this year)

Remember when we played Auburn game 1 of the CWS? We only won because their 3B made an error in the 9th. Or when Arky was 1 out away from a NC and they let a pop fly fall between 3 players because nobody called for it? Or remember LSU vs Wake where Morgan threw the ball home while diving to tag out the would-of-been winning run? Almost like defense was important there too.

In college baseball where a 4.75 ERA is considered good, and more often than not, an unearned run is scored, averaging 6 runs per game is a must. What was State?s Average Runs per game in SEC play in 2023?
Runs per game in the 21 SEC losses?
Runs per game in the 9 SEC wins?

I don’t give a shit how stout our offense is, when you come to bat in the 3rd inning and it’s 12-1, 9 times out of 10, your loosing that game…

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

Odd how actual coaches disagree with you about offense. Of course it matters! MLB drafts position players and gives huge contracts to them. College coaches use NIL on position players. To say "baseball is about pitching" is to say "Jay Johnson was an idiot for using NIL to get Tommy White". It's to say "we shouldn't have bothered to upgrade Alford at 3B".

Pitching is super important, nobody is denying that. But to make a statement like "baseball is about pitching" is just... man it's ignorant. It's like saying 3 ppibt shooting in basketball doesn't matter if you play good defense. It's like saying your defensive line doesn't matter if you have good LBs. It's like saying you don't need to know how to manage money if you have a high income.

The TEAM has issues. The TEAM needs to be improved.

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I didn't say it was only about pitching.
But it is primarily about pitching.

Every coach in America will tell you that pitching is the most important aspect of your club. Always has been, always will be.

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

I can't believe I'm actually having to argue that offense and defense affect how good the team is.

Yes, you need pitching.

You also need to score 1+ run to win.

Ole Miss had great pitching in the postseason but they also scored runs.

Having a good offense = you'll score runs and the pitching doesn't have to be as good for you to win.

Playing good defense means your pitching doesn't have to be as good for you to win.

Pitching great takes pressure off the offense and means you can still win even if the offense struggles vs a great pitcher.

To say "pitching is all the matters" if the equivalent of saying in football "defense is all that matters, who cares what our QB play looks like", or of saying in basketball "defense? Nahbro just hit 3s at a high rate". And again, actual baseball coaches say you're wrong. They bend over backwards to recruit, develop, and Portal in good hitters. Because it matters

Listen to yourselves. You're so desperate to say "Fox was the only problem" that you're actually saying the quality of out lineup and defense has no affect on postseason success. That the equation "Wins = runs for us - runs allowed" is wrong because scoring doesn't matter.

Hell, C34 literally made a whole thread just to say our lineup will be good next year lol. Yall don't even believe that "pitching is all that matters", you're just willing to lie to win an argument

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Who said "pitching is all that matters?"

What people are saying is that pitching is by far the most important part of baseball. It can be phrased differently, but that's what people are telling you. Baseball is about pitching. Nobody is telling you that it is the only part of the game that matters at all.

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Originally Posted by the_real_MSU_is_us

I've never seen a team that can't score runs win won. Have you? .

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Yes- UCLA 2013. Team BA of .250. Averaged 4.72 runs per game. Beat a team called Miss State for the title

But their team ERA of 2.55 carried them to a title

Amani officially coming back.

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Originally Posted by BeardoMSU

Amani officially coming back.

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I think this is an under-rated win. He could have an RJ Yeager like season this year - plus stealing 20 bases.

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Originally Posted by confucius say

I didn't say it was only about pitching.
But it is primarily about pitching.

Every coach in America will tell you that pitching is the most important aspect of your club. Always has been, always will be.

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I was talking to a college head coach about having enough pitching and he made this profound statement. He said "Yeah never heard anyone say we lost a series because we didn't have enough left fielders!"

And as Earl Weaver said "If you aint got pitching you ain't got squat!"

And yes you do have to have functional offense and defense but everything in this game starts on the mound.

Absolutely. Glad he's coming back. He had a decent year and I would expect him to be better next year.