He was 5 of 10 with 3 homeruns during the scrimmages.
I think he's thrust himself into serious contention for an outfield spot.
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He was 5 of 10 with 3 homeruns during the scrimmages.
I think he's thrust himself into serious contention for an outfield spot.
His bat is too good to leave on the bench. He's not only got some pop in his bat, but he walks at a high rate as well. He's going to get on base, and he's going to slug.
It certainly wouldn't be our best defensive lineup, but you could put together a power filled lineup with this group:
1B - Hunter Hines
2B - Sawyer Reeves
3B - Ace Reese
SS - Dylan Cupp
C - Jackson Owen
LF - Reed Stallman/Bryce Chance
CF - Ross Highfill
RF - Nolan Stevens/Reed Stallman
DH - Nolan Sullivan
4 and possibly 5 of those guys went 0fer during the Saturday scrimmage.
I?m just not sold on this team. Do we have talent, goodness yes! Are we fundamentally sound? Not in the least!
The coaches don?t even coach fundamentals in the scrimmages. It?s almost like they expect the guys to just know it. You have to hammer fundamentals every day. Fundamentals are what lost the World Series this year. Additionally, you have to gel with your teammates to be solid in fundamentals. You can?t miss double plays, misplay fly balls, bunts, pitchers covering first, and base running and expect to go far in this league.
Lastly, it?s still like a summer league mentality with the coaches and team. No getting in someone?s hind end when they screw up. No urgency on the team. No killer instinct. A lot of wool will be shaved real quick.
Scrimmages arent for coaching fundamentals. Thats done in practice. Scrimmages are game situations to see how guys perform under pressure. Do we need to be more fundamentally sound? Absolutely. Nobody argues that
There is no reason to be sold on any team at this point other than A&M, LSU, Tenn, and UPig based on returning players.
We work on fundamentals during the midweek. We'll see if they improve. I think part of the issue defensively in the outfield may be speed and range related. Which is why O'Brien has a very real chance to play a lot if not start.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinto
To me our best lineup is:Quote:
Originally Posted by MStateDawg
C- Highfill
1B- Hines
2B- Reeves, maybe Frei if he continues to hit well
3B- Reese
SS- Cupp
LF- Stallman
CF- Chance
RF- Stevens
DH- Sullivan
Use Powell some at catcher to keep Ross fresh and then use O'Brien as a defensive replacement late.
And I will add about fundamentals- if you are a SEC baseball player you should know fundamentals by the time you get to this level unless you had a combination of a really bad high school and summer ball coach and their Dad wasn't a baseball fan at all. Odds of that are low for our players.
Fundamentals should simply be reviewed at this level. Also- players get feedback from the coaches using data showing the players any mistakes they made on any given play and that is reviewed with the player and coaching staff.
That said- players screw up. Go look up a MLB blooper reel on YouTube and you'll see plenty of examples of that.
To echo that - players area also going to be a little rusty getting on-field. Doesn't matter how many reps you take in practice, it takes some time to lock in via scrimmages and even a few games.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
Outfield defense is a great example. We pretty much have a new outfield. Do they know how much range the guy next to them has? Do they know if they struggle with balls hit to a certain area? Do they know how the ball caroms off the wall in the corner or if it dies? The first couple of weekend of scrimmages is where you are going to see a lot of uncertainty like this.
I agree with everything you wrote. The lineup I posted earlier wasnt meant to be our best, but rather the one that puts the most power in the lineup.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
I'm wondering how solidified Stevens' spot in RF is. Does Stallman have the arm to play right?
Todd I will by far and away defer to you when it comes to baseball, but this has been a trend under Lemon and is already rearing its head again. Emphasis has to be placed on fundamentals at some point. Just tired is seeing so much sloppy ball.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
As you said it won't be our best defense. It's bad defensively as we can get. We will be doing some late inning subs w the lead. That's for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by MStateDawg
Agree with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinto
Agree with this lineup but not ruling out Reese in RF with Frei at 3B.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
Lemon doing lemon; too busy breaking in a new bucket to sit on to be bothered by such minor details as fundamentals!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinto
Oh Boy! Those 3-2, 6-5, and 5-3 wins against Manhattan are going to bring out the wolves!
I mean honestly high level SEC baseball players should come in knowing fundamentalsQuote:
Originally Posted by Pinto
exactly. SEC players ****ing up a rundown is on them. Fundamentals are taught on the lower level. SEC guys work on skill and repsQuote:
Originally Posted by MoreCowbell
I about all the Lemo haters on this board.
I think you overestimate "haters"!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brobi-wan
Skeptics! Yep!
You would think but definitely not always the caseQuote:
Originally Posted by Coach34
And I'll get on my soapbox here- the NCAA should allow college baseball teams four preseason exhibition games the weekend before the season starts. It would add a lot to the quality of play early in the season. You know if we played Delta State or even the W (Yes, they have a baseball team) we would draw probably at least 5-8K on a weekend as long as we worked it around basketball. That's valuable to the players and coaches because then they can see guys perform in front of a crown and in front of live competition but at the same time whatever happens in those games doesn't count so there is really no reason other than injury to not get pitchers in and play everyone. And if a guy gives up 3 home runs in an inning they can flush it and start over. Or make a bunch of dumb errors and strike out three times.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach34
There is a reason why MLB plays a ton of exhibition games and very few intrasquad scrimmages. Much more value against live competition.
And playing a random four game series against Alabama in October and then expecting that to translate later to February is kind of silly.
We were third in the SEC in fielding percentage last year. We may have been sloppy at the beginning of the season last year but that improved and may have been a little bit about Mershon not being in the lineup to kind of settle things down. Sure we made mistakes at times like any other baseball team but looking at stats it doesn't appear to me that we were disproportionately bad in any specific category relative to the rest of the SEC.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinto
And we could have some more issues this year because we could have four guys playing new positions this year- Reeves from SS to 2B, Reese from OF to 3B, Chance from LF to CF, and Stallman from 1B to LF or RF. But I think that things will improve as SEC play starts. The biggest concern from what I have heard is OF range- in other words getting to fly balls. Chance is a Rusty Thoms type of player in CF. Of course if O'Brien can hit there is a very good chance he starts in the OF.
I'm just saying that when we make mistakes it's not because they players weren't taught something or we don't review it. It's because they screwed it up.
And if your talking about offense, you'll notice that most of the guys we got in the portal have really good K/BB ratios but they also have good power. Basically, that means we got guys that make contact more often than not which in theory should mean more balls put into play during situational baseball situations and in theory our team should be more clutch. At the same time we have some guys that we brought in that could conceivably hit 10+ home runs while not striking out a ton- Reese, Noah Sullivan, and Stallman. Getting Ross Highfill back is going to help the offense out a lot too.
Our issue with fundamentals last year centered around baserunning rather than fielding. And there were issues these guys were taught in eighth grade. Lemonis can’t run the bases for them. And you can’t necessarily bench a player for dumb mistakes when you don’t have a quality replacement. We have a much deeper roster this year. I’m excited for the season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
Baseball IQ is low. Everywhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by somebodyshotmypaw
It's down in all sports- not just baseball. I had something happen this past season I havent had happen before in all my years of coaching. I had my RT try to block down on a 1 tech because he was supposed to "block down". It never once occurred to him that the bigass LB sitting in B gap 3 yards in front of him was "down". So the RT tries to go for the 1 Tech- trips the RG in the process which allows the 1 Tech to blow up our running play for a 4 yard loss. I couldnt even yell. All I could do is "wow"Quote:
Originally Posted by Homedawg
Highill can play catcher and center field? Did I miss that?Quote:
Originally Posted by MStateDawg
He's been playing a lot of outfield (cf mostly) in Fall & Spring scrimmages. Lemonis has talked extensively about how he's the most athletic guy on the team and we can definitely expect to see him play some outfield on the days he doesn't catch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnson85
I think Ace playing a corner OF spot and playing Frei or Reeves at 3B makes our lineup better offensively and defensively on the IF. Because if you move Ace to the OF, you probably move Chance to CF which knocks O'Brien out of the lineup.
I think Frei or Reeves can hit better than O'Brien so you're not losing offense. Only downside is OF defense but using MOB as a late inning defensive replacement is an option. If Ace can't handle 3B, I would go:
Highfill - C
Ace - LF
Hines - 1B
Sullivan/Stallman - DH
Stevens/Stallman - RF
Chance - CF
Frei/Reeves - 3B
Cupp - SS
Sanders/Reeves - 2B
Also- this is because of the fact we have 2 other catchers needing playing time as well. Highfill being a great athlete and versatile allows us to play more players to keep bats sharp during the season. Also allows us to avoid and overcome injuries betterQuote:
Originally Posted by MStateDawg
Honestly, we have too many catchers. I suspect they'll ask Spalitta to redshirt as there's just not going to be much opportunity for him to play. 3 catchers is enough and Ben Davis could be your emergency 4th catcher.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach34
Agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by KOdawg1
Ben Davis isn't going to be on the 40 man. At least I highly doubt he will. Somebody, 4 somebody's have to go to get to 40Quote:
Originally Posted by MStateDawg
That's certainly possible, but with Davis missing the entire Fall it's hard to say for sure. He's pitched twice this spring. One good outing and one bad. I imagine he needs another good outing to have a shot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Homedawg
I like it and I could see it possibly playing out like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by KOdawg1
Yes it is! LOL. Not to mention I think our guys can sometimes do things they shouldn't on the bases in high school and travel ball and get away with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Homedawg
Not sure if it's allowed but I could see them using him as a bullpen catcher.Quote:
Originally Posted by Homedawg
Frei struggled in the Fall- which allowed the Reese move to happen in the first place. I hope he's having a better Spring because that does nothing but help us
We promised ace a shot at third. That's where he wants to play. We shall see how it works out. Obvious if he can defend it's the best lineup w him at third. Not even close.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach34
One of my best friends in high school played at State under Polk. When Polk was still somewhat young. Friend told me that him and other players use to make fun of Polk because at practice Polk would make all the players run drills till to the point of being maddening. Some coaches friend said would hit 20 grounders to the short stop. Not Polk he would hit 60 for example.
Now friend is a high school coach and somewhat successful coach he does same. Now that he has matured he now sees the importance of doing the little things till it become routine and cuts way down on mistakes when actual play comes.