Opening Weekend Review

First of all, Western Carolina is much better than the teams we usually open up the season with. They're ace is going to be a pain in the ass for some #1 seed in a regional and will make them a really tough out come tourney time. WC also has a very solid lineup with some good college hitters and a TON of lefties. Winning that series is a good way to start the season.

I'm also glad we didn't have a totally ridiculous melt down on Friday night. Losing that game was not a huge deal at all, and anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that sometimes you just run into an ace and there's not much you can do about it- I think that shows we have some pretty smart baseball posters over here. That said, there are some things we need to do better, but let's start with what we did well:

The Good-
Mitchell and Holder are still Mitchell and Holder.
Matthew Britton looks great defensively. That DP he turned today was a really difficult play, and he made it look easy with his range. We won't miss Frazier's glove too much this year.
Trevor Fitts looked very solid- he'll probably be a weekend starter.
Dakota Hudson is a future stud. No doubt about it. He was hitting 96-97 today and it looked effortless- hell, Gene even said he clocked him at 98 once. I just don't want expectations to be too high for him this year. Hudson will take some lumps, but his future is BRIGHT.
Preston Brown was good, and he'll contribute this year.
CT Bradford really swung the bat well. I like his new stance, and it should help him stay on top of the ball. He's also finally healthy.
37 BB/HBPs show that we know how to get on base, even when the bats aren't rolling. Good sign.
We really don't have a hole anywhere defensively- very, very solid every position, just like we thought going in. Our weakest spot is probably catcher, but I expect them to continue to improve.

The Bad-
The bats we just plain bad this weekend. I'm not sure if we had 20 hits all weekend, plus there wasn't much pop in the lineup. We simply looked overmatched at times. It's early and we're still experimenting a lot, so I'm not overly concerned.
Armstrong at DH? Really? I'm sure he's a great kid and will be a very good role player for us, but we have other options who really need live ABs (Garner, Humphrey, etc.). I'll just chalk it up to another weird, Cohen experiment.
I'd really like to see us be more aggressive on the bases with double steals, hit and runs, etc. If we're going to put a bunch of fast singles hitters in the lineup- we need to let them run a little bit.

The Ugly-
We HAVE to get more out of Woodruff and Lindgren than what we saw Friday. Again, it's still very early, so I'm not too worried yet.
33 strike outs. That cannot happen in a weekend- especially when we already don't have a ton of power.

I was at the first two games and watched the third on HSTV, so if I missed something, feel free to comment.

short stint. I know we've heard a lot about the other frosh pitchers (Hudson and Sexton) but not much on Tatum. He looked good. Good breaking pitch. I think Randolph may have put himself in a spot to get the bulk of the starts behind home plate, at least early in the season. He looked better defensively than Collins and had a nice base hit today to drive in a run. Woody and Lindgren again struggled with control. I'd like to see us try stealing a little more. I think we were 0-2 on the weekend.

Pirtle's walkout song is gonna be a fun one this year. Half the crowd started throwing their arms up and down Saturday during it, and I can only imagine what it will look like when the entire grandstand is doing it on a packed SEC weekend.

I feel like you covered everything else.

Great synopsis, but you left out Pirtle. Early in the game that trip meant a lot.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that Pirtle is still awesome.

And I like Tatum as well- people have been saying really good things about him this last month or so. His curveball looked good today, and he could give us another left handed option out of the pen.

The next 7 games are big. If we don't improve in hitting by March 1 then yes be concerned w hitting. Once we get the new guys adjusted it will be fine. We do need some pop.

The most disappointing thing to me was Woodruff and Lindgren. Everyone else pounded the strike zone. We should have swept them, but Woodruff's outing was a killer. If those two pound the strike zone, we're not going to need a whole lot of runs. Dakota looked really good early, but he was still only able to work four innings. Based on how he did today, I'd probably bring him out of the bullpen and let Bracewell start in his place. Hudson is going to be good. Vance Tatum was the top pitcher in Mississippi last year and he will likely be a rotation guy as well.

Randolph is probably the starting catcher, so we're probably going to have another .250 type hitter like Ammiratti last year, but at least Randolph can defend. So, an upgrade there. I'd still consider starting Garner and Collins and then bringing in Randolph late especially if we struggle on offense.

Rea is a beast. Pirtle is very good and will contend for all-SEC honors along with Rea. Humphries needs to step it up- and his performance this weekend is why I am cautious with freshmen as far as expectations. He's our best defensive option at third, but if he strikes out just about every time, we'll have to play Detz there. Without Garner, Humphries, and Collins stepping up- we're going to be a small ball team. It is what it is. And we can win with that and score runs with that type of offense- ask UCLA. But we're going to have to be aggressive on the bases to make it work. And sometimes it's not going to work- like when Pirtle got thrown out at second and sometimes it's going to be awesome- like CT's drag bunt to squeeze home a run. Britton is better defensively but he didn't show me much at the plate. As of now, we've traded Frazier's bat for improved defense.

I thought CT had a good weekend at the plate. Hopefully he can stay healthy and have the season he had as a freshman. Demarcus had a good day today. Vickerson disappointed me with all the strike outs- I bet he struck out more this weekend than he did his whole JUCO career. Cody Brown did some very good things though and that was a pleasant surprise. Robson will be fine. I bet our outfield hits fewer than five home runs combined.

Detz continues to get on base which is a good thing, but he needs to start to get some hits sprinkled in there.

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Originally Posted by MsStateBaseball

The next 7 games are big. If we don't improve in hitting by March 1 then yes be concerned w hitting. Once we get the new guys adjusted it will be fine. We do need some pop.

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Having that really tight strike zone in the spring scrimmages may have affected our hitters negatively in this series. Cohen might have done that differently if he knew that we were going to play Western Carolina instead of Hofstra to start the year.

What are y'all's thoughts on putting CT back in the leadoff spot? He had some really solid ABs this weekend.

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Originally Posted by Intramural All-American

What are y'all's thoughts on putting CT back in the leadoff spot? He had some really solid ABs this weekend.

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Personally, I think he still has to work on his patience at the plate if he wants to move back to the leadoff spot.

CT looks better this year than he has in a while though- no doubt about it. And him finally being healthy has a lot to do with that.

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Originally Posted by Intramural All-American

What are y'all's thoughts on putting CT back in the leadoff spot? He had some really solid ABs this weekend.

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It's not a bad idea, but I want to see if Vickerson can handle it first. I wouldn't be shocked at all if we end up flipping CT and Vickerson/Brown in the order.

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Originally Posted by Intramural All-American

What are y'all's thoughts on putting CT back in the leadoff spot? He had some really solid ABs this weekend.

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Cody Brown got on a lot Saturday. He gives us a good option there too. I do like that we could move CT to lead off if needed.

The strikeouts are the biggest worry to me. We can't play small ball if we can't put the ball in play. We've got to be able to make contact more than we did this weekend... BUT, it's just opening weekend.

On that note, C.T. has got do something about his....Country music is "anti-poon".

Good opening weekend. To me, it's far too early to make a determination on much of anything. We'll need to see a few series before we know if there's anything to worry about.

I thought Cohen would play more players. Cody Walker didn't play at all. Heck, Robson and Hann barely played. Any reason for that.

I'd take 4 innings from Dakota on the weekends. He throws so hard it's fun to watch, not your run of the mill pitcher.

Bracewell then Dakota on Sundays would be a nice couple of SEC Sunday pitchers to go with.

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Originally Posted by bully99

I thought Cohen would play more players. Cody Walker didn't play at all. Heck, Robson and Hann barely played. Any reason for that.

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Because Western Carolina is too good and if we had experimented or taken some people out, we run the risk of blowing a game or running out of players on the bench if it went into extra innings. That's why we scheduled Hofstra and Holy Cross first- so that we could experiment a little bit.

Memphis is solid too- but next weekend I expect to see more guys like the Canadians and Walker play some.

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Originally Posted by Schultzy

I'd take 4 innings from Dakota on the weekends. He throws so hard it's fun to watch, not your run of the mill pitcher.

Bracewell then Dakota on Sundays would be a nice couple of SEC Sunday pitchers to go with.

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My hope is that Woodruff gets his head on straight and takes the mantle as staff ace.
Fitts on Saturday- I think he's a lot more mature now and I think he will be a 6 inning guy at least for us.
I'm thinking that Bracewell probably should start on Sunday. He's a senior that has pitched in big games for us. I'm not sure if he can go any more than 5 IP for us though. With his injury history, we have to be careful.

I'd like to see Dakota come out of the bullpen as a set-up guy and let him go 2-3 IP whenever we need him. That should help Ross and Holder with their workload.

Woodruff just couldn't figure the ump's strike zone... Hell a lot of people couldn't. He will be fine.

Overall the results from the weekend were acceptable. The WCU pitcher on Friday was excellent so no real shame in dropping that one. My concerns coming out of the weekend are the lack of pitching production from Woodruff and Lindgren, a large number of strikeouts up and down the lineup for a team of primarily singles hitters and we didn't really seem to be able to take advantage of our speed on the bases. Still really seems to be no ability to accomplish straight steals and made a couple of blunders baserunning including today where CT was caught off 3rd base on a liner to the 2nd baseman. No reason for a 3rd base runner to get off the base much until the ball clears the infield when its a liner and there are no outs. Lots of positives for pitching and defense though and we at least got some timely hits in games 2 and 3.

If Woodruff can bounce back like he should, I'd like to see a rotation of him on Friday, Fitts on Saturday, and a Bracewell/Hudson piggyback on Sunday. That would be our deepest rotation since Cohen has been here.

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Originally Posted by CJDAWG85

Woodruff just couldn't figure the ump's strike zone... Hell a lot of people couldn't. He will be fine.

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If that was the case, Cohen should have ridden the umpires ass.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Randolph is probably the starting catcher, so we're probably going to have another .250 type hitter like Ammiratti last year, but at least Randolph can defend. So, an upgrade there.

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Are you saying Randolph is a defensive upgrade from Ammiratti? You won't find many catchers better defensively that Ammo...

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Originally Posted by RAYn_Man

Are you saying Randolph is a defensive upgrade from Ammiratti? You won't find many catchers better defensively that Ammo...

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Say what?

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Originally Posted by messageboardsuperhero

If Woodruff can bounce back like he should, I'd like to see a rotation of him on Friday, Fitts on Saturday, and a Bracewell/Hudson piggyback on Sunday. That would be our deepest rotation since Cohen has been here.

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Do not like that piggyback at all. The big deal with the success we've had with those is setting up with one guy to "set the lineup" and then following with someone stylistically totally different against a lineup now "set" to his strengths. Hudson is a continuation of Bracewell's style with a little better fastball but not as good of off speed stuff(yet) -- so I think that one sets Hudson up to fail to an extent.

I'd rather go with Hudson to start, break them with Ross Mitchell(of course assuming he doesn't generally throw 8 innings on Friday, but instead just a few outs) or even Gentry, then to Bracewell/Holder.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Having that really tight strike zone in the spring scrimmages may have affected our hitters negatively in this series. Cohen might have done that differently if he knew that we were going to play Western Carolina instead of Hofstra to start the year.

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I was thinking the same thing when we were reading about the small strike zone during the fall. Hitting isn't difficult when the ball is over the heart of the plate. Hopefully we will adjust and see a lot of improvement. It seems that there is a lot more room for it than I was expecting.

I wouldn't automatically assume WCU will be a 4 seed. SoCon has had a 3 seed in at least the last two tournaments.

One thing I noticed was the crowds were huge. Sunday the main grandstands were about 80% filled and the LFL was it's usual. Umps made some miserable calls behind home plate. The kid from WCU that hit the home run should have had a called 3rd strike. Can't believe the ump didn't call that one a strike. Results for the weekend were good except for the inability to get a bunt down and the strike outs. Overall, it was a very good weekend against a quality team.

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Originally Posted by engie

Do not like that piggyback at all. The big deal with the success we've had with those is setting up with one guy to "set the lineup" and then following with someone stylistically totally different against a lineup now "set" to his strengths. Hudson is a continuation of Bracewell's style with a little better fastball but not as good of off speed stuff(yet) -- so I think that one sets Hudson up to fail to an extent.

I'd rather go with Hudson to start, break them with Ross Mitchell(of course assuming he doesn't generally throw 8 innings on Friday, but instead just a few outs) or even Gentry, then to Bracewell/Holder.

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All good points. The piggybacking that happened last year was born out of necessity, not because it's the new wave of MSU pitching. There was a method to that madness but given a choice Cohen and Thompson would both prefer to have the more typical dominant starter with the pen used to come in and shut it down.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I'm thinking that Bracewell probably should start on Sunday. He's a senior that has pitched in big games for us. I'm not sure if he can go any more than 5 IP for us though. With his injury history, we have to be careful.....I'd like to see Dakota come out of the bullpen as a set-up guy and let him go 2-3 IP whenever we need him.

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Can't say I agree here. Hudson is a starting pitcher in every way, shape and form imaginable. Plus, our only live look at him showed VERY positive results. Furthermore, Bracewell has never been great as a starter for us, but very good in relief. I guess what I'm saying is, I'd like to know how you formed this opinion. All the evidence seems to go against you.

I mean, if Woodruff doesn't get it together, the combination of Hudson/Real Deal could win us a lot of Friday night SEC games at this point, judging from Sunday and what he showed in the fall and preseason scrimmages.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Randolph is probably the starting catcher, so we're probably going to have another .250 type hitter like Ammiratti last year, but at least Randolph can defend. So, an upgrade there.

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Dude Ammo was better than Randolph at catching. At least if we're comparing 2013 Ammo and 2014 Randolph.

I think Ammo is better than Randolph, but both are pretty average. Ammo wasn't an elite catcher, as you are alluding to.

You mean pancake?