Today's scrimmage

Offense won the day. Both McCord and Sexton did ok.

Michael Smith had 1 AB, singled up the middle RBI, on a grounder hit between center and right not past the OF's scored from first.

The relievers were all guys who won't pitch much this year.

Humphrey's jacked 1 to left. Hit another one to the track in left.

Lovelady had two hits. He will do nicely as a backup catcher.

Cole Gordon who I think is a LH bat off the bench hit a double to RF corner. He and Reynolds are good left options.

Let's hope they play 3 games this week while weather is nice.

I spent most of the weekend working on our trailer, so I only watched both scrimmages in bits and pieces, but the scoreboard showed an awful lot of errors after both scrimmages. Should this worry me, or was it just normal pre-season practice type stuff?

Baseball is a game of repetition in all phases. Three more weeks to games then 3-4 until SEC play. Their play will be cleaner each time.

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Originally Posted by godlluB

I spent most of the weekend working on our trailer, so I only watched both scrimmages in bits and pieces, but the scoreboard showed an awful lot of errors after both scrimmages. Should this worry me, or was it just normal pre-season practice type stuff?

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Cohen and co. score shit weird. A walk is considered an "E" for example.

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Originally Posted by godlluB

I spent most of the weekend working on our trailer, so I only watched both scrimmages in bits and pieces, but the scoreboard showed an awful lot of errors after both scrimmages. Should this worry me, or was it just normal pre-season practice type stuff?

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I really wouldn't be worried at all. This might be the best defensive team 1-9 Cohen has ever had.

From what I can tell, most of the errors are coming from young guys I don't expect to play much anyway.

What newcomers other than McCord and the jucos do I need to pay attention to? In other words, who are the future possible stars?

Swinarski is for sure, he is a redshirt freshman. Ryan Gridley is a solid player, Pirtle type. Cole Gordon is 6-6 240 freshman that can hit and pitch I really like him. Rooker has a lot of potential too.

Thanks for the replies, gents. Your answers are kind of what I expected (and hoped for).

Do we know for sure where Humphreys will play in the field, if at all? I would think against RHP we would like to get an extra LH bat in the lineup at DH, so it would be nice if we didn't have to lose Hump's bat altogether. Will it be in the OF? I feel like it will be a damn shame if we spend another season with him DH'ing or pinch hitting every other game....his bat needs to be in our lineup every single game I feel like.

If healthy, Humphreys' bat will be in the lineup pretty much every game- Cohen has gone on record saying this.

He will play a corner OF spot or DH, depending on matchups.

ETA: Another thing to consider is that Gavin Collins will also hit every day, but obviously won't catch every game. So in order to get both Collins and Humphreys in the lineup at the same time when Collins isn't catching, Reid will probably play in the OF regardless of matchups. Just food for thought.

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Originally Posted by messageboardsuperhero

If healthy, Humphreys' bat will be in the lineup pretty much every game- Cohen has gone on record saying this.

He will play a corner OF spot or DH.

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Good to hear. Thanks

Cohen said something today about keeping Hump healthy, interesting. Diving for balls in the OF is not good for him. Lineup will be different every game most likely, as long as we win. Lovelady led everyone in OB% in fall. He walks a lot rather than SO. Quality backup.

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Originally Posted by MsStateBaseball

Cohen said something today about keeping Hump healthy, interesting. Diving for balls in the OF is not good for him. Lineup will be different every game most likely, as long as we win. Lovelady led everyone in OB% in fall. He walks a lot rather than SO. Quality backup.

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Lovelady split at .176/.308/.185 last year at Shelton so I expect him as a late game defense sub to take some wear off Gavin. These are 18-22 year olds playing half a minor league slate. I expect Collins to be our catcher 95% of the time.

If Rooker's bat can step up and hold down a corner OF spot we'll be cooking with grease. Let the midget brigade have CF and RF.

Gordon's 2B today came off a LHP as well.

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Originally Posted by Smitty

Lovelady split at .176/.308/.185 last year at Shelton so I expect him as a late game defense sub to take some wear off Gavin. These are 18-22 year olds playing half a minor league slate. I expect Collins to be our catcher 95% of the time.

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While I agree that Collins will be our catcher when it counts, lovelady had a broken jaw during the year. He put up decent numbers his fr year of juco. Don't know if which, if either are outliers, but something to consider.

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Originally Posted by CadaverDawg

Do we know for sure where Humphreys will play in the field, if at all? I would think against RHP we would like to get an extra LH bat in the lineup at DH, so it would be nice if we didn't have to lose Hump's bat altogether. Will it be in the OF? I feel like it will be a damn shame if we spend another season with him DH'ing or pinch hitting every other game....his bat needs to be in our lineup every single game I feel like.

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agreed

I just worry that Robson will never be what we need at the plate. I like his speed but I just can't see him ever being anything better than a .200 hitter.

I hope smith plays center... Man we have a ton of OF talent. Brown, Swinarski, Vick, Hump, Smith, Rooker Etc.. Just too much for a .200 hitter like Robson to be starting.

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Originally Posted by AlSwearengen

What newcomers other than McCord and the jucos do I need to pay attention to? In other words, who are the future possible stars?

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Michael Smith hasn't been mentioned. The way he has played, I'm thinking he starts.

I think Robson right now is bottom of the order. Michael Smith is leadoff. Robson needs experience, playing time. He will be better by June.

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Originally Posted by Smitty

If Rooker's bat can step up and hold down a corner OF spot we'll be cooking with grease. Let the midget brigade have CF and RF.

Gordon's 2B today came off a LHP as well.

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I'm a Rooker fan myself. He has power, but he can run too- so it's the best of both worlds. He just needs experience.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Michael Smith hasn't been mentioned. The way he has played, I'm thinking he starts.

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I hope you are right!

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Originally Posted by preachermatt83

I just worry that Robson will never be what we need at the plate. I like his speed but I just can't see him ever being anything better than a .200 hitter.

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When he's healthy, he's a draft caliber player. He had a shoulder injury last year that affected his hitting, and he missed most of summer ball with it too. He has played well in both scrimmages so far. Losing him last year really hurt us on offense.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

When he's healthy, he's a draft caliber player. He had a shoulder injury last year that affected his hitting, and he missed most of summer ball with it too. He has played well in both scrimmages so far. Losing him last year really hurt us on offense.

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ive just never seen it..

I hope Rooker can win a spot.

Heck-Collins-Holland-Humphreys-Reynolds-Rooker-Britton-Rea-Smith

Nasty lineup

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Originally Posted by preachermatt83

I hope smith plays center... Man we have a ton of OF talent. Brown, Swinarski, Vick, Hump, Smith, Rooker Etc.. Just too much for a .200 hitter like Robson to be starting.

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What exactly makes you label Robson as a .200 hitter?

The guy hit .250 in conference play as a 17 year old true freshman, then was hurt all last season and took a medical redshirt. Give him a shot as a more experienced and healthy player now- Robson still has a ton of talent.

The biggest thing I'm disappointed about is McCord and Sexton having rough outings. We need someone to step up. Hudson has looked better than those two thus far but I don't know that he's built up enough endurance to go three innings at this point. I hope they consider Vance Tatum for a starting role.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

The biggest thing I'm disappointed about is McCord and Sexton having rough outings. We need someone to step up. Hudson has looked better than those two thus far but I don't know that he's built up enough endurance to go three innings at this point. I hope they consider Vance Tatum for a starting role.

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Tatum is def a wild card. I think he may be a gem .

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Originally Posted by preachermatt83

Tatum is def a wild card. I think he may be a gem .

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The problem is the coaches seem set on using him out of the pen. IMO he was the most advanced freshman pitcher we had last year. Either Hudson needs to heal up quickly or McCord and Sexton need to step it up.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

The problem is the coaches seem set on using him out of the pen. IMO he was the most advanced freshman pitcher we had last year. Either Hudson needs to heal up quickly or McCord and Sexton need to step it up.

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It's one scrimmage where they went 2 or less innings... Let it ride out.

Oh, I'm not giving up on them. But I'm also not going to sugar coat their bad outings. If McCord and Sexton pitch like they did today in a real game, we probably lose.

The staff is concerned about the pitching. We need some guys to step up or we will struggle this year.

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Originally Posted by Jacksondevildog

The staff is concerned about the pitching. We need some guys to step up or we will struggle this year.

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We're definitely unproven in this department (really unproven everywhere) but I think if we have to Preston, Laster, and Ross could hold it down if needed.

I could see us finishing anywhere from 1st to 10th in the league and it would not be a shock. But I like our unknowns. Remember we made it to the CWS finals with a 5'5 Mexican and our current closer as two of our 3 starters.

I think what Matt is saying about Robson, and I agree, is that he's hesitant to trust him. With him not playing last year and all I am just reluctant to put any eggs into his basket. To me, since I really don't know much about him as a player other than what happened last year, I'm not leaning on him to produce in our outfield, but am certainly hoping that he can. But I'm not relying on it. I really want him to prove my trepidation as silly though


I also think Cody brown should see a lot of time. Think he's a great mix of speed and pop and is a good fielder. The competition to see the field back there will be amazing to watch, and should make them all better. Should see a ton of combinations to see what fits before sec play