My updated lineup and rotation for 2016

1 - Jacob Robson, CF
2 - Luke Reynolds, 3B
3 - Gavin Collins, C
4 - Brent Rooker, DH/LF
5 - Cole Gordon, 1B
6 - John Holland, 2B
7 - Reid Humphreys, LF/DH
8 - Michael Smith, RF
9 - Ryan Gridley, SS

Got to make room for Gordon, Hump has to bat, Rooker has to bat. Smith is very fast and good defender. Cody Brown will come in late innings. Nate Lowe has good offense numbers but we haven't seen him play.

My weekend rotation is.......Dakota Hudson, Moonlight Tatum, Austin Sexton and Zac Houston.

Start the 3 according to opponent and have the 4th be the long reliever in case of struggles. Ryan Rigby in the closer. Daniel Brown the lefty reliever at the end. Have two of the freshmen pitchers pitch on Tuesday night. The rest can be in the bullpen.

Pretty good huh?

Not bad.

Not bad.

If Jacob Barfield is healthy he will compete with Luke Reynolds at third base. The better defender gets the job.


Luke Alexander will compete with John Holland who had a really good summer for a MIF spot.

I think Lowe wins the first base job.

You are a little higher on Michael Smith than most on here, but I feel that Cody Brown is a player that Cohen loves and someone will have to beat him out in the outfield. We have guys way more talented than him, but he is just a dirtbag type of player. Rooker, Gordon and Humphreys need to be in the lineup. People can talk about batting average and whatnot, but Orvis hit around .225 last season, but he hit for power and was always a threat at the plate. We need more of that instead of a traveling Fungo Man machine team dressed in Mississippi State uniforms.

Cody is a streaky player offensively. He is a good defender but he isn't fast like Smith. Smith is very fast, better arm. But the OF is the one position where you can mix and match. I do believe Smith will play pro ball. He has a lot of tools.

Maybe Hump feels too much pressure has been put on him for his offense and he struggles. He tries to do too much. Maybe this fall he will see other guys hitting HR's and he can relax, plus putting him down in the lineup might help. Fall ball will go a long way to determine.

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Originally Posted by Jacksondevildog

You are a little higher on Michael Smith than most on here, but I feel that Cody Brown is a player that Cohen loves and someone will have to beat him out in the outfield. We have guys way more talented than him, but he is just a dirtbag type of player. Rooker, Gordon and Humphreys need to be in the lineup. People can talk about batting average and whatnot, but Orvis hit around .225 last season, but he hit for power and was always a threat at the plate. We need more of that instead of a traveling Fungo Man machine team dressed in Mississippi State uniforms.

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Smith is a really good talent- he might be our best defensive outfielder and he can really run. Not having him 100% to go along with Robson hurt us a lot last year.

I do agree that Cody Brown will play some because he is the kind of guy that finds his way into the lineup. And he's just now becoming a junior.

I think there needs to be a shift in Cohen's philosophy as far as filling out the outfield positions. It needs to be based on who hits the best in the fall. Singles hitter with speed and can play defense exceptionally well or a doubles and homerun guy that's slightly above average in the outfield.

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Originally Posted by Jacksondevildog

I think there needs to be a shift in Cohen's philosophy as far as filling out the outfield positions. It needs to be based on who hits the best in the fall. Singles hitter with speed and can play defense exceptionally well or a doubles and homerun guy that's slightly above average in the outfield.

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I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you have to remember this. Winning baseball games is just as much about preventing runs as it is scoring runs. Pitching is clearly the most important factor in my mind, and I would rate defense and hitting about the same. So, we can't put a bunch of lugs in the field and expect to prevent many runs just because they have some pop. What I mean by that is you can't put Cole Gordon and Nate Lowe in the outfield just to get their bats in the line up. I think we underrate the potential that both Reid Humphreys and Brent Rooker have defensively in the outfield. Both are above average athletes. They have the ability to cover some ground. They need to improve their routes to the ball and pick the ball up better off the bat. That comes with experience, IMO. IMO, you start Reid in LF and Brent in RF. Michael Smith can be used as a late inning defensive replacement/pinch hitter/pinch runner. Then you have Nate Lowe and Cole Gordon at 1B/DH.

I understand that defense is extremely important, but we placed an emphasis on speed, pitching and defense because of the dead BBCOR bats, but the game has shifted back closer to where it was pre-BBCOR. We have to adjust as well. I don't want a 5-8 guy in the outfield because he can play defense and run and slaps the ball around at the plate. I would rather have a 6-2 average defender with the ability to hit 15 doubles and double digit home runs.

People keep sleeping on Cody Brown and keep plugging any and everybody into the outfield in front of him and yet he keeps being better than all of them. I imagine he will again this spring.

Cody Brown hit .309 as a full-time SEC player last year. Him not starting in 2015 would be ludicrous

This.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Cody Brown hit .309 as a full-time SEC player last year. Him not starting in 2015 would be ludicrous

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Cody actually hit .267 against SEC competition.

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Originally Posted by MsStateBaseball

1 - Jacob Robson, CF
2 - Luke Reynolds, 3B
3 - Gavin Collins, C
4 - Brent Rooker, DH/LF
5 - Cole Gordon, 1B
6 - John Holland, 2B
7 - Reid Humphreys, LF/DH
8 - Michael Smith, RF
9 - Ryan Gridley, SS

Got to make room for Gordon, Hump has to bat, Rooker has to bat. Smith is very fast and good defender. Cody Brown will come in late innings. Nate Lowe has good offense numbers but we haven't seen him play.

My weekend rotation is.......Dakota Hudson, Moonlight Tatum, Austin Sexton and Zac Houston.

Start the 3 according to opponent and have the 4th be the long reliever in case of struggles. Ryan Rigby in the closer. Daniel Brown the lefty reliever at the end. Have two of the freshmen pitchers pitch on Tuesday night. The rest can be in the bullpen.

Pretty good huh?

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Cody Brown not in your lineup invalidates anything else you have to say. That kid is a baller, one of the few players on the team who's a gamer with a set of nuts. I hope like hell someone displaces Holland at 2B, hopefully a freshman. Collins needs to either play COF or DH. He's terrible behind the plate. I'd platoon Marrero and Lovelady. We basically have 5 players fighting for 3 spots, the way I see it. Two of Hump, Collins, Gordon, Rooker, and Lowe will have to sit.

Houston or Hudson need to close. The other one starts. We really need the freshman arms to step up and provide big time innings from the pen, maybe even steal the Sunday spot. I definitely want one of them starting midweek.

Fresh blood is the name of the game next year. Either we invest in it or Cohen & Co. need to be on the first thing smoking out of Starkville. Especially since Cohen didn't see fit to make any staff changes, particularly in the S&C department. The same guy who's "conditioned" the last two teams of mental midgets shouldn't get the opportunity for Strike 3 with this group, but he is.

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Originally Posted by Jacksondevildog

I understand that defense is extremely important, but we placed an emphasis on speed, pitching and defense because of the dead BBCOR bats, but the game has shifted back closer to where it was pre-BBCOR. We have to adjust as well. I don't want a 5-8 guy in the outfield because he can play defense and run and slaps the ball around at the plate. I would rather have a 6-2 average defender with the ability to hit 15 doubles and double digit home runs.

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The only midget slap hitter I want in the OF is Robson. And that's because he's the prototypical leadoff hitter we need at the top of the lineup. Unfortunately, The Meddler is smarter than all of us and will hit him 7 behind whoever the slowest guy on the team is this year. The rest, I agree. Best hitters go in the OF, defense be damned. Trying to win 2-1 every night doesn't make sense without the dead ball.

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Originally Posted by War Machine Dawg

Cody Brown not in your lineup invalidates anything else you have to say. That kid is a baller, one of the few players on the team who's a gamer with a set of nuts. I hope like hell someone displaces Holland at 2B, hopefully a freshman. Collins needs to either play COF or DH. He's terrible behind the plate. I'd platoon Marrero and Lovelady. We basically have 5 players fighting for 3 spots, the way I see it. Two of Hump, Collins, Gordon, Rooker, and Lowe will have to sit.

Houston or Hudson need to close. The other one starts. We really need the freshman arms to step up and provide big time innings from the pen, maybe even steal the Sunday spot. I definitely want one of them starting midweek.

Fresh blood is the name of the game next year. Either we invest in it or Cohen & Co. need to be on the first thing smoking out of Starkville. Especially since Cohen didn't see fit to make any staff changes, particularly in the S&C department. The same guy who's "conditioned" the last two teams of mental midgets shouldn't get the opportunity for Strike 3 with this group, but he is.

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You are so off base with your view on this that it isn't even funny. Gavin Collins is so horrible behind the plate that he is one of the top 5 college catchers that pro scouts are looking at for the 2016 MLB draft. Enjoy him now, because this will be his last season in Starkville. He's a top 5 round pick as a catcher, yet you want to move a guy who is probably a top 5 catcher in college baseball to the OF. Part of me thinks this is because you want to criticize John Cohen for starting a defense only catcher in Josh Lovelady. Gavin has the tools to be above average defensively. He's an above average athlete and has excellent hands to go with a strong throwing arm.

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Originally Posted by KB21

You are so off base with your view on this that it isn't even funny. Gavin Collins is so horrible behind the plate that he is one of the top 5 college catchers that pro scouts are looking at for the 2016 MLB draft. Enjoy him now, because this will be his last season in Starkville. He's a top 5 round pick as a catcher, yet you want to move a guy who is probably a top 5 catcher in college baseball to the OF. Part of me thinks this is because you want to criticize John Cohen for starting a defense only catcher in Josh Lovelady. Gavin has the tools to be above average defensively. He's an above average athlete and has excellent hands to go with a strong throwing arm.

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There's way more to catching than being an above average athlete with a strong arm. He was terrible at blocking pitches last season. Terrible. It's not even debatable. For that matter, when your pitching staff is as bad on the whole as ours was last season, some of that blame has to fall on the catcher. Especially since we know Cohen lets his catchers call the game. (For the record, that's one of the things I actually really love about Cohen. College catchers should be calling the game, not a coach in the dugout.) And since when are scouts' evaluations infallible? Hell, not every #1 overall pick or First Round pick pans out every year, much less someone who may or may not be evaluated top 5 at their position.

And I'm not the only one who's floated the idea of Collins moving. Your buddy Todd has mentioned it multiple times himself. But yeah, let's go with the theory that WMD is just making it up, when I'm the one who called the decline in our offense last season while most of you guys were hollering improvement. I just want to win, but we aren't maximizing our chances for that to happen offensively. As for wanting to criticize Cohen for starting a defensive catcher - NOPE. I was all in with Mitch Slauter, who couldn't hit a damn. Catcher is the one position I'd trade offense for great D without hesitation.

I like Cody Brown- but people want to see more power. Rooker and Humphreys give us that. And Cody won't start over Robson. That said- Cody will find his way into the lineup.

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Originally Posted by KB21

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you have to remember this. Winning baseball games is just as much about preventing runs as it is scoring runs. Pitching is clearly the most important factor in my mind, and I would rate defense and hitting about the same. So, we can't put a bunch of lugs in the field and expect to prevent many runs just because they have some pop. What I mean by that is you can't put Cole Gordon and Nate Lowe in the outfield just to get their bats in the line up. I think we underrate the potential that both Reid Humphreys and Brent Rooker have defensively in the outfield. Both are above average athletes. They have the ability to cover some ground. They need to improve their routes to the ball and pick the ball up better off the bat. That comes with experience, IMO. IMO, you start Reid in LF and Brent in RF. Michael Smith can be used as a late inning defensive replacement/pinch hitter/pinch runner. Then you have Nate Lowe and Cole Gordon at 1B/DH.

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How can one under rate hump in the outfield? He is terrible out there. And if rooker can't play above him, which he didn't, he can't be good either. Hump might be an above avg athlete, but he's beyond brutal as an outfielder. If he takes two steps up he wouldn't be avg. he's that bad....with that said I agree we can't just stick people out there and sacrifice a ton of defense, unless we are a huge k staff.

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Originally Posted by KB21

You are so off base with your view on this that it isn't even funny. Gavin Collins is so horrible behind the plate that he is one of the top 5 college catchers that pro scouts are looking at for the 2016 MLB draft. Enjoy him now, because this will be his last season in Starkville. He's a top 5 round pick as a catcher, yet you want to move a guy who is probably a top 5 catcher in college baseball to the OF. Part of me thinks this is because you want to criticize John Cohen for starting a defense only catcher in Josh Lovelady. Gavin has the tools to be above average defensively. He's an above average athlete and has excellent hands to go with a strong throwing arm.

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Collins is an above avg athlete, has a quick pop time, but is below avg as a receiver and blocker. He's just not good. If he's a top 5 round pick it's because his bat got him there.

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Originally Posted by KB21

Cody actually hit .267 against SEC competition.

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ok- but he was .309 for the season- and 2nd on the team in hitting. Conference games arent the only ones thats count

Shouldn't Robson be hitting cleanup?***

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I like Cody Brown- but people want to see more power. Rooker and Humphreys give us that. And Cody won't start over Robson. That said- Cody will find his way into the lineup.

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I dont care what people want to see- you dont take a .300 hitter out of your line-up. Especially when he was one of only 2 that did it

I just don't think hump is going to be productive. He better have a Renfroe light click on because all I see is him getting dominated. Prodigious power or not. He's odd man out to me. He doesn't have another year to hopefully develop into what we all hope he does.

as a freshman but he's the exception rather than the rule.

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Originally Posted by Saltydog

as a freshman but he's the exception rather than the rule.

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Rigby is a Juco.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

I like Cody Brown- but people want to see more power. Rooker and Humphreys give us that. And Cody won't start over Robson. That said- Cody will find his way into the lineup.

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Brown led the team in XBH this past season. That isn't saying much, but it's something.

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Originally Posted by bulldogcountry1

Brown led the team in XBH this past season. That isn't saying much, but it's something.

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Exactly the point I was going to bring up. Folks here are talking about having more pop in the lineup yet want to bench the guy with the 2nd highest average and MOST extra base hits of anyone on the team last year. That's just dumb. I'm sorry, but Reid Humphreys with his .240 average and 5 HRs needs to sit WAY before Cody Brown does. Only alternative to that is you might want to platoon some for Brown in the outfield (Humphreys or whoever) when a LH is pitching. Now if Reid has a breakout JR year similar to what Renfroe had then that changes things but I'll need to see it first.

I think Daniel Brown will end up being the Friday night starter. That's my off-the-wall prediction. You heard it here first. Sexton and Tatum fills out the SEC rotation. Hudson and Houston will be in the bullpen. We'll have one of the top staffs in the county, BANK THAT SHIYAT.

On the lineup, I honestly have no clue, we are one-man-out in the OF, because I think Cody Brown gets first crack at the job. Smith will have to soundly beat him out.

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Originally Posted by 5 Star

Hudson and Houston will be in the bullpen. We'll have one of the top staffs in the county, BANK THAT SHIYAT.

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I found something interesting in the summer interview of Houston:

"I was talking with Coach Thompson about it and I told him I want to be a starter next year."

I don't know if the staff plans for him to be a starter, but it was nice to read about a real goal. The rest of the player interviews were just general "help the team in any way I can" lines. I liked the overall feel of his interview. He sounds like a driven guy who could be a leader for us.