State of MSU at the Midway Point of SEC play

[Randolph Dupree]

My question to all on this board is do you see us EVER getting back to Omaha with Lemonis running the program? I certainly don't and that is the reason I'm ready to move on even if we squeak into a regional somewhere. With Lemonis, and given the hitters we lose after this year ends, I really don't see how we will be as good next season as we are this season. Does anyone see our program improving next year over this year? It's pretty obvious Lemonis can manage a team but he can't build a team.

This is my sentiment also. Great breakdown by Todd on our issues. After the natty people talked about Lemonis "pressing all the right buttons" but in reality it looks like he's just throwing random shit against the wall and seeing what sticks. Looks like he got lucky once but the law of averages is catching up. In the SEC all the players are good so you have to have players and coaching. I think we lack coaching AND evaluation. Players can manipulate the system and inflate their PG rankings, you recruit the rankings and you get ole miss (that's what they do)...and that's what we've gotten.

Also, I've been a big supporter of GoTro over the years but it's time to move on. Not sure if it's complacency or what; I liken it to if I wrote an essay and proofed it three times, I could still hand it to someone else to proof read and they'd find stupid errors. Sometimes you're just too close to it to see the flaws.

[Todd4State]

This is my sentiment also. Great breakdown by Todd on our issues. After the natty people talked about Lemonis "pressing all the right buttons" but in reality it looks like he's just throwing random shit against the wall and seeing what sticks. Looks like he got lucky once but the law of averages is catching up. In the SEC all the players are good so you have to have players and coaching. I think we lack coaching AND evaluation. Players can manipulate the system and inflate their PG rankings, you recruit the rankings and you get ole miss (that's what they do)...and that's what we've gotten.

Also, I've been a big supporter of GoTro over the years but it's time to move on. Not sure if it's complacency or what; I liken it to if I wrote an essay and proofed it three times, I could still hand it to someone else to proof read and they'd find stupid errors. Sometimes you're just too close to it to see the flaws.

The reality is there is no baseball coach that could screw up Landon Sims. He was absolutely unicorn dominant. How many times in 2021 did he come in for Parker Stinnett who walked the bases loaded with no outs and was able to minimize damage to a run or less because people could barely make contact?

The question about recruiting comes down to this- is PG, MLB scouts, MLB.com, and etc. all wrong about our players or is it poor coaching and development? Given the success of some of our players after they left here I'm going with the development being the issue. SEC/MLB caliber players just figuring it out in the minors isn't as normal as some MSU fans try to make it seem. It's hard to say that guys like Dakota Jordan, Hunter Hines, Mershon, and etc. haven't panned out. I think I can make a strong argument that they also aren't reaching their ceiling either.

Many of you know baseball at all levels much better than me (Starting 7th Grade Second Baseman in '68, but many games attended since!). My question, How in this world are we now 2 1/2 years past a NC and have so many holes in the lineup, questionable Bullpen with no closer, no 3rd baseman, questionable 2nd baseman, backup catcher that has thrown no one out, little hitting in order 6-9, no DH, no bench, playing guys left on left batting or hitting 0.00 or others less than the Mendosa line? Heck you have to add the batting averages of a couple of the past weekend's disaster to even reach the Mendoza line. Looks to me the wheels are still off, except maybe a couple back on since 14th followed by 13th in the league. Also appears to me the league is top heavy, ala MBB in the NCAA tourney.

I think the holes comes down to Cannizarro getting lazy with recruiting because of his distractions followed up by MSU hiring a then unknown head coach in Lemonis. Foxhall was also lazy at recruiting and his reputation was starting to become really bad. Once things settled and we had success we started to recruit better. And so after the CWS NC Lemonis decided to kind of cut corners a bit by bringing in a ton of JUCO and portal transfers to try to avoid having bad seasons and it didn't work out because his pitching coach was horrendous.

If you break down our most used relief pitchers they're pretty much all from the portal or JUCO. Hardin, Tyler Davis, Auger, Schuelke, with Siary being the exception. As a whole on the season they haven't been bad but at the same time most of them have been inconsistent and no one has really stepped up at all. Although again- I'm not sure why Hardin hasn't really got a chance. I think they may have given up on Gavin Black too soon too.

Closers are hard to find because it's a fairly high stress position. If you blow games the YOU are the reason why the team lost and is sucking. That's a lot of pressure to put on a player in a team sport. And it's even more difficult because "all you had to go was get three outs". They're harder to identify and find but they're also a major position because it can be the difference between Omaha or sitting at home. It's hard too because pitchers that go to college all want to be starters to increase their draft stock and that is a piece of college baseball. So a guy like Landon Sims or Nate Dohm if you tell them that they have to stay in the bullpen odds are they'll likely hit the portal and go somewhere that will let them start. Essentially closers are the kickers of baseball.

So as far as recruiting closers specifically you're probably best off:

1) Getting one out of the portal and getting someone like Aaron Nixon.
2) Using an elite prospect that is an underclassman that has electric stuff like Landon Sims assuming that player isn't needed to fill a starting role. The Cardinals kind of did this with Adam Wainwright early in his career. I think this is where Makhai Grant being injured really has hurt us this year.
3) Using a senior that has experience that has worked his way up through the bullpen through the year from middle relief to set-up to closer. Like Cole Gordon. This is where Stone Simmons being injured has hurt as well.

JUCO guys are JUCO for a reason. Meaning they likely lack something that makes them elite at the SEC level to have a pitch that you would like to have with a closer. That doesn't mean they can't be good players. It just means they're probably better suited for other relief roles.

I could make a strong argument that the biggest problem the team has is no closer. 9 of our 14 losses have been by one run. I'm not sure how many blown saves are in that total but it's several I'm sure. Imagine being a MLB team and over half of your losses are by one run. That's brutal. And it probably will cost Lemonis his job.