Taking care of Midweek Business Thoughts

[Todd4State]

Tonight the best thing is we looked like a top 10 team in the country going up against a 7 win team. And we did it by going Johnny Wholestaff with almost ALL freshmen. They've come a LONG way already- and that's a very good thing to see.

Most of us figured that Pilkington was just going to get a short outing- and as we all know he's going to get the start Sunday against Florida. We're going to have to play that like we did against USM when Pilkington started- only ask him to go about 3-4 innings and then go to Rigby. I hope it works- it did against USM and they are a good hitting team plus it was in a big environment. We certainly got better results than we have with our Sunday guys in SEC play so far.

Ryan Cyr has quietly had a really good freshman year. We may need to consider him throwing more. Keegan looked good, Noah Hughes looked a lot better- although I hope he isn't hurt too bad, Breaux looked good, and then good to see Billingsley step it up and strike out the side. I'm glad we got Padgett in and he got his hitter out. But seeing Zac Houston go out there and close it out throwing in the mid 90's was probably THE best thing I saw tonight from our pitching staff. If he can step it up it will help us out immensely. Some of the guys we pitched tonight were the same ones getting shelled a few weeks ago by Eastern Kentucky. Now they are shutting out inferior opponents like they should.

And even though he didn't pitch tonight- Ethan Small has made a lot of progress as well.

Great to see Jack Kruger catching behind the plate and then go out and hit a bomb. We need him to get going again. Whether that is at catcher or DH. Of course, Elih has stepped up and performed really well there.

Nate Lowe continues to perform well- although Cole Gordon seems to keep getting big hits when he gets to play too. He's going to be really good for us as well. People forget about his huge hit against Vandy that won our game in extra innings for us.

I think it's time to start Hunter Stovall over Holland at second for now. Stovall is a lot like Mangum- he just plays the game hard and makes mostly good things happen. Gridley still looks good at SS.

Gavin's batting average is slowly creeping up as he continues to get better and better at third. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he is over .300 by the end of the year.

Hopefully Robson will come back soon- it sounds like he will or is at least expected to. Jake Mangum got on base SIX times tonight. Oh- and he's hitting over .400 now also. He's a badass. Nothing more to say. Good to see Rooker get a ground rule double- he needs to get going again. Cody Brown had a solid night and now he is over .300 again for the year currently. Reid Humphreys didn't have a great night at the plate- he's the only starter that didn't get a hit. Not worried about him though.

Florida is up next. They're number one in the country for a reason- their Sunday guy will be a first round pick and most were saying he would be possibly the top pick in the entire draft although he has struggled some this year. They've won 28 games in a row at home- and they don't play a lot of Grambling's there either. Obviously, if they swept us it wouldn't shock me at all. I'd be OK if we win ONE game to be honest. The good news is Hudson and Sexton will give us as good a chance as anyone to at least win a game- although Sexton has been a LOT better at home than he has on the road. And then starting a true freshman against them on Sunday is scary in and of itself. If Pikington gets knocked around, I don't know that I would put a ton of stock into it. At the same time, it's an opportunity to show the nation what we can do. If they do sweep us, we're going to have to sweep someone like Auburn or Missouri to make up for it to stay on schedule. And as we all know, O'Sullivan and Cohen aren't exactly the best of friends so there could very well be some chippiness and some douchery on the part of Florida this weekend.

Regardless of what happens this weekend good or bad- the good news is I see our team improving a LOT right now. That's a VERY good sign for us. Right now our biggest issue is finding that third guy and strengthening the bullpen- but we have a LOT of options and I think we will find those options by the end of the year. If y'all remember it wasn't until late in the year that Girodo became really dominant for us. There is still plenty of time for someone to step up like that and I think that will probably happen.

[Commercecomet24]

Great review again, Todd! Thanks and completely agree on all points. Glad to see Zac have some success tonight and hope it carries over. He could be a huge help!

[msbulldog]

Thanks Todd!

[engie]

I'm with you on Stovall. He and Mangum have the mental makeup of a future championship team if we can get 3-4 more of them in the 2016 class. So does Marrero. At least 3 prettymuch day 1 position players that I love seeing at the plate with a game on the line. They have the "it" that can't be taught.

Need a couple more of the FR pitchers to continue to step up and the sky is the limit.

[msstate7]

I'm with you on Stovall. He and Mangum have the mental makeup of a future championship team if we can get 3-4 more of them in the 2016 class. So does Marrero. At least 3 prettymuch day 1 position players that I love seeing at the plate with a game on the line. They have the "it" that can't be taught.

Need a couple more of the FR pitchers to continue to step up and the sky is the limit.

Need a few more extra base hitters. Rooker will have a big year next season, but I don't see a lot of power other than him right now

[engie]

Need a few more extra base hitters. Rooker will have a big year next season, but I don't see a lot of power other than him right now

meh -- Stovall is going to hit for power when he settles in/matures and Mangum is actually outslugging Rooker right now even though he may be more of a doubles guy. The only real singles guy there is Alexander IMO and there is no guarantees that he won't mature into something different. Gordon/Lowe is going to hit for power at 1B. Keep in mind, while it was a different era, Hump and Collins both hit one bomb each as freshmen. Rooker only hit 2 as a rsFR in the current era. Knew those guys had some pop -- but some of these FR do as well.

Both JR pitchers are gone. But I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that any of the JR position players are. Can't set expectations in that facet until we know what is gone/coming back. And we always try to pull a rabbit or two in JUCO.

[msstate7]

meh -- Stovall is going to hit for power when he settles in/matures and Mangum is actually outslugging Rooker right now even though he may be more of a doubles guy. The only real singles guy there is Alexander IMO and there is no guarantees that he won't mature into something different. Gordon/Lowe is going to hit for power at 1B. Keep in mind, while it was a different era, Hump and Collins both hit one bomb each as freshmen. Rooker only hit 2 as a rsFR in the current era. Knew those guys had some pop -- but some of these FR do as well.

Both JR pitchers are gone. But I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that any of the JR position players are. Can't set expectations in that facet until we know what is gone/coming back. And we always try to pull a rabbit or two in JUCO.

I never count on good juniors coming back. If they do, great

[turkish]

Just think what the score would've been if these players didn't hate Cohen so much. **

[bulldogcountry1]

I feel like we will be very fortunate to still have Rigby available more than an inning by Sunday. However it goes down, I say we go with a heavy dose of freshmen Sunday. I honestly think they give as good a change to win as the veterans, and the experience will be huge. I feel like D. Brown, Tatum, and B. Smith have had their chances and haven't gotten the job done. Houston is right there on the borderline. I just don't know if he has SEC stuff. If the situation dictates, we need to see Pilkington, James, Breaux, and Small.

We need to bring these freshmen along quickly. We can't afford the keep waiting 3 years before we can depend on a pitcher.


As for the offense, it's good to see Kruger have a big game and Rooker with a nice hit. Top to bottom, I thing we are hitting it as well as we have all season and probably as good as any MSU team in a good, long while. We have 9 guys hitting over .300, and that doesn't even include a hot Marrero and Gavin Collins. I really need Collins to show me something on offense to make me feel better about his defense. He hit well in Cali, so maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. I was hoping for a little more offense out of Holland, but I just don't think he has it in him to be consistent more than a few games at a time. He definitely can't get it done against LH pitching. We need to give more PT to Stovall and Alexander at this point.

[smootness]

meh -- Stovall is going to hit for power when he settles in/matures and Mangum is actually outslugging Rooker right now even though he may be more of a doubles guy. The only real singles guy there is Alexander IMO and there is no guarantees that he won't mature into something different. Gordon/Lowe is going to hit for power at 1B. Keep in mind, while it was a different era, Hump and Collins both hit one bomb each as freshmen. Rooker only hit 2 as a rsFR in the current era. Knew those guys had some pop -- but some of these FR do as well.

Both JR pitchers are gone. But I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that any of the JR position players are. Can't set expectations in that facet until we know what is gone/coming back. And we always try to pull a rabbit or two in JUCO.

Well, Mangum is outslugging Rooker because his BA is much better. Rooker's ISO is higher, .174 to .140. But your point is well taken, Mangum's ISO is better as a true freshman than any Adam Frazier ever put up. He's going to be a good hitter in general, not just a BA machine.

[MSUDawg99]

I wouldn't be surprised if we got swept either & I wouldn't cry a river over it cause it's FL & they're dominating. But if we can somehow squeak out at least a win I'll be very happy.

[Tbonewannabe]

I wouldn't be surprised if we got swept either & I wouldn't cry a river over it cause it's FL & they're dominating. But if we can somehow squeak out at least a win I'll be very happy.

Hudson and Sexton at least give you a chance no matter who you are playing. Not many teams have a quality starter on Sunday but I would put our Friday/Saturday against anyone.

[MSUDawg99]

Hudson and Sexton at least give you a chance no matter who you are playing. Not many teams have a quality starter on Sunday but I would put our Friday/Saturday against anyone.

Exactly my thoughts. Fri. night we stand the best chance, then Sat & not so much on Sun. esp since, as Todd said above, their Sun. guy will be a first round pick guy.

[msstate7]

Exactly my thoughts. Fri. night we stand the best chance, then Sat & not so much on Sun. esp since, as Todd said above, their Sun. guy will be a first round pick guy.

Their backup Sunday guy could very well be a 1st rounder too, but I read on SPS that puk likely out

[BiscuitEater]

Need a few more extra base hitters. Rooker will have a big year next season, but I don't see a lot of power other than him right now

Like Todd said above .."Nate Lowe continues to perform well- although Cole Gordon seems to keep getting big hits when he gets to play too. He's going to be really good for us as well. People forget about his huge hit against Vandy that won our game in extra innings for us."

I know Nate Lowe turned down MLB to come here when he was drafted last year out of JC, don't know if he returns next year BUT Cole Gordon crushed a double last night. 3 of his 5 hits have been for extra bases and he is #4 on team in slugging % at .571. Players call him 'Thor'

[HSVDawg]

I wouldn't be surprised if we got swept either & I wouldn't cry a river over it cause it's FL & they're dominating. But if we can somehow squeak out at least a win I'll be very happy.

Yep. Hate to say it but one win should be considered a good performance this weekend. Hopefully Hudson keeps his pitch count down on Friday because that is probably our best chance. If not, we may have to go to Rigby in the 7th or 8th and hope he can bring it home. Can't afford to waste a good effort in that Friday game.

[Jack Lambert]

Ky took two of three so it can be done.

[MSUDawg99]

Ky took two of three so it can be done.

Yes but they're undefeated at home tho. I'm just trying not get my hopes up. Ha.

[Commercecomet24]

Just think what the score would've been if these players didn't hate Cohen so much. **

We would be undefeated and win every game by 15+ lol

[msstate7]

Yes but they're undefeated at home tho. I'm just trying not get my hopes up. Ha.

28 or 29 straight at home... Dang impressive