Baseball opening week thoughts

[Todd4State]

We swept a recently historically good mid major team in Wright State which is what you expect MSU to do in baseball. That's the number one best thing. I had some questions coming into the weekend and I feel better about this team after they have now had some live action. We play another similar type team in Samford on Weds. and then our first test comes in Oregon State who is 2-1 right now with a win over meh New Mexico and a split with Gonzaga at a tournament in Arizona and then they have BYU tomorrow. So, we'll know even more at this time next week.

The pitching was my big concern and I certainly feel better about it after this weekend. We'll see if they can maintain it throughout the rest of the pre-SEC period. It's scary with freshmen because college is a little bit longer season than high school for them and playing in the SEC and MSU is a little more scrutiny than they are used to. It's going to be a pretty big grind. If they played at Madison Central for example they had to play district games against people like Murrah and as we all know there are no Murrah's in the SEC.

JT Ginn pitched well but it looked like he ran out of gas to me and started leaving the ball up in the zone in the third inning. I think he will build up to 100 pitches eventually but to be honest if he is going to be on such a strict pitch count and MacLoud and Cerentola pitch well I'd like to see Ginn moved to Sundays. Closer isn't an option because that will hurt his draft stock. People may complain about it but the fact of the matter is Ginn is maybe the most important recruit in MSU history because if he has success here and increases his draft stock it would be a major selling point for MSU to getting Vanderbilt type pitching prospects. Vanderbilt themselves went through something very similar 20 years ago with Mark Prior- he actually ended up transferring out to USC- but my point is it has to start somewhere. Right now we do a great job of recruiting raw talent and coaching it up- Stratton, Hudson, Small, and probably Cerentola among others. The problem with that is as we have all seen is sometimes you may only get one great year whereas Vandy gets three out of Kumar Rocker.

I thought MacLeoud would be very good and he actually exceeded my expectations. Absolutely filthy. Cerentola looked better although he was wild at times. It's a work in progress but it's coming together I think.

The bullpen really surprised me mostly in a good way. Landon Sims was off on Friday and to his credit he got back out there and showed why he could end up being the closer this year. Riley Self looked good other than the triple and he did it in back to back days. He won't give us long outings like he did as a freshman but if he can give us two innings a weekend in two series that's still pretty helpful. Price had a good comeback as well. Jacob Shemper, Chase Patrick, and Jaxen Forrester all had good debuts and look like guys that can help us out. Will Bednar looked good one time through the order and if he can do that it will be a very nice surprise. Carlisle Koestler got roughed up and we'll see how he comes back.

In short I think our staff is maybe better than anticipated but we'll see how they look against Oregon State. Cautiously encouraged so far though.

Logan Tanner was also a really big surprise to me. A freshman catcher is a little scary but he did a tremendous job framing pitches and he showed off the power potential he has as he leads the team in home runs. He has a great arm as well and by the time he is a junior I could see him rivaling if not taking over for Ed Easley as the best that MSU has ever had. He'll be a legit Johnny Bench Award candidate his junior year. The good news is Luke Hancock is a good catcher and very capable when he is healthy which should take some pressure off of Tanner. Hancock just has to heal up right now.

Our infield is probably the best in the SEC with three legit All-SEC candidates and two All-American candidates in it. The only question is third base and it looks like Kamren James is probably the answer there. We'll see how he adjusts as the league adjusts to him now that there is video and scouting reports on him but I feel very confident in his ability to do that. He was very good defensively at third and leads the team in hitting. The rest of the juniors had mostly quality at bats, made adjustments and played like you would expect juniors to play for the most part. Foscue is below the Mendonza Line early but he didn't strike out and had a couple of doubles and walked a couple of times. Westburg didn't strike out either and is hitting .385 and then Hatcher struck out a couple of times but hit .364. Good defense from this group all weekend outside of three errors and of course that is going to happen so very satisfied here.

Brandon Pimentel hits the ball hard but like most JUCO's it looks like he is going to have to adjust and that could take some time. 4 Ks in 12 AB's and no walks with two hits is a pretty rough weekend. I think he will get better and be a good player here though. Rowdey played well as expected and leads the team in hitting. This is the best I've seen him at the plate I think. We missed Tanner Allen some but when he gets healthy this offense is going to be even more dangerous. The silver lining is his injury will give guys like Cumbest and Brock some playing time- and if Pimentel doesn't adjust soon they may get a LOT more very soon. I think Landon Jordan has the DH spot locked down. He took very good AB's all weekend long and has an OBP of .500 which is tied for the team lead with Rowdey and James.

All in all- pretty good opening weekend and we have some developing and growing to do and a few guys banged up but I feel pretty good about where we are right now. Lots of potential on this team and the talent is very evident. We just have to get the pitching and hitting talent synched up so that we have fewer question marks about one or the other and I think Lemonis is doing a good job getting that straightened out with our recruiting and the stability that we finally appear to have.

[BeardoMSU]

Great stuff, Todd. Thanks, man.

[starkvegasdawg]

I bought tickets to the Samford game for me and my son Tuesday. Was going to be his first MSU game and my first in the new Dude. Right behind first base dugout. And of course the forecast is washout rain.

[Coach34]

Ginn is not and has not in any way increased his draft stock- nor will he. All the pitch counts and babying have done is move him to the Supplemental round or lower probably. Nobody is taking him top 20 based on his handle with care career

[ZedFedder]

So, will Ginn's pitch count deal be lifted as the season progresses?

[Todd4State]

So, will Ginn's pitch count deal be lifted as the season progresses?

It will be increased. From the rumors I have heard- 80 for SEC games and 100 for postseason. I would imagine that would be arbitrary though.

[Todd4State]

I bought tickets to the Samford game for me and my son Tuesday. Was going to be his first MSU game and my first in the new Dude. Right behind first base dugout. And of course the forecast is washout rain.

That sucks! The forecast that is.

[Todd4State]

Ginn is not and has not in any way increased his draft stock- nor will he. All the pitch counts and babying have done is move him to the Supplemental round or lower probably. Nobody is taking him top 20 based on his handle with care career

I think if he gets up to 100 throughout SEC play he will be fine.

[Captain Falcon]

I think people need to slow down on the Ginn hot takes until we?ve seen more this year. Let?s not forget that his last start before Friday was six shutout innings in Omaha last June. One start against Wright State in February doesn?t tell the whole story.

[Homedawg]

It will be increased. From the rumors I have heard- 80 for SEC games and 100 for postseason. I would imagine that would be arbitrary though.

Not sure where that came from... but I guess you did say rumor.

[Homedawg]

Ginn is not and has not in any way increased his draft stock- nor will he. All the pitch counts and babying have done is move him to the Supplemental round or lower probably. Nobody is taking him top 20 based on his handle with care career

He is what he is.... filthy movement 91-94. Filthy slider. He has added what can help him a spot or two a good change. Legit pitch vs lh hitters. Other than that, he's not going to jump into the top 10. Agree. Top 20 would be great. But it would take a fully healthy season w the added quality pitch.

[hp22]

Ginn is an elite talent. He would make any dugout in the country better. Let's just allow it to play out. He was throwing in 40 degrees weather and had a long third inning. We also have a ton of newcomers that need work.

I trust our coaches. And if his pitch count limits his innings as a starter, then let's evaluate when to best use his pitches. While that is figured out, I'm going to enjoy watching him pitch. We're better when he is on the field.

It's just week one. It's a marathon. Not a sprint.

[Todd4State]

Ginn is an elite talent. He would make any dugout in the country better. Let's just allow it to play out. He was throwing in 40 degrees weather and had a long third inning. We also have a ton of newcomers that need work.

I trust our coaches. And if his pitch count limits his innings as a starter, then let's evaluate when to best use his pitches. While that is figured out, I'm going to enjoy watching him pitch. We're better when he is on the field.

It's just week one. It's a marathon. Not a sprint.

The thing about the weather and all of that...

Well, most starters at this point in the SEC especially the aces are throwing at least 80. Maybe even more in a few cases. That's about where MacLeoud and Cerentola are at this point too. 60 is very low for an ace. Wright State's guy was at 97 in the same conditions. I don't think it had anything to do with Ginn getting loose. He was pretty dominant through the first two IP. Then he started to walk people and leave the ball up in the third. That tells me it was more about endurance because if he wasn't loose the performance would have been worse in the first two innings.

[Todd4State]

He is what he is.... filthy movement 91-94. Filthy slider. He has added what can help him a spot or two a good change. Legit pitch vs lh hitters. Other than that, he's not going to jump into the top 10. Agree. Top 20 would be great. But it would take a fully healthy season w the added quality pitch.

Top 20 would be better than his original draft position. I would take that.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Ginn is not and has not in any way increased his draft stock- nor will he. All the pitch counts and babying have done is move him to the Supplemental round or lower probably. Nobody is taking him top 20 based on his handle with care career

When it comes to Ginn. I think a great outcome is that MSU-Lemonis develop a reputation as a great place for your top-5 round high-school pitcher to develop. If we start collecting 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th round players that want to develop into 1st rounders, we are going to be consistent NC contender and play in Omaha 8 to 10 times per decade. Basically, like LSU. We want parents and Scott Boras parking 2 Brady Singers every year, something like that.

If Ginn finishes the season 8-5 with 4.30 ERA as our Saturday guy, we are going to feel less than thrilled about his production. But those are basically Drew Pomeranz' numbers as an OM sophomore. Same as AJ Puk. Even Alex Lange as a sophomore.

[Jarius]

Ginn is not and has not in any way increased his draft stock- nor will he. All the pitch counts and babying have done is move him to the Supplemental round or lower probably. Nobody is taking him top 20 based on his handle with care career

Yep. On MSU's end, we have to be careful with how we handle the situation. However, if he were not a 1st round draft pick out of HS and we were not trying to do some of the things Todd mentioned, he would already be pitching on Sunday. He needs to get tougher. He's not a freshman any more.

[OLJWales]

I'm thinking Ginn may not be 100% as I went to the game in Fort Worth last year and he pitched light's out against T.Tech. The conditions were horrible that night. Low 40's and light rain. Forget how many innings he pitched but I was behind the plate and I was in awe of his stuff. I had worn improper foot ware because I didn't check the forecast and had to leave before the game was over because my feet were so damned cold with wet cold socks.

Got lucky enough to get Raffy to sign my baseball though.

[basedog]

Yep. On MSU's end, we have to be careful with how we handle the situation. However, if he were not a 1st round draft pick out of HS and we were not trying to do some of the things Todd mentioned, he would already be pitching on Sunday. He needs to get tougher. He's not a freshman any more.

Hmmm, this is a tough situation in my thinking, not saying you are wrong but maybe there are things going on with Ginn and his health that we don't know. I think it was great he chose Msu over the draft, I hope for Ginn and family it all works out, from what I've been told he is a good kid with a great family.
Pitchers and the draft are different than everyday players making decisions, pitchers in today's era pitch way too much as a kid, go back 50 years or more they didn't play baseball all year round! I am not a big fun of all this "travel ball", but it ain't going away and I think parents put so much pressure on kids and some dreams are not realistic. Just my opinion. I could have never played just one sport, I played them all in my day but I did get burned out by Dad taking me to the ball field hitting grounders and pitching to me when I was young. I did continue playing but in my high school you could only play one spring sport, I ran track. Oh how thing have changed.

[Coursesuper]

If any of y'all had seen George County play Logan Tanner wouldn't be a surprise, can't wait to see what develops with him.

[sandjunky]

The two freshman catchers (UM and MSU) from the coast played well this weekend - tanner George County and Dunhurst PRC