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Thread: End of pre-SEC play Baseball Thoughts

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    Senior Member Todd4State's Avatar
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    End of pre-SEC play Baseball Thoughts

    Most of this my two cents on what I have seen most fans on here and Twitter talking about.

    Our pitching staff is elite. I'm pleased with how everyone pitched this weekend for us and we're starting to see some roles take shape. Landon Sims is emerging as the closer. Brandon Smith looks like he will be the relief ace- multi inning guy which of course will be very important on this team. We are seeing Preston Johnson starting to pitch on the weekend and I'm going to call him the set-up guy. I'd like to see Parker Stinnett get some more action as well- even though he has had rumored control issues they certainly haven't shown up thus far in a small sample size. 2 IP and 5 K's and BB's. And then we have a veteran in Carlisle Koestler who can eat up innings if needed.

    The big question is the rotation. And what I would do if I were in Lemonis's shoes is go MacLeoud, Bednar, and Fristoe in that order. Now, that said I do think he will probably keep the rotation the same for LSU and throw Cerentola on Saturday and I think there is some merit for that. Cerentola had his best start, he has had one less start than everyone, and he has a history of success against LSU. And honestly against EMU he pitched as well if not better than Fristoe did. Fristoe has had the better year, but he is also only a freshman. So, essentially we have five SEC quality starters right now if you also include Houston Harding. The thing is we have to get Bednar back in the rotation at some point. That will happen sooner than later. So the question is who is the odd man out? The good news is we have some flexibility. One thing we could do is piggy back starters like we did today with Fristoe and Bednar. Of course we WANT Bednar out there in a full start potentially so really this comes down to piggy backing Fristoe and Cerentola in my mind. We also could see assuming Cerentola has maybe turned the corner is alternate Cerentola and Fristoe on Sunday's. That would allow us to kind of bring both along as the year goes on. Another option would be to move Harding to the bullpen for now and just move Cerentola to midweek. I think that would be what I would prefer to see because that means we could keep pitching Fristoe on Sunday's who has been our most consistent pitcher so far and if he hits a wall we can simply move Harding into the Sunday spot. I still don't trust Cerentola's command at this point and our midweek schedule for the rest of this year quite frankly is not the most difficult I have seen. In other words we can survive slow starts by Cerentola against most if not all of our midweek competition. And who knows? We may be able to build up Cerentola's confidence similar to Zac Houston in 2016.

    Defense was an issue until we moved Kam James back to third. Now we're pretty solid, and I think the only question is left field. Of course that caused us to lose Landon Jordan but the reality is sometimes that happens for the best. We don't need unhappy players that are not going to do what is best for the team. I've seen some people worried about "Well what's going to happen if we have to get down to our third SS and who is the third string 1B now"- look if we get that far down the depth chart that's an issue ANY year. Odds are it won't happen like that- but if it does we deal with it when it happens. Shoot- we went to a SR with three of our OF's having roles in the bullpen and our head coach possibly texting work out pics in the dugout in 2017. We've overcome worse than some fantasy situation that our fans can come up with. If an INF gets hurt we'll use Tanner Leggett at one spot. We can move James back to SS if we want to an have Leggett play third. Leggett can play all the INF spots adequately. Davis Meche can also play second. Pimentel, Kace Garner, and TA can play first. Could potentially play Luke Hancock at a couple of INF or OF spots if we had to- we'll be OK depth wise.

    Back to LF. I think we need to look at some other options there. Cumbest has played better than McGowan. And I think Kyte McDonald should also get a look as well. The real issue is Brayand Skinner being injured. We've all seen how fast he is but wrist injuries are not easy for a baseball player to come back from. I think he's close to getting some AB's/PA's though and IF he can round into form he will probably take over CF and then we'll probably move Rowdey to LF. Which makes us better defensively now as possible better offensively.

    So, let's talk about offense. I'm not worried about it like I've seen some fans. We all talked about how the offense would have some potential questions and issues in the offseason. And yes, us Internet fans were right about dropping Rowdey out of the leadoff spot and that has helped him and the team out some. We have some young power hitters like Tanner and James and some veteran guys who are really good players but not superstars like Mangum. Today almost everyone in the lineup got a hit- but there are a lot of 1 for 3 or 4's. That's a little more of an issue for a team without a ton of power right now. But the reason I'm not worried is because we do have some veterans like TA, Rowdey, Hancock, and Hatcher who will hit and James and Tanner are going to get better as the year goes along. Dubrule has hit in college before and Forsyth will regress some but he has been better than expected. If we get Skinner back and he hits well that could cause us to have a boost. But the big thing to remember is Gautreau's M.O. is that his teams typically improve and hit better as the season goes along. Because we have some veterans along with a talented group of young hitters that is what I think will happen this year as well. We may also see a guy like Brandon Pimentel do like Elijah MacNamee and "figure it out" later in the year and become a force. The other reason I am not worried is because our pitching dominance plays up in SEC play. We are striking out a TON of guys, not walking very many outside of Cerentola, and are mowing people down. And we've played some good teams like Texas and Tulane and beat them so it's not like we're doing this against Henderson State. This team hasn't peaked yet- and we don't want them to at this point anyway.

    LSU worries me because I'm bout 90% sure we'll start Cerentola and we do have a few issues here and there and Manieri treats us like the World Series. But if we can get into their bullpen we have a chance to win the series. We have a better pen that UT-San Antonio or whoever they played so the key is going to be getting off to a good start and getting into their bullpen ASAP. Great weekend for now and looking forward to the rest of our year! Y'all need to enjoy it too.

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    Senior Member BeardoMSU's Avatar
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    When did you become a novelist?**



    Kidding, obviously.

    Good stuff, Todd.

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    Senior Member Bulldog1's Avatar
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    I agree on the starting rotation. Will be a good test for our pitching staff vs. LSU!

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    Senior Member MsStateBaseball's Avatar
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    We need a RH left fielder to step up. Skinner will eventually come around. Also, Kellum Clark will get healthy and really give us some power.

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    Senior Member Todd4State's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MsStateBaseball View Post
    We need a RH left fielder to step up. Skinner will eventually come around. Also, Kellum Clark will get healthy and really give us some power.
    This team doesn't have a ton of lineup balance and it never really will unless we want to put guys that aren't the best players on the team on the field. I don't see Clark helping us out a lot this year. He will be a really good player for us though. Will start at a corner INF spot and replace Hatcher if I had to guess. He was leading at third base at one point in time in the fall and spring.

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    Senior Member basedog's Avatar
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    Hmmm, I've seen many Msu teams over the years, I have my doubts about us being this highly ranked. I know it's early and we have talent but it is far less than several teams from the past. Pitching I see as good as we may have ever had, at least in the reliever status. We need to stay healthy and have some luck to be in the CWS.
    It all begins in Red Stick this weekend, gonna be interesting.

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    Senior Member William Tecumsah Sherman's Avatar
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    Timing is everything. You have to get hot at the right time and not peak too early. However, with our pitching depth, we are built for the postseason. We just have to catch a few breaks along the way as any team in the country does.

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    Senior Member Saltydog's Avatar
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    Agreed bd. I've been going to games since '77 and I've seen every team we've put on the field. I don't think this is a top five team. I think we have a top five pitching staff but our hitting (or lack thereof) will catch up to us somewhere down the line. This weekend will tell us more.
    "The QB and the receiver weren't on the same page there, but hey its only week eleven". (Jack Cristil)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Saltydog View Post
    Agreed bd. I've been going to games since '77 and I've seen every team we've put on the field. I don't think this is a top five team. I think we have a top five pitching staff but our hitting (or lack thereof) will catch up to us somewhere down the line. This weekend will tell us more.
    I've been going to games since 68 and i have to say this is a weak hitting team. Rowdy needs to bat in the 8-9 slot unless he gets hot. I believe this is one of the top 2 pitching teams in the country top to bottom from what i have seen so far.

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    Quote Originally Posted by William Tecumsah Sherman View Post
    Timing is everything. You have to get hot at the right time and not peak too early. However, with our pitching depth, we are built for the postseason. We just have to catch a few breaks along the way as any team in the country does.
    Not sure that's true. I mean, better to be strong pitching and weaker hitting than vice versa for post season, but if our hitting continues like this, we will always be playing with fire. A good pitcher from a four seed and we could be in trouble quickly, although as long as we get deep in the weekend we should be in good shape to pull through. That's assuming that we are going to regress to the mean some as far as timely hitting and aren't going to continue winning these games where we struggle at the plate at the same clip.

    The flip side of that is we have plenty of room and opportunity for improvement, both with struggling upper classmen that will hopefully come around and younger players that will progress as they get used to SEC pitching.

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    This pitching staff is built for the postseason. I probably have my maroon tinted shades on a bit, but I don't see a more complete staff in the country. We have 7 legitimate starting options at the moment between CMac, Fristoe, Bednar, Cerrantola, Harding, Smith, and Koestler. Add into that a bullpen that is deep as deep gets and we're built for the SEC Tourney and Omaha.

    This team's ultimate success will be can we have enough timely hitting out of guys not names Jordan, Allen, Hancock, and Dubrule. Logan Tanner getting going this weekend was a big plus for us. If we can get LF figured out and Hatcher can get going we could be hell on wheels come June. As stated above, it all starts this weekend in Red Stick. We need a good weekend and then get mentally prepared for The Dude to be on another level for Arkansas in two weeks. If you were there Saturday, we got an appetizer of what it felt like to be back. Arkansas will be the main course. That place will be ROCKING.

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    Senior Member Cooterpoot's Avatar
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    Only issue we've got is scoring runs. Everything else is fine. We've got to score more runs somehow. But at least we can win 1-0 with this staff throwing.

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    Rowdey is hitting 100 to 130 pts below capability and expectations

    Hatcher and James about 40 to 50 pts below expectations

    Dubrule is an unknown but also 50-70 pts below expectations

    Maybe being ranked so high and the new dude bring out the best in the competition. The TCU kid that shut us down is having an awesome year. The ugly surfer kid from Tulane is also having a great year.

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    Hatcher is the big one. He's got to get going and find some power. Need to get Skinner back in rhythem. I'd love to see him in the leadoff spot and slide Dubrule down. Just going to have to find a way to manufacture runs.

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    Senior Member BiscuitEater's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Todd4State View Post
    Most of this my two cents on what I have seen...

    LSU worries me because I'm bout 90% sure we'll start Cerentola and we do have a few issues here and there and Manieri treats us like the World Series. But if we can get into their bullpen we have a chance to win the series.

    More like your 50 cents worth.

    Think Manieri 'overthinks' MSU! We are in his head!
    Coach34 .. "We're not hiring the ****ing Pirate at Miss State. GTFO"


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    Senior Member BrunswickDawg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer View Post
    Rowdey is hitting 100 to 130 pts below capability and expectations

    Hatcher and James about 40 to 50 pts below expectations

    Dubrule is an unknown but also 50-70 pts below expectations

    Maybe being ranked so high and the new dude bring out the best in the competition. The TCU kid that shut us down is having an awesome year. The ugly surfer kid from Tulane is also having a great year.
    Not every year is 2019 where we bat .315 with a .397 OBO and .472 SLUG%

    If you look at our team stats for this season so far, we are far better than last year overall thru 16 games - .17 higher in AVG; .36 higher in SLGG%; .34 higher in OB; +2 in HR; +24 in RBI;+26 in Runs; +15 in BB; -20 in Ks
    All of this with the perception that our offense is shaky. I'm just not that concerned. We almost always get better on offense as the season progresses.
    "After dealing with Ole Miss for over a year," he said, "I've learned to expect their leadership to do and say things that the leadership at other Division I schools would never consider doing and to justify their actions by reminding themselves that "We're Ole Miss.""
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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg View Post
    Not every year is 2019 where we bat .315 with a .397 OBO and .472 SLUG%

    If you look at our team stats for this season so far, we are far better than last year overall thru 16 games - .17 higher in AVG; .36 higher in SLGG%; .34 higher in OB; +2 in HR; +24 in RBI;+26 in Runs; +15 in BB; -20 in Ks
    All of this with the perception that our offense is shaky. I'm just not that concerned. We almost always get better on offense as the season progresses.
    Well we know Rowdey will snap out of it once we play Auburn. That's always his breakout weekend and it propels him through the year. And James has enough pop in his bat to be ok with him batting a little below expectations. We do need Hatch to start rounding into form, which I think he'll do. It again comes down to what we're going to do in LF. I think if we get Skinner back soon then it's not a concern, but in the short term we really need McGowan or Cumbest to step up in the opportunities they're given.

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    Thanks Todd. Good to have folks study this shit more closely cuz I'm too damn lazy to do so. I'm just not as worried as some regarding our bats as I see other elite teams struggling as well at times. I think the bats will come around. Of course you know what color my glasses are. I saw yesterday we were trying to win our 6th straight game and had given up only 1 run during the stretch. I don't care what level of competition you are playing, that's just sick. Maybe our bats are still shell shocked from Spring Practice facing our staff? LOL

  19. #19
    Senior Member Coach34's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saltydog View Post
    Agreed bd. I've been going to games since '77 and I've seen every team we've put on the field. I don't think this is a top five team. I think we have a top five pitching staff but our hitting (or lack thereof) will catch up to us somewhere down the line. This weekend will tell us more.
    This is by far the best pitching staff we have ever had and it’s really not close. Thru 16 games we have a 2.25 ERA- with 219 K’s in only 144 IP’s. Only 89 hits. Our Whip right now is just below 1. That’s outstanding. What Sims is doing right now is ridiculous. The competition will get tougher- but this staff is legit.
    Walk like the King or walk like you don't care who the King is

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coach34 View Post
    This is by far the best pitching staff we have ever had and it’s really not close. Thru 16 games we have a 2.25 ERA- with 219 K’s in only 144 IP’s. Only 89 hits. Our Whip right now is just below 1. That’s outstanding. What Sims is doing right now is ridiculous. The competition will get tougher- but this staff is legit.
    Sims is doing things that would be absurd on a video game. 30Ks in 35 batters is unfathomable. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.

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