Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Dawg View Post
Not coaching so much as recruiting, State doesn't seem too get game changing players. We have good but other teams have better. Or not enough to win more games. Our baseball recruits may start to resemble our football recruiting compared to the rest of the SEC.
Many pitchers for MSU were highly rated recruits, some extremely highly regarded. Before the season, I bet 8 or 9 SEC schools would have traded staffs, straight up. MSU was supposed to be a Top-10 team this season. All that was predicated on players growing into roles and developing.

The only consistent performer has been Cade Smith.

1- Pre-Season Stinnett and KC Hunt were regarded as much developed and with "electric stuff". In-Season, they are pretty much the same as previous seasons, look at the ERA and WHIP, same or slightly worse. But on hype alone, you could have gotten many buyers. Stinnett was a pre-season MLB top-200 draft prospect.
2- Tepper and Fristoe, were "10" rated recruits, but both are not much developed relative their Freshman seasons. Fristoe was even mentioned a potential high draft-pick in 2022
3- Tullar was considered a "gift" from the truncated COVID MLB draft. He would never been on campus otherwise.
4 -Jack Walker is the reigning Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year, maybe the biggest recruit from Lousiana since Charlton Loewer?
5 -Walling was also a monster recruit, supposed to be a One-year-Ringer. A 6-5 LHP with a 97 mph fastball. A weekend starter or a closer

On paper and by resume, this is a far better staff than Cannizarro had in 2017. Guys like Billingsley, Plumlee, and Price were plucked from Sunbelt commitments. The highest rated player was Graham Aschraft, who was always either decent or injured. Cannizarro turned his collection of misfits into a Band of Brothers and into a Super Regional. Those cats were inspirational.

The 2021 results looks more like Slytanic coaching and Slytanic roster management. Maybe the Slytanic recruiting is starting this year. I wonder if Vitello is not texting our 2024 class a picture of the scoreboard 2-27 in Starkville, with fireworks in the background.