Here is what needs to bother you about Baseball recruiting

[State82]

Way to prove my point, Coach. Both teams had a losing conference record one year removed from playing for it all.

I would be ecstatic with a 2 seed in Bum17 Egypt. Along with everyone else.

[tcdog70]

Lem, failed numerous time this year . He never found a centerfielder, he continued to leave pitchers in too long. He continued to March Von up,to ph. He left Tanner in the 4 hole —why? Name one pitcher who improved over the year. Could not figure out how to get RISP across the plate. When to bunt—damn if he knows. Throw to the wrong base, yep we did it plenty. Fail,to score on a double from 2nd base—yep we did. We just looked poorly coached in many instances.

[OLJWales]

I'm leanin' 34 cuz ain't no excuse for STATE getting curb stomped by TN in baseball crootin'. Being outworked is the simplified answer. Having said that, I have confidence Cohen & Lemonis realize this and are working on a good action plan that will ease our pain.

[Todd4State]

Most of the issues in my opinion goes back to Foxhall.

Since this thread is about recruiting- there is zero reason why we shouldn't bring in at least 3-4 transfer pitchers a year. We're always going to lose pitchers every year just by the nature of how the draft works. I've never seen a college team have all pitcher who are sophomores at key spots including MSU so we have to know on the front end that we're going to have to bring in people. And despite winning the National Championship we needed LHP. That should have been obvious from the start. The only LHP we returned was Tullar. And even if they expected him to take a big step up this year that's still only one LHP on the roster. And the fact that he hadn't really performed made it even riskier. We definitely dropped the ball big time there. Also, none of our starting pitchers had experience starting in the SEC. We didn't even know if Sims could handle starting going into the year or if he was a closer only guy. Taking a pitcher or two who had some experience starting in college would have helped out a lot this year.

There are several layers to this with Foxhall. Is it recruiting or development? Or some of both? Fristoe and Tepper were both big time recruits. Neither has developed as quickly as they should IMO. Or did in Tepper's case. People point back to Bednar- well he also has a brother in MLB and I guarantee you that they talk some on the side and that was probably a factor with him. If you have to ask me it's some of both. We rely on way too many JUCO pitchers and it's absolutely hit or miss. I doubt there is another blue blood that recruits JUCO players like MSU. And JUCO is going to get even more watered down because now guys that want to go to MSU and get passed over can go play for USM, UAB, or whoever and if they perform well can come to MSU via the portal. There are also rumors that Foxhall hasn't been going to tournaments to recruit in person. Neither has Lemonis per rumor. Until now. Gautreau has been the only one that has been seen from MSU.

And it's a staff wide issue. Yes, I get we have injuries. But we shouldn't have that many pitchers struggling to find the strike zone like that. That's lack of development. Our mechanics as a pitching staff were terrible. And it's fair to ask if the injuries are something that we are or aren't doing on the conditioning side?

Foxhall's in game coaching style doesn't help either. He just tries to let guys figure things out. Of course there is a double standard there since some guys are allowed to walk the house but others are not even allowed to go out there for the same thing- Tullar and Stinnett vs. Walling. He doesn't visit the mound enough. And he is too rigid with his 6 IP out of the starter, 2 IP out of the set up guy, and 1 IP out of the closer. That's led to us keeping starters in too long or taking out relievers in a groove like Pick and then replacing them with Fristoe only to blow the lead. None of that builds confidence in any of our pitchers. And then there is his whole "save the pitchers" philosophy which is just absurd. All it does is lead to us not using our best pitchers- see the Mizzou weekend where we didn't even pitch Fristoe and Pico only threw like 13 pitches. May have that backwards but it was something like that. And then earlier in the week he pitched Forsythe in the Governor's Cup and all I heard was we're saving our arms for SEC play! And then he used the exact same pitchers against Mizzou in games 1 and 2. LOL!

Gautreau my biggest issue is not finding good middle of the field guys like we used to with Tanner Allen, Mangum, Rowdey, Stovall, etc out of high school.

Gautreau can stay but if he leaves I don't care, and Foxhall probably should go but his job will probably be saved by the portal pitchers we bring in that he didn't coach or develop. He has the built in excuse of "We won a National Championship" and "injuries" which he may or may not partially be responsible for which a lot of fans will chalk up to "bad luck". This actually reminds me a lot of Russ McNickle when he was here after we went to Omaha in 2007 and had major pitching issues like we had this year and had the same results on the field.

Lemonis is pretty hands off as a coach from what I understand. Which was perfect for what he inherited. But he needs to crack the whip now. If I were in his shoes I would get a different pitching coach and roll with whatever Gautreau decides to do. I suspect we'll lose Gautreau to Tulane and keep Foxhall for another year with the understanding that he is coaching for his job. It's sad because we could do so much better than Foxhall.

[OLJWales]

If we've got only Geautreaux scouting at tourneys, that's troubling. Is it normal for HC's not going out to meet croots and watchem play? Do the new NCAA rules apply to baseball too allowing more coaches ? Shouldn't we have more scouts out greeting croots and their parents talking NIL & The Greatest Fans and Stadium in College Baseball?

[The Federalist Engineer]

"Lemonis is hands off as a coach"

Man, that sounds worse than Polk being a dork that sent letters to LSU players, wishing them well. Or his crusade to change college baseball while coaches just focused on their paid job.

Seems wrong that Tennessee has Vitello and Todd is making me imagine Croom 2.0 in the MSU dugout

[MoreCowbell]

There?s alot more to the Schlossnagle circus than ?we wouldn?t commit to him?. He was all but given the papers to sign until he was touring the stadium and outlining his recruiting plan which violated every rule in the NCAA handbook. That?s why we pulled out.

Were you there?

[Coach34]

Way to prove my point, Coach. Both teams had a losing conference record one year removed from playing for it all.

Wow. Vandy is a 2-seed. And you are saying that proved your point.

You must work in Biden's Cabinet. "We only shut down 10 U.S. refineries for Green production...that cant be why gas prices are going up. #Putin'sPriceHike"

[BeardoMSU]

Wow. Vandy is a 2-seed. And you are saying that proved your point.

You must work in Biden's Cabinet. "We only shut down 10 U.S. refineries for Green production...that cant be why gas prices are going up. #Putin'sPriceHike"

US refineries dictate global gas prices, lol?

[Coach34]

US refineries dictate global gas prices, lol?

US refineries dictate how fast gas and diesel can be produced. Less refineries producing less supply with more demand = higher gas prices

[confucius say]

We won the Natty. Hell yeah bitches!!!! But Tenn made the CWS also. They were good last year. They beat the **** out of us in the SEC Tourney.

They didnt celebrate their best season in 20 years- they recruited. Dollander transferred in from Ga Southern. He has become the SEC POY throwing 94-97. K'ed 90 while walking only 9. Why were they able to do that and not us? He isnt their only pull- but this really bothers me. Why couldnt we- as the National Champs- pull a couple of impact players for this season like Tenn did?

Why are they proactive when we are now reactive?
A&M got transfers from all over and won the West. Thats coaching from a guy we wouldnt commit to. He has shown his recruiting prowess immediately- unlike our coach.
It's just really frustrating to see our staff waste a Natty like this one has. It's mind-blowing

It's not that we couldn't. That had very little to do with it.

[confucius say]

Vandy is projected as a 2 seed in the Tourney. Where are we again?

Give me our Friday night all American and best two pen arms and we'd be in the same place.

[confucius say]

Lem, failed numerous time this year . He never found a centerfielder, he continued to leave pitchers in too long. He continued to March Von up,to ph. He left Tanner in the 4 hole —why? Name one pitcher who improved over the year. Could not figure out how to get RISP across the plate. When to bunt—damn if he knows. Throw to the wrong base, yep we did it plenty. Fail,to score on a double from 2nd base—yep we did. We just looked poorly coached in many instances.

We also suck at flyball communication, first and third defense, and executing a run down. All are issues.

[Dawg2003]

NIL is going to make the divide between the haves and have nots even bigger.

[Todd4State]

"Lemonis is hands off as a coach"

Man, that sounds worse than Polk being a dork that sent letters to LSU players, wishing them well. Or his crusade to change college baseball while coaches just focused on their paid job.

Seems wrong that Tennessee has Vitello and Todd is making me imagine Croom 2.0 in the MSU dugout

I didn't really mean it as a criticism of Lemonis. I think that's better than Dan meddling with everything to be honest with you. All I mean is he lets his assistants do their job. That works well if the assistants are really good. If they aren't it can be disastrous.

Personally I think Lemonis is a very good coach and a good fit for MSU. But for me Foxhall has been a huge disappointment. At the end of the day give me Lemonis plus the best pitching coach in the country and the best hitting/recruiter in the country along with Coach Cheese who I think is good and call it a day.

[Todd4State]

If we've got only Geautreaux scouting at tourneys, that's troubling. Is it normal for HC's not going out to meet croots and watchem play? Do the new NCAA rules apply to baseball too allowing more coaches ? Shouldn't we have more scouts out greeting croots and their parents talking NIL & The Greatest Fans and Stadium in College Baseball?

I don't think it's that normal for head coaches to be out scouting tournaments. It's also not normal for the pitching coach to not be out there. That said, I think if Lemonis is out there that says a lot to recruits. That's one of the things Vitello does. Lemonis is already being more visable on the road- he was at the State High School Championships this weeekend.

And scouts? We don't really have scouts. What college teams do is rely a lot on these travel ball organizations/baseball academies like Dulin's Dodgers for recommendations essentially. How it works is the academy works with and develops the players and then Gautreau will ask them about their players and then we get recommendations off of that. Apparently we've had some issues with one academy recently which has caused some recruiting issues for us by recommending players that aren't SEC caliber.

And it's a two way street because if the academy produces players that go on to MSU then they can sell that to other baseball players and their families.

[Todd4State]

NIL is going to make the divide between the haves and have nots even bigger.

Perhaps I'm taking this the wrong way- but we're a have in baseball. It's not just about how much money- it's also about how much each school invests in it. MSU has consistently invested in baseball for decades- at least since the 60's. A school like Tennessee that just recently had the best year in school history? Time will tell.

More importantly to me is we need to keep churning out first round draft picks. That's what baseball players in general want more than anything- is to go somewhere that can get them to MLB. And we've been doing that for years.

[sandjunky]

I don't think it's that normal for head coaches to be out scouting tournaments. It's also not normal for the pitching coach to not be out there. That said, I think if Lemonis is out there that says a lot to recruits. That's one of the things Vitello does. Lemonis is already being more visable on the road- he was at the State High School Championships this weeekend.

And scouts? We don't really have scouts. What college teams do is rely a lot on these travel ball organizations/baseball academies like Dulin's Dodgers for recommendations essentially. How it works is the academy works with and develops the players and then Gautreau will ask them about their players and then we get recommendations off of that. Apparently we've had some issues with one academy recently which has caused some recruiting issues for us by recommending players that aren't SEC caliber.

And it's a two way street because if the academy produces players that go on to MSU then they can sell that to other baseball players and their families.

Which academy?

[OLJWales]

I don't think it's that normal for head coaches to be out scouting tournaments. It's also not normal for the pitching coach to not be out there. That said, I think if Lemonis is out there that says a lot to recruits. That's one of the things Vitello does. Lemonis is already being more visable on the road- he was at the State High School Championships this weeekend.

And scouts? We don't really have scouts. What college teams do is rely a lot on these travel ball organizations/baseball academies like Dulin's Dodgers for recommendations essentially. How it works is the academy works with and develops the players and then Gautreau will ask them about their players and then we get recommendations off of that. Apparently we've had some issues with one academy recently which has caused some recruiting issues for us by recommending players that aren't SEC caliber.

And it's a two way street because if the academy produces players that go on to MSU then they can sell that to other baseball players and their families.

Thanks Todd. Sounds like a networking & relationship building deal with coaches who coach potential college talent which begs the question how well are we doing that? How expansive is our crootin' base geographically and how many coaches with proven reliable info do we communicate with on a regular basis?

[R2Dawg]

What? Nobody would be bitching if we were a two seed this year. We didn't even make the conference tournament and had one of the worst seasons most have seen. We fell off the map. They're just having a down year compared to last season.

True. Glad we didn't play Vandy this year they would have skull drug us too. Vandy ain't had a NC year but they had a solid year after a run last year. We were last in SEC and didn't even make SECT. As bad as it gets.