Hey Commerce

[Cowbell]

What's your take on our baseball team. You coach. You know some of these kids. You understand the game as good as anyone here. It looks like to me this team lacks toughness and is all about the image. What makes it stand out is the only tough kids we seem to have are the transfers - Larry and Chance (walk-on) Nixon and Dohm.

[Commercecomet24]

I don't believe it's a toughness issue. The kids seem to be playing hard. We have the talent on the roster we're just not getting it done right now. Pitchers are walking too many and getting behind in counts way too often and our defense has been beyond disappointing when it looked to be a strength coming into the season. Baseball is a long season and things can change on a dime. Baseball has ebbs and flows you just want to keep the ebbs to a minimum. I haven't given up on the season but there's definitely some issues that have to be fixed for us to have any kind of season and it has to start on the mound with pitchers throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts. It's kinda scary because they're not missing by an inch they're missing big. I believe the defense will show up and we're gonna score runs but everything starts and ends on that mound. I know if i was the coach and this was my team I wouldn't be sleeping very well tonight! Need to come out and show some fire tomorrow night and then win the series aginst asu. That would make me feel a little better.

[Cowbell]

I don't believe it's a toughness issue. The kids seem to be playing hard. We have the talent on the roster we're just not getting it done right now. Pitchers are walking too many and getting behind in counts way too often and our defense has been beyond disappointing when it looked to be a strength coming into the season. Baseball is a long season and things can change on a dime. Baseball has ebbs and flows you just want to keep the ebbs to a minimum. I haven't given up on the season but there's definitely some issues that have to be fixed for us to have any kind of season and it has to start on the mound with pitchers throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts. It's kinda scary because they're not missing by an inch they're missing big. I believe the defense will show up and we're gonna score runs but everything starts and ends on that mound. I know if i was the coach and this was my team I wouldn't be sleeping very well tonight! Need to come out and show some fire tomorrow night and then win the series aginst asu. That would make me feel a little better.

Thanks for the insight - Are you greatly surprised by what you've seen so far?

[EdwardDrayton]

What do we mean by 'toughness'. How do we know it when we see it. One example that I would characterize as toughness is the drive to push beyond the pain and suffering of intense physical exertion more so than what others are willing or capable of doing. It's what propelled my son to a 400m state champion.

What other examples help to understand how 'toughness' is manifested.

PS just an added note; my son could push himself so hard in training and competition that he would be physically ill. Now in his life endeavors I sometimes ask him if he's giving the 'trash can' effort. LOL!

[Commercecomet24]

Thanks for the insight - Are you greatly surprised by what you've seen so far?

You're welcome just my 2 cents worth and there's so many good baseball people on the board I'm sure they'll have some good insights as well.Really surprised at the defense and lack of strikes thrown more than anything.

[StarkVegasSteve]

You're welcome just my 2 cents worth and there's so many good baseball people on the board I'm sure they'll have some good insights as well.Really surprised at the defense and lack of strikes thrown more than anything.

What do you see as our main problem on the mound? Do you think it's more of not having confidence in the pitches that are being called or worrying too much about hitting the spot and not just throwing strikes

[Commercecomet24]

What do you see as our main problem on the mound? Do you think it's more of not having confidence in the pitches that are being called or worrying too much about hitting the spot and not just throwing strikes

Pitchers are so flaky they're like freaking kickers! I think it's a case by case basis. It looks like some don't trust their stuff, some are nibbling to much and then it snowballs on them(see kc hunt), and some are trying to be to fine(see Davis),some are still young and learning(Holcombe and Loftin). And we tend to when we get ahead start calling pitches off the plate that wind up being non competitive. I prefer my pitchers to attack when ahead in the count. To me a fastball just off the plate on 0-2 is way better than bouncing a breaking ball, but that's just me.Look at Gartman. He's not overpowering but attacks hitters and knows how to pitch. We need more of that. Brock Tapper came in tonight and did a good job. I watched him pitch last year and he's a kid that impressed me with his mound presence and I thinks he's gonna be pretty good. We've got some arms but they gotta come on and compete(help them please fox!)

[StarkVegasSteve]

Pitchers are so flaky they're like freaking kickers! I think it's a case by case basis. It looks like some don't trust their stuff, some are nibbling to much and then it snowballs on them(see kc hunt), and some are trying to be to fine(see Davis),some are still young and learning(Holcombe and Loftin). And we tend to when we get ahead start calling pitches off the plate that wind up being non competitive. I prefer my pitchers to attack when ahead in the count. To me a fastball just off the plate on 0-2 is way better than bouncing a breaking ball, but that's just me.Look at Gartman. He's not overpowering but attacks hitters and knows how to pitch. We need more of that. Brock Tapper came in tonight and did a good job. I watched him pitch last year and he's a kid that impressed me with his mound presence and I thinks he's gonna be pretty good. We've got some arms but they gotta come on and compete(help them please fox!)

I'm scared for guys like Cijntje and Loftin to get around Foxhall. He has made one pitcher better in his tenure, Liebelt. I don't know that he's made any markedly worse, I mean Cerrantola was the same pitcher his freshman year as he was in 2021. Bednar and Sims were the same way. They came in and nothing changed. They were just that good. Same with JT. Small and Cole found stuff under Henderson that made them better.

[Commercecomet24]

I'm scared for guys like Cijntje and Loftin to get around Foxhall. He has made one pitcher better in his tenure, Liebelt. I don't know that he's made any markedly worse, I mean Cerrantola was the same pitcher his freshman year as he was in 2021. Bednar and Sims were the same way. They came in and nothing changed. They were just that good. Same with JT. Small and Cole found stuff under Henderson that made them better.

I want to see our pitchers be more aggressive. Attack hitters pound the strike zone and we've got guys that do that we just need more doing it.

[Todd4State]

I don't believe it's a toughness issue. The kids seem to be playing hard. We have the talent on the roster we're just not getting it done right now. Pitchers are walking too many and getting behind in counts way too often and our defense has been beyond disappointing when it looked to be a strength coming into the season. Baseball is a long season and things can change on a dime. Baseball has ebbs and flows you just want to keep the ebbs to a minimum. I haven't given up on the season but there's definitely some issues that have to be fixed for us to have any kind of season and it has to start on the mound with pitchers throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts. It's kinda scary because they're not missing by an inch they're missing big. I believe the defense will show up and we're gonna score runs but everything starts and ends on that mound. I know if i was the coach and this was my team I wouldn't be sleeping very well tonight! Need to come out and show some fire tomorrow night and then win the series aginst asu. That would make me feel a little better.

There is a lot of pressure that goes with playing at MSU in baseball. Our standard is a National Championship and the minimum is a SR.

That combined with what happened last season I think our guys are trying to do too much instead of just making the play. Speaking more specifically on our defense. It seems like we have a lot of problems with communication out there too. Balls dropping in, Hines going after balls the second baseman should be getting. Stuff like that sometimes.

I think the pitching is more on Foxhall. That kind of stuff has been going on for awhile now. I think he needs to be a lot more proactive with our staff. Just lets guys rot sometimes for no apparent reason. Then he lets some guys have a long leash while others they have one bad outing and then you wonder if they are even on the team anymore. His pitch calling is very predictable and that only really works if you have command and you have Randy Johnson type stuff. The development or lack thereof has been duly noted. Barring a major turnaround I think we're going to have to part ways with him. I don't think he is getting enough out of our staff for us to get to where we want to be. Nor do I think he can manage it well enough to get it there either.

[Todd4State]

And the stuff with Hancock- some of that is on the staff too. May have been an issue for awhile and we just didn't realize it because we had a future MLB catcher behind the plate the past three years in Logan Tanner.

Three pieces to defending a steal:

1. Pitcher getting the ball to home plate quickly enough to the catcher so that he can get rid of it on the throw down. Fast runners in baseball can get from one base to the other in about 3-4 seconds. Anything over 1.5 from mound to home plate is going to be tough to get a runner out on unless the runner makes a mistake.

2. Catcher to second. MLB average is 2.01. Hancock's is probably slower than that I'm guessing so let's randomly guess it's 2.1 or 2.2. Add that to the 1.5+ and then it's easy to see why we're having issues.

3. The tag from the SS or 2B.

[Commercecomet24]

And the stuff with Hancock- some of that is on the staff too. May have been an issue for awhile and we just didn't realize it because we had a future MLB catcher behind the plate the past three years in Logan Tanner.

Three pieces to defending a steal:

1. Pitcher getting the ball to home plate quickly enough to the catcher so that he can get rid of it on the throw down. Fast runners in baseball can get from one base to the other in about 3-4 seconds. Anything over 1.5 from mound to home plate is going to be tough to get a runner out on unless the runner makes a mistake.

2. Catcher to second. MLB average is 2.01. Hancock's is probably slower than that I'm guessing so let's randomly guess it's 2.1 or 2.2. Add that to the 1.5+ and then it's easy to see why we're having issues.

3. The tag from the SS or 2B.

Agree it's not all on Luke. Fast runners stealing second or third are 3.2-3.4. Pitchers need to be 1.1-1.4 to the plate. 1.5 and above you're going every time with your faster runners and even some of the average ones depending on catcher. Luke is average pop time for a college catcher. I got him at about 2.1(to second)on most throws so far. Combine that with our pitchers slow to the plate and we're gonna give up some sbs unless our pitchers help Luke out some. We've got some work to do for sure.

[BrunswickDawg]

CC and Todd have some points that people need to listen to. Throwing my 2 cents in - we have a whole lot of new faces. Many of the new ones have started well, and sometimes that puts pressure on the vets and they stumble - especially when coming off of a bad year. Echoing CC about aggressiveness on the mound - we definitely seem to be missing it. I'm not sure that's Fox - at least not from a philosophy standpoint. But, Fox needs to see the lack of aggressiveness and push the guys the right direction.

[maroonmania]

Really this season could not have started much worse for us. We have essentially been 10 run ruled TWICE by bad teams. Losing 13-3 to VMI in this past Saturday's game after being up 10-1 and then being down 11-0 to ULM before scoring some meaningless runs last night. We are talking the likes of VMI and ULM! To me, this is about as bad as it can get for MSU baseball. Yes, its possible the light switch can flip on and we somehow become a good team because we certainly have some talent, but at this point, after what went down last year, its certainly difficult to expect it. And its so disheartening, because after the first 2 seasons I truly thought we really had something with Lemonis.

[SilentSteel16]

Another thing that I noticed is we have alot of cross body pitchers. Cross body pitchers are a low statistically slower to home plate and also more susceptible to elbow injuries. I know Dierker made it a well established point of NOT even drafting “crossers” as he called it.

FYI, I think it is pretty self explanatory but a cross body pitcher is one who starts on edge of rubber far right for righties and left for lefties and plant and rotate and finish on opposite side.

[SPMT]

Maybe our coaches aren?t great at evaluation and recruiting. Looks that way to me this year and last year.

[basedog]

As far as pitching goes, not a whole lot of experience on the mound. Cade has the most experience as a starter, missed 6 weeks his freshman year, Kc and Stinnett just hasn't worked out. Very little experience with the relievers. Also, communication is bad on defense, mainly because of all the new faces, LF, CF, 3rd base, Second Base, 1st Base and catcher.

Expectations were and are high because we are a baseball school. I also think last year was a fluke mainly because we had pitchers hurt. It's early and I expect we will start to play better, it's just like basketball this year, trying to figure out the rotation and who gets hot and takes the position in the field or plate.

Hey, I'm not gonna say it's all bad coaching just yet, players have to perform and a coach can't make a pitcher throw strikes, nor can they make a batter get a hit. If Lemonis team this year finishes last, then yes, there will be changes.

Btw, who would have thought a few years ago Bednar would have had the year he had, so maybe one or two of our pitchers will step up, we have some decent young pitchers.

"There is no crying in Baseball"***

[SPMT]

As far as pitching goes, not a whole lot of experience on the mound. Cade has the most experience as a starter, missed 6 weeks his freshman year, Kc and Stinnett just hasn't worked out. Very little experience with the relievers. Also, communication is bad on defense, mainly because of all the new faces, LF, CF, 3rd base, Second Base, 1st Base and catcher.

Expectations were and are high because we are a baseball school. I also think last year was a fluke mainly because we had pitchers hurt. It's early and I expect we will start to play better, it's just like basketball this year, trying to figure out the rotation and who gets hot and takes the position in the field or plate.

Hey, I'm not gonna say it's all bad coaching just yet, players have to perform and a coach can't make a pitcher throw strikes, nor can they make a batter get a hit. If Lemonis team this year finishes last, then yes, there will be changes.

Btw, who would have thought a few years ago Bednar would have had the year he had, so maybe one or two of our pitchers will step up, we have some decent young pitchers.

"There is no crying in Baseball"***

True. Didn?t know Bednar would be the ace.

Think the issue is, we never found one last year and we look the same currently.

And ole miss wins it all with some freshmen.

And now we have no confidence in Foxhall.

[BrunswickDawg]

Really this season could not have started much worse for us. We have essentially been 10 run ruled TWICE by bad teams. Losing 13-3 to VMI in this past Saturday's game after being up 10-1 and then being down 11-0 to ULM before scoring some meaningless runs last night. We are talking the likes of VMI and ULM! To me, this is about as bad as it can get for MSU baseball. Yes, its possible the light switch can flip on and we somehow become a good team because we certainly have some talent, but at this point, after what went down last year, its certainly difficult to expect it. And its so disheartening, because after the first 2 seasons I truly thought we really had something with Lemonis.

Look around the country this week. Last night Vandy lost to Central Arkansas, Lipscomb beating Notre Dame, Elon beating Kentucky, California Baptist beat Oklahoma, Lamar beat TAMU. With the changes in the Minor League system 2 years ago, there are better players across the board in CBB and that is pushing talent down to the G5 schools quickly. Combine that with NIL and the portal, and there is going to be a lot more WTF loses for everyone moving forward. And - new teams are already emerging. Grand Canyon beat #2 Tennessee and I'd never even heard of that school.

[Pancho]

I agree with CC on all this pitching wise. By the time trying to gain additional back leg push, extending front leg stride and a myriad of arm angle/release point tinkering, I am leaning towards the opinion that Fox struggles with improving young pitchers and identifying their differences.