State of State Baseball

[Todd4State]

We are well below our standard and I don't think anyone disagrees with that except for maaaayyyybeee Everett Kennard who just thinks we're a bunch of spoiled brats.

The reason to me is very simple. Our pitching coach isn't up to standard. Forget the injuries- although I do think there is something up there because it's not travel ball coaches fault when a guy has arm soreness or dead arm. I'm not there to see what is going on but something is not right there. What we can see- leaving guys in wayyyy too long, not making enough mound visits, and questionable pitch selection- there is a lot wrong. This is reflected in the stats too- our pitching in general is ranked around 13th-14th in most major stats. Our hitting on the other hand is around 5th-6th in the league.

So what is becoming the question is do we fire not only Foxhall but also Lemonis as well? To make an informed opinion we need to step back and look at their roles. People that want Lemonis gone are mad that he didn't already fire Foxhall in the offseason and say the blame starts with him and he signs off on Foxhall's decisions. That is true. But there is a fine line between making managerial decisions and micromanaging. And if Chris was asking for my two cents and he is not nor will he ever do so my recommendation would be to take over the pitching in game decisions. But then the question is will Lemonis fire Foxhall in the offseason? At this point I think there is no question he will. Pitching is only one thing that Lemonis oversees. Defense is last in the league but Mershon has stabilized that and Alford has gotten better as has Highfill. Credit to the staff for making decisions to improve the team through lineup changes and hard work. Plus defense hasn't been an issue consistently while Lemonis has been here. Offensively we're fine. We have power and we steal bases. We can beat teams a number of different ways. Our worst hitters are hitting in the high .240's. And we have some freshmen who are making an immediate impact and that doesn't happen without good coaching. Recruiting has been strong under Lemonis as well.

So again as I have said all season if Lemonis has another losing season- and he might- I think we will fire him.

If he does not I think we just fire Foxhall and let him try with an elite PC.

Now to have a winning season- I'm not talking about regionals or hosting (LOL)- I'm talking about 28-27. He needs to find five more games to win.

We should be able to beat North Alabama and Memphis although Memphis will give us a fight. That puts us at 25 if we do that.

That makes the Governor's Cup important to win. It will give Lemonis a boost because it's Ole Miss. Losing that game will make things worse for him. And it's going to be tougher to win without Dohm or Holcombe available and KC and Nixon having shell shock. On top of that we'll probably start Parker 17ing Stinett. YIKES! I'm glad I'm not a baseball coach relying on him to put out the fire on my seat. I can't make any promises about what I might do if he pitches Lane Forsythe against them in this game. That said- this game is 50/50. We pull off a win and we're probably at 26.

If we do that all we have to do is "that's baseball" two more games out of 12 to get to 28. That sounds pretty doable and it should be except next up we have red hot Tennessee in Knoxville on a short week after we play a midweek against Ole Miss (Thanks Sankey!), then we get Arkansas in Starkville, at LSU, and then A&M. I can't see us winning any of those series except for MAYBE A&M in Starkville. And that's assuming no more pitchers go down between now and then.

So, nothing is a foregone conclusion here. Losing Dohm hurts- and it may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. IF Gartman comes back it means that Holcombe is going to have to take over Dohm's role. Cade has pitched very well as has Loo. Gartman has been fine the first couple of times through. We're going to have to rely on Hunt and Nixon a lot more. Really need one of the freshmen to step up to be honest.

Good luck Chris!

[Skydawg1]

Good luck Chris!

Thanks for the natty!

[Mjoelner34]

Yes. Lemonis needs to go too. Even if he fires Foxhall he as well as everybody else knows his job would hinge on the post season next year. What pitching coach worth a damn would sign on to that? He made Foxhall his Woody McCorvey by not shit-canning him after the season last year. Now he has to face the music on that.

[Leroy Jenkins]

"F**k you, F**k me, and F**k everybody, this is F**king bullshit" -Mike Leach

[drummerdawg]

How can anyone defend Lemonis at this point? Its way more than pitching. He's responsible for the team and the team is shit.

[Mjoelner34]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Leroy Jenkins again.

[CaptainObvious]

Yeah. About the Offense. Which one can we count on? The one the struck out 14 times on Friday night and has won 1 Friday night game all season? Or the one who is 95% dependent on Homeruns? Stats may not lie but as Paul Harvey would say, They don?t tell <The Rest Of The Story>. As for the pitching, even our starters love to throw the long ball. Auburn only had 39 HRs going into this weekend. They now have 49 coming out of it. 1-2 and 0-2 counts left the yard this weekend. That?s not a weakness. That is a sickness. Our pitchers are all suffering from meatballitis.

[Coach34]

Pitch-calling is atrocious
How many guys we have with good command of a 3rd pitch? It's not many
Leaving people in too long- trying to steal outs and it ALWAYS bites us in the ass
Hardin and Enema were puzzling relief choices Sunday. Ari, myself, and ISeenIt knew disaster was coming when we didnt immediately go to Dohm.

And while we do need a new PC- the questionable moves made with the line-up, when and when not to put on the shift, and other things are problems as well.

[Cowbell]

Waiting this long to play Mershon alone is a fire able offense. He is better defensively than Lane and let's not even get into the offense and energy that he brings

[bulldawg989]

I've seen it asked in a couple of threads here and on Sixpack but no one (outside of Goat's dumbass) will answer the questions of why Lemonis deserves another year or does anyone actually believe his results will be different next year. I don't know how anyone that really wants to keep him at this point, to each his own I guess but there has not been a good argument for keeping him. I hate to say this but it feels like the ones that want to keep him are scared we can't do better and that's worse mindset than thinking Lemonis should get another year.

[Turfdawg67]

I didn't read, but I'm assuming Todd is putting all the blame on Foxhall again? Fire the entire bunch... we suck all around.

[BrunswickDawg]

I've seen it asked in a couple of threads here and on Sixpack but no one (outside of Goat's dumbass) will answer the questions of why Lemonis deserves another year or does anyone actually believe his results will be different next year. I don't know how anyone that really wants to keep him at this point, to each his own I guess but there has not been a good argument for keeping him. I hate to say this but it feels like the ones that want to keep him are scared we can't do better and that's worse mindset than thinking Lemonis should get another year.

I think the results would be the same. However, I think this situation puts us in a hard spot. Our young talent is apparent. We have another top 10 recruiting class coming in. If we don't know that we can land an elite level replacement, I'd stick with Lemonis and replace Foxhall. Reason being if we can only land an unknown we will be facing a total rebuild. An elite coach will be able to keep the talent we do have (and there is plenty - even pitching) and get what we need to improve. A full rebuild with an unknown will kill the program for years.

[bulldawg989]

I think the results would be the same. However, I think this situation puts us in a hard spot. Our young talent is apparent. We have another top 10 recruiting class coming in. If we don't know that we can land an elite level replacement, I'd stick with Lemonis and replace Foxhall. Reason being if we can only land an unknown we will be facing a total rebuild. An elite coach will be able to keep the talent we do have (and there is plenty - even pitching) and get what we need to improve. A full rebuild with an unknown will kill the program for years.

Finally a well-reasoned response, not sure I agree but I understand your point of view. I'm not convinced Lemonis can coach/manage, even if he gets talent, I don't think he knows what to do with it...if can't develop the talent he gets it doesn't matter. So I guess it really boils down to the confidence of being able to get a better replacement, I think we can and should.

So, what if Lemonis stays, the talent comes and the results are the same? The rebuild is still in play.

[Todd4State]

I've seen it asked in a couple of threads here and on Sixpack but no one (outside of Goat's dumbass) will answer the questions of why Lemonis deserves another year or does anyone actually believe his results will be different next year. I don't know how anyone that really wants to keep him at this point, to each his own I guess but there has not been a good argument for keeping him. I hate to say this but it feels like the ones that want to keep him are scared we can't do better and that's worse mindset than thinking Lemonis should get another year.

Because we know that Lemonis doesn't have direct coaching responsibilities with the pitching staff as far as their development a better pitching coach could very easily turn our program around very quickly. Not saying that the buck doesn't stop with Lemonis or that he isn't at fault. For example- when we got Wes Johnson we had a losing season in 2015. By 2016 we won the SEC. And that was with a thin bullpen.

[Todd4State]

Finally a well-reasoned response, not sure I agree but I understand your point of view. I'm not convinced Lemonis can coach/manage, even if he gets talent, I don't think he knows what to do with it...if can't develop the talent he gets it doesn't matter. So I guess it really boils down to the confidence of being able to get a better replacement, I think we can and should.

So, what if Lemonis stays, the talent comes and the results are the same? The rebuild is still in play.

Lemonis doesn't develop the talent as much as Foxhall and Gautreau do. He more or less oversees the program.

All in all our offensive lineups are not bad. Mershon didn't start the year because of a hamstring injury. Dakota Jordan has made a LOT of improvement this year.

[Captain Falcon]

Right now I am in the camp of keep Lemonis but hire a new pitching coach.

I still believe Lem is and can be a very good coach. It is disingenuous to pretend that he was anything short of outstanding in 2019 and 2021. It is easy to chalk it up to the talent he inherited but he absolutely pushed the right buttons and maneuvered through some big issues those years. I believe if we get the pitching situation under control we can get back to being good again next year. He frankly does not have a choice but to see to it that it happens.

I was willing to give Foxhall the benefit of the doubt for 2022 because of the Sims and Simmons injuries, but you cannot survive two straight years of this.

[KOdawg1]

I know this is unpopular but I think the best thing for us would be to keep Lemonis under the condition that he gets a new pitching coach.

I know. This is unacceptable and embarrassing, but who are we gonna hire? A big name from a big program ain't coming here. We couldn't get one last time and that's when we were coming off an Omaha appearance... not missing Hoover for the 2nd straight year like we are this year. We could get a guy like Justin Haire, but are we sure he could deliver? Nope. We'd be taking a chance with anyone.

Lemonis has won and he's recruiting really well. Our freshmen are setting us up for a solid foundation for the future. Yes he's absolutely shit the bed the last 2 years and that's completely unacceptable. We can blame Fox but the blame mostly falls on Lemonis. But I'm just not sure that blowing it up and starting over is the best course of action.

Fire Foxhall, get a new pitching coach, and give him one more season. Hit the portal hard for arms and don't miss on a Skenes this year. Do that or gtfo.

[sandjunky]

I?ll put my stake in the ground

This program needs a new captain and staff to instill a much better culture and also a better S&C program - you look at our team and the comment ?do you even lift bro?? Comes to mind -

there?s no way Forsyth shouldn?t be over 200lbs right now

[gtowndawg]

A totally new staff and fresh start is the only thing that would get me interested at this point.

[StarkVegasSteve]

It's been stated previously and it's pretty simple what needs to happen

Make Hoover: Lemonis stays as long as he fires Foxhall.

Miss Hoover: Clean House.

I'm of the opinion that we should've cleaned house last year, but we didn't and I'm honestly not real sure we will do it this year even if we miss Hoover. I hope we do it regardless, but I know we won't, because Lemonis isn't it. This staff can't develop. No player we have has progressed from the time they were Freshman to now. Every player we have not a Freshman is the same player they were as a Freshman.