Baseball: 5 PG top 100 Sophomores

[AlSwearengen]

What do ya?ll make of this list of the top 100 Sophomores from Perfect Game?
No. 24 Ryan McPherson
No. 33 James Nunnallee
No. 34 Tomas Valincius
No. 56 Duke Stone
No. 68 Charlie Foster

They did one for Freshmen and Bauer was No. 1 and I think 4 others made the list but Jacob Parker was 75 which seems a little wonky for him to be that low.

[Quaoarsking]

We are loaded this year. If it all comes together, we can be the #1 national seed going into the Regionals.

[Coach34]

Those 5 are def Top 100

[ZedFedder]

Would not surprise me if McPherson and Valincius are higher at the year end

[Brobi-wan]

We are loaded this year. If it all comes together, we can be the #1 national seed going into the Regionals.

With how that history has played out, I hope not.

[Coach34]

With how that history has played out, I hope not.

Yeah no shit. Being the #1 overall seed means you most likely wont win it all. I'll pass on that

[Quaoarsking]

The #1 overall seed has won it twice since the expansion to 64, compared to the #2 overall seed winning it 3 times, the #3 seed winning it 3 times, the #4 seed winning it 1 time, the #5 seed winning it 3 times, etc.

There's no "curse" on the #1 overall seed, it's just a hard tournament to win (hard to go deep in) no matter who you are. And if we're the #1 overall seed, it means we had a really fun 4 months in the regular season.

[Todd4State]

They forgot Ryder Woodson. If you add the top 100 freshmen going from my memory- Bauer, Parker Rhodes, Maddox Miller, Tanner Beliveau, Jacob Parker, and Peter Mershon and you add them to this group of sophomores plus Woodson and Chone James who is not a top 100 sophomore probably but is a really talented player- our football team isn't the only program building for a strong 2027. We'll have to wait and see who we can get to school from the draft as far as 2027 goes too.

Good possibility that our rotation for 2027 is the same group of pitchers this year- which is almost unheard of. Not sure how it will play out but I definitely have visions of Jack Bauer and his 103 MPH fastball and wipe out sweeper being our closer in 2027 or being used like Tennessee used Ben Joyce. Rhodes is pretty far along for a freshman so by the time he is a sophomore there is a good chance he is our closer or a very big part of the bullpen at least. Beliveau is pretty raw but BOC and the staff will figure out if he is a relief pitcher or a dual position guy. Once he finds his identity I think he will be really good, but that's not likely this year.

[Todd4State]

What do ya?ll make of this list of the top 100 Sophomores from Perfect Game?
No. 24 Ryan McPherson
No. 33 James Nunnallee
No. 34 Tomas Valincius
No. 56 Duke Stone
No. 68 Charlie Foster

They did one for Freshmen and Bauer was No. 1 and I think 4 others made the list but Jacob Parker was 75 which seems a little wonky for him to be that low.

I haven't counted the two lists yet- but I wouldn't be surprised at all if MSU has more players on the two lists combined than anyone else. And of course some of the sophomores like Derek Curiel are draft eligible.

[Todd4State]

The #1 overall seed has won it twice since the expansion to 64, compared to the #2 overall seed winning it 3 times, the #3 seed winning it 3 times, the #4 seed winning it 1 time, the #5 seed winning it 3 times, etc.

There's no "curse" on the #1 overall seed, it's just a hard tournament to win (hard to go deep in) no matter who you are. And if we're the #1 overall seed, it means we had a really fun 4 months in the regular season.

It's really about who is the hottest. Not much different than MLB most of the time. In 2021 we had the two hottest pitchers in the tournament in Sims and Bednar and you could make an argument that Tanner Allen was the hottest hitter in the CWS in 2021. Also, a lot of times you need a guy like Tanner Legget to have a moment like he did.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Ready to compete is the message.

Dane Burns could have been very close to being the 6th.

Seems Nunnallee is expected to blossom into a dynamic lead off type hitter and to develop his body into MLB draft dimensions. Snagging a true freshman job at a major national program and loaded with talent last-year shows pedigree.

[The Federalist Engineer]

The coaches recruited Chone James to UVA and then re-recruited him to MSU, great indicator. Hit 370 at UVA, also shows they know how to use his skills.

Woodson was going to be NC State starting Infielder. NCSU people shocked by they failed to keep a fundamental player and future-star type of prospect.

[Coursesuper]

Yeah no shit. Being the #1 overall seed means you most likely wont win it all. I'll pass on that

I don't think any team in the SEC will grab that 1 spot, the conference is so strong. UCLA has a fairly easy road to that spot if they hold form. They have some challenges early but the Big 10 isn't close to the same league as the SEC or the ACC.

[Coach34]

The #1 overall seed has won it twice since the expansion to 64, compared to the #2 overall seed winning it 3 times, the #3 seed winning it 3 times, the #4 seed winning it 1 time, the #5 seed winning it 3 times, etc.

There's no "curse" on the #1 overall seed, it's just a hard tournament to win (hard to go deep in) no matter who you are. And if we're the #1 overall seed, it means we had a really fun 4 months in the regular season.

That sounds good in theory but you did skim over that gap from 1999 until 2024 when Tenn broke the curse. I'll pass on the 1 seed

The main thing is being Top 8- get that and all is well

[MStateDawg]

I don't think any team in the SEC will grab that 1 spot, the conference is so strong.

The conference is always strong and typically that strength is rewarded.
Hence the SEC has had the no. 1 overall seed:

• The past 2 seasons
• 4 of the past 5 seasons
• 6 of the past 10 seasons

[Coursesuper]

The conference is always strong and typically that strength is rewarded.
Hence the SEC has had the no. 1 overall seed:

• The past 2 seasons
• 4 of the past 5 seasons
• 6 of the past 10 seasons

I completely understand where you are here, and you are dead on. That is why the rest of the post was made. UCLA is #1 right now and has a pretty easy road to stay there, the front end of the schedule is doable for them and will help keep their RPI up. I don't really care to be the 1 seed it would just be gravy if we can stay healthy on the bump and produce, the top 8 is the real goal.

[Hot Rock]

Baseball is a quirky and the best rosters don't always produce the best teams. The best teams don't always win on a given day but:

The teams to field the better rosters with good coaching seem to be in the mix every year. State has one of the better rosters if not the best roster and I love our coaching staff.

Then you consider just how tough our schedule is this year compared to Arkansas's schedule, it will not be easy but I certainly like our chances and I will be excited to see it play out.

[Hot Rock]

Scared to be the #1 overall seed? Sounds weak, you the best then own it and be the best.

If it's a disadvantage to have a target on your back then so be it. I would rather have the best team that didn't care about what you think is a disadvantage or not.

I even want to win the SEC tourney, granted with some mid-week pitching but I still want to win it.

Personally, I don't see State getting there but if they get that #1 seed overall, it will not be a fluke as this team has to play a lot of ranked teams.

[Coach34]

Saw a tweet yesterday that had a college baseball site listing us with the 2nd toughest SEC schedule. Mississippi was 1st

[MStateDawg]

UCLA is #1 right now and has a pretty easy road to stay there

Being ranked no. 1 doesn't mean you're the no. 1 seed in the tournament. Last year North Carolina was ranked no. 1 in final regular season D1 poll and the Coaches Poll, yet they were the no. 5 overall seed. Vandy was the no. 1 seed in the tournament but the coaches poll had them ranked 4th.