General Thoughts From The Weekend

[StarkVegasSteve]

A great weekend for Mississippi State. Literally couldn't have scripted it better. Baseball and Softball sweep and Basketball gets a big road win over Ole Miss. And.....we killed the science on Saturday!!!! Now let's get into it:

1. Ace Reese is who we thought Ace Reese was. Ace goes 5-12 on the weekend with 3 2Bs, a HR, and 4 RBIs. There is a reason everyone was fighting to get him in the portal. I truly think he'll be a finalist for the Golden Spikes in June.

2. Tomas Valincius will end up being the Friday guy, but we're keeping him on Sunday to match with UCLA in 2 weeks. It's obvious this kid is going to be the Fri night guy but it's clear that O'Conner is setting us up for a top 3 matchup on Sunday in two weeks in Dallas. Valincius controlled the zone and controlled the game better than any of the other starters, and probably out of any pitcher we had this weekend.

3. McPherson will come along and be fine, but I need to see more out of Foster before I'm ready to hand him the ball on an SEC Sunday. I actually thought Foster settled in ok after the first inning but he just came out of the gate flat, and you can't have that on Sundays in this league. McPherson worked around some early trouble but kind of fell apart in the 4th. I still think he will be fine moving forward. He's done it in this league enough for me to look past one bad outing. People forget Khal Stephen got shelled by Ga Southern early in '24 and ended up 8-3 and one of the best pitchers in the league. I trust Parker will get McPherson right.

4. Reed Stallman will be the 1B until someone takes it from him. Probably had the best weekend of anyone outside of Ace.

5. The MIF is going to be something we need figured out sooner rather than later. It's obvious the staff is really high on both Gehrig Frei and Ryder Woodson. Woodson struggled all weekend at the plate and I think we'll see Wyers in the midweek. I don't necessarily think it means that Woodson is bad or we need to give up on him but it looked like he was trying to hit the Bryan Building with every swing. On Frei, I think Gatlin is a better 2B defensively and I think Wyers will get a look there in one of the games in the midweek, but I do think Gehrig will continue to get a majority of the ABs there. His bat was pretty good this weekend and we've seen what he can do.

6. I was really impressed with a couple of arms out of the pen this weekend. William Kirk was really damn impressive and I really wouldn't be shocked to see him draw a midweek start sometime in the near future. Also thought Jack Gleason and Maddox Webb pitched really well too. It looks like Ben Davis will be the closer moving forward and I think that's a good idea. I think he's got the stuff unless we think we can bring Bauer along and move him into that role later in the season and let Davis be the SU guy.

7. Overall we have a lot to clean up, but it feels better cleaning those up at 3-0 than 2-1. We would've lost that second game on Saturday the last two years.

8. I thought basketball played their most complete game since Oklahoma on Saturday. We controlled the game from the jump and Ole Miss was never closer than 3 after the 8 minute mark in the 1st half. They never trailed by less 12 in the second half. Achor Achor getting hot early forced OM to make a change defensively and stop basically tripling Hubbard every time he touched it. Once they did that, it was over. Hubbard lit them up.

9. When we let Josh be Josh and we can get 2 more guys to get us 12-18 points, we are really dangerous. We got exactly that on Saturday with Epps getting 12, on a really bad shooting performance from him, and Achor giving us 18. I am not proclaiming that we're about to turn the corner and win 6 straight to close the year. But I do think 4 of the last 6 is very gettable. Which would be absolutely hilarious because we'd finish 8-10, which is the same record we've finished with in conference EVERY YEAR under Jans.

10. The New Mexico, USF, and SMU losses are what did this team in. And the Kansas St loss looks worse and worse. New Mexico and SMU would've both been Q1 wins and we had both of those on the racket. USF was because Josh goes down.

11. The next 120 days are MASSIVE for Jans and Co. He needs to hold on to Hubbard, JDF, Macura, King, and probably Tee Bartlett. Everyone else needs to hit the road. With those guys and a really good Freshman class coming in, we shouldn't have to go so portal heavy this offseason. We still need a big guard to play with Hubbard, a big who can stretch the floor, and 2 three and D guys but we don't need as many guys as we needed last year. Jans also needs to reevaluate the staff outside of Brooks and Anwar.

12. Softball, although early, looks really good right now. 10-0 and it looks to be Ricketts' best team she's had since she's been here. They don't get a lot of press or notoriety, but it's extremely impressive what Ricketts and Tyler Bratton have built on the softball side. Tyler is one of the best recruiters in the softball world and Ricketts has really done a great job of elevating that program well past where we ever were under Jay Miller or Vann Stuedeman.

[Tripp McNeely]

Love it, my only tweak I would make is maybe keep Paul too. Sounds like the staff does like his long-term potential

[ZedFedder]

Something I have thought about with Jans. This team has looked different since he lost James Miller (I think that was his name) to Oklahoma State. I wonder if that plays at all?

[StarkVegasSteve]

Love it, my only tweak I would make is maybe keep Paul too. Sounds like the staff does like his long-term potential

Tore his Achilles a couple of weeks ago. He'll be out probably all next year too. We may keep him on Medical RS, but I doubt he'll be able to contribute anything.

[Goldendawg]

Can we go to the Pittsboro court and get Jones another couple of years?*** Asking for a friend. Seriously, I knew when we trotted him out as a starter game one, ( and games since), that this "team" was in trouble.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Woodson will be ok, he's going to get comfortable and start to mash.

He's not starting because he's Ozzie smith, he's probably the third-baseman next season without Ace. What happened to Drew Wyers in practice? Brooks Wallace Award finalist.

Woodson did not play SS for NC State, he was their 3rd base.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

I agree that Hubbard, JDF, Macura, and King Grace are the only ones I have seen that are worth keeping. We haven't seen Tee Bartlett yet.

Reed Stallman looks good. But did he face any lefthanders? I don't remember. That is going to be his issue. But he can hit the righthanders for sure. Could we see a platoon situation at first base depending on the pitcher (left/right)?

Chone James getting a start at catcher probably says more about Owen and Raymond than it does Milewski.

I'm not a fan of the batting orders that O'Connor came up with. But I'm sure there is some experimenting going on.

I do expect some playing time this week for guys like Bauer, Wyers, Parker, etc.

[Coursesuper]

A great weekend for Mississippi State. Literally couldn't have scripted it better. Baseball and Softball sweep and Basketball gets a big road win over Ole Miss. And.....we killed the science on Saturday!!!! Now let's get into it:

1. Ace Reese is who we thought Ace Reese was. Ace goes 5-12 on the weekend with 3 2Bs, a HR, and 4 RBIs. There is a reason everyone was fighting to get him in the portal. I truly think he'll be a finalist for the Golden Spikes in June.

2. Tomas Valincius will end up being the Friday guy, but we're keeping him on Sunday to match with UCLA in 2 weeks. It's obvious this kid is going to be the Fri night guy but it's clear that O'Conner is setting us up for a top 3 matchup on Sunday in two weeks in Dallas. Valincius controlled the zone and controlled the game better than any of the other starters, and probably out of any pitcher we had this weekend.

3. McPherson will come along and be fine, but I need to see more out of Foster before I'm ready to hand him the ball on an SEC Sunday. I actually thought Foster settled in ok after the first inning but he just came out of the gate flat, and you can't have that on Sundays in this league. McPherson worked around some early trouble but kind of fell apart in the 4th. I still think he will be fine moving forward. He's done it in this league enough for me to look past one bad outing. People forget Khal Stephen got shelled by Ga Southern early in '24 and ended up 8-3 and one of the best pitchers in the league. I trust Parker will get McPherson right.

4. Reed Stallman will be the 1B until someone takes it from him. Probably had the best weekend of anyone outside of Ace.

5. The MIF is going to be something we need figured out sooner rather than later. It's obvious the staff is really high on both Gehrig Frei and Ryder Woodson. Woodson struggled all weekend at the plate and I think we'll see Wyers in the midweek. I don't necessarily think it means that Woodson is bad or we need to give up on him but it looked like he was trying to hit the Bryan Building with every swing. On Frei, I think Gatlin is a better 2B defensively and I think Wyers will get a look there in one of the games in the midweek, but I do think Gehrig will continue to get a majority of the ABs there. His bat was pretty good this weekend and we've seen what he can do.

6. I was really impressed with a couple of arms out of the pen this weekend. William Kirk was really damn impressive and I really wouldn't be shocked to see him draw a midweek start sometime in the near future. Also thought Jack Gleason and Maddox Webb pitched really well too. It looks like Ben Davis will be the closer moving forward and I think that's a good idea. I think he's got the stuff unless we think we can bring Bauer along and move him into that role later in the season and let Davis be the SU guy.

7. Overall we have a lot to clean up, but it feels better cleaning those up at 3-0 than 2-1. We would've lost that second game on Saturday the last two years.

8. I thought basketball played their most complete game since Oklahoma on Saturday. We controlled the game from the jump and Ole Miss was never closer than 3 after the 8 minute mark in the 1st half. They never trailed by less 12 in the second half. Achor Achor getting hot early forced OM to make a change defensively and stop basically tripling Hubbard every time he touched it. Once they did that, it was over. Hubbard lit them up.

9. When we let Josh be Josh and we can get 2 more guys to get us 12-18 points, we are really dangerous. We got exactly that on Saturday with Epps getting 12, on a really bad shooting performance from him, and Achor giving us 18. I am not proclaiming that we're about to turn the corner and win 6 straight to close the year. But I do think 4 of the last 6 is very gettable. Which would be absolutely hilarious because we'd finish 8-10, which is the same record we've finished with in conference EVERY YEAR under Jans.

10. The New Mexico, USF, and SMU losses are what did this team in. And the Kansas St loss looks worse and worse. New Mexico and SMU would've both been Q1 wins and we had both of those on the racket. USF was because Josh goes down.

11. The next 120 days are MASSIVE for Jans and Co. He needs to hold on to Hubbard, JDF, Macura, King, and probably Tee Bartlett. Everyone else needs to hit the road. With those guys and a really good Freshman class coming in, we shouldn't have to go so portal heavy this offseason. We still need a big guard to play with Hubbard, a big who can stretch the floor, and 2 three and D guys but we don't need as many guys as we needed last year. Jans also needs to reevaluate the staff outside of Brooks and Anwar.

12. Softball, although early, looks really good right now. 10-0 and it looks to be Ricketts' best team she's had since she's been here. They don't get a lot of press or notoriety, but it's extremely impressive what Ricketts and Tyler Bratton have built on the softball side. Tyler is one of the best recruiters in the softball world and Ricketts has really done a great job of elevating that program well past where we ever were under Jay Miller or Vann Stuedeman.

Sweeny was really good in game 2. Foster was over throwing a little when he backed of a touch and he settled in some. Frei was good as was Woodson minus the first play they hit each other. Davis is going to close games, the 2 seam FB along with his sinker are just gross, good thing is we have more than one if we have to extend one of them. Bauer looks to be a mid week arm, we should see him Tuesday or Wednesday. One of the great things I saw was we have 3 true freshmen that are backing up at 3b Frontino who is going to be really good, Mershon in CF, and Parker in RF.

[Coach34]

We have to keep in mind that McPh and Foster are stepping into new roles and may take a little time to relax in those new roles. Val got alot of experience last season as a SP and you could see the difference.
Bauer is not being groomed to be a closer. They just want him to consistently throw strikes right now.
Stallman has a year of SEC baseball under his belt and looks like he has taken the next step as a player.
Agree Woodson would be the 3B if not for Ace being here
I think the new Va guys were pressing a little and should settle on in eventually. They arent used to crowds of 12K (new opening day record) on the reg and will adjust to embrace it.
Seton Hall was labeled big bat with ok D. He looked just the opposite on the weekend. James def needs work defensively but certainly has the tools.

People need to relax and realize this Hofstra team wasnt too bad. They didnt make many errors and had some good AB's. We'll be fine as our new guys get experience and grow as players

[Coach34]

Davis is going to close games, the 2 seam FB along with his sinker are just gross,

Greg Maddux used to start his 88 mph FB at a lefty's hip and it would break back over the inside corner for a strike. Davis was doing the same thing Friday throwing 97. Nasty

[Coursesuper]

Greg Maddux used to start his 88 mph FB at a lefty's hip and it would break back over the inside corner for a strike. Davis was doing the same thing Friday throwing 97. Nasty

It was fun to watch for sure. That pitch with his sinker, that comes at 91, is a brutal combo. I thought that Stone's change was really good, even better that its coming at 89 to 87, he just need more innings.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

We have to keep in mind that McPh and Foster are stepping into new roles and may take a little time to relax in those new roles. Val got alot of experience last season as a SP and you could see the difference.
Bauer is not being groomed to be a closer. They just want him to consistently throw strikes right now.
Stallman has a year of SEC baseball under his belt and looks like he has taken the next step as a player.
Agree Woodson would be the 3B if not for Ace being here
I think the new Va guys were pressing a little and should settle on in eventually. They arent used to crowds of 12K (new opening day record) on the reg and will adjust to embrace it.
Seton Hall was labeled big bat with ok D. He looked just the opposite on the weekend. James def needs work defensively but certainly has the tools.

People need to relax and realize this Hofstra team wasnt too bad. They didnt make many errors and had some good AB's. We'll be fine as our new guys get experience and grow as players

Very good points. You mention that the new guys were pressing and will settle in. I agree. Sometimes when guys transfer in and then start, they push too hard to prove something immediately. Baseball is a game where you have to settle in.

And I agree that Val having so many innings last year really helped him. Foster and McPherson need time. It will come. And if one of them doesn't perform, then someone takes the spot. That's life. But I'm not ready to judge Foster off of one start. The first series is always screwed up because guys are so ready to play meaningful games after months of practice, scrimmages, summer league, etc. They often try to do too much. They struggle to relax and just play the game.

[R2Dawg]

Even though I didn't get to see enough of baseball, I like what I saw so far. I'm sure some of the transfers were juiced with that opening day crowd - who wouldn't be.

[Activated Alpha]

We have to keep in mind that McPh and Foster are stepping into new roles and may take a little time to relax in those new roles. Val got alot of experience last season as a SP and you could see the difference.
Bauer is not being groomed to be a closer. They just want him to consistently throw strikes right now.
Stallman has a year of SEC baseball under his belt and looks like he has taken the next step as a player.
Agree Woodson would be the 3B if not for Ace being here
I think the new Va guys were pressing a little and should settle on in eventually. They arent used to crowds of 12K (new opening day record) on the reg and will adjust to embrace it.
Seton Hall was labeled big bat with ok D. He looked just the opposite on the weekend. James def needs work defensively but certainly has the tools.

People need to relax and realize this Hofstra team wasnt too bad. They didnt make many errors and had some good AB's. We'll be fine as our new guys get experience and grow as players

That 2B for Hofstra was like a black hole. Couldn't get anything past him

[The Federalist Engineer]

FYI

Jackson Logar was a starter for James Madison last year. He 2 hit Troy when the Trojans were good. 7 innings, 9k, 0 Runs, and 3 bb.

Seems like an interesting moment to roll him out.

[Todd4State]

I thought McPherson did fine. Most of their hits were BS off the end of the bars that found grass.

BOC described Hofstra perfectly when he said they were pesky. I don't think they are a regional team because they're in a one bid league and have to win the conference tournament probably. But they're not horrible. Delaware is probably worse than they are if I had to guess. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a run rule or two this upcoming weekend.

I'm looking forward to midweek to see even more guys play.


I'm not too worried about Foster yet but

[Coach34]

Stone getting the start tomorrow

[Todd4State]

Stone getting the start tomorrow

I like him better as a starting pitcher. Need to see what he can do in case we have to move Foster.

[AlSwearengen]

I only got to see bits of Foster and missed the 1st when he gave up a HR but the parts that I saw, he looked ok. Was the first inning his worst part? What was the problem; wild? How did he do aside from the first inning?

[Coursesuper]

I only got to see bits of Foster and missed the 1st when he gave up a HR but the parts that I saw, he looked ok. Was the first inning his worst part? What was the problem; wild? How did he do aside from the first inning?

Yes, first inning was rough, he was overthrowing and struggling to find the zone. He backed off a little and settled in some.