Baseball thoughts

[Todd4State]

I am extremely disappointed with how the season ended and I am disappointed that we have had to scuffle so much to even get to where we are. I guess the good thing is we are talking about scuffling to get to a championship.

I know the team is disappointed too. But I do think that there are some good teaching points from this regular season for our team and I expect that they will take this with them into the offseason when that time comes.

One of the first is take care of your business against teams you need to take care of business against. We should be able to start our JV and beat Holy Cross.

Another one is when you have a lot of success, you are going to get everyone's best and therefore you have have to elevate your play to match the other team's intensity. I think we learned that the hard way against LSU and Ole Miss this year. I expect different results next year from us against those two teams in particular.

If you do those first two things, then you won't have to rely on someone like Texas A&M or Auburn to take care of business for you. So, the other lesson is to put ourselves in a position to control our own destiny. And you do that by winning.

Things were not all bad. We should be a two seed this year. I think we had a tough situation because of injuries and some guys not being able to step up and some defensive issues at catcher- but we still managed to find a way to be playing for the West on the last day of the season. Compare that to Cohen's first two years. At the end of Cohen's second year, I was hoping we could find a way to .500 in the SEC and have a chance to be a 2 seed.

Our pitching has been very good at the end here. The only thing I see that we need to do is SHUT DOWN Preston Brown. We need to quit hoping that he's going to magically come back to his early season form. He has an injury and he needs to get better. I don't care if he gets in the bullpen and looks like the second coming of Roger Clemens- we need to shut him down. The thing that is encouraging about our pitching to me is we will likely have at least three seniors on our staff next year- Fitts who I expect to continue to be better and go deeper into games, Ross, and Luke Laster who has really impressed me and keeps getting better and better. I think Woodruff likely comes back- and as disappointing as he was this year, he has made strides. I think it's very reasonable to believe that there's a good chance he could finally reach his potential next year and might even be the ace. I think there is a good chance that Holder comes back- and that would be huge especially since it appears as if he has kind of re-invented himself into a possibly even nastier pitcher. I think Preston and Paul Young are wild cards at this point- but if they come back healthy they could be huge. I'm also hoping that Myles Gentry will step it up next year as well. I'm interested to see what JUCO pitcher Daniel Brown gives us next year.

As far as catcher- Gavin Collins should improve. He needs to become an asset as opposed to being a liability defensively- and he will get there. With him it's more about getting reps than anything. The staff should be more comfortable with him as well. And then we have two seniors backing him up in Randolph and Cody Walker. Chase Vallot is a draft risk at this point- but if he comes on board, he could certainly have an impact.

Wes Rea had a bad day today and he has had a disappointing year. He has also had many more good days. If he comes back next year- I think he will be an asset. If he doesn't, we are going to have a hole to fill at first base. We have some candidates like Humphreys, Garner, Rooker, etc. But right now if I had to choose- give me Rea back for a fifth year. Matthew Britton seems to get better and better every weekend. I think he could be really good next year and he will also be a senior.

Seth Heck has been solid and the only question is if we will have to move him to second or keep him at SS? He's hitting around .280 and I expect him to be even better next year. John Holland is a question mark, but he at least has ACC experience and started for a very good Florida State team, so he's maybe a smaller question mark than normal. Replacing Pirtle will be tough, but I think Holland can come close.

The outfield kind of depends on what Wes Rea does because I think if Rea comes back, we move Reid Humphreys to RF. I expect him to progress against RH pitching. Cody Brown is going to play and has done some good things. I hope Vickerson progresses like his brother did- Nick had a rough JR year at times before being pretty solid as a senior. I think Jacob Robson is a wild card. He had a nerve injury in his elbow that has pretty much ended his sophomore season. I think he is actually more talented than CT.

I think Garner will play some at DH and will give us a more traditional DH than what we have normally had to do this year. If we get Vallot, I think he will DH a good bit also.

Offensively we will be better- how do I know this? Because the seams are changing and because we are going to have a ton of seniors. Which means we will have experience. Look at Ole Miss this year offensively and compare them to Ole Miss last year. Experience in baseball usually = success. I expect us to have more power next year because Collins, Humphreys, and Garner are going to be further along. Add in Britton too. And that should help a guy like Wes Rea and give him some protection in the lineup. Even our worst case scenario with Rea leaving would still mean that we have at least two seniors on the infield, and at a bare minimum at least one in the outfield. And then we are going to have juniors at one of the middle infield spots, and third year sophomores at DH and CF. We may have to get a JUCO OF if Rea leaves or a JUCO first baseman because right now our worst case scenario in the outfield is Cody Brown and Vickerson- and then we may have to hope that Swinarski is ready which we don't know at this time. So, I imagine if for no other reason than depth purposes we will try to find a JUCO 1B/OF.

Regardless- with a senior laden pitching staff and a veteran team behind them, we should have a very good year next year. Unless we just have an absolute killer SEC schedule.

[cujo]

Why don't we know about Swinarski? I thought he was choosing betwen us and MLB.
With the RS year to mature, seems like he ought to be poised to be a hoss for us.

[msstate7]

If rea comes back hopefully he can do what bousfield did for OM this year. Auston had a terrible junior year also

[messageboardsuperhero]

If rea comes back hopefully he can do what bousfield did for OM this year. Auston had a terrible junior year also

If Rea does come back, I'd like to see him go play summer ball and work on his swing. He's never really had the opportunity to do that here, and I think he'd benefit greatly from it.

[messageboardsuperhero]

It is really frustrating to think how much better we could have been this year had Rea and Detz just made marginal improvements from last year to this year- instead they both regressed significantly. Clutch hitting and getting extra base hits were huge issues as well. It's crazy to think how much better we'd have been this year had we just gotten SLIGHTLY better timely hitting- we really were just a few hits away from being right there in the national seed conversation.

It's funny how people have been so disappointed with this team, but it really wasn't all that bad of a season. If you put a solid defensive catcher and the Wes Rea we saw in the postseason last year on this team, we'd be just about the best team in the conference. Oh well... Let's just move on to the postseason and focus on getting hot.

[I seen it dawg]

We are pretty good in spite of all the pains we had this year. Losing Pirtle is gonna hurt but we are going to be really damn good next yr. We are going to be much better offensively with all our young talent going to play summer and getting a yr older. I think 2 keys to us being a true national title contender next year is going to be the development of Collins (who I think is going to bust out next yr and become the star of our team) and the return of Holder. If he comes back I think we become one of the favorites to win the whole thing.

I think we have a ton of talent to fill in all the question mark spots but if he leaves we are going to have to find our new Girodo/Lindgren AND replace our closer. May have some growing pains there which could cause us an early season loss or 2 which we have to avoid to become a SR host which I think we can be.

[Jacksondevildog]

Rea needs to spend a little more time in the weight room and take it a little more serious. If he wants to play pro ball, they don't put up with that shit. TIFWIW.

[msstate7]

Rea needs to spend a little more time in the weight room and take it a little more serious. If he wants to play pro ball, they don't put up with that shit. TIFWIW.

If rea comes back, I'd like to see him shed about 20 lbs.

[CadaverDawg]

I've got a strange theory that I'd like to get you guys thoughts on...

I really like the fact that we are getting some good JUCO prospects, but I'm worried that it is affecting our leadership a bit. Last year, we had guys like Graveman, Frazier, Renfroe, etc, that had been in the program for a while and were comfortable as leaders. This year, we are relying on guys like Detz and Pirtle to be leaders, yet they've only been in the program 1 year so they probably still feel like rookies. Next year we will have guys like Heck, Vickerson, Holland, etc in the lineup who have very short tenures with us as well. I think it is imperative that we have guys like Britton, Rea, Holder, etc, stick around and develop into leaders. I was kinda expecting that from Rea this year but he disappointed me. And I know Britton will be back, but I wanted to mention the Seniors next year.

I really hope that Collins and Humphreys can lock themselves into full time starters next year so that we can have them as veteran leaders the following year. But unfortunately they will likely be gone after their Junior years, which is why I hate we wasted Reid this season for the most part.

Anyway, I just think we need to make sure we have a good group of Senior leaders rotating through for locker room and leadership purposes, and I hope our JUCO success isn't going to hurt one of the key proponents of a Championship team, which is what I feel like chemistry, locker room, and leadership are.

Does that make sense? Am I the only one that feels that way? If so, just ignore me.

Oh, and good write up, Todd. Thanks

[FFF]

I've got a strange theory that I'd like to get you guys thoughts on...

I really like the fact that we are getting some good JUCO prospects, but I'm worried that it is affecting our leadership a bit. Last year, we had guys like Graveman, Frazier, Renfroe, etc, that had been in the program for a while and were comfortable as leaders. This year, we are relying on guys like Detz and Pirtle to be leaders, yet they've only been in the program 1 year so they probably still feel like rookies. Next year we will have guys like Heck, Vickerson, Holland, etc in the lineup who have very short tenures with us as well. I think it is imperative that we have guys like Britton, Rea, Holder, etc, stick around and develop into leaders. I was kinda expecting that from Rea this year but he disappointed me. And I know Britton will be back, but I wanted to mention the Seniors next year.

I really hope that Collins and Humphreys can lock themselves into full time starters next year so that we can have them as veteran leaders the following year. But unfortunately they will likely be gone after their Junior years, which is why I hate we wasted Reid this season for the most part.

Anyway, I just think we need to make sure we have a good group of Senior leaders rotating through for locker room and leadership purposes, and I hope our JUCO success isn't going to hurt one of the key proponents of a Championship team, which is what I feel like chemistry, locker room, and leadership are.

Does that make sense? Am I the only one that feels that way? If so, just ignore me.

Oh, and good write up, Todd. Thanks

I completely agree with you, though. I hope this season helped our team realize that the honeymoon we had in Omaha last year is over and it taught us how to handle the trials that come with success, particularly the Holy Cross series. I was talking with some parents from Holy Cross behind us on Saturday and they said was the only thing their coach really wanted was to get their guys experience... to not worry about winning/losing. The Sunday game, from the very first pitch, was abundantly we gave no shits about being there and playing them and they, not only led, but maintained control throughout the game. This is a team whose only sub100 RPI wins were against us. As embarrassing as that was, it comes down to leadership taking control and not allowing that to happen. We were mentally more ready for WCU because we knew they were a good team... I think we completely and totally overlooked Holy Cross after we won the first game on Friday.

The only other complaint I have is about hitting. I would really like to see Cohen hire a good hitting coach to give us identity at the plate, particularly in approach. The only thing I know we like to do is try to get HBP, but that is not a reliable way to get on base and score runs. We particularly need help with RISP because the pitching changes with guys on base (pitchers pitch us backwards, etc.), as well as improvements in baserunning. Lastly, I know the feelings toward bunting, but we are trying to hit and run too much, particularly at inopportune times (see Game 2 Alabama... 8th inning, runners at first and second, no outs... we hit and run right to the third baseman. If there was EVER a time to bunt, it was there).

We have the pitching pieces in place and Butch is a guy we definitely need to keep, but even last year (I know what the numbers say), I just don't think we have ALL the offensive pieces in place we are capable of having.

[sbcmortgageman]

Rea will not get drafted. He will be back. Also, Brown had one pitch that hurt us. The walks ended up not leading to runs. As a team we should be able to overcome 1-2 runs. That's what's so frustrating.

[Todd4State]

Why don't we know about Swinarski? I thought he was choosing betwen us and MLB.
With the RS year to mature, seems like he ought to be poised to be a hoss for us.

He has zero SEC experience. Humphreys and Dakota Hudson were drafted by MLB and they were both guys that were role players at best for us. Cody Brown was also a redshirt freshman and we see the learning curve that he has had to make as well. In long run, redshirting him will benefit him down the line- but as of now he is an unknown.

[maroonmania]

Bottom line is Cohen HAS to get our offense fixed for next year or all of the same issues we have this year will be right back again. When any decent pitching effort can hold you to 3 runs or less then you have NO margin for error no matter how good your pitching staff is. As I just posted over in the Game 3 thread, Cohen had a reputation as a great hitting coach at one time but he certainly didn't show it this year. We could have easily lost several of the extra inning games we won this year that would have made us all a lot less happy than we even are now.

[Jacksondevildog]

I hate to make the comparison, but if Ole Miss can get their starting rotation set for the weekends, then we should be able to as well. We had problems this year, but until we get more consistent with our starters for the weekends, we will stay frustrated and underachieve. We have just been extremely lucky to have guys like holder, Lindgren, Mitchell and girodo the past two seasons coming out of the bullpen. For us to take the next step (national consistency), we need to have a guy who can step up on a Friday night and shove it up someone's ass. I'm tired of going to the bullpen on a Sunday after 3 batters.

[Bucky Dog]

It has been a team effort and also we have to hope that Cohen learns from his mistakes this year. He needs to settle on a solid lineup early on and quit over thinking the game and certain situations at times. I think it is good for us to be disappointed because that means we have raised our level of expectations for our program. I am never one to say that we made it to the finals last year and be happy with that. I want us to win a NC and I do believe Cohen can get it done.

[Jacksondevildog]

This cannot be stressed enough. We cannot play musical chairs with our lineup every freaking game either. Baseball is a rhythm game and hitters have to get in a rhythm. We don't have Harold Baines on the bench that can sit all week and come in and hit a double when it's 35 degrees.

Bottom line is Cohen HAS to get our offense fixed for next year or all of the same issues we have this year will be right back again. When any decent pitching effort can hold you to 3 runs or less then you have NO margin for error no matter how good your pitching staff is. As I just posted over in the Game 3 thread, Cohen had a reputation as a great hitting coach at one time but he certainly didn't show it this year. We could have easily lost several of the extra inning games we won this year that would have made us all a lot less happy than we even are now.

[I seen it dawg]

I've got a strange theory that I'd like to get you guys thoughts on...

I really like the fact that we are getting some good JUCO prospects, but I'm worried that it is affecting our leadership a bit. Last year, we had guys like Graveman, Frazier, Renfroe, etc, that had been in the program for a while and were comfortable as leaders. This year, we are relying on guys like Detz and Pirtle to be leaders, yet they've only been in the program 1 year so they probably still feel like rookies. Next year we will have guys like Heck, Vickerson, Holland, etc in the lineup who have very short tenures with us as well. I think it is imperative that we have guys like Britton, Rea, Holder, etc, stick around and develop into leaders. I was kinda expecting that from Rea this year but he disappointed me. And I know Britton will be back, but I wanted to mention the Seniors next year.

I really hope that Collins and Humphreys can lock themselves into full time starters next year so that we can have them as veteran leaders the following year. But unfortunately they will likely be gone after their Junior years, which is why I hate we wasted Reid this season for the most part.

Anyway, I just think we need to make sure we have a good group of Senior leaders rotating through for locker room and leadership purposes, and I hope our JUCO success isn't going to hurt one of the key proponents of a Championship team, which is what I feel like chemistry, locker room, and leadership are.

Does that make sense? Am I the only one that feels that way? If so, just ignore me.

Oh, and good write up, Todd. Thanks

Great take on it.

[Todd4State]

I've got a strange theory that I'd like to get you guys thoughts on...

I really like the fact that we are getting some good JUCO prospects, but I'm worried that it is affecting our leadership a bit. Last year, we had guys like Graveman, Frazier, Renfroe, etc, that had been in the program for a while and were comfortable as leaders. This year, we are relying on guys like Detz and Pirtle to be leaders, yet they've only been in the program 1 year so they probably still feel like rookies. Next year we will have guys like Heck, Vickerson, Holland, etc in the lineup who have very short tenures with us as well. I think it is imperative that we have guys like Britton, Rea, Holder, etc, stick around and develop into leaders. I was kinda expecting that from Rea this year but he disappointed me. And I know Britton will be back, but I wanted to mention the Seniors next year.

I really hope that Collins and Humphreys can lock themselves into full time starters next year so that we can have them as veteran leaders the following year. But unfortunately they will likely be gone after their Junior years, which is why I hate we wasted Reid this season for the most part.

Anyway, I just think we need to make sure we have a good group of Senior leaders rotating through for locker room and leadership purposes, and I hope our JUCO success isn't going to hurt one of the key proponents of a Championship team, which is what I feel like chemistry, locker room, and leadership are.

Does that make sense? Am I the only one that feels that way? If so, just ignore me.

Oh, and good write up, Todd. Thanks

I hate to blame Ron Polk for anything 6 years after the fact but the reason we have so many JUCO players is because our scholarship numbers were out of whack when Cohen took over. It takes some time to fix that- and the only ways you do that are by having guys go to MLB or bring in JUCO guys to speed up "good attrition" to get to the point where it's less of an issue. Our scholarship numbers being out of sorts is why we had a big class followed up by a really small one. We only have two JUCO's in our current class- Daniel Brown and John Holland.

Compare that to some of our other classes. Now that our numbers are more in line, we're going to focus more on high school talent and then get JUCO's to fill holes or find overlooked talent that can help us immediately.

I do think it could affect leadership if nothing else from an experience standpoint. The SEC is a jump from even some of the better JUCO leagues out there.

[MsStateBaseball]

I have no problem getting really good JC players. Some slip thru the cracks of scouts. This was the first class this year of really talented Fr. The next class w Burdick and Vallot will infuse better hitters also. Then we have Austin Riley and company. We will be having 1st rounders for years to come. The talent level will rise and so will our wins and expectations.

We learned about non conf scheduling this year. I predict more westerly teams coming in.

All this being said, to top it off, a new grandstand! Let's keep the pressure on Scott.

[Jacksondevildog]

You speak like you expect Vallot to make it to campus. I hope you are right.