Could Kyle Hann play SS?

[601Dawg]

Todd any particular reason you are so high on the JUCO catcher Cody Walker? His juco stats weren't very eye catching. I've been hearing nothing but good things on Daniel Gardner, what gives Walker the edge?

[Goat Holder]

Sure he can. He'll make a big jump this year. Hann and Britton both could play SS or 3B.

Obviously Cohen is going to give everyone chances, including the incoming freshmen and JUCOs. But I still think that the only real competition in the field is going to be at catcher, barring some crazy coming out party by maybe Vickerson or Humphreys.

[maroonmania]

Sure he can. He'll make a big jump this year. Hann and Britton both could play SS or 3B.

Obviously Cohen is going to give everyone chances, including the incoming freshmen and JUCOs. But I still think that the only real competition in the field is going to be at catcher, barring some crazy coming out party by maybe Vickerson or Humphreys.

The one thing in my mind that continues to bother me about Britton is that IF he has really improved that much with the glove and with the bat then I don't understand why he couldn't get at least some playing time at 3rd base this year given the problems we had over there with Detz's fielding and Frost's throwing. Hann I can understand because he was just a true freshman adjusting to a new level of play.

[CadaverDawg]

How does this look....

Detz DH
Bradford CF
Pirtle 2B
Rea 1B
Garner C
Britton/Humphries 3B
Hann SS
Henderson RF
Robson LF

Friday - Woodruff
Saturday - Lindgren
Sunday - Young

Midweek - Hudson/Fitts

[maroonmania]

How does this look....

Detz DH
Bradford CF
Pirtle 2B
Rea 1B
Garner C
Britton/Humphries 3B
Hann SS
Henderson RF
Robson LF

Friday - Woodruff
Saturday - Lindgren
Sunday - Young

Midweek - Hudson/Fitts

Personally I think Lindgren and Woodruff have a lot to prove this Fall to get the Fri/Sat slots in the pitching rotation. How Woodruff comes back from surgery is an unknown and the Staff lost so much confidence in Lindgren that we never saw him again after the SEC tournament semifinal game. However, given that Graveman and Pollo are gone it appears our ENTIRE weekend rotation is anyone's guess at this point.

[Goat Holder]

Simply put, because better, older hitters were available (Detz/Porter/Norris/Frost). Now he's a year older, and over that atrocious freshman season he had where we were forced to play him because we had no one else. Plus, I thought he was always pretty good with the glove, even then. Our infield defense is most definitely going to upgrade next season.

Remember, he was as big of a recruit as really anyone we've had in those classes. We need to keep that in mind when we anoint incoming freshmen as starters based on HS hype/stats.

[Goat Holder]

How the pitchers develop is anyone's guess but I am still predicting the only real big battle will be at catcher among 4 guys (Collins/Garner/Randolph/Walker).

[ShotgunDawg]

It's going to be Hann, Britton, or Pirtle next year- Humphries in all likelihood won't be ready or will play 3rd...hell, he could even be moved to RF possibly

Humphries will play 3rd. I've heard comparison to Evan Longoria. He would have likely gone in the top 2 rounds of the draft had he not been hurt most of the year with Tommy John

[messageboardsuperhero]

Humphries will play 3rd. I've heard comparison to Evan Longoria. He would have likely gone in the top 2 rounds of the draft had he not been hurt most of the year with Tommy John

Humphreys at third, Hann and Pirtle as middle IF, and Big Wes at first... That's a pretty damn good infield. With the speed we have in the outfield and the pitching staff we will have next year, scoring runs on us next season will not be easy.

And Todd, I agree that we need to find a little more power. Wes is the only consistent HR threat in the lineup, but we do have guys like Pirtle, Hann, Humpreys, and the catchers who can hit some out. Luckily for us, in this age of college baseball, you don't have to hit very many HRs to score runs. We do need to make up for the loss in power with baserunning and handling the bats well, and we do have a lot of guys who can execute at the plate so I'm not too concerned about our offense next season. Everyone in the lineup can hit .280 or above, and with the exception of 2012, Cohen has always found ways to score runs... Hell, even in 2012, with half the starting lineup hurt and the inexperience problems, we did score enough to win plenty of games. And I don't think anyone disputes that the offense next year will be better than the offense that year, if we can stay away from the injuries that plagued us in 2012.

[maroonmania]

Humphries will play 3rd. I've heard comparison to Evan Longoria. He would have likely gone in the top 2 rounds of the draft had he not been hurt most of the year with Tommy John

Well as long as the comparisons are to Evan Longoria and not Eva Longoria then its all good.

[Todd4State]

Todd any particular reason you are so high on the JUCO catcher Cody Walker? His juco stats weren't very eye catching. I've been hearing nothing but good things on Daniel Gardner, what gives Walker the edge?

It's more my personal guess as to who I think will start based on what Cohen has done in the past rather than me being high on his ability. But I think he starts because of experience more than anything. Cohen has shown that he doesn't mind putting a catcher out there that isn't exactly the best hitter in the world if he handles the pitching staff well. I don't totally disagree with that stance, although in a perfect world you would have a guy like Ed Easley out there.

I think Garner has a much higher upside and ceiling than Walker- as does Gavin Collins for that matter as well. I will say that one of the few things I did not understand last year was not playing Garner at least some knowing we had two senior catchers. Especially since he could be drafted after his third year at MSU. And even moreso after Slauter got hurt.

If Garner beats out Walker as the starting catcher, that's a very good thing for us. That means they feel like he can handle the pitching staff and hit as well.

[Todd4State]

The one thing in my mind that continues to bother me about Britton is that IF he has really improved that much with the glove and with the bat then I don't understand why he couldn't get at least some playing time at 3rd base this year given the problems we had over there with Detz's fielding and Frost's throwing. Hann I can understand because he was just a true freshman adjusting to a new level of play.

Two reasons:

1. We already had two left handed hitting options in Detz and Frost playing third base. Britton would not have been an offensive upgrade over either. Britton is more of a middle infielder- he would have been just as out of position as the others.

2. His offense in practice at least didn't start to pick up until late in the year.

[Todd4State]

Personally I think Lindgren and Woodruff have a lot to prove this Fall to get the Fri/Sat slots in the pitching rotation. How Woodruff comes back from surgery is an unknown and the Staff lost so much confidence in Lindgren that we never saw him again after the SEC tournament semifinal game. However, given that Graveman and Pollo are gone it appears our ENTIRE weekend rotation is anyone's guess at this point.

I understand your concerns. Using my medical background I can say this-I feel very confident that Woodruff will recover 100%. We're very lucky we caught that fracture. There's a gruesome video of pitchers breaking their arms throwing a baseball on youtube. NONE have ever recovered. Jay Powell was one of the guys who had his career end that way. But since we caught it before his arm broke in half- which is where things were headed before we caught it- he should be OK.

Lindgren I also understand but so far he has looked good in his Cape Cod League outings. It's still a question mark, but I think he will be fine.

Even if they don't work out, we have Paul Young coming in, who I think is going to be a weekend starter anyway. Young was drafted in the 21st round by the Indians and had offers from LSU, Florida State, and Ole Miss. We have Trevor Fitts who I think will take a big step forward next year, and we also have Dakota Hudson coming in as well. All of those guys will be candidates to start regardless. We just have to find three that can do it.

Basically, four out of our five candidates were drafted by MLB at some point in their amateur career. Our starting pitching should be a big strength next year.

[Todd4State]

Humphreys at third, Hann and Pirtle as middle IF, and Big Wes at first... That's a pretty damn good infield. With the speed we have in the outfield and the pitching staff we will have next year, scoring runs on us next season will not be easy.

And Todd, I agree that we need to find a little more power. Wes is the only consistent HR threat in the lineup, but we do have guys like Pirtle, Hann, Humpreys, and the catchers who can hit some out. Luckily for us, in this age of college baseball, you don't have to hit very many HRs to score runs. We do need to make up for the loss in power with baserunning and handling the bats well, and we do have a lot of guys who can execute at the plate so I'm not too concerned about our offense next season. Everyone in the lineup can hit .280 or above, and with the exception of 2012, Cohen has always found ways to score runs... Hell, even in 2012, with half the starting lineup hurt and the inexperience problems, we did score enough to win plenty of games. And I don't think anyone disputes that the offense next year will be better than the offense that year, if we can stay away from the injuries that plagued us in 2012.

I totally agree about the offense. We may not have as much power, but I would not be surprised if we are just as good or even better on offense. We are just going to have to score runs a different way than we did in 2013. I think improving our starting pitching will help too. We had to let Lindgren, Pollo and Fitts give up a couple of runs before pulling them- and as a result we were behind a lot of the time. Of course we were good enough to overcome it most of the time.

[maroonmania]

Basically, four out of our five candidates were drafted by MLB at some point in their amateur career. Our starting pitching should be a big strength next year.

All of what you say is true and hopefully pitching will be a strength again next year for us with much more reliable STARTING pitching mixed in. But I will say that I don't know that saying we have pitchers that have been drafted is always that big of a plus (see Evan Mitchell and Devin Jones).

[Todd4State]

All of what you say is true and hopefully pitching will be a strength again next year for us with much more reliable STARTING pitching mixed in. But I will say that I don't know that saying we have pitchers that have been drafted is always that big of a plus (see Evan Mitchell and Devin Jones).

Evan actually wasn't drafted out of high school. Devin was drafted out of high school, but he was drafted very late and it was simply because he could throw hard. Also, I think Devin had the misfortune of being on some MSU teams that were in transition and the attitude of those teams in general wasn't always where it needed to be and I think that affected him negatively as a player. Devin was also drafted before the slot system, and honestly, I don't think he would have been drafted out of high school under the current system.

If things go the way I think they will- we will start a 5th round pick, a 12th round pick, and a 21st round pick. We could have three starters that can throw pretty consistently in the 90's with their fastball, and I don't know if that has ever happened at MSU.

[WeWillScrewItUp]

Hann is playing some good ball this summer. Does anyone know how good the competition is in the league he is in. He stole home today. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RHHLY0j...ure%3Dyoutu.be

[Todd4State]

Hann is playing some good ball this summer. Does anyone know how good the competition is in the league he is in. He stole home today. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RHHLY0j...ure%3Dyoutu.be

It's a league for freshmen. It's not the highest level of competition in the world, but that's not that big of a deal. The important thing is he is getting at bats, playing in the field and he is playing well. Even though it's not the Cape Cod League, he will benefit from this experience and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he ends up in the Cape next year if he has the year that I think he might have.

[messageboardsuperhero]

It's not the highest competition level, but it's better than plenty of other leagues. Like Todd said, the competition isn't the most important thing for Hann this summer; he saw plenty of good pitching this year. Hann needs at-bats and live game reps, and this confidence boost will be the best thing that he can gain going into next year.