I can't wait until we get healthy

[Todd4State]

Hopefully the baseball gods will give us a break for once during Cohen's tenure and we will see:

C- Collins, although Lovelady has emerged as the back up.
1B- Rea hitting behind Robson.
2B- Gridley. Really like him a lot. Brett Pirtle 2.0
3B- Matt Spruill. Britton isn't handling the competition very well.
SS- Heck
LF- Humphreys
CF- Robson
RF- Smith
DH- Holland I guess, but I really like Rooker

Now we just have to figure out our rotation, and playing Alabama A&M isn't going to tell us much.

[Dawg496]

Damn if Preston can just give us 6 every week and a second starter can emerge, this will be Cohen's best team. You can tell we are very talented everywhere on the field.

[Todd4State]

Yeah- and I think that second starter is Laster. Biggest thing I disagree with him right now on is Sexton over Tatum. Our bullpen is strong so it's not imperative that we get 7-9 every night.

[Dawg496]

You'd rather Tatum start? He's a major part of the reason that the pen is so strong as you alluded to.

[smootness]

Holland is going to play, and I can't imagine it will be at DH.

I think he'll play over Gridley or Spruill/Reynolds, depending on who performs better among those. But Holland is going to play; he's too good not to.

I think on most days, you'll see:

C - Collins
1B - Rea
2B - Holland
SS - Heck
3B - Reynolds/Spruill
LF - Vickerson/Brown
CF - Robson
RF - Smith
DH - Humphreys

And on days when Humphreys plays LF, I think you'll see Rooker DH.

I do hope that Holland and Gridley both play, though, and Reynolds and Spruill don't see as much time.

The key to this team is going to be the fact that there are no easy outs in the lineup; everybody can hit. That's far more important than having a couple of huge studs.

[MsStateBaseball]

Gridley is good, starter next year. But against Florida and South Carolina, I'm going w Holland at 2B. SEC is a war.

[Ralph]

I can't see Holland not playing defense. He's too good.

[preachermatt83]

I can't see Holland not playing defense. He's too good.

As long as it's not first base eh?

[preachermatt83]

You'd rather Tatum start? He's a major part of the reason that the pen is so strong as you alluded to.

Absolutely Tatum should be a weekend starter. No question. The pen will be fine with Sexton, brown, Hudson, Houston, Ross, and fitts.

[smootness]

I think Daniel Brown will be the shut-down guy out of the pen. How does Cohen find these guys?

[msstate7]

I'm ready to see Paul young

[Todd4State]

You'd rather Tatum start? He's a major part of the reason that the pen is so strong as you alluded to.

Yes. I think he can give us six and save the pen rather than someone giving up a couple of runs by the second or third inning before we shut them down.

[Todd4State]

We have good problems if we're talking about guys like Holland and Brown on the bench,

[messageboardsuperhero]

Totally agree. I think the injuries have made us a little vulnerable right now, but when we get Collins, Smith, and Rea healthy and locked in- our offense is going to be deep and tough to navigate 1-9... To think that Michael Smith may have to hit in the bottom 1/3 of the order is exciting. The only position I've been disappointed with is 3rd base. Austin Riley could start for us right now if he was here.

Lovelady is doing great for us right now and will be a very servicable backup for the next two years behind Collins.

And add Paul Young to the mix? He could make our staff much better. Basically, we've been pretty solid so far, IMO- but our ceiling is much much higher than what we've seen thus far.

[messageboardsuperhero]

One thing I totally didn't understand with the lineup today was starting Vickerson over Cody Brown... Brown is clearly the better player IMO, and both bat from the left side.

[Todd4State]

Austin Riley will start for us next year if he comes to school.

[Todd4State]

One thing I totally didn't understand with the lineup today was starting Vickerson over Cody Brown... Brown is clearly the better player IMO, and both bat from the left side.

Vickerson's day was just as rough as Britton IMO. Taking called strikes and giving away at bats until Rooker came in and bailed him out.

[smootness]

One thing I totally didn't understand with the lineup today was starting Vickerson over Cody Brown... Brown is clearly the better player IMO, and both bat from the left side.

If there is a difference between the two, it's fairly negligible.

Their numbers were similar last year, and Vickerson ended the year playing very well. I don't really care which one we play, they both are pretty good players who bring some good things to the table.

[Todd4State]

Let me amend a thought about Tatum. If Sexton does well next week against Samford, I would be all for a rotation of Preston, Tatum, and Sexton with Laster in the bullpen.

[BiscuitEater]

Cohan has the chance to get players some time to get comfortable so they can contribute later if needed. Win-win situation. Gridley and Spruill looked good out there.