JUCO pitcher from Florida commits to MSU

[Todd4State]

Pearson McMahan who is a RHP. He was drafted by the Pirates in the 19th round this year and his fastball runs between the 92-95 and tops out at 97. He's 6'3" and went 6-1 with 61 K's 25 BB's and 35 hits allowed in 42.1 IP.

I'd say that he is a draft risk.

[Thick]

That kid wants a Mississippi State of mind!***

[ZedFedder]

Yeah, Robbie on 247 said he can hit 96-97. We have had 3 huge juco gets this past week. If they get the fourth, Reynaldo Rivera, that will be an incredible haul.

[Todd4State]

Yeah, Robbie on 247 said he can hit 96-97. We have had 3 huge juco gets this past week. If they get the fourth, Reynaldo Rivera, that will be an incredible haul.

From what I understand that's what he tops out at. Still, mid 90's is MLB caliber velocity. Rivera is an OF from Florida who is originally from Puerto Rico that's a corner OF guy. He's 6'6" and if you add him in with Tanner Poole (6'4") and Cole Gordon (6'5") we're going to have a really big team physically. We'll still complain about our midgets though!

[Political Hack]

From what I understand that's what he tops out at. Still, mid 90's is MLB caliber velocity. Rivera is an OF from Florida who is originally from Puerto Rico that's a corner OF guy. He's 6'6" and if you add him in with Tanner Poole (6'4") and Cole Gordon (6'5") we're going to have a really big team physically. We'll still complain about our midgets though!

We'll be great at bunting with that kind of size.

[maroonmania]

Hey, this is some pretty good baseball recruiting by an athletic director.***

[messageboardsuperhero]

Not very many average sized human beings left on our club... That change in recruiting philosophy post 2012 many of us have been talking about is finally starting to show up on campus.

[ZedFedder]

Todd what shot do we have at Rivera?

[preachermatt83]

Good get. Do we have more JUCO commits this year and last than normal or is it just me?

[Todd4State]

We'll be great at bunting with that kind of size.

They'll never see it coming.

[Todd4State]

Todd what shot do we have at Rivera?

I think we have a good shot at getting him to commit. We'll see if he gets through the draft. One thing I heard Cohen say in an interview and I'm pretty sure it was David Murray that asked the question about recruiting and us going out to California last year and if they helped us recruit- Cohen said if we can get players to our campus and they see what we have and the atmosphere, that's usually the best recruiting tool we have.

Rivera officially visited last weekend with Pener and MacMahan the two JUCO guys that committed to us the past two days, so we'll see.

[Todd4State]

Good get. Do we have more JUCO commits this year and last than normal or is it just me?

I think it's about the same. It seems like our philosophy has changed the past two year with JUCO guys in that we have started to turn to them looking for power hitters more than anything because we haven't had as much luck getting our high school power hitting prospects through the draft. We also seem to like to find guys that transferred to a JUCO from another D-I program like a Lowe, Kruger, Vansau, or a Holland and have had some success doing that. Before the bats changed we were going after guys like Alex Detz and Seth Heck that were more contact hitter types.

The other thing is we try to get as many high school guys up front which makes sense because the JUCO guys aren't even in JUCO when we're getting commits from some of the high school guys. But then around this time we seem to try to fill in any gaps with JUCO guys. Jared Liebelt is a pitcher that started out at Villanova that's in a JUCO in Illinois and MacMahan is a pitcher that was drafted by the Pirates. They are two guys that could compete for a rotation spot next year for us or at least a significant part of the pitching staff which we need because we've lost some guys to Tommy John for a little while. Marshall Gilbert is a JUCO catcher that has shown some power and I know that we have been playing Dustin Skelton some at third base in scrimmages so he may figure in next year as well, although we seem pretty deep there to me with Marrero, Skelton, and probably Tyler Lasch and then Stovall could catch as well possibly. We may see Gilbert switch positions possibly but it's too soon to know. Alex Pener is a switch hitter who can play first or DH for us but again I think Cole Gordon will probably be back for his RS junior year. If we get Riviera that would be five JUCO commits if my math is right. I could see us possibly adding some more JUCO guys especially if they think it's someone that could help us out- and we may need to go after a JUCO third baseman if Bragg has a year like Lowe did- although at this way early point I think he comes back for his senior year.

We also have some freshmen that could be instant impact guys potentially if we get them through the draft- Owen Lovell, Jordan Anderson, Quenton Holmes who I think will go pro, and behind that group maybe Josh Hatcher, Chad Bryant, Bryce Hutchinson, Aaron Brown, Zane Stephens, and Jack Owen are all pretty good prospects who may or may not be instant impact but I think they will be pretty good players for us.

[BB30]

Using the JUCO system in baseball is extremely beneficial especially out of the good JUCO leagues. You can find a lot of late bloomers as well that grew late in high school and really started to develop their senior year/freshman year of college. Also, competition is pretty good, especially in Florida and Texas. A lot of those teams are loaded with draft prospects that didn't want to go to a 4 year and are just looking to up their draft stock. This helps kids make the transition to SEC ball a little easier than coming straight out of high school. The game has slowed down for them a bit so they can make more of an immediate impact.

[louisvilledawg]

We'll be great at bunting with that kind of size.

[Bully13]

This thread reminds me of why I'm not ready for Cohen to take another gig. Liking where he is for now just fine.

[RBritt]

What's the latest on the big Puerto Rican?

[Todd4State]

What's the latest on the big Puerto Rican?

He's going to take some visits. I still feel OK about him though. I think he is visiting Kentucky, Auburn, FIU, and maybe Alabama.