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Thread: MSU Baseball Draft Thoughts

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    Senior Member Todd4State's Avatar
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    MSU Baseball Draft Thoughts

    Really good day for our program. We got 4-5 top 200 draft prospects in this class and three UA All-Americans. That's a REALLY good class. Sort of reminds me of 2015 in that this is a changing of the guard type class for us. Coming off of a very similar season too. After the draft- this is easily a top five class.

    Getting Jarrengelo Clijinte and Bradley Loftin was absolutely huge for us. Both have a chance to be front line SEC starters. Clijinte will bring a lot of attention because of the fact that he is ambidextrous. Loftin has a chance to be a first rounder for us. Evan Siary may end up being a steal for us. He has had some health issues but he could be another steal in this class. He could also end up being like CC Watson and never get healthy. I also like Will Gibbs and Max Miller too. Both have a chance to be rotation guys for us and are very good pitchers. I like adding Logan Forsythe- he was at one time thought to potentially be the best player in the state his 9th grade year, as well as McLain Ray and Austin Tommasinni and Brock Tapper all from strong programs in Mississippi. That's a good core to build a solid bullpen around.

    Highfill is our catcher of the future. He'll catch some this year and then take over completely as a sophomore. Bryce Hubbard is another good prospect at catcher too- I wouldn't be surprised if he moves to another position like Hunter Stovall or Luke Hancock to get his bat in the lineup.

    We lost Jett Williams and Jackson Parker but David Mershon is a really good defensive shortstop/second base prospect from a baseball family and Jay Murdock has a ton of power and reminds me of Bruce Castoria. My question is whether he can play third base or not with Hines and our other potential first base prospects coming in? Murdock I think will be a fan favorite by the time he leaves. We have some good MIF prospects in the next class like Ethan Pulliam that we can pair up with this class.

    Getting Dakota Jordan to school was huge. I was a little worried about him going in the draft once he dropped football. He can play any outfield spot for us and may start next year. Hollis Porter is super athletic and could be a surprise player for some people. Bryce Chance essentially falls to this class after he redshirted and I think he could play outfield for us.

    Getting Colby Holcombe was huge for us. Hopefully he is the anti- Andrew Walling and becomes a front line ace for us. Foxhall is on the clock here after the Walling disaster. Another year of massive injuries and lack of development - see Fristoe and KC Hunt- then I can't see how we keep him. There is too much talent here for "coincidence" to happen.

    The players drafted- I've heard that there is still a chance that we keep Hunt, Kam James, and Hancock. If we get Brandon Smith back that's also a good thing. The others are basically signing. Congrats to RJ Yeager for signing with the Cardinals! I wouldn't be shocked if he makes it. Going to be interesting to see if NIL gets involved with some of these veterans and helps us keep them.

    We've done very well in the portal. Losing Bill Knight stings some- but worst case scenario we're looking at Dakota Jordan starting in CF/LF with Ledbetter starting CF/LF and Slate Alford at third. If Kam James comes back we can now start him in the OF- I would go with LF with Ledbetter in CF in that situation. We still may pull the trigger on Ethan Groff too. Aaron Nixon, Ledbetter, and Ahmani Larry are going to fill major holes for us next year. I think we add 3-4 more players from the portal depending on how things go with some of our veterans.

    We still are in Ok shape with Paul Skenes who is going to visit Arkansas and Oregon State over the next two weeks. Don't expect anything on that front until August. Expect some names to pop up later this week too. I don't think Lemonis is going to play around very much with the portal.

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    Thanks Todd.

    I am on family vacation this week with the kids not letting me look into sports. I'm now the Griswold dad.

    Seems that MLB went strong for College kids. Feels more than usual. Tennessee lost None. Ole Miss lost 2 but keeping a monster class of top-200 players. Arkansas just losing 1. LSU had a ridiculous class that should have been shredded by the draft - but they are keeping the very impressive core. TAMU lost nothing but not a huge class. Vandy lost the fantasy talent like Dru Jones, but still impressive

    SEC baseball is going to be 1/2 of the MLB 1st and 2nd round from here out if this continues.

    MSU will need portal supplements big time to compete with these incredible arsenals of talent in the SEC.
    Last edited by The Federalist Engineer; 07-20-2022 at 04:20 AM.

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    Senior Member basedog's Avatar
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    Competition is a good thing, out with the old and in with the new. Seems MLB teams aren't throwing money around like they used to. Times are changing fast in sports. I don't see any drafted guys coming back.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer View Post
    Thanks Todd.

    I am on family vacation this week with the kids not letting me look into sports. I'm now the Griswold dad.

    Seems that MLB went strong for College kids. Feels more than usual. Tennessee lost None. Ole Miss lost 2 but keeping a monster class of top-200 players. Arkansas just losing 1. LSU had a ridiculous class that should have been shredded by the draft - but they are keeping the very impressive core. TAMU lost nothing but not a huge class. Vandy lost the fantasy talent like Dru Jones, but still impressive

    SEC baseball is going to be 1/2 of the MLB 1st and 2nd round from here out if this continues.

    MSU will need portal supplements big time to compete with these incredible arsenals of talent in the SEC.

    Yeah. State fans seem to live in such a vacuum that they probably have no idea that any of this happened and will be wondering why we aren’t dominating every year. Everyone was was hooting and hollering b/c we were going to have NIL for baseball. Who thought lsu, olemiss, Arkansas, etc was going to let MSU outspend them? In this new day and age of sports, we are going to be fighting tooth and nail and won’t be dominating anything on a regular basis.

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    Senior Member TNDawg35's Avatar
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    Vandy had 8 top 100, they will keep 2
    LSU had 11 top 100, they will keep 6
    State had 5 and we will keep 4 of them.

    Other than LSU’s 6 we have more top 100 kids coming in than any other school in the nation.

    This class is well built along with the portal pick ups and I’m hearing we’re far from done. Everyone was waiting on the draft.

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    Really good information. Thank You !!!

    As the roster looks to be now, it should be well setup for the future. Add a couple more, this team could be in Omaha again next year. Once you get there, it's the hot team.

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    Siary is a interesting thing. He was 92-93 when he committed. He was hurt this year and wasnt close to his former self. Sat at 86-88 topped at 91 and that was once in the 3/4 times I saw him. Either getting a boom or bust.
    I think James is gone, hunt is more than likely gone, and Hancock, as I was told isn't sure what he wants to do. Also don't think Brandon smith is back either.

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    Quote Originally Posted by AlSwearengen View Post
    Yeah. State fans seem to live in such a vacuum that they probably have no idea that any of this happened and will be wondering why we aren’t dominating every year. Everyone was was hooting and hollering b/c we were going to have NIL for baseball. Who thought lsu, olemiss, Arkansas, etc was going to let MSU outspend them? In this new day and age of sports, we are going to be fighting tooth and nail and won’t be dominating anything on a regular basis.
    So all sports are basically to be given up on now at MSU. Thanks for the heads up*********

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hot Rock View Post
    Really good information. Thank You !!!

    As the roster looks to be now, it should be well setup for the future. Add a couple more, this team could be in Omaha again next year. Once you get there, it's the hot team.
    Better hope all these new pieces can become a "team" very quickly. Hail State!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pancho View Post
    So all sports are basically to be given up on now at MSU. Thanks for the heads up*********
    Not at all. I just hate to hear hot seat talk from the fan base after one bad season, especially with all of the intricacies of baseball recruiting, roster turnover, and the draft. Add NIL and the transfer portal to the mix and there are bound to be swings from season to season and the fans need to get a grip on that and that even though we have facilities and fan support, most everyone else in the conference does as well.
    Last edited by AlSwearengen; 07-20-2022 at 04:56 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by AlSwearengen View Post
    Not at all. I just hate to hear hot seat talk from the fan base after one bad season, especially with all of the intricacies of baseball recruiting, roster turnover, and the draft. Add NIL and the transfer portal to the mix and there are bound to be swings from season to season and the fans need to get a grip on that and that even though we have facilities and fan support, most everyone else in the conference does as well.
    From National Champion to last in the West and not even making Hoover was far more than a "bad season". Hope our 2023 season is a successful rebuild.

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    i think all involved from Lemo on down are fully aware and engaged for the challenge.

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    Quote Originally Posted by basedog View Post
    Competition is a good thing, out with the old and in with the new. Seems MLB teams aren't throwing money around like they used to. Times are changing fast in sports. I don't see any drafted guys coming back.
    Hunt is probably the only one even remotely considering it and he's still probably gone. James is gone.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cooterpoot View Post
    Hunt is probably the only one even remotely considering it and he's still probably gone. James is gone.
    Is James being encouraged to leave?

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    Senior Member Todd4State's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Homedawg View Post
    Siary is a interesting thing. He was 92-93 when he committed. He was hurt this year and wasnt close to his former self. Sat at 86-88 topped at 91 and that was once in the 3/4 times I saw him. Either getting a boom or bust.
    I think James is gone, hunt is more than likely gone, and Hancock, as I was told isn't sure what he wants to do. Also don't think Brandon smith is back either.
    I get guys not wanting to come back.

    Most of them have been to Omaha multiple times, won a National Championship and have left their mark on the program. And then this year had to have been absolutely frustrating and I'm sure they heard and dealt with fan complaints and things like that. And because of that Lemonis is putting almost every spot on the team up for grabs essentially and we're not done with the portal yet. Kam James for example- if he comes back he's going to have to compete with Alford for the third base job and then also fight in the outfield mix as well with Ledbetter, Dakota Jordan, Kellum Clark, and maybe even others. I think Kam would win a spot- but there is some degree of pressure also and not completely a given.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 662dawg View Post
    Is James being encouraged to leave?
    No. Of course not.

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    Senior Member Todd4State's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlSwearengen View Post
    Not at all. I just hate to hear hot seat talk from the fan base after one bad season, especially with all of the intricacies of baseball recruiting, roster turnover, and the draft. Add NIL and the transfer portal to the mix and there are bound to be swings from season to season and the fans need to get a grip on that and that even though we have facilities and fan support, most everyone else in the conference does as well.
    We've had it happen twice the past 10 years. That's very unacceptable to me. At the same time I will acknowledge that the highs were very, very, very high and the biggest highs we've ever had at MSU. I just think that MSU baseball shouldn't have seasons where we go 26-30. Not with what we have. Yes, everyone else has good facilities and most have some degree of good fan support- but only three schools in the SEC have that at the highest level in the SEC- Arkansas, LSU, and Mississippi State. I'm sorry- I'm not buying the multiple pitcher injuries as "bad luck".

    Quote Originally Posted by Goldendawg View Post
    From National Champion to last in the West and not even making Hoover was far more than a "bad season". Hope our 2023 season is a successful rebuild.
    Lemonis has responded well in the offseason. I think he rights the ship. He knows what is at stake and I can tell by the types of players we're bringing in that we're going to be more like what we saw from 2016-2021 as far as how we're built.

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    Senior Member maroonmania's Avatar
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    Curious as to what happened with Jackson Parker? He doesn't appear to have been drafted. Were there other issues with him?

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    I think he got a bit homesick and left campus and intends t transfer.

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    Quote Originally Posted by HoopsDawg View Post
    No. Of course not.
    Hmmm, iffy I think, but maybe not from the coaches. Unless he just loves college life and playing college ball, then come back, but if he wants to try for the big leagues, take the money now. Just saying.

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