20 games into the season….

[57stratdawg]

MSU has the most losses (9) in the SEC, followed up by:

> 14th in Batting Average
> 12th in ERA
> 12th in Slugging
> 13th in OB%
> 12th in opponent BA
> 13th in Runs Allowed
> 14th in Saves (1)
> 13th in Wins (11)
> 11th in Walks Allowed (1 away from 14th)

Long Beach State is 8-6 since leaving Starkville and Tulane is 3-5 since our series.

This team looks like one of the worst MSU baseball teams in a decade. I don’t know what they can build off of struggling at the plate and on the mound. They have to get the bats going. I don’t see us suddenly developing a reliable staff of relievers. If neither happen, I could see this team missing the NCAA Tournament all together.

 

[PuebloDawg]

It would be a hard feat to accomplish considering the talent, but this team could go down as worst team this century, if we don’t win a SEC series.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I still can’t comprehend how we have so many supposedly D1 SEC pitchers that can’t throw a strike. Is it a miss in evaluating or bad coaching? From a hitting standpoint it appears the whole team are dead pull hitters, which is easy to pitch and defend against.

 

[maroonwhitedawg3dddd]

Yep we might've found our Coach O ! One great year then bam shitshow central!!

 

[muddawgs]

This can’t be. We have some of the biggest hitters in the league. I was told once we recruited bigger hitters instead of all these small baseball players, then we would be a really good hitting team. I also get tired of hearing how good a hitter Luke Hancock is. Dude hasn’t hit above .270 since his freshman year in limited action. He’s a dead pull hitter just like the rest of these guys. But hey I bet these guys exit velo is off the charts being dead pull hitters. You got to have guys that can hit to all fields or we will continue to struggle against decent pitching. As far as pitching goes, the only guys I have any faith in are Johnson, Cade Smith and Kohn. If Kohn had any defense yesterday, he has a good outing.

 

[Smoked Toag]

It's not that big of a deal. Everybody has a down year. Cohen in 2015, Van Horn in 2016. Sometimes it's just average, but injuries make it worse. Bianco in 2011 and 2017, it happens. Then we'll be back, as we have a lot of young talented players who are getting experience (or will eventually, depending on how the season ends).

The lack of strike throwing is concerning. But generally, it's just a matter of maturity.

The good news is, we should return the entire **coaching** staff again.

The people in this thread are likely the same bunch who bitches about 'average joes not having a seat in the new Dude'. At least it won't be as crowded going forward. *****, *****, *****, *****, *****. Many of them were calling Cohen a bum in 2009 and 2010 too. No ability to see the big picture at all.

Carry on, bitches.

ETA: coaching reference in bold

 

[Mr. Cook]

I can't "upvote" or "downvote" this as the data is the data at this point. However, your point on "building" is a good one. Late game collapses seem to be attributed to the bullpen (at least so far), and I'm not sure that bats just "catch fire"

The one stat we seem to okay in is fielding %age (2nd).

I said it in another thread: today is a must-win game

 

[peewee.sixpack]

Do we really have a young team. I thought the bulk of the team were returning players with a couple transfers.

 

[8dog]

Pitching can be excused to an extent. The injuries have now impacted the Saturday games at Tulane and at Georgia. Although I question some of the decision making in those games. The biggest issue hitting wise is counting on 3 veteran guys who just havent upped their production. And i just wonder what the ceiling is for some of them. But offense has been there today and yesterday. Starting to hit strike 1 and 2. Hitting with 2’strikes is tough


Also carching some breaks today that went against us yesterday. Two dropped popups in the infield and Cumbests grounder hits the pitcher or would have been an out

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Do we really have a young team. I thought the bulk of the team were returning players with a couple transfers.

https://hailstate.com/sports/baseball/roster

It does not say how many lettermen are on the team or how many years have they lettered


2 Grad Transfers

9 Seniors

9 Juniors

7 Sophomores

11 Freshmen

Pitchers

5 Seniors
4 Juniors
4 Sophmores
5 Freshmen

 

[Smoked Toag]

Do we really have a young team. I thought the bulk of the team were returning players with a couple transfers.

The big talent is young. Our older guys obviously haven’t figured out how to transition from role players to carrying the team.

I think it will get better, but if it doesn’t you will start to see those freshmen get more PT as the years drags on.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

Hancock for one is bringing nothing to the table. Someone explain to me why a

.265 hitter with only 1 dinger keeps hitting 3rd? He’s left countless men on base all season so far as well. I mean I shouldn’t be hoping for a walk out of a 3 hole hitter.

 

[harrybollocks]

Not being good in baseball sucks because we're so used to winning.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Not being good in baseball sucks because we're so used to winning.

Finally, a pearl of wisdom. We've had crappy seasons before, came back nicely, and rarely had them.

We'll be ok. All I want to see at this point is improvement especially in younger player development.

 

[Seinfeld]

There are only 5 batters that I feel have earned a spot in the everyday lineup this season, and even a couple of those are having somewhat disappointing years. It’s hard to believe that James and Tanner only have 3 HRs between them.

With pitching, I don’t even know where to begin. Im not sure that there’s a single guy left on the active roster that I have a ton of confidence in

 

[dog99walker]

As some of you decry mediocrity, we are pounding Georgia 14-3 in the sixth. We’ll be ok as the season goes along.

 

[Smoked Toag]

As some of you decry mediocrity, we are pounding Georgia 14-3 in the sixth. We’ll be ok as the season goes along.

Yep team came out and fought and the end result is exactly what you’d expect when you play a higher ranked team on the road, 1-2.

Our fans are the worst. Not sure if it’s just the young ones or what, hard to tell.

 

[eckie1]

There’s no invincible team in the SEC this year…

It's not that big of a deal. Everybody has a down year. Cohen in 2015, Van Horn in 2016. Sometimes it's just average, but injuries make it worse. Bianco in 2011 and 2017, it happens. Then we'll be back, as we have a lot of young talented players who are getting experience (or will eventually, depending on how the season ends).

The lack of strike throwing is concerning. But generally, it's just a matter of maturity.

The good news is, we should return the entire **coaching** staff again.

The people in this thread are likely the same bunch who bitches about 'average joes not having a seat in the new Dude'. At least it won't be as crowded going forward. *****, *****, *****, *****, *****. Many of them were calling Cohen a bum in 2009 and 2010 too. No ability to see the big picture at all.

Carry on, bitches.

ETA: coaching reference in bold

And our down years you mentioned were markedly down, where it didn’t look like we could pitch, hit or field. We lost 2 stud pitchers, one who was likely one of the best players in college. It’s gonna take a minute to work around that. Our bats have promise, and our gloves most definitely do.

I think we’ll make some amount of noise by end of the season and be a PITA in the postseason, at least. I’m not liking our record, but we seem to be coming along in some area each week.

 

[the dog is on the loose]

This is just typical Ms State. FINALLY actually win a natty followed by one of the worst (so far) seasons in recent memory. Dead injuns are at full strength right now.

 

[ezsoil]

I see this team similar to the 2017 team...after the mass exodus of key players off a great team... pitching injuries led the team to use two position players in the weekend rotation Gordon and Mangum they still made a super regional that year. It's possible again

 

[onewoof]

You have to factor in teams shooting their wads against us, going all out to get that win against the defending national champs. They'll often fall off after beating us.

We'll be fine. As our players relax and just play ball we will start winning most of our games. Leave the panic to the message board wussies

 

[Mr. Cook]

We won a must-win game and didn't get swept on the road in the SEC. Living to fight another day is somrtimes all you need

 

[Mayor of Little London]

This team will be ok.

We will probably be descent, but we may not repeat. I will rest easy tonight knowing we have a national championship trophy at our main entrance to the Dude. Now if worst case we miss the post season this year and follow that up with a similar season next year…. I may even complain a little. But for now, let this just play it out and see what happens. Go Dawgs!

 

[She Mate Me]

I predict this will be a post you should be embarassed about in 2 months.

btw, how would you feel if we were 14-7 with road series wins at Tulane and UGA, because we were very close to doing exactly that.

baby with bath water and all...

 

[Smoked Toag]

I predict this will be a post you should be embarassed about in 2 months.

btw, how would you feel if we were 14-7 with road series wins at Tulane and UGA, because we were very close to doing exactly that.

baby with bath water and all...

57stratdouche doesn’t care. He won’t go to a game all year. He will just sit on his couch and ***** about how he just presented the “data”.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

We all live in the moment - or in some of your cases a single inning of BASEBALL, for 17's sake - but we WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP last year -- IN BASEBALL. That **** is hard to do. Harder than basketball, harder than football.
BASEBALL is a game with a myriad of factors at play beyond the ability to field a ball, hit a ball, and throw a strike. I am afraid most on this board will never understand the naked truth of America's greatest pastime: If you don't get "that's baseball" you don't get baseball.
Were we the best team last year? Hell No! We may not have even been the best team when it mattered. But we played the best BASEBALL when it mattered. And that's all that matters.
This year, we have talent on our roster, but no more talent than at least 6 other teams in the SEC - we probably have less. But talent only gets you so far in BASEBALL.
The coaches are gonna do their best to get everyone in a position to play their best BASEBALL when it matters. It might work. Might not. That's.... well, you see where I'm going with this by now. I hope.
The chances of us repeating were always going to be slim just based on what we lost last year. How many freshmen are we starting? Now with pitching injuries, it is going to be tough to even make a regional. Just enjoy the baseball and keep supporting your national championship program.

 

[She Mate Me]

Good post, but to be clear, we are only starting one true freshman...

And he can hit.

 

[Arthur2478]

James and Hancock are not driving in runs. Those 2 guys were expected to be run producers and so far they've done very little.
With the exception of Forsythe, James & Hancock have been the least productive (lowest RBI & SLG%) hitters in the everyday lineup.

View attachment 24082

Also, Hancock isnt that great defensively. At this point, there is no reason Hunter Hines shouldnt be starting there. DH Hancock if you want, but let Hines (the better defender) play in the field.

 

[thekimmer]

I still can’t comprehend how we have so many supposedly D1 SEC pitchers that can’t throw a strike. Is it a miss in evaluating or bad coaching? From a hitting standpoint it appears the whole team are dead pull hitters, which is easy to pitch and defend against.

I would have to echo this a bit but not just for State. I too find it incredible that any pitcher can get to this level of competition who consistently walks three or four consecutive batters in an inning. I do get the reality that there is a lot more to it than just throwing the ball over the plate and sometimes a guy has terrific 'stuff' that makes it worth taking a chance with control but how do you wind up with an entire bullpen full of them?

 

[thekimmer]

James and Hancock are not driving in runs. Those 2 guys were expected to be run producers and so far they've done very little.
With the exception of Forsythe, James & Hancock have been the least productive (lowest RBI & SLG%) hitters in the everyday lineup.

View attachment 24082

Also, Hancock isnt that great defensively. At this point, there is no reason Hunter Hines shouldnt be starting there. DH Hancock if you want, but let Hines (the better defender) play in the field.

This is true. At least James average is improving but even in yesterday's 20 run blood bath they had 1 RBI between them. I have been especially disappointed in Hancock who at the end of last year was money with RISP. Several times this weekend he faced pitchers struggling with control only to hit a lazy pop fly to the outfield on the first pitch.

James killed us with poor defense this weekend. I hope they can get it figured out for the team sake because these are the guys who need to be leading the way.

 

[8dog]

The most concerning thing on James is I cannot remember the last time he barrelled a ball to the pull side. Glad he is using the opposite field but something is off if he isnt hammering some balls to the left side. I also missed his last couple of ABs yesterday so he may have pulled something hard then

 

[BassinDawg.sixpack]

James leads the team in hits, OB%, and is second in walks
Hancock is 3 hits behind, 3rd in OB%, and leads the team in walks.

Saying they are not productive is a misrepresentation of the facts. They may, however, stink with RISP, but I'm not sure its time for any big changes to the lineup. I could see Hancock at DH if Hines is a better fielder like you say.

 

[8dog]

James has 2 XBH. We were looking for a lot more than that from him. Its tough to single your way to wins in this league.

Hancock was 3 for his last 27 going into Saturdays game where he got credited with a hit when the Gerogia player fell down and he fisted a ball that dropped. Then he flew out with the bases loaded in the 9th on a 0-0 count.

So if you dont slug and you “stink with RISP” thats not great. But I dont know the RISP stats. No one cheers harder for them than me but they arent doing what we need right now


Hopefully this weekend gets everyone turned around.

 

[Misfit]

Kamren has had problems with breaking pitches since he got here. He isn't seeing many fast balls over the plate because of that and it appears he is trying to wait just a fraction of a second longer to start his swing so he has a better chance of making contact with the breaking balls that are in the strike zone and of letting those that are going to go out of the zone sail on by. If he tries to pull an outside pitch that is breaking down or away from him, he is going to hit a lot of weak grounders to short and second.