Sunshine-Pumper Alert

[1993DawgAlum]

Seems like I worked thru the 7 stages of grief pretty quickly after the FL sweep and came up with these bright spots. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.

1. Everybody’s June just opened up. No need to prioritize MSU Baseball vs weekend projects/vacations. I’ll admit……I’m reaching here.
2. We are actually a good defensive team. Don’t know our team ranking off-hand in the SEC, but we field the ball well and don’t make many errors. Of course, one could argue we get a lot of practice fielding opponents’ hits.
3. While the record says otherwise, we are NOT a bad baseball team. We just have some glaring weaknesses. We have solid pitching that can keep us in games, but a thin, inconsistent bullpen. We can get on base, but struggle mightily to push runners in. I would like to think these issues can be fixed with time and development.
4. This year’s disappointing season may help us get back that chip we played with last year. You have to think the 2022 season is going to loom large in off season preparation. The tag “First to Worst” is not going to sit well with players and coaches and we are going to be at the bottom of all preseason ranking as well.

 

[Nunya.sixpack]

We won't be "worst". The rest, I agree.

 

[patdog]

Uh, we do not have solid pitching, especially after the injuries. 11th in ERA. Only 3 saves on the season, last of course. 13th in runs allowed. 13th in earned runs allowed. 13th in walks. 13th in doubles allowed. 10th in triples allowed. 12th in home runs allowed. 10th in walks. It's been ugly.

 

[msstate7]

We won't be "worst". The rest, I agree.

Last in the west right now with 6 games that will be extremely difficult

 

[1993DawgAlum]

Maybe “solid” pitching isn’t the best description. How about “Servicable”? Teams have gotten a ton of hits off us, but defense kept us in games. I think consistent hitting would’ve helped the pitching side for sure. Seemed like the bullpen was always pitching from behind or had no room for error b/c bats never got hot.

 

[Bullldawg78]

He did say sunshine pumper, just sayin'

 

[kired]

The most disappointing thing for me is that the pitching we do have seemed to take a step back. I understand some have been put in positions they probably didn’t expect and we’ve had some major injuries, but almost the entire group we do have has been worse that expected. Johnson, Hunt, Fristoe, Stinnett - those were all guys I hoped would take that next step, and none of them did

 

[tenureplan]

When you mentioned defense I thought you were moving on to football. I'm actually looking forward to this football season. Need some tackles and a possession receiver, but the rest is there....well maybe a corner and a safety too

 

[ZombieKissinger]

Austin Williams is a possession receiver. Could’ve used a Polk though

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Moving Sims to a starting pitcher was a mistake. Let the minors make him a starter. As a team, we needed him as a closer.

 

[onewoof]

The dose of humility has been delivered. Expectations and a little bit inflated ego is why you often see teams that win the natty collapse the next year. You're never as good as you think, you're never as bad as you think. You still have to fight every day just to be in the game. You still need a leader on the team with enormous larger than life heart. You haven't "made it" yet despite what everyone tells you.

Yes two of our best pitchers went down early. Who stepped up and became the leader. No one. Tanner Allen isn't coming back to be that guy, he's gone.

 

[ronpolk]

I’d actually say the pithing has been pretty consistent, which is consistently bad. That will happen when you have some injuries that we’ve had. This team’s problem is not all bad talent or bad coaching. It’s largely that we likely never intended for Pico to be our best bullpen guy.

 

[olblue.sixpack]

Moving Sims to a starting pitcher was a mistake. Let the minors make him a starter. As a team, we needed him as a closer.

So relievers don’t have arm issues?

 

[WilCoDawg]

This is me enjoying any sunshine pumping I can get. I can’t recall a more disappointing academic year of sports, but that may mean I’ll quickly forget this one. I just pray that will not be due to an even worse academic year of sports.
View attachment 24407
ETA: my tits aren’t that big.

 

[Misfit]

As of two weeks ago we led the SEC in fielding percentage. It's been a strange year. None of our pitchers seemed to be able to fight through a rough spot with any consistency. A bad call from the home plate umpire and they went to pieces. Hitters didn't handle the pressure of batting with runners in scoring position in a tight game. Too many guys trying to be the hero with a 3-run homer, when a base hit would have driven in a run and kept the inning alive for the next guy. As Polk has always said, hitting is contagious, but I have always added, so is not hitting.

 

[8dog]

It all boils down to timely hitting/Ks and Walks. We are top 3 in Batting Avg, Slug and HR. But tied for 7th in Runs scored

We are top half in BAA and and 2nd in Ks. But dead last in walks allowed. So 12th in runs allowed.

 

[57stratdawg]

Last year’s team did the little things so well. We moved runners over with outs, we got guys home from 3rd.

This year has been the opposite.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

The stranded runners this year have been the most frustrating. I got to dread Cumbest or Clark coming up when we had runners on because they were going to take the huge cut at a curve in the dirt pretty much every time. On the plus side, Forsythe started to put the ball in play in the second half of the season and wasn't the automatic strikeout he had been - he had a 6 game hitting streak starting with the Ole Miss series, with 4 of those being multiple hit games. I'm assuming we get him back next year?

 

[BossDawg78]

Last year’s team did the little things so well. We moved runners over with outs, we got guys home from 3rd.

This year has been the opposite.

Clutch hitting too.

Eta well I guess your points were a result of clutch hitting.

 

[Smoked Toag]

It all boils down to timely hitting/Ks and Walks. We are top 3 in Batting Avg, Slug and HR. But tied for 7th in Runs scored

We are top half in BAA and and 2nd in Ks. But dead last in walks allowed. So 12th in runs allowed.

I'm not seeing what you're seeing with BA and walks. We are down those lists, but upper-middle in Slug, which likely gives us a below average OPS (stat that truly matters).

One reason is because we strike out so damn much. Dead outs kill. Bottom line, we are a middling-hitting team, and make up for some of it with home runs. But combine that with awful pitching and we are where we are.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Clutch hitting too.

Eta well I guess your points were a result of clutch hitting.

No such thing as clutch hitting. Better hitting teams will also be better in the clutch.

We just aren't a great hitting team, so we do not appear clutch.

We do hit the long ball though, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing. It's obviously helped our record considering how bad our hitting truly is.

 

[8dog]

Im looking at conference only stats.

 

[CoolDawg]

The stranded runners this year have been the most frustrating. I got to dread Cumbest or Clark coming up when we had runners on because they were going to take the huge cut at a curve in the dirt pretty much every time.

Clark has been a major disappointment. He hit poorly most of last season and then came on strong at the end. I expected his strong finish last year to carry over this year, but he started this season as bad as he started last season. I think he is a player with a lot of potential. Since this season is already basically over, I wish Lemonis would sit Clark and some of the others that are struggling at the plate for the next few games to show them that they are not guaranteed their position.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

While I can appreciate a glass half full approach, when you lose 2 of 3 to a

21-25 Long Beach State team, lose a game to NKU who's now 15-27, and lose 2 of 3 to Missouri, the worst team (for now) in the league, you are a bad baseball team.

 

[tatedog]

No such thing as clutch hitting. Better hitting teams will also be better in the clutch.

We just aren't a great hitting team, so we do not appear clutch.

We do hit the long ball though, which in and of itself isn't a bad thing. It's obviously helped our record considering how bad our hitting truly is.

One of the more astute posts on the board all season.

 

[thekimmer]

The most disappointing thing for me is that the pitching we do have seemed to take a step back. I understand some have been put in positions they probably didn’t expect and we’ve had some major injuries, but almost the entire group we do have has been worse that expected. Johnson, Hunt, Fristoe, Stinnett - those were all guys I hoped would take that next step, and none of them did

Maybe so but I also believe that pitching is affected by hitting. How many times have you heard someone talk about how much easier it is to pitch with a lead. We haven't staked our pitchers to to many leads this season.

 

[tatedog]

21-25 Long Beach State team, lose a game to NKU who's now 15-27, and lose 2 of 3 to Missouri, the worst team (for now) in the league, you are a bad baseball team.

Getting swept at home in two different SEC series is a bad sign too. It happens, but twice in a season is bad. Really bad.

 

[thekimmer]

Clark has been a major disappointment. He hit poorly most of last season and then came on strong at the end. I expected his strong finish last year to carry over this year, but he started this season as bad as he started last season. I think he is a player with a lot of potential. Since this season is already basically over, I wish Lemonis would sit Clark and some of the others that are struggling at the plate for the next few games to show them that they are not guaranteed their position.

Yeah and apparently he had a pretty rough fall too. I hope he puts it together but outside of a few games at the CWS, which were HUGE games mind you, he hasn't really shown me that much outside of an ability to hit one very far. That is OK when you are hitting .300 but not so much at .250.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

The most disappointing thing for me is that the pitching we do have seemed to take a step back. I understand some have been put in positions they probably didn’t expect and we’ve had some major injuries, but almost the entire group we do have has been worse that expected. Johnson, Hunt, Fristoe, Stinnett - those were all guys I hoped would take that next step, and none of them did

We have taken a step back but at the same time I also feel like a lot of teams benefited because of the Covid rules for eligibility. Tennessee?

We have some hitters that may find themselves on the bench next year. Their approach at the plate has been inconsistent and unreliable and I don't think Lemonis will have much patience after this year's debacle.

Since I first started being a fan back in the 70s I have seen it proven year after year that if you don't have pitching in the SEC you are not going to win games consistently... Period. You can have good hitting one season and maybe some good slugging percentages but it's almost always been proven that the teams that always succeed have overall solid, dependable pitching versus a team with strong hitters and so-so pitching You will have some teams that buck the trend like the Gorilla Ball years at LSU but more times than not you really have to have a solid pitching staff in the SEC or get to Omaha.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Getting swept at home in two different SEC series is a bad sign too. It happens, but twice in a season is bad. Really bad.

When was the last time that happened at MSU?

Asking for a friend...

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

2010 saw us get swept 3 times at home. Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Vandy.

They also managed to get swept on the road by Florida and Auburn for good measure. Of course in their defense, that was a complete program rebuild from scratch during the worst phase of baseball in our history.