MSU Baseball Lineup I'd Like to See

MSU is now 10-2 after sweeping the University of Connecticut and Lipscomb University.  On the season, as a team the Bulldogs are hitting .308 as a team despite concerns about the offense in the off-season, and the pitching staff has fashioned an ERA of 2.17 while the defense has a fielding percentage of .965.  The SEC has not released any official stats as I am writing this, but as of last week MSU was in the top half of the SEC in all categories mentioned above, and I feel pretty confident that they still are in all likelihood.  Things seem pretty good- and they are pretty good right now, but as with all things, there is always room for improvement.

As I have mentioned before, there is no spring training in college baseball.  And because of that, there are things that baseball coaches have to try as far as lineups and putting players in certain situations to see how they react.  That causes message board angst sometimes, and can sometimes cost teams critical wins- see MSU vs. Memphis and putting Sam Frost in a key pinch hitting situation with Hunter Renfroe available on the bench.  And that’s why I am an advocate of a one weekend exhibition schedule- I think people would love to see MSU play Delta State in a three-four game series before the season, and it would be good for all involved.  As it is, we live with what we have, and I believe some things have been answered as far as the rotation and the lineup in general.

Let’s start with the rotation.  MSU has been piggybacking the starters.  I think part of the reason that the coaches like this is because they actually CAN do this for the first time in their tenure.  At any rate, to me the best rotation is Chris Stratton, Nick Routt, and Evan Mitchell.  Stratton has simply been the most effective pitcher on the team, Nick Routt is left handed and the most experienced starter, and Evan has pitched extremely well every time he has taken the mound.  Kendall Graveman has done well- the defense has let him down some- but he was very effective as a midweek starter last year, and I like what he brings to the bullpen as a long relief pitcher.  Ben Bracewell has been effective, but he simply does not have the endurance to be a starting pitcher.  He has been unable to get through five innings in any start, and he has been dominant in the first two- that screams closer to me.  Unfortunately, Ben has had some pain in his elbow after his last start, and that bears watching.

Most positions on the infield have been pretty much locked down- Slauter at catcher, Wes Rea at first base, and Daryl Norris at third base.  The middle infield is unsettled.  Matthew Britton has a chance to be a very good baseball player- however, he is struggling defensively and at the plate.  The coaches feel like he has the best range on the team- however, he has a committed a majority of the errors by the MSU team- seven of the team’s 17- and he has struggled at the plate hitting .217.  I think the best solution is to move Adam Frazier to shortstop- a position that he really wants to play, and in my opinion has earned a shot at playing- and then play Demarcus Henderson at second base.  Even though Henderson actually has a lower fielding percentage than Britton- .750, however, he only has one error in four chances, and the error was committed while he was playing the outfield- Demarcus is hitting .385 and the infield is more natural to him.  I saw Demarcus play second base in a high school all-star game two years ago.  This was the first time he had ever played second base in his life- and it was very surprising how quickly he took to the position and how natural he looked playing second base.  MSU has to be very careful with Britton because he can lose his confidence completely is he continues to struggle.  And no one wants to see that.

The outfield was somewhat settled, however Brent Brownlee has been injured again, and because of that, Brandon Woodruff and Hunter Renfroe have seen more action.  One thing that has been very pleasant to me is the outfield assists that MSU outfielders have been getting all season long.  I am not sure why people continue to force the issue to be honest.  Woodruff was a fifth round pick as a pitcher, Renfroe can throw in the upper 90’s, and the CT is also a pitcher who is very accurate with his throwing.  Future opponents will see that and it will potentially save us some runs down the line because coaches will be hesitant to send runners on our outfielders.  I love Brent Brownlee as a player, but I really like the outfield of Woodruff, CT, and Renfroe.  And finally, let’s hope that Trey Porter comes back soon because before he fouled a ball off of his shin causing it to swell up, he became the team leader in hitting and home runs.  What was impressive was, after fouling the ball off of his shin, all Porter did was hit a key home run that helped lead a MSU comeback.

All right!  Cliff Notes of MSU lineup:

1. CT Bradford CF .294

2. Adam Frazier SS .373

3. Daryl Norris 3B .400

4. Trey Porter DH .400 3 home runs

5. Wes Rea 1B .318

6. Brandon Woodruff RF .154

7. Hunter Renfroe LF .333

8. Mitch Slauter C .237

9. Demarcus Henderson 2B .385

Friday night- Chris Stratton

Saturday- Nick Routt

Sunday- Evan Mitchell

Closers- Ben Bracwell, Caleb Reed, Taylor Stark