Talkin' Baseball with M&WN Staff

Mississippi State is 8-0 on the young season and host Alcorn State tonight. A few of us got together this morning to discuss the team (I think Andrew and Wesley were still asleep, ha).

Josh: Who is your 2nd baseman right now? Holland or Gridley?

Justin: I’d lean toward Gridley. Holland was brought in to play there, but with the way Gridley is hitting, you can’t justify keeping him off the field.

Josh: I agree, he is 4th in the SEC in hitting right now…behind Robson and Heck who are 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Justin: Speaking of Robson, has there been any bigger of a surprise than him? He has to be the MVP of the first 8 games. I heard chatter about him getting a lot more playing time this year, but I never expected this kind of production.

Josh: Yeah, I would almost hit him 3rd right now and move Humphreys back to 5th. I don’t really understand having a speedster on base guy in the 5 hole.

Justin: The theory is to put him in front of Rea, and force the pitchers to pitch to Rea with a player on base. But if Rea is out, why not experiment with moving him around in the lineup. That’s what Cohen usually does with these first 20 or so games.

Justin: What’s been more impressive, the pitching or the hitting?

Josh: Tough call: @MaroonWyatt: . @HailStateBB leads SEC in on-base percentage (.476), walks (62), runs (81), saves (4), strikeouts (75), runners thrown out (9) and wins(8)
I would say hitting though because pitching was expected.

Jake: What’s considered success this year? Regional play? Super or more

Josh: Hosting a Regional for me, or making a Super

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Justin: I agree with Josh. Making it to a super or hosting a regional is like making it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament. Our program should have those types of goals in baseball.

Jake: Where would john Cohen rank in the coaching jockeying amongst the sec skippers at this point in his Msu tenure

Justin: Well that’s a tough one. Off the top of my head, top 5. You could give or take a spot or two.

Josh: Top 4 for sure with LSU, and a couple others

Jake: Have we seen a big difference in the change of baseball yet

Justin: This year will determine just how far we have come as a program. The west will be wide open. I don’t think LSU is unbeatable, but Texas A&M, Bama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss will have talent. It might not take more than 18 wins to win the West, but there will be an opportunity for State or some other school to run away and hide.

Josh: Interesting article on the new balls

Josh: if Gavin Collins came back today (which Cohen said he would have pinch hit last weekend if it wasn’t so cold), is he your DH or catcher based on Lovelady’s performance?

Justin: I like Lovelady behind the plate. I think Collins gets a chance to show he has improved on his ability to block pitches, but I feel really good about the Catcher position.

Justin: Do we think we know what our SEC staring rotation is yet?

Josh: That’s still up in the air to me other than Brown

Justin: I think it is too. Opponents are batting .302 against Preston Brown. Does that worry anyone any?

Josh: Nah, he’s a contact pitcher. Averages will be fairly high

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Talkin’ Baseball with M&WN Staff

By Josh Barnhill | Feb 24, 2015