Predicting the Mississippi State Baseball Starting Lineup
We’ve previewed all of the positions, so now it is time to make a prediction of who plays where and where they hit in the lineup.
If we have learned anything from John Cohen since he took over the Mississippi State baseball head coaching duties, it’s he doesn’t mind tinkering around with the lineup. He will likely do the same thing with this season’s team as well, but when opening day comes, I think we can have a pretty good idea of what the lineup might look like. Here is my prediction for who ends up as the starter for each position
- Catcher – Elih Marrero
- First Base – Nathaniel Lowe
- Second Base – John Holland
- Shortstop – Ryan Gridley
- Third Base – Gavin Collins
- Left Field – Cody Brown
- Center Field – Jacob Robson
- Right Field – Reid Humphreys
- Designated Hitter – Brent Rooker
The caveat to all of this is John Cohen likes to platoon when he sees the opportunity. The only players for this season’s Mississippi State baseball team who won’t likely be subject to a platoon are Robson, Collins, Humphreys, and Holland.
The positions I am least sure about is at catcher and shortstop. Kruger is a bit of an unknown since he is coming off of surgery, and incoming freshman Elih Marrero is supposed to be a defensive wizard behind the plate. If the Bulldogs don’t get anything offensively from behind the plate, expect the coaches to go with the best defensive player they have available.
Ryan Gridley started off red hot in 2016, but cooled off considerably as the year went on. He’ll be challenged by incoming freshman Luke Alexander. They both will play a lot for the Mississippi State baseball team at the beginning to see who has the upper hand.
Now that I have told you who I think will play where, here is the order I think we might see.
- Jacob Robson
- Cody Brown
- Gavin Collins
- Reid Humphreys
- Brent Rooker
- Nathaniel Lowe
- John Holland
- Elih Marrero
- Ryan Gridley
The only spot I am 100% certain of is the lead-off spot. Robson will be the lead-off hitter regardless of what anyone else does behind him. After that, it’s a bit of a toss up.
The most important thing for the Mississippi State baseball starting lineup is consistency. If players are playing great, it will be much tougher for John Cohen to start tinkering around with the players he runs out there. If guys can get hot early and stay hot, the lineup will start to look the same day in and day out. And that would make just about every Mississippi State baseball fan extremely happy.