Diamond Dawgs are better positioned for a postseason run than they were in 2013

Fresh off winning the Governor’s Cup, the Diamond Dawgs are poised and ready to make 2016 a very memorable season. 

Mississippi State beat Ole Miss on Tuesday night, 2-0. It was another RPI top 10 win for the Bulldogs, bumping them up to 12th. The polls are much kinder to State, however, with Perfect Game and Baseball America ranking them 3rd. D1baseball.com has the Dawgs ranked 6th in the country.

These high marks come on the heels of one of the toughest stretches of games any team in the country will have to play. Five of the six SEC teams State has faced are currently in the top 17 of the RPI. Four of them were ranked in the top 10 at the time, and three of them were on the road. State managed an 8-7 record against those five teams: Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Florida, Texas A&M and LSU.

The remaining four series features the easiest path of any SEC team.

That’s a significantly easier road in terms of opponents’ record. State ought to be able to really make up some ground in the West if they continue to play well.

This year’s team is in better shape than in 2013

The Omaha-bound 2013 team did have the same 10-8 record to this point of the season, but they also had a much more difficult schedule down the stretch. Series vs. Vanderbilt, Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina. The Dawgs were swept by Vandy and dropped two of three in Oxford, eventually landing a 16-14 conference record.

State played their way into a hosting spot in 2013 by winning seven of their last nine games (three against South Carolina) including the SEC Tournament. This year the Bulldogs are already positioned for a hosting spot if they just hold serve with an 8-4 record down the stretch. They can now seek to play their way into a national seed.

Related Story: Expectations for the 2016 MSU baseball team

This year’s team is more talented than 2013

The back-to-back-to-back top 10 recruiting classes are starting to pay off. 2015 was a complete bust but this year has the potential to make up for it.

State has more offense this year from catcher, third base, first base, center field and left field. Jake Mangum and Jacob Robson are producing so much better than C.T. Bradford and Demarcus Henderson it almost makes up for the difference between Adam Frazier and Ryan Gridley at shortstop.

The 2013 team only had power from Hunter Renfroe and occasionally Wes Rea. This year’s team can get it from Nathaniel Lowe, Reid Humphreys, Gavin Collins, Brent Rooker or Jack Kruger. They’ve already equaled (30) their home run total with a month to go.

The 2016 team has a OPS of .841 while the 2013 team’s was .767. They also score nearly one run more per game.

Pitching wise, the 2016 Bulldogs have a true power ace. On Friday nights in 2013 it was Luis Pollorena taking the hill, then Kendall Graveman on Saturday. Dakota Hudson has been much better than Pollo and Sexton is comparable to Graveman. Jacob Lindgren was the third starter during the regular season, and he produced better than what State’s had this year, but not a ton better. At any rate, you can get by in the postseason with two starters – which State did in 2013.

The biggest advantage the 2013 team had is obviously the bullpen. There is no Ben Bracewell, Chad Girado, Johnathan Holder or Ross Mitchell coming out of the pen all with an ERA of 1.76 or lower. And while Reid Humphreys has done pretty well coming from left field to close ball games, he’s no Holder.

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This team could make a run

The 2013 team got hot at the right time. They finished 5th in the SEC but were national runners-up. Team chemistry, clutch hitting and great pitching is what got us there. That team did something no other MSU team has ever done, but this team is more talented.

The pieces are in place. There’s speed, power, starting pitching, etc. Some areas of the defense can be a cause for concern and the bullpen can be shaky at times, but there’s no question this team has a killer instinct combined with the necessary talent to accomplish great things this postseason.