Thoughts on MSU Baseball

It has been a while since I have updated this blog. In this update, I will talk about the season MSU has had in baseball so far and the outlook this team has for the future.

The changes that were made after last season brought a lot of excitement to the program. Ron Polk was the long time coach at MSU, but there was a feeling that at the end, he didn't put all of his energy into MSU baseball. The new head coach is one of Coach Polk's former players, former Kentucky head coach John Cohen. Of course, the hiring of Coach Cohen sparked a statement made in anger by Ron Polk, who was upset that another one of his former players and assistants Tommy Raffo didn't get the job. Coach Polk has since then repaired his releationship with John Cohen, but I doubt you will ever see him be on good terms with athletic director Greg Byrne.

I think most fans realized that Coach Cohen's first season would likely be a struggle. One could make an argument that Coach Polk spent more time with his fight against the NCAA than he did with recruiting the best players for MSU baseball. Please note that I am not in any way criticizing Coach Polk. I'm probably the biggest Ron Polk fan there is, and he is the all time winningest coach in SEC history, in all sports. The general feeling when Coach Cohen took this job was that it was going to take a couple of recruiting classes to get the talent level at MSU back up to MSU standards. We are one of the more tradition rich programs in the SEC.

The season started out on a good note and may have given some fans false hope. MSU's early season schedule had a lot of cupcake teams on it. Things fell back down to earth when MSU went to Hawaii and dropped 3 out of 4 games to the Rainbow Warriors. The SEC season then started, and MSU took 2 out of 3 from traditional SEC power South Carolina. South Carolina is in the midst of a rare down year for that program though. Next up was Georgia, who was the #1 ranked team in the country (and is currently the #1 ranked team). Georgia swept MSU in Athens, putting MSU's record at 2-4 in the conference. MSU was hoping to bounce back at Arkansas, but pitching woes and the lack of timely hitting caused them to drop 2 out of 3 games against the Razorbacks.

As you can see, this season has been a struggle so far now that the Bulldogs have gotten into conference play. I had a feeling coming into the season that the team wouldn't have enough pitching to compete in the conference this year. Now that we are into the season, it is very clear that the Bulldogs lack the pitching depth to make a run this year. A lack of timely hitting is something that has plagued this team for a while now, and it is doing so once again. Coach Cohen is in the process of transforming this team into one that plays a National League style of baseball with more speed on the basepaths and additional power where needed. The team is attempting straight steals more and is doing more hit and run type situations than previously. They still have big innings at times, but they are trying to manufacture more runs in the long haul as well as do more to get on base. It is tough to score runs if you can't get on base. Despite this, the team still isn't getting that key hit with a runner on second with 1 out that scores that run.

There are some great signs for the future of this program. I am a big believer in pitching. If you don't have pitching, you will not win, IMO. MSU hasn't had a legitimate ace pitcher since Paul Maholm in the early 2000's. This season though, a trio of young pitchers have stepped up and given me some hope that this team has some young arms they can build around.

The first pitcher I am going to mention is true freshman Nick Routt. Nick is a lefty out of Washington DC. His fastball is sneaky fast. It tops out at around 85-87 mph, but it looks a lot faster with the way he changes speeds. He throws a good change up and has a good breaking ball. Nick has done exceptionally well this season as a true freshman. He has started in every SEC series this season. In the past 20 years, four pitchers have done that at MSU - Carlton Loewer, Kyle Kennedy, Eric DuBose, and Paul Maholm. All four of them won 20+ games in their careers at MSU, and three of them went on to be 1st round MLB draft picks. Nick Routt just through his third straight complete game against Auburn last night, striking out 12 while only walking one batter. Nick looks like he will be the future stud of the pitching staff.

The second pitcher is sophomore Forrest Moore. Forrest was a highly rated recruit out of Louisiana last year that turned down offers from MLB to play at MSU, where his father Dana Moore was a place kicker on the football team back in the early '80s. Forrest had an up and down freshman season, and coming into the fall, he was considered to be a pitcher with great stuff that didn't trust his stuff. Forrest has started to harness his potential, and I believe the sky is the limit for this young lefty.

The third pitcher is true freshman Devin Jones. Devin is a right handed pitcher from Eupora. He's got a very good fastball that touches 94 mph on the radar gun. His other pitchers are lagging behind at this point, but he impressed enough that he got a couple of starts during the SEC weekends. While Devin has been banged around some by SEC hitters, the signs of him being a top notch starter are certainly there. Due to his struggles in conference play this season though, it is likely that Devin will start more in mid week games from this point on with Forrest Moore likely taking his spot in the SEC rotation. I think a strong summer will spring board Devin into position to be a strong SEC starter as a sophomore.

These three, along with junior Tyler Whitney, are a good reason to think that 2010 will be a better year than 2009.

As far as the hitting goes, it will probably take more time to get this team where Coach Cohen wants it. Right now, MSU has good power on the corners of the infield with Connor Powers and Russ Sneed. Connor is a draft eligible junior though, and it is possible that he will be gone in 2010. His back up, Jarrod Parks, was a highly recruited player out of Meridian CC who initially signed with Tulane before getting released from his LOI so he could play for Coach Cohen at MSU. He's got power potential, but so far, he has struggled this season. He can also play third base. MSU will be getting the best high school power prospect in Mississippi next season in Ethan Bright from South Panola, who projects as a left handed power hitting first baseman.

On the middle infield, Jet Butler has been exceptional and Ryan Powers has been solid. True frosh Frankie Rawdow has done well when asked to play. These guys will get competition next year with some JUCO transfers who will be coming in with Nick Vickerson and Jonathan Ogden.

The outfield is the area that may see the most change. Grant Hogue has done well and has good on base skills, but he is a singles hitter. Luke Adkins is a local guy from Nettleton who can flat out hit the ball. I think he's going to be a fixture in left field. Ryan Collins and Jason Nappi have regressed this season, and Mark Goforth never really got on track. Brent Brownlee has been getting some playing time, but he profiles as more of a back up than starter. MSU should be getting some help in the outfield with JUCO transfers Runey Davis and Jaron Shepherd. Both are considered to be top outfield recruits from the JUCO ranks and are MLB prospects. If they get to campus, they should add speed as well as some pop to the line up.

At catcher, MSU is very solid with Cody Freeman, Ryan Duffy, and Scott DeLoach. They will get a boost next year though with Meridian CC's Wesley Thigpen, a power hitting catching prospect with good pop times to second.

I hope MSU can beat Auburn today to win this series. Things will set up well with Tennessee next week. MSU's record could be around .500 in time for SUPER BULLDAWG WEEKEND!!! GO DAWGS!!