Baseball Discussion

Hankp22

Redshirt
Oct 17, 2012
1,060
0
0
1. I've said it on here before...but I'm a big fan of our style of baseball. And how many times have we come from behind to win baseball games? This team has faced a ton of adversity and they have continued to respond well. Got to tip your hat to the staff there.

2. I've seen a ton of baseball over the years and what Rooker is currently doing is unprecedented. His slugging % is 1.93 for the week. I don't know that I've ever seen a stadium standing and expecting a third homerun....and he actually delivered.

3. Great effort from Cole tonight to bounce back after that first. He settled in nice and had that sharp breaking ball working. He made some really good hitters look uncomfortable. He earned the start next weekend.

4. Cody Brown and Josh Lovelady are the two players that have allowed us to turn a corner in the last month. Two seniors stepping up. Their numbers in SEC play have added depth to the lineup and protection behind Rooker. And Stovall returning to the lineup has left only one spot in the lineup where we need to find more consistent production. And because Brown can play anywhere on the field, that position is the DH spot.

5. It was good to see Plumlee battle tonight. The ballgame was decided with those outs he recorded. Considering his last two appearances and being demoted from the Saturday spot....that was a gutsy effort from him. He has solid stuff when he can find the zone. Hopefully tonight will provide a confidence boost because we are going to need him as the season moves forward.

6. Hunter Stovall has made solid contact all weekend. Having him roll the order over from the 9 spot was huge and it will continue to be as the season progresses.

7. Gridley hitting a line shot into CF to score two after the Rooker intentional walk was awesome.

8. We are one bat away from finding a solid lineup 1-9. We need one player to step up and win that spot (Blaylock, Poole, Bragg, McNamee, Vansau, Skelton). We don't need monster numbers from that spot....we just need .270 and good ABs.

Sorry for the ramble. We obviously have a number of things we can improve on. But this team battles and they have been fun to watch.
 
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MSUDC11

Redshirt
Aug 23, 2012
7,316
0
0
Cannizaro is doing a fantastic job. We should have nowhere near the record that we currently have. The fact that if we win tomorrow then we are legitimately in the hosting conversation is incredible.

Can't wait to see what Andy can do with a full roster. This guy can give us some staying power at the top of the conference, where we belong. We haven't had that in a long time.
 

Hankp22

Redshirt
Oct 17, 2012
1,060
0
0
You're Right

Cannizaro is doing a fantastic job. We should have nowhere near the record that we currently have. The fact that if we win tomorrow then we are legitimately in the hosting conversation is incredible.

Can't wait to see what Andy can do with a full roster. This guy can give us some staying power at the top of the conference, where we belong. We haven't had that in a long time.

He and the staff have done an awesome job considering the circumstances. We were dangerously close to digging a hole we couldn't climb out of. I remember reading a number of posts here where people were folding on the season. This team has faced a ton of adversity with the injuries, player dismissals, tough losses, etc. Cannizaro has done an amazing job managing that and putting us in a position to finish strong in the second half. I feel this team is starting to buy into his intense mentality. And I can't wait to see this program progress over the next 3-5 years.

This team has grit. We have a few top 10 wins, swept OM on the road, and have won several coming from behind. Our team appears to be gaining confidence and will be sitting no worse than 7-5 in league play. That's pretty strong considering we have a road series at OM and ARK and UK out of the way (I think ARK and UK are definitely top 3 in the league).
 

III.sixpack

Redshirt
May 6, 2014
105
6
13
1. I've said it on here before...but I'm a big fan of our style of baseball. And how many times have we come from behind to win baseball games? This team has faced a ton of adversity and they have continued to respond well. Got to tip your hat to the staff there.

2. I've seen a ton of baseball over the years and what Rooker is currently doing is unprecedented. His slugging % is 1.93 for the week. I don't know that I've ever seen a stadium standing and expecting a third homerun....and he actually delivered.

3. Great effort from Cole tonight to bounce back after that first. He settled in nice and had that sharp breaking ball working. He made some really good hitters look uncomfortable. He earned the start next weekend.

4. Cody Brown and Josh Lovelady are the two players that have allowed us to turn a corner in the last month. Two seniors stepping up. Their numbers in SEC play have added depth to the lineup and protection behind Rooker. And Stovall returning to the lineup has left only one spot in the lineup where we need to find more consistent production. And because Brown can play anywhere on the field, that position is the DH spot.

5. It was good to see Plumlee battle tonight. The ballgame was decided with those outs he recorded. Considering his last two appearances and being demoted from the Saturday spot....that was a gutsy effort from him. He has solid stuff when he can find the zone. Hopefully tonight will provide a confidence boost because we are going to need him as the season moves forward.

6. Hunter Stovall has made solid contact all weekend. Having him roll the order over from the 9 spot was huge and it will continue to be as the season progresses.

7. Gridley hitting a line shot into CF to score two after the Rooker intentional walk was awesome.

8. We are one bat away from finding a solid lineup 1-9. We need one player to step up and win that spot (Blaylock, Poole, Bragg, McNamee, Vansau, Skelton). We don't need monster numbers from that spot....we just need .270 and good ABs.

Sorry for the ramble. We obviously have a number of things we can improve on. But this team battles and they have been fun to watch.

Amen
 

MM4MSU

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
113
0
16
I agree on all points. Another factor that is huge with Rooker and others who are doing well is they go to the plate ready to hit, not worried about taking a bunch of pitches to effect pitch count of opposing pitcher and other BS tactics. I was and am strong supporter of Cohen, but never liked that aspect, and the change in philosophy cannot be overstated.
Michael M
(MSU '73)
 

Dawg1976

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
8,487
3,055
113
Agree and you can tell the guys enjoy playing for Cannizaro as a result. Not saying they didn't like playing for Cohen but this style has to be more fun.
 

KurtRambis4

Redshirt
Aug 30, 2006
15,926
0
36
I believe I saw

where, if we win today and AU and AR lose, we'll be in first place. That's simply amazing and a testament to Cannizaro and Henderson.

Having said that, our pitching is still a disaster, overall. Once Cannizaro gets his recruiting rolling, I fully believe he can take that final step that we've been chasing for 50 years.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
61,325
33,036
113
Couldn't agree more. Many times the best pitch to hit you're going to see is the first one. You need to go up there with the mindset that you're going to hit the first good pitch you see, not that you're going to try to work the count.
 

bulldogcountry1

Redshirt
Jun 4, 2007
2,311
1
38
Good stuff.

After Rooker, you can make a good argument for Cody Brown being an MVP. He's played 5 different positions this season and played them all well. He always steps up at the plate in big situations. It's nice to have a .300 hitter than you can pretty much stick anywhere, based on injuries and matchups.
 

Zildjan

Redshirt
Jul 17, 2014
65
36
18
Am I correct in that

A good bit of this started when Cyr was pink slipped? It seems like that's about the time it started.
 

HD6

Sophomore
Apr 8, 2003
10,019
108
63
Don't anybody tell that to this guy.

[TWEET]850813884994859008[/TWEET]
 

Hankp22

Redshirt
Oct 17, 2012
1,060
0
0
Add another one to the list

This team continues to come from behind to win baseball games. That was one hell of an effort from Jolly out of the bullpen. Kentucky is one of the top hitting teams in the conference and Jolly shut them down. And as pointed out in my original post, we need one or two bats to step up. Those two bats today were Bragg and McNamee. I want to see both of those guys get more swings.

We know what we are going to get out of Mangum, Rooker, and Gridley. For the record, it was Brown who jump started our 6 run inning yesterday. It was Brown again who jump started our offense today. Hunter Stovall also had a huge impact this weekend. He was great defensively and had several good swings.

If the season were to end today, we would be in the discussion as a host. And how many first team SEC players would we have: Rooker, Mangum, Gridley, Price?

As the season progresses, we have very little error margin because of all the injuries. That said, I enjoy the hell out of watching this baseball team because they always get back up.
 
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Shamoan

Redshirt
Jun 27, 2013
12,466
0
0
Cann has done a great job. A few early decisions had me a bit leery, but I'm glad to say he made up for it and definitely won a few we (on paper) shouldn't have. Outstanding job. Even if things fall apart, he has exceeded expectations giving the poor hand he has been dealt. Steering us to this position is nothing short of a miracle given our situation.
 

tatedog

Redshirt
Mar 28, 2015
8,739
0
0
Cannizaro is doing a fantastic job. We should have nowhere near the record that we currently have. The fact that if we win tomorrow then we are legitimately in the hosting conversation is incredible.

Can't wait to see what Andy can do with a full roster. This guy can give us some staying power at the top of the conference, where we belong. We haven't had that in a long time.

When they aren't playing us, we should all be big LSU fans right now. Pull hard for Mainieri as bad as that seems... I mean hard.
 

bruiser.sixpack

Redshirt
Aug 13, 2009
7,346
0
0
I think we have just enough pitching to out score some teams when their pitching struggles. But that shoe can fit the other foot as well. Some guys are beginning to find their stroke and that has improve as the season goes on.

But there is still a time for patience at the plate. The good pitchers are going to get ahead sometimes and our guys cannot just become free swingers any more than they can stand there and look at 3 strikes with bat on shoulders. Maybe Cannizzaro has told them to stop thinking (and guessing) so much and attack the baseball.
 

Hoover Dawg

Redshirt
May 16, 2016
1,584
0
0
I agree - we've gotten lucky by having some freshmen and JUCOs actually pan out. I think we'll probably get destroyed in the SEC Tournament, and we'll struggle in a regional if we get in a loser's bracket. But in a 3 game series, we have a chance against just about anyone unless they have very elite pitching.
 

bruiser.sixpack

Redshirt
Aug 13, 2009
7,346
0
0
If we take care of business at home (2 out of 3) we are in very good shape to over-come the crappy hand Cannizzaro was dealt with the pitching injuries. Man, Cyr and Marrero must have been Newman type cancers.
 

Hoover Dawg

Redshirt
May 16, 2016
1,584
0
0
It's not all on those guys. It's also guys getting reps and growing up. And Rooker murdering the ball.
 

KingBarkus

Redshirt
May 1, 2006
1,142
24
38
When they aren't playing us, we should all be big LSU fans right now. Pull hard for Mainieri as bad as that seems... I mean hard.
I wish MSU fans would relax. Andy is not an lsu man, he's a Tulane Greenie. He coached at lsu only 2 seasons. Yeah, lsu fans say they will come after Andy, but it's only a testament how much Cannizaro made an impact on their program. You think Cohen wouldn't do everything possible to keep Andy? You think Andy does not want to open a new Dudy Noble? You think Andy might want to get a school rich in baseball tradition its first CWS title? Man, relax, and enjoy the program's potential. This ain't football or basketball. I'll still continue to root against lsu. Screw them.
 
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