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Updated projected 2016 lineup

1 - Jacob Robson, Junior RS
Returning CF starter. Having a great summer, expect another big year in 2016.
2 - Luke Reynolds, Junior
I am putting him at 3B. Started 10-20 games in 2015. Came on late offensively and having a great summer hitting too.
3 - Gavin Collins, Junior
Starting catcher. Was hurt most of 2015. Had another hand operation in June and is now healthy. Expect big 2016.
4 - Brent Rooker, Sophomore RS
Can play LF but I'm starting him at DH. Huge summer offensively. Fast and big.
5 - Cole Gordon, Freshman RS
I have changed my mind, Gordon needs to play 1B. He just keeps getting better. Will pitch an inning here and there.
6 - John Holland, Senior
Returning starting 2B. Having a nice summer in California.
7 - Reid Humphreys, Junior
I am putting Hump back in LF. He is struggling some this summer.
8 - Michael Smith, Senior
Starter in RF. Was hurt most of 2015 but expect huge 2016. He just needs to play everyday. Power and speed.
9 - Ryan Gridley, Sophomore
Returning starting SS. Very smooth fielder. Can really handle the bat. Only gets better.


Backups

1B
Right now I am putting JC transfer Nate Lowe.

MIF
Right now the back up spots will be true freshmen. This is up in the air until fall ball is over. Delvin Zinn, Hunter Stovall and Luke Alexander.

3B
Matt Spruill does return. JC transfer Jacob Barfield is new but may only bat.

C
Josh Lovelady is a superb backup. A great defender and quality hitter.

OF



Brent Rooker will be the 4th OF and play some in the field. Reid Humphreys can play LF if 1B doesn't work out. We have 3 new players, 1 JC and 2 Fr. Tanner Poole, Jake Mangum and Brant Blaylock. Swinarski isn't returning so we need 1 of the new players to step up and play.

Updated projected 2016 rotation

Friday Starter - RHP Dakota Hudson, Junior
He is very talented and its his time. He has greatly improved his pitching motion. Dominant this summer. His role to lose.

Saturday Starter - RHP Austin Sexton, Junior
He had several good SEC starts in 2015. Inning eater. When he is on, he is untouchable.

Sunday Starter - LHP Vance Tatum, Junior
He did very well in a few starts then not so well toward the end. I think he can go a whole year and be good.

Weekend Starter - RHP Zac Houston, Junior
I'm going to put him here because he wants the ball on the weekends and he's having a great summer.

This is what I would do. Start 3 of the 4 I listed above. If one of the them struggle then put the 4th guy in as a long starter. Do this the entire SEC season. I think we will win a lot of games. All four of these guys are pitching very well.

Did you notice one theme? These guys are all Juniors. It is their time to shine and I think they will.

Tuesday Starter - this should be occupied by the best freshman starting pitcher we have. Whoever that might be.

Bullpen

I think we need 4 guys who will consistently go out and get it done in the 7-9th innings. I am assuming the starters go 6. These 4 guys are very, very important to a great season. I think we have good enough starters to go 5-7 innings each time. In 2015, most of the time, we were ahead when the starter was pulled. Got to be better in 2016, I think these guys are the key.

LHP Daniel Brown, Junior
He went up to Cape Cod and has done really well. Has been a starter most of his college career and struggled out of the pen in 2015 but we need him in the pen. I think he is the long reliever/set up man - lefty.

RHP Jesse McCord, Freshman RS
I just thought of this. Brilliant. McCord is coming off arm surgery. He will toss some in the fall. He will pitch very slowly starting in the spring. I would think he wouldn't pitch but an inning here and there. He is perfect for the bullpen in 2016. He is a shut down pitcher. Just use him for an inning or two and then rest him until the next weekend. Then in 2017, he will be back at starter.

RHP Ryan Rigby, Sophomore
A JC newcomer but has been lights out in his first year of JC and during summer ball. He is a side armer that can throw 90 mph. His stats indicate no hitter can get a good lick on the ball. It has movement. I consider him the closer.

RHP Logan Elliot, Junior
I am putting Logan in the 4th spot. He came on late in the season and this summer his stats look terrific. He can get outs. He is another side armer.

Others

We need two other starters. The first month of the season we need 5 starters maybe more. The two spots can come from numerous guys. I won't speculate now. A few guys were operated on in the spring and are working their way back to full health. Fall ball will primarily be seeing what the new guys can do, where they fit in, starter or bullpen.

This pitching staff is the most talented in the Cohen era. Once the new guys get used to D1 play, they will be very good.

Summer Notes

More than half of the players in summer leagues are an all-star in their respective leagues. Several players are having outstanding summers.

Most of the freshman signees have been on campus since July 5. They are working out and getting used to college.

In a couple of weeks, the team will come together and get ready for fall ball.

I will be going to some scrimmages and report what I find out. I believe this team will play a lot better next spring.

I am now on Facebook. Search for Ms State Baseball Fan.

2016 commit Elliott Anderson

A writeup at the PG WWBA 17U tournament at Lakepoint.

Elliott Anderson (2016, Cartersville, Ga.) was not listed on the original East Cobb Astros Scout Team roster included in the program, but he had scouts and coaches scrambling to find out who was on the mound on Tuesday afternoon. Anderson, a Mississippi State commit, owns a 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame and he has broad shoulders and good build with present strength in his body. The southpaw has a pretty clean arm stroke and path through to his high three-quarters arm slot, and he consistently worked in the 87-89 mph range with his fastball over the course of his 5 2/3 innings pitched. Anderson also has some slight deception in his delivery which features a mild hip turn at the apex of his leg lift, and he has a later hand break. He did a pretty good job of repeating his delivery, although he started to labor a bit in the later innings. Despite a head snap at release and some spine tilt, Anderson was able to throw strikes with his fastball for much of the outing. He also showed some feel for spinning a curveball in the mid-70s. The offering had varied tilt, showing either 1-to-7 or 12-to-6 shape, but both varieites flashed solid bite and finish at or below the knees. Anderson also worked in a few changeups in the upper-70s, and while they were often thrown out of the strike zone, he showed developing feel for the offering with similar fastball arm speed.

2017 commits (updated rankings per PG)

College baseball is an ongoing recruiting process. Coaches see a HS or tournament team and they have 3 grades playing with each other. A sophomore could be better than a senior. So, guess what? Offer him a scholarship. Happens all the time. It happens to 8th and 9th graders too. You can tell when a player that young will be better than everyone else he is playing with.

With that in mind, let's look at the current 2017 commits. All 5 are from out of state.

22 -  LHP Hunter Milligan 6-4 200

This will be the 3rd year in a row we get a stud LHP that is 6-4 200 or better. It's what championship teams need. He is the 1# player in Arkansas in this class.

24 - OF Jacob Pearson 6-0 185 L/R

What we need every year! Pearson has climbed 200 spots because of his play lately. He hits well, steals bases, bats left throws right. And he is a big Ms State fan. From West Monroe, La.

96 - C Tyler Lasch 5-10 180 L/R

Another bat left throw right. His travel team played at Dudy during the summer and we jumped on him. He is from California.

108 - LHP Jack Owen  6-1 180

On the same team as Lasch from California. He really keeps hitters off stride. Of course, he is a lefty.

290 - RHP Chad Bryant 6-1 180

Hails from Alabama. He can already touch mid-90's with his fastball. Has played at Dudy before on travel team East Coast Baseball.

This class are the upcoming juniors in HS, so I expect a few more commits before Christmas. Remember, these rankings will fluctuate over the next 2 years.

Again, I expect to sign 15-20 and lose a couple to draft. Nature of the beast now.

Two newcomers with summer stats

RHP Ryan Rigby and OF Tanner Poole are playing with the Piedmont (SC) Pride of the Southern Collegiate League. Team is coached by Joe Hudak. Rigby is untouchable while Poole has nice stats.

Rigby

2-0 0.54 ERA

11 G 8 Saves

16.2 IP 16 K 9 W

3 hits given up, wow!

Poole

.333 Avg in 78 ABs

26 H 1 HR

His best stat..17 stolen bases!

2016 lineup/pitching rotation---(updated) summer edition

Just because. Based on summer ball.

1 - Jacob Robson         CF   L   Jr.R
2 - Luke Reynolds       3B    L   Jr.
3 - Gavin Collins          C     R   Jr.
4 - Reid Humphreys    1B    R   Jr.
5 - Brent Rooker         DH    R  So.R
6 - John Holland          2B    L   Sr.
7 - Michael Smith        RF   R   Sr.
8 - Ryan Gridley          SS    R   So.
9 - Cody Brown           LF    L   Jr.R

Friday - Dakota Hudson  RHP   Jr.
Saturday - Austin Sexton  RHP   Jr.
Sunday - Moonlight Tatum  LHP   Jr.


Long or 7th/8th inning - Daniel Brown  LHP   Jr.
Long or 7th/8th inning - Zac Houston  RHP   Jr.
Closer - Ryan Rigby  RHP   So.

I posted this and someone said but it's the same players as last year and we had a bad year. Yes, that is true. Remember this, most of these guys saw their first significant playing time in 2015. Reynolds, Holland, Smith and Gridley were brand new to the program. Gavin Collins and Cody Brown were really the only ones that had played a lot the year before.

All these players have immense talent. They lived and learned last year. I do know after all my years of being a fan of college baseball is players get better, they adjust.

ALL these guys are playing summer ball and doing pretty good. They are working on their game. They will come back in August and get after it in the weight room.

I like to be positive not negative. I believe these players will turn it around and we will get back to our winning ways in 2016.

I have listed above ONLY 15 of the 35 man roster. The other players will contribute and push for playing time too.

2016 commits (updated rankings by Perfect Game)

Right now we have 9 commits for the 2016 school year. We have 3 ranked in the top 100. PG will re-rank players in each class several more times up until MLB Draft of that year. For example, the 2015 class was ranked for the last time a couple of days prior to the draft this past June.

These individual rankings will fluctuate depending on how many events a player goes to and of course, how well they did at the event. Usually by late spring the Top 300 won't move that much. Austin Riley was last ranked at 61 and he was taken as the 41st pick of the draft.

Here are the rankings as of 6/30.

13 - RHP Alex Speas
50 - LHP/1B Walker Robbins
70 - LHP Mitchell Miller
222 - C Dustin Skelton
238 - RHP Riley Self
288 - LHP Elliot Anderson
388 - OF Hagan Severance
429 - LHP Cole Whitman
477 - MIF/OF Will Brooks

I really think we will sign at least 8 more players. I would like to see 2 more RHP's and 6 position players. I also think we have to over sign each year because we will take a hit on the draft every year. This is bad for our team but good too, it means we are signing elite talent.

This year we kept 1 of our Top 100 players in RHP Parker Ford. Two others, LHP Ethan Small and C Elih Marrero were ranked in the Top 100 for a few months but were dropped into the low 100's prior to the draft. We had 6 but ended up with 4 by draft day.  Riley, Fenter and Pickett were Top 100 but they signed professional contracts.

As for the 2016 class, it looks like Alex Speas will be a high draft pick. He is a tall RHP that throws mid to upper 90's fastball. No one knows what will happen next June, so we will have to wait and see. The high riser is Mississippian Walker Robbins. He is an excellent defender at 1B and swings a mean bat. He is also a good pitcher. He is Mitch Moreland esque. Georgian Mitchell Miller also made a jump in the rankings. He is 6-5 LHP and did well at the PG National event.

Over the last few years, we have been bitten by the draft much more so on position players than pitchers. So we need to keep position players. These guys are the very good hitters and we need those at this point.

Keep it here on my blog for more recruiting info. Players will be committing over the next few months leading up to the November signing day.

Thoughts on the 2016 SEC schedule

Only 1 word describes it: toughest.

It has to be the toughest in the SEC.  We play the usually tough West opponents plus the top 2 in the East. And by the way, those 2 were very close from playing for the National Championship against each other.

And we play both of them at their place, at Vanderbilt and at Florida.

LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Florida made the Omaha field in 2015 and Texas A & M was very, very close to going to Omaha.

In 2016, I expect LSU, Vanderbilt, Florida and TAMU to be highly ranked by the time we play them. Missouri and Georgia have been struggling lately. OM, Alabama and Auburn are usually competitive with us.

I can't wait to see the other West teams schedule but I dare say no one will be playing the top 2 teams from the East away.

I can't wait to see how the non-conference schedule shapes up. I still hope we play Oregon at home and go to Los Angeles to play in the Dodgertown Classic against UCLA and USC both teams expected to be ranked in the top 15 in 2016.

2016 SEC Schedule full release (Update)

As noted from twitter, Bob Carskadon tweeted out the home SEC schedule.

We play at home: Georgia, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A & M and Missouri. LSU has already released their entire 2016 schedule and we play them at Baton Rouge in late April. This puts us going to Auburn and Alabama next year also. So that makes 8 of 10 series known.

Since it is very doubtful we play the same team away in back to back years, this will eliminate Kentucky and Tennessee.

So my best guess is the final two AWAY series is either to the following 3 teams: Florida, South Carolina or Vanderbilt. We played Florida and South Carolina at home in 2015.

I would also bet this years Super Bulldog Weekend opponent will be Texas A & M. Just a guess.

UPDATE: The rest of the schedule was released and we do play Florida and Vanderbilt. This schedule date wise anyway is tentative.

RECAP:

Home

March 25-27:   Georgia
April 1-3:   Ole Miss
April 15-17:   Texas A & M
May 6-8:   Missouri
May 19-21:   Arkansas

Away

March 18-20:   Vanderbilt
April 8-10:   Florida
April 22-24:   LSU
April 29-M1:   Alabama
May 12-14:   Auburn

2017 commit updates at PG National

Tyler Lasch - C - 2017 - Lake Forest, CA
Lasch showed solid defensive tools behind the plate throughout the weekend popping a 1.95 with a top throw of 75 mph down to second showing nice carry with projectable actions. A left-handed hitter, the Mississippi State commit showed nice strength and lift to his pull side with consistent feel for the barrel. 


Jack Owen - LHP - 2017 - Coto De Caza, CA
Jack Owen impressed during his time on the mound, pounding the strike zone with solid extension out front. Topping out at 85 mph, Owen showed a fast left arm while spotting his late fading changeup and solid 1-7 curveball with big depth throughout the zone. He showed solid actions in the outfield topping out at 91 mph with repeatable actions. 


Jacob Pearson - OF - 2017 - West Monroe, LA
Pearson is a strong and physically built outfielder who showed off high level athleticism. Running an impressive 6.58 60-yard dash, the Mississippi State commit is able to generate loud and hard line drive contact to all fields both during batting practice and while facing live pitching. 

Papelbon and Stratton

I do look for Jonathan Papelbon, current closer for the lowly Phillies, to be traded to a contender before August. Let's hope he finishes his career on a high note.

Chris Stratton, moved up to triple A not too long ago, has done exceptionally well there. He is primed to be moved up to San Francisco again before August. The Giants need fresh pitchers in their stretch run toward the playoffs.

MLB draft update

We have lost the top 3 draftees of the 2015 class. Austin Riley signed with the Braves, Greg Pickett signed with the Phillies and Gray Fenter signed with the Orioles. Riley and Fenter signed for 1 million dollars or more. Pickett signed for a lot less which apparently tells us he wanted to go pro in the first place.

Two of the three other drafted players have said they are going to college. Delvin Zinn and Jared Padgett have said publicly they are enrolling in college. Elih Marrero hasn't said anything but sources around him say he is going to college.

Losing Fenter really didn't hurt because we have plenty of pitching in this class. But Riley and Pickett are elite power hitters and that did hurt us. Plus Riley would have been a closer type of pitcher.

But losing 50 percent is not bad. It could have been worse is the way I look at it.

Now it is on to the 2016 class and wrapping up any roster moves or additions to the 2015 entering the fall.

Signee Austin Riley taken in 1st round

Riley was taken by the Braves at number 41 in the compensation round A. The slotted value is a little over 1.5 million dollars. 

Is this life changing money that Riley said he will take? 

If he signs it's a huge blow to our class. The Braves took him as a third baseman so he might not pitch anymore. But if he goes to college, he will do both for 3 more years. And he could improve his status and get drafted even higher in 3 years and at least double his signing bonus. What will he do? Stay tuned.

John Cohen's June 2nd Press Conference

I really was expecting more information than what John gave. His answers were very generalized. Again, one of my post season points was that he is too secretive to the fans. I am sure he has very good reasons for holding back certain information. I will try and glean what I thought he means.

Officially, we haven't been notified of roster players that have left the program. When asked about the numbers of roster players and signees combined (between 45-50, squad is supposed to be 35), he said we will know more next week. Next week is the MLB Draft. What I take from this is two fold. One, if we lose more than expected than current players on the bubble will have a chance to come back. Two, obviously, if we keep the signees, then those guys on the bubble won't be back. Those players he said are still being discussed.

Again, with being ultra secretive, he mentioned the injury situation was worse than we the fans thought. A few other players were battling through it. He said he didn't want the media to know or anyone outside the locker room. This is not right to me. If a kid (some may be fan favorites) that is out for an extended time or lost for the season than he needs to tell us. We are in the dark about our own players. I totally understand if you are not wanting to let the opponent know if a certain player is hurt, so that the opponent can prepare for them. I am talking about an extended period or lost for the year. Please inform our fan base.

I doubt any writer will be asking about the roster, etc after the Draft (they will be occupied with football) so now we are in the dark on the roster until the Fall roster is released in late September or early October. That's unbelievable to me (but this makes me popular!). LSU, for instance, releases their roster in late July (after the MLB signing period is expired, usually July 15). Even though this roster is not the final one, the LSU fan base is totally informed. I believe the schedule is released at the same time.

By not giving us fans any information or little, then we are here to speculate on basic information that ALL college baseball programs go through and that is kids leaving for whatever reason, the biggest being more playing time.

Several questions that most of us wanted to know the answer to, weren't asked.

1) Will the 2016 non-conference schedule have better teams and will we play more away games to enhance the RPI which helps bubble teams getting into the NCAA Regionals?

2) Several of you fans along with me, noticed how bad the infield grass looked this year. I know the tarp failed but last year it didn't look great either. You, the fans, informed me how other schools looked so good. We should be a lot better at this.

3) The offensive philosophy was touched on, some of this has to do with talent. The bat issue was discussed and that seems to be a non issue.

4) Cohen said the whole program was being looked at for change but again, why can't he give us specifics. Again, we are in the dark.

5) Lastly, I would have asked John about himself, how he has changed over the past year due to the season. Why? This was such a horrible season and turn of events. When you are the leader, the first thing you do is look at yourself and how you can change and get better.

I think that is all I had to say.

NCAA Regionals 2015

It is always sad not to see Ms State baseball in an NCAA Regional. It surely is like a death in the family. We look around dumb founded as to what to do now.

Good luck to those SEC teams in the postseason.

I just have this feeling we will have 3 SEC teams going to Omaha but I think a non SEC team will win the National Championship.

The 2015 Season - Part 9: The good stuff!

Junior college catcher Josh Lovelady played great. He was a nice pickup. He was solid, if not spectacular at times, throwing out runners. Once Gavin Collins came back his PT lessened. We needed Collins offense really bad. Those two returning will be the best one two punch in the SEC.

Freshman shortstop Ryan Gridley whose hero is Dustin Pedrioa won the job half way through the season. He might be small but he excelled at short. He had some big hits through out the season too.

Freshman pitcher Jesse McCord although he struggled when he pitched, I saw some great signs that he is an elite pitcher. Even Butch Thompson was calling him a preseason All-American. He can throw it low 90's with great movement. Hopefully, his surgery corrected what was wrong and he will be full speed next spring.

The 4 big sophomore pitchers: Dakota Hudson, Moonlight Tatum, Austin Sexton and Zac Houston each improved over their freshman seasons. Sexton really had some great starts but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead. Hudson and Houston out of the pen really flashed mid 90's fastballs. Tatum started and relieved and had spots where he was untouchable. All 4 will have significant roles in 2016.

The other sophomores: Jacob Robson, Reid Humphreys and Cody Brown each had solid years. All three were up and down sometimes. Robson started out on fire. Hump had a stretch where he was scorching the ball. Brown had some huge hits throughout the year. All 3 should be starters in 2016.

The other junior college players that made an impact besides Lovelady are Michael Smith, Luke Reynolds and John Holland. All three had up and down years, with injuries or slumps but these guys are solid and should have a good in 2016.

The 2015 Season - Part 8: more thoughts and concerns

1) Why was freshman 1B/RHP Cole Gordon redshirted? He had hit 2-3 HRs in the fall, then in preseason scrimmages, he was striking out guys. He is 6-6 240, throws right, bats left. I was expecting him to play. Turns out we really needed him. We needed his power bat and we needed another arm in the bullpen. Love to find out what happened to him.

2) OF Joey Swinarski came to us as a good hitter. He left HS early, reason he was RS last year. But this year he didn't play much at all. I know we had plenty of OF's but Joey is a good hitter and we needed that.

3) Did the new baseball really have that much affect on us? The pitchers we have couldn't throw it as good?

4) Confidence was a huge factor down the stretch. We just didn't have it. Like I alluded to earlier, once we started the downward spiral, we couldn't get out of it. Confidence was lost.

2016 Season: What do we have, pitching.

I got between 25-30 on my 2016 roster but that will be whittled down to around 20. This is the position with the most turnover. Lots of hard throwing premium arms (hopefully) coming to campus in July and August. This will push some to move on.

The age of throwing in the mid 80s is gone. We have got with the program and are bringing in guys who throw in low to mid 90's. This will be the norm in recruiting now.

I would think our rotation will have either have Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton or Moonlight Tatum has two if not all 3 spots.

Of course, our star studded in coming class will push these guys. Way too early to tell right now.

Like I have said they past year, I think we have the best LHP class in the nation. These guys can bring it.

I will have more on the pitching as he summer progresses.