Baseball
- Thread starter Jeffreauxdawg
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I was shocked by D1 Baseball ranking us 18th.
Lemonis looks slim and trim unfortunately.
Lemonis looks slim and trim unfortunately.
Yikes. We were preseason 4th in D1 in 2022 with a svelt Lemonis piloting the Hindenburg.
Can you work on that, get his address and send him some baked goods on the daily?
I think that ranking is probably pretty accurate. There are seven SEC teams ranked ahead of State. We're probably about the same as we were last year. Probably a bit better offensively, Pitching will probably take a step back. Defensively about the same, maybe a little better. I'd argue that we may be in this current cycle for a while. Lemonis doing just enough to keep his job. Middle of the pack to lower top of the league. Being in contention to host, but as we saw last year could go either way. Now I'd love to be wrong and see him build the program back up to top 10 status, but I think we're going to be in this purgatory with Lemonis until we have an AD willing to make hard decisions.
Baseball preseason rankings are a total crapshoot. Always have been. Each organization ranks schools they're friends with the coaches highly.
I agree. Baseball purgatory. Rarely good enough to to host or win a regional, but usually good enough to make one. That'll be plenty good for a do nothing athletic director to extend the contract.
I'll go a step further. I believe State will have to win 40 to host. Manhattan and Queens and Missouri State don't invoke RPI boosters. So we would probably need to sweep those 9 plus win 12-13 mid-week games to even have a shot at 40 wins.
I think pre-season rankings of all 3 major sports are a joke now. How can anyone predict how teams that bring in as many new faces now as they do now are going to mesh and perform? At this point its just a way to sell magazines and promote clicks on websites like D1 Baseball
I think Pico is a Saturday guy. He was pretty damn good as a freshman before he had Tommy John. He was also good at the end of the year last year. He might not be a Friday ace but Saturday for sure.
Speaking of this. I'm beginning to hate Lunardi and that rat poison he puts out earlier and earlier every year. We used to hear from him only in February and March. Now he's calling us a 2 seed in December before conference play, which feels good at the time but sets "some" fanbases (I'm pointing the thumb, not the finger) up for unrealistic expectations. Joey Brackets needs to take the winter off and come out of hiding in spring.
I think starting pitching is worse, pen depth is better, hitting will be good not great, defense should be pretty good. I'm expecting a top 8 finish in conference but with so many new faces, it's all a guess.
Hard to tell, because you don't know what other teams have. I can't figure out Lemonis' plan or culture. He seems to me to have a lot of Ron Polk in him, without the NCAA anger or whatever, even though you've seen some of his frustration with that lately. Anyway, what I mean is, he's a good coach and knows how to get guys in the right spots, but he's also dependent on his talent. And personally I'm not sure his recruiting is the best. I think he wants the 5 stars, but at MSU, we don't normally get those. We still get good players, but the problem lies in the fact that LSU, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, etc. DO get the 5 stars. And many times it's about money, whether that's scholarship or NIL.
I would say we're a travel ball type culture, but everybody plays travel ball so I'll get more specific. We are getting showcase guys who are heavily trained for baseball metrics. I'd rather see us get projectable athletes and more of a tougher mentality. Like what John Cohen brought us.
Long story short.....all depends on if these players we got are any good. Duh, right. I'm guessing another season like last year, but a tad worse. NCAA tourney team, but not really on bubble to host. We just lost so much and I don't think Hines can carry us. You generally are what you are by your 3rd year in baseball. Especially when you were already older (held back) and have been a day 1 starter.
I would say we're a travel ball type culture, but everybody plays travel ball so I'll get more specific. We are getting showcase guys who are heavily trained for baseball metrics. I'd rather see us get projectable athletes and more of a tougher mentality. Like what John Cohen brought us.
Long story short.....all depends on if these players we got are any good. Duh, right. I'm guessing another season like last year, but a tad worse. NCAA tourney team, but not really on bubble to host. We just lost so much and I don't think Hines can carry us. You generally are what you are by your 3rd year in baseball. Especially when you were already older (held back) and have been a day 1 starter.
One other thing I'll add - I don't like the trend of adding all these Louisiana guys, and abandoning Alabama guys. For whatever reason, on the whole, we just haven't gotten good value from that central to south LA area. And we HAVE gotten big production out of stealing Alabama's best players. No idea why we stopped.
We are also all over the ATL travel circuit. Not sure that's the best idea. Also seeing some California push, that rarely works out for us. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.
We are also all over the ATL travel circuit. Not sure that's the best idea. Also seeing some California push, that rarely works out for us. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.
I have similar feelings. I’m far from a baseball expert, but when you have a team that is replacing its entire weekend rotation, basically all but one guy in the top half of their lineup, and a few role players, I don’t know how you can look at that and think… yeah, that’s a top 20 team
I agree Lemonis relies too much on analytics and recruits the guys with great metrics who aren't necessarily great baseball players. He does the same with in game strategies and defensive shifts too. There's a role for metrics and analytics in baseball. But you have to use it with some judgment and common sense too.
Someone good with statistics should do a look back and see which correlation is stronger: 1) preseason to final rankings or 2) preseason to subscription count.
They really don't even make sense in college, since the schedules are weird like Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and the talent levels are different. They work better for pro ball when you play every day and talent is similar.
Like basketball, we have to stack Ws in the non-conference schedule and hang on in SEC play. Bad non-conference losses really hurt this team last year. We're not good enough to win the SEC, so we have to feast on the non-con schedule to have a chance to host.
By the time you've built a statistically significant database, the season is over.
I think our Sunday guy is going to have to pitch on Saturday because our Saturday guy is going to have to pitch on Friday.
Yep, the Houston tourney will provide us the best OOC opponents. Then, playing USM twice.
But who is the radio guy going to be? This is important info to know.
Let's just change the time of first pitch, then.**
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I also have been privy to this knowledge. Looking forward to seeing it happen.