Good article on new bats...

[8dog]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/news/2010/2610722.html

It also notes the use of a 20 second pitch clock across the country.

I think its showing in our practices too--recent scrimmages have been dominated by pitchers who have almost no experience in college---CT Bradford, Evan Mitchell, Trey Johnson and Nolan Thomas all dominated recently. Im sure the loss of almost all of our good hitters doesn't help either.

Again, I think these bats will really help us though. We needed to upgrade pitching far worse than anything and these bats do it for us.

 

[AccountingDawg]

8Dog[/b]]I think its showing in our practices too--recent scrimmages have been dominated by pitchers who have almost no experience in college---

This scares me to death.. The opposing team is gonna have to use the same type bats as our guys, therefore, the bats helping us is a mute point.. The fact that our guys are being dominated at the plate by these young pitchers is just disheartening.. I think this it is much worse news for our bats than it is good news for our arms..

I do agree with the point that the new bats upgrade our pitchers but, in the same sense, it upgrades the opposing pitchers just as much..And this is obvious by the dominance of the younger pitchers (you spoke of)in practice..

 

[8dog]

but under Cohen, we've been competitive run-scoring wise. We have been anything but competitive pitching-wise so I think we need that gap closed more than anything.

Additionally, b/c of our park, Cohen has not recruited a ton of power but has gone after speed. These bats lend themselves to this type of player.

 

[beachbumdawg]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=3962



</p>

Mississippi State coach John Cohen called this afternoon to say the school has launched a "Do It For Duffy" campaign to raise funds for former Bulldogs catcher Ryan Duffy, who was paralyzed from the neck down after diving off a dock in Key West, Fla., last month.</p>

MSU is selling maroon wristbands for $5, but supporters are of course welcome to donate as much as they like. Cohen said the goal is to raise $100,000 to send Duffy to a premier recovery center in Atlanta. To purchase a wristband, just make checks out to the Ryan Duffy Recovery fund and send them to:</p>

Mississippi State Baseball Office
PO Box 5327
Mississippi State, MS 39762</p>

Cohen also weighed in on the new BBCOR-certified bats, which we wrote about Tuesday. He said the Bulldogs—who play in one of the most spacious fields in the Southeastern Conference—have hit just two home runs in batting practice and scrimmages since starting workouts on Aug. 21.</p>

"And we have some guys with real power," he said. "Guys are killing balls, they just don't go. Nobody's going to hit balls out of our ballpark—I'm serious.<span id="more-3962"></span></p>

"I think it helps us, because we have really been on to runners and arm strength, and we have a huge area to cover in our outfield. We've really gone to guys who can run balls down. So I like it. If i was still at Kentucky (whose park is built for the long ball), I would not like it at all."</p>

Even so, he expressed reservations about the inevitable power outage coming to college baseball in 2011 thanks to the new bat standards.</p>

"There's no chance of having the dramatic ninth-inning walk off home run in certain ballparks—I think it's going to really change what we're doing," Cohen said. "Major league parks are built—Yankee Stadium is built so a guy can hit a 350-foot fly ball late in a game to win a game. It adds that excitement. At certain ballparks, that's not going to be available."</p>

FInally, Cohen raved about freshman two-way talent Hunter Refroe, whose huge raw tools were described in a John Manuel column (subscribers only) in May.</p>

"He might be the most under-the-radar guy I've ever come across," Cohen said. "He pitched in an intrasquad yesterday, and the first pitch he threw was 94. He went up to 96, and he's throwing 1.9(-second pop times) behind the plate. And it's an explosive bat—real power there.</p>

"He's going to play right away for us."</p>

 

[Shmuley]

nm

 

[Todd4State]

I mean, we're losing Conner Powers, Ryan Duffy, and Russ Sneed. That and you add in the fact that we have a lot of freshmen hitters and then the new bats, and a big ballpark, it's not real surprising that that we have only hit two home runs so far. I think some of the frehmen like Hunter Renfroe, Wes Rea, Daryl Norris, and maybe even DeMarcus Henderson will hit with some power in time, but that's something that will likely come down the road.

A lot of people are rightfully worried about the pitching, but I think it will be better this year. It sounds like Nick Routt is going to be back very soon, and that CC Watson will be healthy. We know what Chris Stratton brings to the table, and he should be better than he was last year. I am hopeful that Daryl Norris can help us in some capacity on the mound as well. Hunter Renfroe throws hard, but he has very poor control. So, I don't know how much he will contribute on the mound next year. It's not out of the question though. And then CT Bradford is a guy that could help us out on the mound as well. The biggest thing with the pitching in my opinion is just to stay healthy.

We have some guys on the team now and a few coming in next year- Brandon Woodruff, Trevor Fitts, and Jacob Lindgren- that can all legitimately throw in the 90's. That's going to help us out as much as anything. Also, with more balls being hit "not as hard" (I don't know how else to put it) we need to really make sure that we are sound on defense becuase- especially in the outfield becuase more balls that are hit out there are not going over the fence, and we need some guys that can run those balls down and catch them. I think we have that though in CT and Jaron. Right field at Dudy-Noble is relatively small, or rather I should say not as wide, so we can get away with maybe someone that doesn't have quite the speed as our CF and LF.

As many have mentioned, the fact that there will be less power across the board will play into more of a small ball type of play. We are very fortunate that we have some guys that can run pretty well now. We were going to have to go to this style anyway because of our decrease in power, at least until some of our freshmen develop their power and become more experienced hitters. And yes, that style fits Dudy-Noble Field pretty well.

Funny thing is the guy that seems to be complianing about the bats the most is Paul Manieri- and that's probably because LSU made a living in the 90's with those nuclear bats. I'm betting LSU also probably has recruited a lot of power guys and fewer speed guys, but I really don't know all the details about all of their players.

Bottom line is this- both teams will be playing with the same bats. Balls can still be hit out with them, but it has to be on the sweet spot- more like a wooden bat. There won't be anymore you jam a guy and he hits it off the handle and the ball goes out. I think it will make college baseball more like a "true" baseball. The fact of the matter is the good hitters will still hit- even if you gave them a chair leg.