The Georgia series

[alabamadog]

The highest batting average on their team is .347. The second highest is .300, and they hit .261 as a team. Their bullpen looks bad. I'm not sure how they beat Lsu. They do have two good starters, and have been playing a lot better the last couple weeks. We should win sunday, and saturday or friday. If Devin Jones doesn't have a decent outing tomorrow, I would throw Norris next Friday.

 

[Todd4State]

They're just simply not as good as they usually are- like I've said a couple of times on here, Manieri sold their soul and hurt some of their pitchers- like Matty Ott and Anthony Renaudo, and now they are paying for it now. They used to do the exact same thing under Bertman, but they could get away with it more because they didn't have to deal with roster limits, and they had the gorilla ball bats.

And yes, if Cohen or Polk did the same thing and won a NC, I wouldn't complain about it one bit. So, I'm not totally criticizing Manieri here. But they are throwing two freshmen in their weekend rotation, and they're starting a few more in the field, as well as some sophomores. They will be fine in a year or so, but this is going to be tough for them this year. The SEC is as tough as ever- and just like it hasn't forgiven us the past few years because we're MSU, it won't forgive LSU either.

Let's not forget- Florida handed LSU their tail to them at home. They did sweep Cal State- Fullerton though. I actually think that Ole Miss is going to win at least two of three against them this weekend.

And as far as MSU and Georgia, I think we will win two this weekend ourselves. We're playing with a lot of confidence right now. We had trouble with Pallazone last year, but we will have Stratton going for us. Devin Jones worries me just like everyone else- but he is also going to have a real short leash. Routt/Norris are pitching very well also. Adam Frazier has solidified our lineup for now. Honestly, if we won one, I would be disappointed. Georgia's catchers are last in the SEC in throwing out runners- I expect us to run a little bit this weekend. Overall, our whole team seems to be improving as the year is going on, and that's what I like to see. Also, if we win this series, I think we will break the top 25 in every poll except for the Baseball America poll.

 

[Phil Wenneck.sixpack]

I like the idea of Routt on Sundays because 9 times out of 10, the odds are in our favor that he will out duel our opponent's Sunday guy. That is, if he keeps progressing. Stratton is always gonna give us a chance on Saturdays. He's our constant. Jones just has to come around and finally start pitching up to the potential the coaches keep talking about. He's where he needs to be though. I like our strategy of keep putting him out there on Fridays because Stratton and Routt are a tough combo for most other teams to match up with on Saturdays and Sundays. The question will be, if Jones continues to somewhat struggle, do other teams start adjusting their rotation to match wits? Either way, Jones can fix all that if he'll get his mind right and pitch like he's evidently capable. That would give us a very solid 3 man punch especially of Routt keeps progressing. That's the key to the rest of the season. </p>

 

[Todd4State]

But what I think is going to happen is Devin is still going to be a complete headcase, and all we're waiting on is Routt to get to the point where he can throw 80- 100 pitches, which will hopefully be the next two-three weeks. If/when that happens, we'll see Routt on Friday, Stratton on Sat. and Norris on Sunday. And then Devin will probably pitch midweek and we can put Graveman in the bullpen.

That other scenario is not bad either- which is Devin makes progress and keeps a weekend spot. We can then go with either/or Jones and Routt on Fri and Sun. Not sure what that would mean for Daryl Norris- maybe he pitches midweek or they stay with Graveman?

Personally, I think my first scenario is most likely.

That said, this is a huge weekend for Devin Jones, and it might be his last shot. I figure Routt will be up to about 60 pitches or so this week, if not more. By next week, he will be up to the 70-80 range. That's enough to get five innings out of him, and we can get by with our bullpen if he can do that.

So, all of that's to say that even if the other teams switch their staffs around, I don't think it will matter too much.

 

[basedog]

Is Jones pitches ok for a few innings and then the "head thing" kicks in and it's to late to play catch up. I'm not feeling good about tonight. As for as Georgia, they like us are gaining confidence and playing in Athens is a plus for them. I just hope we continue to swing the bats with timely hits. I also can see this being Jones last weekend start, maybe we need to go get Dr Phil and let him have some sessions with Jones!

I would start Norris on Friday as well, let him DH, plus him pitching on Friday he wouldn't have tired legs compared to pitching on Sunday.

 

[msudogsrule01]

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I feel like we have been owned by Georgia for the last decade or so for whatever reason.

 

[HireCohen]

It's only been two weekend series so far. To say LSU is going to struggle this year after those series is ridiculous in my opinion. They lost two 1-run games to a Florida team which is loaded. Florida's #3 starter was drafted #9 overall in this past MLB draft, their staff is really good. They also lost a 1-run 7 inning game to Georgia this past weekend. Anyone will tell you that 7 inning games are a totally different experience than 9. LSU has a really good starting rotation of their own and are tied for second in the league in hitting. They will be no less than a 4 seed in the SEC tournament behind Florida, Vandy, and South Carolina. Alabama is playing way over their heads right now as their pitching staff which isn't very good, has had a great year so far. They also are not a great hitting team. LSU may lose 2 of 3 this weekend to Ole Miss, I wouldn't bet on this happening though. Matt Crouse has been extremely good, but I look for LSU to win atleast 2 of 3. Let's just hope State can win this series because next weekend is going to be tough for us.

 

[chew1095]

nm

 

[KurtRambis4]

**** the bed against at lot of teams in the past decade.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

We're 9-18 (0.333 win%) vs Georgia since 2002 (9 seasons, not including SECT games). We've only won 2 series in that time (both at home), and were swept twice. Our road record vs them is 3-9 (only 6-9 at home).

Rambis' statement has some validity, but our SEC record over the same period is 108-155 (0.411 win%), which means our record vs UGA is considerably worse than our overall SEC record over the same time period.

Not trying to throw a wet blanket here (I think we take 2). I was just interested in looking up the numbers since it was brought up.