Why is Vickerson sitting? is it b/c of 9 errors?

[atlwebdawg]

I haven't been following the last few weeks but after looking at stats - he's batting .293 - that's excellent for this year's class. I wondered why Jaron isn't starting over <span style="font-weight: bold;">Collins</span> in CF, but 10 hits and only 1 2B for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shepherd</span> - i can see why he's sitting. I still would put <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vickerson</span> at 3b, and Jet at 2b and just play them there for the rest of the year. Todd, or someone else who's paying close attention, please elaborate on these decisions. thanks.

Also, the thing that is really pissing me off is the strikeouts and the overall batting approach. After watching this weekend it just seemed as if our players would rather walk than get a hit. We all know that they leave the bat on their shoulder on the 3rd strike, but there were several situations where the ball was clearly a strike and a few players just TRIED to get that 3rd ball for the walk. GET UP THERE AND HIT THE **** out of the ball! - damnit, this is supposed to be a Cohen/aggressive approach! When i watched Kentucky play the last few years all of their players were just aggressive and fearless. We don't have players. When you watched and compared Carolina's players to ours, it was just unfair. It's amazing how far we let the talent level drop. I want to have patience and i can IF we are aggressive, but the passive attitude at the plate just sucks.

Oh my - it's tough WAITING to be competitive again in the SEC. I daydream about being back at the Dude in 88/89/90 during the Glory Days and i honestly think we will NEVER, EVER have that kind of team ever again. The competition in the SEC is just so great and all of the surrounding states have better programs, and facilities which will keep us from ever getting back to that dominating position again. I hope Cohen proves me wrong - i think we can be competitive, but for all of us who think that Ole Miss will go away and us winning like we did in 89 (54-12, 20-5) (i think that's right) - just doesn't seem like it's going to happen again.

For those Dawg fans who are being realistic....

What are your projections on how we will respond in the next few years?
Will we compete with the top SEC teams?
Do you think the bigger schools with more of 'everything' will keep us from getting back to where MSU fans 'remember' MSU Baseball?

 

[Todd4State]

I'm pretty sure that he is sitting because of his defense. He has struggled lately in that department. We might see your lineup in the very near future, though.

I agree with most of what you said about the current state of our program.

I don't think we will dominate the SEC, but I also see no reason why we can't be up there with the LSU's of the world. The reason I say that is because of the depth of the SEC. We have the ingredients to compete. It just takes time and better players. Thankfully, we have a coach that can recruit. I really believe that's how you win- you get good players and you let them play. And when I say time, I'm not talking seven years either.

I think next year, we will be a young team. Hopefully we will have an easier schedule to- I know I said that our schedule was easier in the off-season, but I underestimated SELU. We will have some ups and downs next year some, but I also think that you will see improvement especially in the level of talent. Our current JUCO guys will be seniors, and this years freshmen pitchers will be experienced sophomores, and that will help. Almost all of Polk's guys will be gone. That will help from an attitude standpoint. I still feel like we don't have everyone pulling on the same rope right now. And no, I'm not blaming that on Polk, or anyone else. It is what it is.

After next year, I think we will be pretty good. We'll have a lot of junior pitchers, probably some senior pitchers like Routt, Reed, and maybe Devin Jones, and a lot of sophomore position players.

Now, I'll close with this- I do think that MSU as a AD needs to put more emphasis on the baseball program than what is being put into it now. This includes facilities and trying to make sure that the grandstand is full. It seems like the attitude right now is wait until we get better and take care of the other sports, but I think we might be sweeping baseball under the rug too much in my opinion.