Ole Miss wrapped up fall baseball on Saturday, as Will Allen's team secured a three-game sweep of John Gatlin's team. The winners ate pizzas and got T-shirts while the losers ran around Swayze Field.
I talked to Cliff Godwin following Saturday's finale, and his quotes on a couple topics are here, and then I've got some thoughts and opinions that follow. Ole Miss opens its season on Valentine's Day at Stetson.
What do you try to get out of the Pizza Bowl?
"The one thing out of Pizza Bowl is seeing guys really compete. You have the intrasquads and you go for six weeks so sometimes guys just don't compete like guys would in the spring, so you split the teams up and we have our guys coach the teams which makes it more competitive. We split the teams up where they have to draft certain positions and guys aren't out of position. Good to see the young guys compete because you know about the older guys. We're banged up with the older guys, so the young guys got to play."
And the fall in general?
"It's fundamentals in the fall and the young guys getting their feet wet and understand what it takes to play defense and pitch at this level. Execute hit and runs, sacrifice bunting, put in our offensive and defensive philosophies. They get that groundwork for the spring. It's like spring football where you don't want things brand new for the spring."
How's the health situation? Brady Bramlett and Ryan Leone aren't on the active roster (NCAA granted Ole Miss a waiver for Bramlett), and a lot of position players have been banged up.
"We'll be 100 percent healthy position player wise when we start in the spring. John Gatlin is out with a foot injury. He'll be 100 percent. Will Allen has a torn ligament in his thumb, but he'll be healthy. Will Jamison has a back muscle spasm issue, and he'll be healthy. Preson Overbey also with a back injury, and he'll be healthy."
With Allen's position and that injury, is there more of a concern?
"Dr. Geissler is the hand specialist, and they say he fixed it, so that's what I'm going with. I think he'll be 100 percent healthy. Strength will come back, and he'll improve quickly."
Speaking of, how's the catcher position right now? Stuart Turner isn't an easy one to replace.
"Will Allen is definitely in front, and Austin Knight and (freshman) Henry Lartigue are competing to be backups. Knight has the experience, and Henry has improved a whole lot as the fall has gone on, as most freshmen do. Will, when he was healthy, caught better than he did two years ago. That's with him not catching last year because of Stuart."
Austin Anderson spent time at third base, with Kyle Toth and Errol Robinson at short this fall, while Dalton Dulin is at second. Is a freshmen middle infield a possibility?
"It's a possibility. Preston Overbey can play second or third. Austin Anderson played a lot of third to get him used to that,, so we could see Errol and Toth and some other guys at short. Dalton did a good job at second and is a possibility."
Sikes Orvis looks like a different person at the plate. What's contributed to his power increase?
"It's what Sikes came here to do from day one, and we've had a lot of focus on it, and it's more mental. He's grown up some. Lot more confidence. He's playing third base just out of necessity, and he couldn't have done that last year just from a confidence level. He feels like he's one of the best hitters in the country, which he is. Ben Fleming has done a great job with weight room stuff. He's up there swinging, not taking pitches and needing calls from the umpire."
People like me have been predicting newcomers JB Woodman and Braxton Lee as your corner outfielders. Where are they right now?
"Braxton has had a great fall. JB, we've messed with him mechanically, and that's probably affected his performance, but he is going to be fine. He'll be one of the best players in the country. We're crowded in the outfield which is a good thing. They can run with anyone in the country, and we'll just let them compete."
I know you're not the pitching coach, but you've recruited a lot of the guys who need to fill roles. Overall thoughts on the staff?
"Our depth on the mound, obviously we don't have a Bobby Wahl or Mike Mayers status wise, but the depth on the mound is deeper than we've had since I've been here. We're going to have to put guys in more roles than we ever have before. We don't have Bobby Wahl who just roll out there and goes 11-0, but we have guys who can fill roles and pitch seventh, eighth, ninth innings."
Now my thoughts. Of note: I haven't seen the final stats from the fall, so it's possible the numbers provide a decent argument against a point or two. I'm just scattershooting here.
Godwin mentioned having to fit roles on the staff more than in the past, and that's the most interesting point to me heading into the spring. It's not the way Mike Bianco has traditionally managed, as he's pretty much always had dominant front-line starters and could let them work. Extending closers has been the main non-traditional role Bianco has implemented in the past. It won't be exactly the same, but he'll need to manage more like John Cohen has in past years. Since I have covered the team on a day-to-day basis, Lance Lynn, Bobby Wahl or Drew Pomeranz have been on the team every year. That guy doesn't exist. Even in 2011 -- notably Mike's least successful year when one of the previously mentioned three weren't the ace -- Matt Crouse was better than he's given credit for. I'm interested to see how the staff is managed this season.
Chris Ellis took part of the fall off to rest, but he's back now and is likely the wild card to what kind of season this is for the Rebels. The raw "stuff" is there to be a successful weekend starter, and he's now a junior. It seems part of the battle will be handling that role mentally. Avoid negative counts, shake off bad moments and stay locked in. His ability to do that is the question. Friday night in the SEC requires a certain mentality. Lynn, Pomeranz, Wahl had it. Ellis hasn't shown that yet.
If I had to guess right now, I'd say Christian Trent starts the season opener for the Rebels. The left-hander has been good this fall and has some season to him. Things didn't work out at LSU and he comes from Delgado CC, but Ole Miss obviously thought he was worth it. So far the Rebels are right. I'm pretty comfortable in saying he'll pitch on the weekend.
Sam Smith is a proven commodity on Sundays. I'd leave him there.
Jacob Waguespack had bone chips removed and has missed fall recovering from that. He's been a favorite of mine since he signed. I sense Ole Miss hopes he can fight for a weekend role. Waguespack hasn't thrown a ton in games, but he displayed toughness last year.
Hawtin Buchanan has had a better fall. It's time for him to make a move. JUCO transfer Preston Tarkington could be the closer in the spring. He has the slider Bianco likes for his closer. He's had a good fall and is impressive since he isn't overly experienced as a pitcher. He stuck out 95 in 79 innings at Crowder CC last year.
I think Ole Miss can leave Aaron Greenwood in the bullpen and let him succeed at facing the batting order just one time.
There's going to be a decrease in production at catcher since Turner was the best one in the country, and it's important to play multiple guys this season. Knight handles the pitchers fairly well and shows some good POP at times. Allen has to hit for this team to meet expectations -- which I'm not sure what those are right now. Allen can't catch 56 games. There will need to be some type of platoon. I haven't seen enough of Lartigue to have an opinion.
Orvis hit two home runs on Saturday and just looks different. He's more of a free-swinger, and that's perfectly fine. You'll sacrifice some average points for more total bases. He hit .237 last season with 33 of his 40 hits singles. He's never going to hit .360 so hit home runs and doubles.
Freshman Colby Bortles will be good eventually. He's currently more comfortable defensively at third than first which is interesting.
Will Jamison will have to fight off at least one newcomer for considerable playing time. How he handles that will be a key to his season.
I think I like Austin Anderson at third base. Robinson and Dulin give more range up the middle but probably sacrifice some at the plate. Robinson is overwhelmed and not strong enough offensively, but he gets to a lot of balls in the field. Dulin looks much better from the left side, but I assume he'll continue to switch hit. He's a spark plug, energy guy. Ole Miss needs that.
Brantley Bell, son of Jay Bell, had a great fall offensively for a freshman, but I'm not sure he has a position. He's still getting acclimated at third base. The Rebs got a good one who wasn't highly recruited.
I think Cheyne Bickel has more of a chance to help than Evan Anderson on the mound right now.
Ole Miss is still waiting on a waiver for Carlos Williams. The Rebels should get it and be able to keep the roster at 35 active players.
This isn't uncommon for the fall, but I don't know who the leaders are on this team. Anderson, Allen and Overbey are seniors but don't really have the personality to be crazy vocal. It'll be interesting to see if younger guys emerge into that role.
Even without Williams, there should be bench versatility depending on who is in the starting lineup. Cameron Dishon and Will Jamison are both substitution guys in my projection below. Toth and Bell supply infield depth. Bortles can hit.
Post-fall opening weekend lineup projection
C - Allen
1B - Overbey
2B - Dulin
SS - Robinson
3B - Anderson
LF - Lee
CF - Bousfield
RF - Woodman
DH - Orvis
SP - Trent
SP - Ellis
SP - Smith
Cl - Tarkington
MW - Waguespack
I talked to Cliff Godwin following Saturday's finale, and his quotes on a couple topics are here, and then I've got some thoughts and opinions that follow. Ole Miss opens its season on Valentine's Day at Stetson.
What do you try to get out of the Pizza Bowl?
"The one thing out of Pizza Bowl is seeing guys really compete. You have the intrasquads and you go for six weeks so sometimes guys just don't compete like guys would in the spring, so you split the teams up and we have our guys coach the teams which makes it more competitive. We split the teams up where they have to draft certain positions and guys aren't out of position. Good to see the young guys compete because you know about the older guys. We're banged up with the older guys, so the young guys got to play."
And the fall in general?
"It's fundamentals in the fall and the young guys getting their feet wet and understand what it takes to play defense and pitch at this level. Execute hit and runs, sacrifice bunting, put in our offensive and defensive philosophies. They get that groundwork for the spring. It's like spring football where you don't want things brand new for the spring."
How's the health situation? Brady Bramlett and Ryan Leone aren't on the active roster (NCAA granted Ole Miss a waiver for Bramlett), and a lot of position players have been banged up.
"We'll be 100 percent healthy position player wise when we start in the spring. John Gatlin is out with a foot injury. He'll be 100 percent. Will Allen has a torn ligament in his thumb, but he'll be healthy. Will Jamison has a back muscle spasm issue, and he'll be healthy. Preson Overbey also with a back injury, and he'll be healthy."
With Allen's position and that injury, is there more of a concern?
"Dr. Geissler is the hand specialist, and they say he fixed it, so that's what I'm going with. I think he'll be 100 percent healthy. Strength will come back, and he'll improve quickly."
Speaking of, how's the catcher position right now? Stuart Turner isn't an easy one to replace.
"Will Allen is definitely in front, and Austin Knight and (freshman) Henry Lartigue are competing to be backups. Knight has the experience, and Henry has improved a whole lot as the fall has gone on, as most freshmen do. Will, when he was healthy, caught better than he did two years ago. That's with him not catching last year because of Stuart."
Austin Anderson spent time at third base, with Kyle Toth and Errol Robinson at short this fall, while Dalton Dulin is at second. Is a freshmen middle infield a possibility?
"It's a possibility. Preston Overbey can play second or third. Austin Anderson played a lot of third to get him used to that,, so we could see Errol and Toth and some other guys at short. Dalton did a good job at second and is a possibility."
Sikes Orvis looks like a different person at the plate. What's contributed to his power increase?
"It's what Sikes came here to do from day one, and we've had a lot of focus on it, and it's more mental. He's grown up some. Lot more confidence. He's playing third base just out of necessity, and he couldn't have done that last year just from a confidence level. He feels like he's one of the best hitters in the country, which he is. Ben Fleming has done a great job with weight room stuff. He's up there swinging, not taking pitches and needing calls from the umpire."
People like me have been predicting newcomers JB Woodman and Braxton Lee as your corner outfielders. Where are they right now?
"Braxton has had a great fall. JB, we've messed with him mechanically, and that's probably affected his performance, but he is going to be fine. He'll be one of the best players in the country. We're crowded in the outfield which is a good thing. They can run with anyone in the country, and we'll just let them compete."
I know you're not the pitching coach, but you've recruited a lot of the guys who need to fill roles. Overall thoughts on the staff?
"Our depth on the mound, obviously we don't have a Bobby Wahl or Mike Mayers status wise, but the depth on the mound is deeper than we've had since I've been here. We're going to have to put guys in more roles than we ever have before. We don't have Bobby Wahl who just roll out there and goes 11-0, but we have guys who can fill roles and pitch seventh, eighth, ninth innings."
Now my thoughts. Of note: I haven't seen the final stats from the fall, so it's possible the numbers provide a decent argument against a point or two. I'm just scattershooting here.
Godwin mentioned having to fit roles on the staff more than in the past, and that's the most interesting point to me heading into the spring. It's not the way Mike Bianco has traditionally managed, as he's pretty much always had dominant front-line starters and could let them work. Extending closers has been the main non-traditional role Bianco has implemented in the past. It won't be exactly the same, but he'll need to manage more like John Cohen has in past years. Since I have covered the team on a day-to-day basis, Lance Lynn, Bobby Wahl or Drew Pomeranz have been on the team every year. That guy doesn't exist. Even in 2011 -- notably Mike's least successful year when one of the previously mentioned three weren't the ace -- Matt Crouse was better than he's given credit for. I'm interested to see how the staff is managed this season.
Chris Ellis took part of the fall off to rest, but he's back now and is likely the wild card to what kind of season this is for the Rebels. The raw "stuff" is there to be a successful weekend starter, and he's now a junior. It seems part of the battle will be handling that role mentally. Avoid negative counts, shake off bad moments and stay locked in. His ability to do that is the question. Friday night in the SEC requires a certain mentality. Lynn, Pomeranz, Wahl had it. Ellis hasn't shown that yet.
If I had to guess right now, I'd say Christian Trent starts the season opener for the Rebels. The left-hander has been good this fall and has some season to him. Things didn't work out at LSU and he comes from Delgado CC, but Ole Miss obviously thought he was worth it. So far the Rebels are right. I'm pretty comfortable in saying he'll pitch on the weekend.
Sam Smith is a proven commodity on Sundays. I'd leave him there.
Jacob Waguespack had bone chips removed and has missed fall recovering from that. He's been a favorite of mine since he signed. I sense Ole Miss hopes he can fight for a weekend role. Waguespack hasn't thrown a ton in games, but he displayed toughness last year.
Hawtin Buchanan has had a better fall. It's time for him to make a move. JUCO transfer Preston Tarkington could be the closer in the spring. He has the slider Bianco likes for his closer. He's had a good fall and is impressive since he isn't overly experienced as a pitcher. He stuck out 95 in 79 innings at Crowder CC last year.
I think Ole Miss can leave Aaron Greenwood in the bullpen and let him succeed at facing the batting order just one time.
There's going to be a decrease in production at catcher since Turner was the best one in the country, and it's important to play multiple guys this season. Knight handles the pitchers fairly well and shows some good POP at times. Allen has to hit for this team to meet expectations -- which I'm not sure what those are right now. Allen can't catch 56 games. There will need to be some type of platoon. I haven't seen enough of Lartigue to have an opinion.
Orvis hit two home runs on Saturday and just looks different. He's more of a free-swinger, and that's perfectly fine. You'll sacrifice some average points for more total bases. He hit .237 last season with 33 of his 40 hits singles. He's never going to hit .360 so hit home runs and doubles.
Freshman Colby Bortles will be good eventually. He's currently more comfortable defensively at third than first which is interesting.
Will Jamison will have to fight off at least one newcomer for considerable playing time. How he handles that will be a key to his season.
I think I like Austin Anderson at third base. Robinson and Dulin give more range up the middle but probably sacrifice some at the plate. Robinson is overwhelmed and not strong enough offensively, but he gets to a lot of balls in the field. Dulin looks much better from the left side, but I assume he'll continue to switch hit. He's a spark plug, energy guy. Ole Miss needs that.
Brantley Bell, son of Jay Bell, had a great fall offensively for a freshman, but I'm not sure he has a position. He's still getting acclimated at third base. The Rebs got a good one who wasn't highly recruited.
I think Cheyne Bickel has more of a chance to help than Evan Anderson on the mound right now.
Ole Miss is still waiting on a waiver for Carlos Williams. The Rebels should get it and be able to keep the roster at 35 active players.
This isn't uncommon for the fall, but I don't know who the leaders are on this team. Anderson, Allen and Overbey are seniors but don't really have the personality to be crazy vocal. It'll be interesting to see if younger guys emerge into that role.
Even without Williams, there should be bench versatility depending on who is in the starting lineup. Cameron Dishon and Will Jamison are both substitution guys in my projection below. Toth and Bell supply infield depth. Bortles can hit.
Post-fall opening weekend lineup projection
C - Allen
1B - Overbey
2B - Dulin
SS - Robinson
3B - Anderson
LF - Lee
CF - Bousfield
RF - Woodman
DH - Orvis
SP - Trent
SP - Ellis
SP - Smith
Cl - Tarkington
MW - Waguespack
