STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State baseball team will continue to limit its starting pitchers to pitch counts in the opening month of the season for the third-straight season.
MSU pitching coach Butch Thompson plans to use as many as eight pitchers in modified starting outings for the season-opening four-game series against Hofstra on Feb. 14 at Dudy Noble Field.
“We like it as a staff because we have decisions to make before we start Southeastern Conference play as to who we want to be out there, and I’ve got to have a bunch of young men pitch to determine that,” Thompson said. “Using this system forces us to determine who slots in well where.”
MSU coach John Cohen announced Sunday following a rain-shortened scrimmage that the Bulldogs will continue to pair two pitchers who will be slotted for 60-70 pitches each. He said the hope is those pitchers will get MSU through six or seven innings against Hofstra.
“We play four games to open the year by design because what that does is forces us to have eight starting pitchers ready to go for the season,” Cohen said.
Two years ago, MSU used the philosophy to limit workload for eventual Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year Chris Stratton. Stratton, who started and went seven innings in his first start of the season in his first two years at MSU, came out of the bullpen in relief of Ben Bracewell for the first month of the season before becoming the team’s Friday night starter in the first games of Southeastern Conference weekend series. The San Francisco Giants selected Stratton in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft after the season.
MSU likes to pair contrasting styles on the mound to give the team an edge and to give the pitchers a chance to talk about how to attack hitters.
“What it does is forces you to prepare with one guy the same way and then get or give feedback to a guy basically to say, ‘OK, this pitch is working for me’, or ‘The umpire is allowing more leeway on this side of the plate’, or ‘They’re sitting on this pitch’, so the next guy can prepare in the pen for something and not go out there blind,” Bracewell said. “I like it because it really is a lighter early workload, but it forces you to think through a shortened start more.”
While Cohen said MSU hasn’t scouted Hofstra, he hinted junior right-hander Brandon Woodruff and junior left-hander Ross Mitchell could be a first pairing.
“You just really like having the opportunity of having a Ross Mitchell after a velocity guy,” Cohen said. “You got a power arm and then a soft lefty to give the hitters a different look.”
Mitchell is coming off hip surgery following a 13-0 campaign in 2013. The win total tied Jeff Brantley (1984) for fifth most at MSU in a single season. He also was the second pitcher at MSU (Frank Montgomery in 1962) to go undefeated in a season (at least 10 decisions). The 80-mph craftsman, who relies on breaking pitches, finished with a 1.53 ERA. His approach is the opposite of Woodruff, who has a 93-94 mph fastball and a 84-85 mph changeup.
Woodruff struggled with shoulder problems last season and had season-ending surgery after feeling tenderness in the elbow joint following a start against Ole Miss in Pearl. Woodruff, who is being considered for the Opening Day start, logged 18 2/3 innings in eight games.
n MSU’s fifth intrasquad scrimmage Sunday morning ended in a 1-1 tie between Gray and Black at Dudy Noble Field. The scheduled seven-inning affair was canceled after rain shortened it to two innings.
In a battle of first-year pitchers, right-handed freshman Austin Sexton squared off against fellow freshman righty Dakota Hudson. Sexton gave up one run on three hits and a walk, striking out three. Hudson fanned three, yielding one run on three hits and two walks.
“Dakota has shown just a plus breaking ball and great velocity,” Cohen said. “He is a great athlete. Sometimes those big guys get branded as non-athletes, but he is certainly not that.”
Gray scored first in the top half of the opening frame when senior outfielder Derrick Armstrong scored on a liner to right field by senior outfielder Demarcus Henderson. Black responded with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first by preseason All-SEC first baseman Wes Rea, which plated junior outfielder Jake Vickerson.
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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