Not time for panic even after tough stretch for MSU

Jake Mangum is of course one of the greatest players in Mississippi State history. One of the things that makes the man called The Mayor such an incredible athlete is his determination, grit and never-give in attitude.

I'll never forget a conver- sation I had with Mangum – now a New York Mets prospect – back a couple years ago when the Bulldogs were floundering at midseason in 2018. Truth be told, I'd already written off MSU for the season. I wasn't sure State was even making the Southeastern Conference Tournament that year, much less anything beyond. Mangum, as serious as he could be, told me in response to a question to never count out the Dogs. Inside, I thought it was just blind optimism from a team leader. A couple of months later though, Mangum was playing centerfield in Omaha. He understood that a baseball season is a marathon and not a sprint.

Now fast-forward to present day. MSU isn't in as bad of shape as it was when I had my chat with Mangum back two years ago. In fact, the Bulldogs are a respectable 7-4 in the early going this year. However a black cloud hangs over things after a week that saw the maroon and white shockingly drop a game to lowly Texas Southern before falling in a series on the West Coast to nationally-ranked Long Beach State.

Making matters worse, a pair of Bulldogs are banged up. Ace pitcher JT Ginn hasn't played in three weeks due to what has been termed “arm soreness.” There's no indication yet when, or even if, he'll take the mound again this year. Three-hole hitter Tanner Allen suffered an apparent injury to his hand or wrist last weekend. Head coach Chris Lemonis indicated earlier this week Allen might miss a good bit of time.

To sum it all up, these are concerning times for Mississippi State. That much can't be denied. Now if you're a glass-half-full type of person like myself though, here's the good news. It's early. It's really, really early, so there's a good amount of baseball left to play and absolutely anything could happen.

While social media and message boards are littered with MSU fans who are panicking, I offer you the same message Mangum offered me two years ago. Don't count out the Dogs.

First off, 80 percent of the regular season remains. To make any definitive conclusions when about 45 regular season contests are left would be short-sighted to say the least simply because so much still lies ahead.

Beyond that though, there's even more reason for hope, should you choose to look at things through that lens. Want some? Here's some sunshine pumping for you.

MSU is hitting only .246 as a team this season. That's not ideal, but it's hampered in large part because players you'd expect to hit well just aren't.

Josh Hatcher will enter this coming weekend batting just .205. He has just a .256 on-base percentage. If the last two years are any indication, he's better than that.

Others have underperformed as well. Brandon Pimentel was expected to be a big part of MSU'S 2020 lineup, but he's hit just .167. Landon Jordan has struggled as well, hitting to the tune of just .172.

Batting average isn't ev

erything, but those numbers are bad. There's no way around that. Truth is though, I struggle to believe guys like Hatcher and Jordan, somewhat proven commodities, will continue to underperform to those levels.

As for guys like Pimentel, as well as other newcomers like Logan Tanner and Kamren James – both of whom have already performed pretty well – it stands to reason they'd improve as they become more comfortable playing big-time college baseball.

If you'll remember, that 2018 team I mentioned earlier featured some first-year youngsters that had to grow as the season progressed. You now know those guys as MSU stars Rowdey Jordan, Jordan Westburg, Justin Foscue and Tanner Allen. I'd suspect it stands to reason that by the end of this year, Pimentel or some others might be making much more noise than they are right now.

From a pitching standpoint, Ginn's loss has been a big blow, but the Bulldogs have actually been good from the mound. The team earned run average is 3.34. Opponents are hitting just .209 off of MSU pitchers.

Christian Macleod looks like a Friday night ace himself. He'll likely be that if Ginn doesn't return – and maybe even if he does.

Eric Cerantola can be hit or miss with his control, but he has dominant stuff when he's on.

Carlisle Koestler has been excellent for State ever since a tough relief performance on Opening Day.

That's not to even mention a bullpen that seems to be producing strong results. Will Bednar and Landon Sims look like budding stars. Veterans Spencer Price and Riley Self seem to have found the fountain of youth and are pitching much like they did in breakout seasons back in 2017.

There's really much to like in the MSU bullpen. To add to that, there's still much to like throughout the entire roster despite mixed early results. This group has all kinds of talent. To use a saying from former MSU coach and current State athletic director

John Cohen, this talent just has to figure it out.

Yes, there's a chance this group doesn't come together this year and the Bulldogs hit Southeastern Conference play and the offensive struggles continue. Maybe MSU disappoints all year long and by May, everyone is just looking forward to football and doesn't have to plan for a June trip to Nebraska, but there's also a chance this team blossoms. The youngsters being counted on could very well round into form and create a complete team. It certainly

wouldn't be the first time it simply took a little time for a ball club to find its way.

There's a long road ahead. SEC play hasn't even begun yet. We'll see how it all plays out, but for now, I'm certain there's a certain former State centerfielder that'd tell everyone the same thing – never count out the Dogs.

Joel Coleman is the Mississippi State beat writer for The Starkville Daily News. The opinions in this column are Coleman’s and not necessarily the views of The SDN or