FIVEON

We need to send Dari Nowkah a thank you. He said he texted the Arkansas SID before the 8th to set-up a post-game interview to celebrate Arkansas's SEC title. If he did that to us, I'd be livid.

He was committed to ND at one point, so Kelly has a relationship of some sort with him. However, the ND commitment comes with a back-story. Keely attends a private school in Florida (think like Newman in NOLA) and somewhat lives with a family who went to the same private school, That family has a son who walked-on to the ND football team this year and another son who is slated to play for ND baseball next year. All of this is to say I think the friends/adopted brothers had more to do with the original ND commitment than a relationship with Kelly. If he decommitted away from where those two other kids were going to play for Bama, I imagine he's pretty solid in his commitment to Bama.

Very sad for us because he is a great player.

Brought this up on the roster thread a week ago, but it looks like Hellmers is trending up for the final roster spot on the pitching staff. Neither Dutton or Edwards threw this weekend to my knowledge. Seems like that says Hellmers leaves the fall with a leg-up and Edwards and Dutton are on outside looking in. Also, no Appleby, so he looks like a red-shirt candidate.

Has a really repeatable delivery, which I like. Good arm side run on his fastball and great control over it. Legitimate "get-me-over" off-speed pitch, which he throws for strikes. Only thing I did not see was a really tight version of a breaking ball that would be more of an "out" pitch. Of all the things a pitcher may not have, I'd rather start without the tighter breaking ball than try to teach run on a fastball or control. Has that in spades.

For those who have been to the fall scrimmages or have seen him play at all, how does Frey look against higher level pitching? Since he played a lot of football and also played in a low LA classification, I assume he didn't see as much good pitching compared to the baseball-only high schoolers who spend half their time on the travel circuit.

Credit for the stats go to BayTiger. Through the first 10 scrimmages, Hellmers has been about half point better in WHIP than Dutton who was a half point better than Edwards.

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I appreciate this type of analysis.

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Thank you. That means a lot. I followed this board from afar when I lived away for years before ESPN came in to broadcast most games. Yourself, Rabbit, Scuba, and many others were my link to LSU baseball.

Wasn't aware Appleby was a Redshirt injury risk. I figured since he was throwing some in the fall, they had deemed him good-to-go. Could be where Edwards, Hellmers, and Edwards are competing for 2 spots instead of 3. Or, we hold on to all 5 "catchers" because we believe some may move to corner OF or 1B

Here's my take on the roster. Based on performance or being a new recruit (and Johnson has not shown a willingness to cut recruits without a season), you're left with:
- 4 COVID seniors who do not count
- 33 roster "locks", who will stay unless they transfer
- 3 questions marks
- 3 on the outside looking in

COVID Seniors
Beloso
Bollman
Dugas
Merrifield

Locked Infielders (assuming they do not transfer)
Guidry
Thompson
Nippolt
Morgan
White

Locked Outfielders (assuming they do not transfer)
Crews
Jobert
Pearson
Stevenson
Kling
Ruddell
Paul

Locked Catchers (assuming they do not transfer)
Milazzo
Neal
Frey
Jones
Travinski

Locked “Starting” Pitchers
Floyd
Little
Hurd
Skenes
Taylor

Locked “Relief” Pitchers
Money
Cooper
Collins
Ackenhausen
Bronzini
Bucknam
Shores
Herring
Moffett
Primeaux
Appleby

Questions Marks (will make the team if questions clear up)
Noot – will definitely be on the team if he wants to, but has not fully “bought in”. Hence, he has not pitched in the fall to-date. Seems like that could change soon, and he would move to a lock.
Lansville – somewhat hurt last year. Assuming it does not linger, and he redshirts, he will have a spot.
Fontenot – rumored internal discipline issues, but #1 in-state pitching recruit last year. If it clears itself up, he should be on the roster.

Redshirt
Coleman – unless something unexpected occurs, he will be out for the year and redshirts, not counting against the 35 +5 limit.

Outside Looking In
Hellmers
Edwards
Dutton

My personal opinion is you lose one of the question marks (my guess is Fontenot since Lansville is already back pitching in the fall). I think one of the 5 catchers decides to try his luck elsewhere, and Hellmers, Dutton, and Edwards are fighting for 1 spot. Johnson seems to know this as he has pitched those 3 the most in the fall. So far, Hellmers seems to be leading that battle. If you lose another pitcher, you slide in the next on the list. Only place where we are still thin is infield. If we lose someone there, we could look for a last-minute transfer.

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Recruiting >>> Special Teams

Bad coaching is not why players drop punts

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Not if the special teams is bad enough to lead to losses. The #1 item in recruiting (besides NIL money if your school/boosters can afford it) is winning. When special teams cost us wins (which it has and may do again), it immediately hurts recruiting. And before we anoint Brain Polian as a great recruiter, his current 247 recruiting ranking is 229th. While I would not want to lose him mid-cycle, something tells me losing our ST coordinator in the offseason would not affect much on the trail. Promote Arcement and hire a better ST coach or even another on-field coach and recruiter.

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I agree. You will see the glaringly obvious holes in the roster on ST quicker than you will see it with the starters on O and D. Not saying that he's free from accountability, but he truly was dealt a bad hand lol

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The lack of depth is part of the problem, but it's not like we are throwing out walk-ons to cover kicks. Our coverage unit in SEC games has included players like Harold Perkins, Jaray Jenkins, Joe Foucha, Jarrick Bernard-Converse, Demario Tolan, and Micah Baskerville. Coaches with just as little time and scholarships available have performed well with these players. The depth and scholarships does not provide a pass.

The only thing to do mid-season is bring on special teams consultant to maybe provide an extra set of eyes or strategic direction. I am not advocating Polian goes altogether. Someone correctly pointed out that he is our recruiting coordinator, and we cannot afford to lose that.

He is still underperforming as a Special Teams coach, and one game without a huge mistake does not change that.