During Mississippi State head baseball coach John Cohen’s first three years on the job, only one thing was a given entering each season: the Bulldogs were projected to struggle.
In year four, this is no longer the case. Coming off a successful 2011 campaign which saw the Bulldogs win the Atlanta Regional and come within a few outs of knocking off eventual national runner-up Florida in a Super Regional, expectations have risen around the program and amongst Bulldog fans. The primary reason for the increased expectations is a pitching staff that returns almost every contributor from last season. A lack of pitching depth has been the program’s Achilles’ heel for the better part of a decade, and it appears as if this may finally have ceased to be the case.
MSU pitching coach Butch Thompson thinks returning a veteran pitching staff certainly makes things easier on the coaches, but he cautions against overhyping a group that was statistically the ninth-best group in the Southeastern Conference.
“I don’t believe in hype,” Thompson said. “This is the ninth-best pitching staff in the league that has to get better. We have 36 out of our 38 wins back, all 16 of our saves back and basically 88 percent of our innings pitched from last year. There is a reassurance there, but this group of guys has been through it, so I do not think they get sped up or concerned walking into a ballpark because they have all done that and pitched at home and on the road. Every one of these guys that are back; it is comforting, but at the same time we have to improve. We have to pitch better than we have in the past.”
With redshirt sophomore Ben Bracewell returning from an injury to his labrum that forced him to sit out last season, the five starters competing for jobs in the starting rotation will be experienced. Along with Bracewell, sophomore Evan Mitchell, juniors Chris Stratton and Kendall Graveman and senior Nick Routt are all going to be given a chance to earn a spot as a weekend starter.  The advantage of having experienced starting pitching and set roles for each player is not lost on Routt.
“It helps out a lot because we know what it takes to win, and we have been there,” Routt said. “If you can get a set rotation, it really helps. Everyone gets in a good routine, and they know what to expect every week. It can really help with performance.”
Along with having experienced weekend starters, this year’s MSU pitching staff has an abundance of arms to bring out of the bullpen. Whether it is All-American closer Caleb Reed, crafty junior Luis Pollorena, talented freshmen such as Brandon Woodruff and Jacob Lindgren or dual-position players such as Taylor Stark and Daryl Norris, the Bulldogs do not lack pitching depth.
Reed said he cannot help being excited about the potential of the group.
“I think it is probably the best pitching staff since I have been here at Mississippi State,” he said.
Thompson said he thinks one of the greatest benefits of having a veteran pitching staff is it allows the coaching staff to bring the freshmen along slowly.
“You have guys like Brandon Woodruff, Will Cox, Jonathan Holder and the whole collection of freshmen, and we are going to be able to put them in many more winnable situations because of those upperclassmen. Another thing that many people don’t think about is when Chris Stratton and Nick Routt were here, there were no upperclassmen,” Thompson said. “It is one thing to have a coach barking at you; it is another thing to have five or six upperclass teammates that kind of show you the ropes. Chris and them did not have that, and, now, they know the importance of it and get to serve in that role. I think it is going to help our younger guys get to a higher rate quicker.”
With the Bulldogs opening play today at 6 p.m. against a quality hitting team in Washington State, MSU fans will soon be able to judge this pitching staff for themselves.