Starting What He Finished
February 06, 2022 | Baseball, Joel Coleman
Landon Sims set to take his talent to the top of the Bulldog starting pitching rotation.
STARKVILLE – Baseball is a game of numbers. Always has been. Always will be.
Why? Well, it's a game of tendencies. It's a sport where, at a certain point, the sample size is so large that the numbers reveal the player you truly are.
Take Mississippi State star pitcher Landon Sims for instance. Surely you remember his incredible numbers from the Bulldogs' 2021 national championship season (and even if you don't, there's no doubt you're at least able to recall, 'They were pretty danged good').
If you need a refresher, here you go. As State's late-inning specialist/closer, Sims boasted an incredible 1.44 earned run average and 13 saves over his 56.1 innings. He struck out 100 while allowing just 15 walks all season. Opponents mustered just a .149 average against Sims.
Incredible. Remarkable. Unhittable. Use whatever adjective you want. Sims was all that and more. The numbers prove it.
There's another number that shows who Sims was last season. It's one that didn't show up on the stat sheet. It's the number six. Here's how, and why that number is important and why it's all about to change – pun very much intended.
Changing It Up
In all of Sims' greatness last year, he says he only threw six changeups all season long. When you do the math on that, it amounts to about one changeup per every nine innings Sims pitched. So yeah, he didn't use it much.
Really though, why would he? Sims' primary fastball-slider mix baffled foes all year long. There was no need to mess with a good thing. Now though, there is.
Sims is changing roles in 2022. He's going to start what he used to finish. Sims is set to be atop the Mississippi State starting rotation this season. Friday nights are slated to be his.
"When I got here, the plan was always to be a starter here before I left," Sims said. "We didn't know when it was going to happen."
Now is the time. Most of Mississippi State's weekend starting options of last year are now in Major League Baseball organizations. Will Bednar, Christian MacLeod, Eric Cerantola and Houston Harding have all started their professional careers. Enter Sims to pick up the slack.
It bears noting this isn't some experiment. Sims has spent two years as a reliever at MSU, but before becoming a Diamond Dawg, Sims grew up starting games. Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis even had plans for Sims to start a year ago before the situation evolved.
"The reality is, Landon could relieve better than Will [Bednar] could, so when we picked that, we had Will [in the rotation] and Landon kind of fell into his spot," Lemonis said.
When Sims entered in the fifth inning in last year's season opener against Texas and went on to throw four hitless innings, striking out 10, his 2021 path was essentially set. A little more than four months after that, Sims was on the mound putting the finishing touch to State's first-ever national title.
Sims threw the final pitch of last season and, barring an unexpected development, he'll be the one throwing out the first pitch of this one in less than a couple of weeks as he finally gets the chance to be the starter he and his coaches always believed he could be.
That brings us back to the changeup. Sims' mastery of it might be the most important piece in determining just how successful he'll be as a starter.
The Same, But Different
Now some might wonder exactly why it's even necessary for Sims to rely more heavily on a changeup. His repertoire worked just fine last year, right?
The reality of the situation is that Sims rarely had appearances over two innings long in 2021. A short stint on the mound means opposing hitters only got one, or at most two, looks at Sims per outing. With that being the case, Sims could easily rely on his fastball and slider. One or two at-bats against Sims typically wasn't enough time to adjust to his dominant two-pitch mix.
As a starter, Sims will ideally toss five or six innings or more each time he's on the rubber. He could go through lineups three or four times, giving each hitter more and more time to recognize pitches. That slider a hitter was chasing and swinging and missing in the first at-bat? He could be laying off it in the later innings. Instead of strike one, it could be ball one. Or, recognized sooner, a pitch over the plate becomes much more hittable.
But, add in the Sims changeup and that's one more thought that has to go through a hitter's mind. It's an extra wrinkle Sims can use to deceive batters and show them different looks as the game goes along.
"The biggest thing for me is just throwing it for a strike and showing that I have it," Sims said.
That of course means using the changeup much, much more than the six times he broke it out last year. Sims has spent the days leading up to this season getting more and more comfortable with his third pitch.
"I'm trying to force myself to throw it a little more than I usually would during an actual game," Sims said. "You have to build a feel for it. For me, it's just throwing it with conviction and trying to throw it with the same arm speed as my fastball and just try to do that over and over again and get as comfortable with it as I am my fastball and my slider."
Now don't misunderstand any of this and start thinking Sims is getting away from his heater and wipeout breaking pitch. Those are still his bread and butter.
"I don't want to get away from what makes me good in terms of my fastball and slider, but there's going to be some times where I've got to throw [the changeup] and use it more times," Sims said. "If there's a left-handed heavy lineup, I'm going to have to use it more than if it's a right-handed heavy lineup."
Left-handed hitters are more likely to pick up the Sims slider, as it'd be breaking in towards them as opposed to a right-handed hitter that'd see Sims' slider tail away. Again, the changeup gives Sims another tool in his toolbox to attack with and gives hitters one extra thought between the ears.
So, it's the same Sims, but different. If anything, it certainly seems he's primed to be an improved, more well-versed version of his prior self.
The Biggest Question
If there's a worry about Sims in the starting rotation, it really has very little to do with Sims himself. It's where he used to be.
"The question is the back end of the bullpen and where we'll be at the back end of the bullpen," Lemonis said. "We have some great guys – guys that have put in their time and have really good stuff and had good falls, they just have to go out there and do it with the game on the line."
Right now, it's tough to pinpoint exactly who'll be counted on in the late innings for this year's Bulldogs. Many of State's hurlers are competing to fill out the remaining starting rotation spots. Ultimately, the ones that don't start could find themselves pitching in high leverage situations in relief in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
Whoever those guys end up being, they'll have an invaluable resource in Sims. He's ready, willing and planning to pass on whatever tips he can to the Dawgs that'll try and close out 2022's games.
"The best teacher is learning yourself," Sims said. "At the same time, once those roles settle in and those roles get solidified, I'll do a little bit more talking to them and try to talk them through what worked for me and kind of how I went about my business before games or in the bullpen or coming out, attacking the first hitter and whatnot. But the biggest thing is just the mentality. I'm going to do all I can to try and help them out with that."
Odds are, the situation will work itself out. There's too much talent. There are so many good, promising options. But yes, right now, it's a question.
What's not up in the air is who's the ace of the pitching staff. New job aside, everyone has all the confidence in the world in Landon Sims.
"Landon as a starter, I don't have any questions about that," Lemonis said. "He's going to do a great job there."
