Cohen Speaks About 2011 Season In Preseason Press Conference
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State head baseball coach John Cohen held his preseason press conference Friday afternoon on campus to discuss the upcoming 2011 Diamond Dog campaign.
TRANSCRIPT...
Mississippi State Head Coach John Cohen Quotes:
Opening Comments...
"I am really pleased at the group of kids we have this year on our team. From the moment we got together this fall, I felt things were going to be different from last year. I really like this club and the recruiting class we have brought in. I love our leadership we have this year from our older guys, but the one thing that keeps me up at night is worrying about possible injury situations. I think we are good as we stand, but if you take away a few pieces then we are right back to starting some freshman that they might not be ready."
On new bats...
"Before coming to Mississippi State, the one thing that jumped out at me was the ballpark itself. When you are in the dugout it screams out, "run, pitch, defend. Dudy Noble is not a homerun factory. That is not a positive or a negative; it is just a fact. Now you throw these new bats into the mix and it becomes even harder to hit homeruns out of this park. Your personal has to dictate where you play."
On pitching...
"If Chris Stratton doesn't pitch 80-100 innings this year it is really going to affect us. He is much more polished from a year ago and he now knows what to expect. Another player that has turned the corner for us is Devin Jones. I think Devin is ready to prove some things not only to our fans and coaching staff, but to the professional baseball world. I think he will be a nice draft pick at the end of the year. Caleb Reed is a junior that has provided great leadership for us. He pitched his heart out and had a great summer. He has become a great dependable guy and a great leader. I think Nick Routt has made some great strides but he isn't fully healthy. He is throwing a 60-pitch bullpen session today so we will see where he is health wise. I'm really excited about our freshman pitchers that have become sophomores. We have great leadership even though they are only sophomores. Coaches can only do so much, and when you have the older guys providing leadership to our new guys coming in that is invaluable."
On amount of pitches Chris Stratton will throw...
"We can go with him once a week and he has six days of rest in between. So you don't feel like you're going to overwork him. Those 120 pitches might seem like 60 to a guy who has six days rest. With the extra day you get more pitches."
On Jonathan Ogden...
"He is one of the premier defenders in the SEC. I think he has a chance to be one of the best defenders at the shortstop position ever at Mississippi State. He has great lateral quickness; tremendous arm strength and leadership make him the total package. What I love about him the most is when he does make a mistake, he will go to the pitcher and tell him to get him another ground ball, because he will make the play. He played in 56 games last year with a broken foot and did not mention it to the media one time. I think that is a testament to his work ethic and his toughness. He knew we had to have him last year and he toughed it out. As a defender and a leader he is special."
On Demarcus Henderson...
"He has a chance to easily be a top two or three round guy for the majors. He is that athletic and he is getting better every single day. His athleticism and will to get better is tremendous."
Ryan Collins...
"He is incredibly athletic first basemen. We aren't giving up on the fact that we will have to play him in the outfield sometimes, but the things he has showed us over the last two months have been phenomenal."
Senior infielder Jarrod
Parks
On the Bulldog pitchers...
"They are all good. We need them all to stay healthy. We don't have too many concerns with any of these guys other than that."
On the new bats...
"We do not have a lot of power with them. They pretty much are just like wood bats. Were going to have to be scrappy and do a lot of fighting. We've been practicing everything. We have especially been doing a lot of bumping with them."
Sophomore pitcher Chris
Stratton
On Friday's start...
"I'm confident in our team and we have great team chemistry. I'll do anything for us to win."
On changes as a pitcher...
"I have more confidence. I learned that as long as you keep pumping strikes you can go a long way."
On the new style of bats...
"Our ballpark plays big, instead of walking the batter you can let them play up the middle because you know it is not going out."