STARKVILLE – Mississippi State baseball coach John Cohen admitted in the offseason it would be hard for the Bulldogs to replace bullpen stalwarts Jonathan Holder and Jacob Lindgren.
Cohen didn’t know it would be this hard.
One month into the season, the losses of Holder, who became the school’s all-times saves leader, and Lindgren, the left-hander who was almost unhittable as a junior, can be felt each time the bullpen gate swings open at MSU’s Dudy Noble Field.
The bullpen, considered a strength for the past three years, has blown leads in six of MSU’s seven losses, and has allowed the Bulldogs (15-7, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) to be outscored 22-2 in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings in those setbacks.
Lindgren — MSU’s eighth-inning ace — and Holder combined to give up 18 runs last season. They also were 13-2 with 171 strikeouts. But Lindgren and Holder are in the New York Yankees’ organization, and the group left behind hasn’t picked up where that duo left off. MSU’s bullpen has given up 21 earned runs in the final two innings of the past five games. MSU is 2-3 in that stretch.
“It’s something we are not used to because we’ve been so good in the back end of our bullpen for so many years now,” Cohen said Sunday after an 8-4 loss to Alabama. “We’ve been very, very privileged the last four years of having guys who wanted the ball in the eighth and ninth innings. We’ve got to find the next version of that.”
Even MSU’s most reliable arms haven’t been immune to the problems.
After entering his final season with a 24-5 record and a career ERA of 1.93, senior left-hander Ross Mitchell has appeared in each of MSU’s seven losses.
Mitchell was expected to be MSU’s version of Lindgren this year, a late-inning stopgap to get the lead to the closer in the ninth. But after a junior season in which he allowed 31 earned runs and walked 30 in 110 innings, Mitchell has given up 11 earned runs and walked nine in 11 games this season.
On Sunday, Mitchell walked in the tying run. He allowed three consecutive hits and a walk to give up MSU’s 6-2 lead to San Diego in a 9-6 loss March 8.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Mitchell said. “We just need to win situations, win the big moment. That’s tough to do. It’s not easy to win big moments, but that’s what it takes to win games. We are not doing that now, but I believe we will.”
Mitchell should know what it takes to have a dominant bullpen because he was part of some of the best in school history. He was 13-0 out of the bullpen in 2013 and helped MSU get to the brink of a national championship with Holder and Lindgren. Cohen believes Mitchell is capable of reversing his fortunes.
“Ross is probably trying to put too much pressure on himself,” Cohen said. “He’s been an unbelievable performer the last four years, and if he’s missing, it’s my fault. I have to figure out how to get him going the right direction.”
But MSU’s struggles haven’t been confined to Mitchell. New closer Trevor Fitts has lost twice after entering games with a lead. None of MSU’s other relievers has an ERA of less than 3.60. In 2014, seven Bulldog relievers sported ERAs less than 3.00.
“Part of it is that some of those guys have never been in these roles before,” Cohen said. “Trevor Fitts has never been a closer. Now we tried to prepare him for it through the fall with situations, but you never know until you get into a live game You’re not going to get four, five thousand people at a fall scrimmage, so you can’t simulate it.
“Daniel Brown, he was starting at a tiny Division III junior college last year. He gets here and suddenly he’s pitching late in games. It takes time to adjust.”
Even though it is early in the season, Cohen understands the Bulldogs need to figure things out in the bullpen quickly. He vowed Sunday to “go up and down our roster to find somebody who wants to pitch in the eighth and ninth inning.
“We are going to find somebody who wants to throw strikes because the options we have right now aren’t working.”
It’s unclear what options Cohen will pursue. Freshman Cole Gordon hasn’t been used, but he appears destined for a redshirt. Redshirt sophomore Paul Young also hasn’t appeared in a game. Cohen projected Young would be healed from arm trouble and ready for SEC play, but his health is uncertain.
Left-hander Lucas Laster (2-0, 2.49 ERA), who has started on the weekend and in the middle of the week, is another option. With Preston Brown, Vance Tatum, and Austin Sexton pitching so well, though, Laster could get moved to the bullpen.
Cohen said part of the problem is the relievers’ inability to throw strikes. Mitchell, Fitts and four other relievers combined to walk five Alabama hitters in an eight-run eighth inning Saturday. The Bulldogs issued three more free passes Sunday.
“We’re just not competing in the strike zone,” Cohen said. “We have to do a better job. In the late innings we’re just not doing it.”
Brown has recorded a quality start in each of his five appearances, while Sexton and Tatum have emerged as weekend starters. Sexton, from Huntsville, Alabama, pitched his first career complete game in a 4-1 victory Saturday night, while Tatum pitched into the eighth Sunday. Brown (3-1, 2.15 ERA) was denied a win after leaving with a 5-2 lead in the seventh in the series opener Friday.
“This is the best starting three we’ve had in a long time,” Mitchell said. “They are competing and keeping the game close. It’s really disappointing. We have to get better.”
While Mitchell has expressed his frustration, other members of MSU’s team haven’t lost faith in a bullpen that allowed nine earned runs in the first 13 games. It has yielded 22 since then.
“We have complete trust in those guys,” MSU left fielder Jake Vickerson said. “This is baseball. These things happen. Next game we’ll go to them and we will completely trust them on the mound.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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