STARKVILLE — Get used to the hearing words like “highly aggressive” and “highly offensive” from Andy Cannizaro.
Mississippi State’s first-year head baseball coach used the terms often Tuesday in discussing his philosophy and the approach he wants his hitters to take now that the Bulldogs have opened practice and are counting down the days to the season opener against 2016 College World Series participant Texas Tech at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Dudy Noble Field.
Cannizaro hopes those qualities will be on display at 6 p.m. today, at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. Friday, at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, and at 12:15 p.m. Sunday when his team scrimmages. The scrimmages, which will be at Dudy Noble Field, are free and are open to the public.
“I want our guys when they show up to the field every day, when they put this uniform on and they go out on that field, baseball needs to be the single most important thing in their life during that period we’re practicing or playing,” Cannizaro said. “When we can get our entire team to have that mind-set, I think these young kids are really going to take off and you’re going to see a talented group of young players play at a really high ceiling this year.”
On Nov. 5, 2016, Cannizaro was named MSU’s baseball coach. He replaced John Cohen, who was named MSU’s 17th director of athletics. Cannizaro spent six years as a scout for the New York Yankees and two years as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU under coach Paul Mainieri. In 2015, Cannizaro helped LSU finish among the NCAA’s top seven in five offensive categories. LSU led the nation in hits (762) and finished third in stolen bases (130) and fourth in batting average (.314). The stolen bases were the most by the program in 28 years since the 1987 club tallied a school-record 156. In 2016, LSU still produced at a high level despite losing eight starters. The Tigers were first in the SEC in stolen bases (95), second in runs (426), second in triples (21), third in scoring (6.5), third in on-base percentage (0.385), and third in slugging percentage (0.422). The Tigers reached an NCAA Super Regional and four players were selected in the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft.
Since 2015, no SEC team has stolen more bases than LSU (225).
Cannizaro, who was the Yankees’ seventh-round selection in the 2001 MLB draft, hopes to bring that same level of aggressiveness to the Bulldogs. The culture he wants to establish in Starkville comes from having played in the Yankees organization for seven seasons. He reached the Major Leagues in September 2006. He joined the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and was on the club’s big-league roster for the first two months of the season. He later played for the AAA affiliates of the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox before retiring in September 2009.
Cannizaro said he wants the Bulldogs “to bring it every day.” He hopes that mind-set will foster competition at every position because he says plenty of spots are open. He liked what he saw last weekend in the team’s first scrimmages.
“One of the things I have tried to do is create an environment every day where our guys are constantly competing for playing time,” Cannizaro said. “There are jobs to be won, there are at-bats to be won, there are innings to be won.”
Cannizaro hopes that competition will foster a feeling of intensity and engagement that makes everyone better each time they take the field. He feels the turnover from the 44-18-1 team that won the program’s first regular-season SEC championship since 1989 will help him create that culture. Cannizaro will have to do that with a group that lost a program record 11 players to the MLB draft, but he doesn’t think the inexperience or youth will prevent him from doing that. MSU has only three seniors and 12 juniors on its 39-player roster.
“The timing of it allows me to instill a lot of the values I want to have and I think are important,” Cannizaro said. “We preach non-stop as an offensive unit, being highly offensive, highly aggressive. We have the biggest scoreboard in the country, and our plans are to light the scoreboard up every single time they turn that thing on. I can’t allow those guys to get complacent and rely on what they did yesterday. If we want to be a great offense, you have to bring it every day. You have to show up each and every day ready to be a great offensive team.”
Cannizaro said developing that aggressiveness is a mentality that is more than swinging at the first pitch every at-bat. He said there is a balance, though, between being aggressive and working the count and not falling into situations when you’re always behind in the count.
“I really believe hitting is more mentality than the aesthetics of someone’s swing,” Cannizaro said. “Your swing is so (much) muscle memory that it is really hard to overhaul a college kid’s swing, so what I have always thought you have to do is create a game plan for every kid. How is that particular person’s swing going to allow them to have success? Maybe they’re not going to hit the breaking ball very well, so if they’re not a very good breaking ball hitter, we are going to hunt the fastball. Don’t miss the fastball. Get in the box ready to hit.”
To that point, Cannizaro said one rule he has brought to Dudy Noble Field is to kick players out of the batting cage if they foul off the first ball and they’re late, or they top a ball or take a weak, lazy swing. He said doing those things on a first pitch indicates a hitter isn’t ready to be aggressive. Cannizaro also said working walks is a byproduct of being an aggressive hitter. He hopes to see that up and down the lineup from all of the Bulldogs.
“It’s not something you can flip on February 17th when the lights come on,” Cannizaro said. “I really believe that anything and everything good that happens offensively comes from an aggressive mind-set. You can’t be passive. You can’t be tentative. Hitting is an offensive, aggressive thing, so we try to create that every day.”
NOTES: MSU sophomore outfielder Jake Mangum was named a Preseason All-American for the third time, and the second time in as many days, Tuesday. Mangum, the 2016 Southeastern Conference batting champion and Freshman of the Year, was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s first team following a pair of second-team honors from Baseball America and Perfect Game. “Jake Mangum is a stud,” Cannizaro said. “He is a bona-fide superstar in college baseball.” Earlier this month, Perfect Game listed Mangum No. 25 on its list of top 100 college sophomores. The Pearl native was named an All-American by seven publications after his freshman campaign. He also was named first-team All-SEC. Redshirt junior outfielder Brent Rooker (third-team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball) is the other Bulldogs to be recognized.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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