Mississippi State fans need not worry: Landon Sims is sticking with the same Whitesnake song as his entrance music this season.
But “Still of the Night” might need a name change to “Still of the Early Evening” given Sims’ impending role change in 2022.
Last year’s lockdown closer, Sims is set to make a move from the bullpen to the weekend rotation, something he anticipated ever since coming to Starkville.
“Coming in here, we knew that there was a good shot before I left here that I would be starting,” Sims said. “We didn’t know when that would be.”
That time is now for Sims and a Mississippi State team sorely needing its best pitcher to head up a reshaped rotation.
The Bulldogs lost all three of their regular starters from the 2021 College World Series-winning team. Will Bednar and Christian MacLeod were high picks in the MLB draft, and Houston Harding signed a professional contract after the season. All of a sudden, Mississippi State was left with plenty of innings to fill on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in 2022.
“It’s pretty unsettled, but I feel good about it,” head coach Chris Lemonis said of his starting rotation Feb. 1. “It’s just some really good guys fighting for some spots.”
Lemonis said Mississippi State has six players in the mix to be weekend starters, including Sims. He did not name them, but Sims did: juniors Preston Johnson, Parker Stinnett and KC Hunt and sophomores Cade Smith and Jackson Fristoe.
“I think we’re really comfortable with any of those guys filling out the rest of the rotation, for sure,” Sims said.
The extraordinary depth on Mississippi State’s 2021 pitching staff, which set the single-season NCAA record for strikeouts with 817, has given way to merely “normal” depth this spring.
But there’s still plenty of life in the Bulldogs’ young arms. Johnson said the competition for the rotation is a good sign for MSU’s season while being personally frustrating.
“It’s fun, but it’s not fun,” he said. “Some places are not as fortunate as we are to have the talent. The talent makes a good team, but it also makes it really hard to earn a job.”
Johnson has the edge over most of his competitors when it comes to his experience pitching for the Bulldogs. He threw 33 innings last year, fourth-most on the team apart from the three starters. Only Sims (56.1), Fristoe (49) and Brandon Smith (39.1) threw more, with Fristoe hitting a freshman wall down the stretch after earning 13 starts throughout the season.
Stinnett threw 18.2 innings in 2021, Cade Smith threw 15, and Hunt threw 14.
“I think we’re really talented — a little unproven, but so is everybody else,” catcher Logan Tanner said of MSU’s starting rotation. “Everybody lost a lot of good stuff last year.”
Mississippi State was certainly included, losing Bednar — the College World Series’ most outstanding player — along with MacLeod and Harding. Even so, the Bulldogs’ rotation was far from pristine in 2021.
Hard-throwing Eric Cerantola began the year in a rotation spot, but his control was suspect, and he only threw 17.1 innings — mostly in a mop-up role. Bednar dealt with injury early, and MacLeod allowed four or more runs in all of his final five starts. Fristoe’s final start against Campbell in NCAA regionals lasted just one-third of an inning.
“I definitely think that last year we struggled a little bit,” Johnson said. “We definitely had some talent in the starter roles, but we had our ups and downs. I think every team does. I think this year we could have the potential to be more consistent.”
That could start with Sims, who is Mississippi State’s expected Friday night starter after the ridiculous numbers he put up last season in relief. Sims struck out an even 100 batters, gave up just 29 hits and saved 13 games for the Bulldogs.
Now, he’ll be in a new role — but one he said won’t change how he operates all that much.
“At the end of the day, it’s the game of baseball,” Sims said. “You’ve still got to throw the ball over the plate 60 feet, 6 inches. I don’t want to get away from my mental strengths and what kind of makes me go and makes me work.”
Sims said he will have to work on controlling his emotions in order to get through as many innings as he can. His weekly routine will involve a more regular schedule and more time in the training room to keep himself physically prepared for the demands of starting.
While Sims could remain a dominant reliever after a 2021 season Lemonis called “about as good as you could get,” there is obvious value to be had by sending the junior out for the first inning rather than the ninth.
Even in what portends to be an offense-heavy Southeastern Conference, Lemonis thinks Sims will hold his own.
“There’s going to be some growing pains there, but he is ultra talented and about as good a competitor as you will find,” the Bulldogs coach said.
And if Sims can carry the load for Mississippi State’s rotation, MSU has the skill behind him to put together a solid weekend unit once again.
“We’ve got the talent,” Johnson said. “We’ve got the guys to do it.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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