Cowbell Corner

What would a Mississippi State starting lineup look like next season?

New coach Brian O'Connor has been hard at work retaining valuable starters and recruiting the best transfer portal players to build a championship-caliber roster.

Taylor Hodges

Mississippi State Outfielder Bryce Chance (#38) during the Brian O’Connor Welcome Event at Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium in Starkville, MS.
Mississippi State Outfielder Bryce Chance (#38) during the Brian O’Connor Welcome Event at Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium in Starkville, MS. / Mississippi State Athletics

A flurry of transfer portal activity last week has been followed by silence in Starkville.

Mississippi State has gotten some key players to announce their return next season, most notably SEC Newcomer of the Year Ace Reese. Over the weekend, pitcher Ben Davis and outfielder Bryce Chance both announced they’ll be back with the Bulldogs next season.

Chance started 56 games last season, hitting .332 with 14 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 97 RBIs. Davis was the Bulldogs’ starting pitcher in a NCAA Regional win against Northeastern and ended the season with a 3.77 ERA in 571. Innings and had 61 strikeouts, 24 walks and 24 earned runs allowed.

That’s two more potential starters returning and when combined with the transfer portal players already committed, Mississippi State is building a formidable starting lineup. And new coach Brian O’Connor isn’t done.

Here’s what a possible starting lineup could look like, based on the players currently on the roster or committed to Mississippi State

  • C: Chone James
  • 1B: Vytas Valincius
  • 2B: Gatlin Sanders
  • 3B: Ace Reese
  • SS: Gehrig Frei
  • LF: James Nunnallee
  • CF: Aidan Teel
  • RF: Bryce Chance
  • DH: Noah Sullivan

That’s not a bad lineup. The biggest hole is at shortstop. The Bulldogs will likely bring in a starter from the transfer portal, but for now, there aren’t many options. So, let’s insert Frei at shortstop. That outfield could be one of the best in the nation next season.

The only other weak spot in that lineup is catcher. Chone James may be talented enough to start at catcher next season (.373/.455/.478 in 67 at-bats), but you want multiple starting-caliber catchers.

So, don’t expect O’Connor to sit back and relax now.

There is an expectation that O’Connor will bring in more of his former players at Virginia that among the best players in the transfer portal.

In fact, 64 Analytics has a former Cavalier as its top overall player in the portal. And he’s a shortstop.

Sophomore Eric Becker would fill a huge need for the Bulldogs. He hit .368/.453/.617 with nine home runs, 52 RBIs and a .925 fielding percentage. Also, sophomore Henry Ford is ranked fourth amongst all players in the portal. He’s an outfielder with a solid bat (.362/.420/.575 last season).

Then there’s Chris Arroyo, just outside of 64 Analytics’ top 10, who came to Virginia after a year at Florida. Arroyo is a two-way player, who batted .291 in 189 at-bats last season and recorded a 4.97 ERA in 12.2 innings of work last season.

Will Mississippi State get all three of those Cavaliers? Maybe. There are most likely other schools trying to throw a lot of money at Becker and Ford. So, for the purposes of this exercise, flip a coin and…we’ll say Ford goes someplace else (again, who really knows?).

Here’s what a potential lineup could look like with some projected commitments:

  • C: Chone James/Portal
  • 1B: Vytas Valincius/Chris Arroyo
  • 2B: Gatlin Sanders
  • 3B: Ace Reese
  • SS: Eric Becker*
  • LF: Gehrig Frei
  • CF: Aidan Teel
  • RF: Bryce Chance/James Nunnallee
  • DH: Noah Sullivan

The Bulldogs still need another catcher and there’s also the chance Sullivan gets drafted and chooses to go that route. But even based on this lineup, Mississippi State has four starting-caliber outfielders and an elite left side, infield defense.

Most Mississippi State fans would sign up for that. In fact, most of them probably already have.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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