FSU baseball: 3 areas new head coach will need to address immediately

FSU baseball is looking to hire a new head coach in the coming weeks after the firing of Mike Martin Jr. last Friday.

The ‘Noles program has fallen into a state of mediocrity in the ACC in the past couple of years.

While they have flashed at times in different phases of the game, there has been little to no consistency aside from a couple of players here and there.

Here are three areas the new coach will need to emphasize immediately upon taking the job.

• Fundamentals
• Strength and Conditioning
• Culture

FSU has played 114 games the past two seasons and committed 138 errors for an average fielding percentage of .967. That’s over an error per game. The amount of times FSU has made baserunning mistakes is mind-boggling. The inability to execute sacrifice bunts is infuriating. I’ve struggled to find out where their game plan has been offensively the past few years. A lot of focus has to go towards the basic fundamentals of the game.

I’ve been watching the postseason, and one thing that’s stood out to me is the size of other teams compared to FSU baseball. I think it’s telling that freshmen James Tibbs, Jaime Ferrer, and Treyton Rank were three of the more physically put-together players on the team. Players that have been on the team for years look like high schoolers. There were 17 players out of 48 listed at less than 190 pounds. How does that happen in modern college baseball? Some of that is youth on the team. However, an emphasis on ALL players hitting the weight room needs to be an immediate expectation.

The first two points ultimately fall under this one, but the culture in this program needs to change. The lack thereof is why FSU baseball has been so Jekyll and Hyde the past few years. This program needs an identity. They seem to get up for ranked teams and sleepwalk through midweek games. Accountability is a must for players and coaches. Players can’t repeatedly make mistakes and see their names penciled in the lineup the next game. Player development has to become a focal point. If someone’s struggling at the plate, give others an opportunity to shine, especially if the struggling player is an upperclassman that will not be with the program next year. Player roles should be defined before reaching the postseason.

Final Thoughts

FSU baseball does need a talent infusion, especially considering the pitchers they will or have lost from this team. They’ll need help offensively, but addressing the fundamentals and hitting the weight room to develop can offset some negatives. I wouldn’t expect FSU to have a realistic shot of making it to Omaha next season no matter who the new coach is unless they get some huge wins in the transfer portal. However, there’s still enough in the cupboard for this to be a relatively quick turnaround.