LSU Baseball Enters 2020 Season Needing to Fill Key Positions With Losses of Veteran Players
In past seasons, LSU coach Paul Mainieri has never been one to shy away from releasing his projected batting rotations and lineups during the team's Media Day. That's because in past seasons there's always been a level of clarity on who would be starting where come opening day.
LSU must replace five veteran starters from its 2019 Super Regional team including three year starters Josh Smith and Zach Watson as well as the all-time LSU hits leader Antoine Duplantis.
"Filling those holes is going to be huge. We have a lot of new guys and a lot of new position players," Mainieri said. "I am still waiting to see which players are going to rise above others and make a statement that they should be starting players. As we went through fall practice, all of them showed great things, just not consistently. These next three weeks are going to be interesting to see."
While Mainieri didn't go into specifics about who would draw the opening day starts, he did release the players that were competing for the open spots. Here's a breakdown of who's battling it out at what position and what a lineup could potentially look like.
Infield
First Base: Cade Beloso (sophomore)
Barring injury of course, the sophomore should be an everyday starter for the purple and gold. While his defensive skills need improvement, Beloso's strength at the plate will make him one of the only power hitters on the team and among the best in the SEC according to Paul Mainieri.
Beloso batted .279 with 61 hits, 10 home runs and 52 RBI in 62 appearances for the Tigers. While not a starter off the bat, Beloso asserted himself very quickly with last year's team and will be asked to be one of the leaders of the infield with such an inexperienced group.
Second Base: Gavin Dugas (sophomore), Cade Doughty (freshman)
Dugas is another returning player that was able to crack the rotation early but unlike Beloso, he wasn't able to stick. Dugas tore a ligament in his hand and was forced to miss eight weeks of the season and was just never the same when he returned to the lineup.
Dugas batted .186 in 19 appearances for the Tigers that included six RBI. If Dugas is able to win the second base battle, his glove will be a major reason as he proved to be a solid defensive second baseman in his short time in the lineup.
The wild card of the infield will be the freshman Cade Doughty. Initially believed to be a shortstop when first recruited, Mainieri said Doughty's defense still needs a lot of work and sees him as more of a third baseman or second baseman this season.
"I think he's going to be a terrific baseball player here at LSU," Mainieri said. "I really like him [Doughty] as a hitter and he's always going to get his money's worth. It's quite possible both of those guys could be in the starting lineup on opening night, one as a DH and one as a second baseman."
Shortstop: Hal Hughes (junior), Collier Cranford (freshman)
Hal Hughes is no newbie to the LSU lineup as his elite defensive skills have mostly kept him on the field despite his lack of production at the plate. Hughes has a .201 batting average with 31 RBI in 118 career games with the Tigers but still seems destined to start the year at shortstop because of his defense.
Freshman Collier Cranford could add a wrinkle into the shortstop position as the coaching staff is very high on him despite having Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss most of his senior season and fall camp with LSU.
Third Base: Zack Mathis (junior), Cade Doughty (freshman)
Mathis has proven to be one of the best hitters on the team in his short time with LSU. After a successful fall that saw him blast five homeruns, Mathis has continued his hot play into the start of spring ball.
Mainieri is very bullish on Mathis, saying it's quite possible that Mathis could bat third in the lineup because of his elite skills at the plate, comparing him to another recent LSU great.
"When I think of a replacement for Josh Smith, even though it’s a different position, I think (third baseman) Zack Mathis has those qualities of a real leader.”
Doughty has taken reps at third as well but Mainieri sees his immediate future over at second base.
Catcher: Saul Garza (junior), Alex Milazzo (freshman), Hayden Travinski (freshman)
Barring anymore injuries, Garza will be the everyday starter behind the plate, but LSU does have some depth at the position that's been missing in recent years.
Freshmen Alex Milazzo and Hayden Travinski both received playing time in the fall with Garza still recovering from an injury to his left thumb that required surgery. Garza is back to full strength and is mow viewed as a veteran in the locker room when just a year ago he was the new kid on the block, looking to guys like Antoine Duplantis, Zack Hess and Josh Smith for advice.
"It's great to be able to have that veteran presence for these guys knowing that they're looking up to you," Garza said. "They're obviously just as excited to get this thing going so I'm ready to kick off another great year."
Outfield
Left Field: Drew Bianco (sophomore), Wes Toups (freshman)
Bianco is an interesting x-factor for LSU in 2020 as last season he showed flashes of the kind of power hitter he could be, but just wasn't able to do it consistently. Mainieri said that was also the case this fall as Bianco got off to a red hot start the first two weeks before cooling off towards the end of fall practice.
He batted .176 with three homeruns and 14 RBI in his freshman season and will be competing with freshman Wes Toups for the starting left field job. Toups was a .428 career hitter in high school and has the chance, Mainieri said, to go down as the next great LSU outfielder if he can beat out Bianco for the job.
Centerfield: Giovanni DiGiacomo (sophomore), Maurice Hampton (freshman)
One of the position battles that garnered the most attention on Media Day, LSU has two guys that can absolutely fly out in centerfield. DiGiacomo has the leg up currently because Hampton was busy winning a national championship with the football team.
DiGiacomo is someone Mainieri wants to get on the field as much as possible for his speed on the bags and in the outfield but wants his hitting to become more consistent. As a freshman, DiGiacomo batted .275 in 53 games with one home run, six RBI and six stolen bases.
If he wins the job, his base stealing ability will add an extra layer to an LSU offense that doesn't have much speed. Hampton also comes in as one of if not the fastest players on the roster but will need to get back into the swing of things before he can take the field.
It will be probably the most entertaining and interesting battle over the next few weeks to keep an eye on.
Right Field: Daniel Cabrera
After experimenting a bit in centerfield during the fall, Mainieri ultimately made the decision to move the outfield's most veteran player to right field, something Cabrera was completely understanding and on board with.
Cabrera comes into 2020 with high expectations as a Preseason All-American while also taking over the No. 8 jersey from Duplantis. Cabrera batted .284 with 12 homeruns and 50 RBI as a sophomore but will need to give LSU a bit more this season as he went through a couple of severe hitting slumps last year.
Mainieri revealed that he's also toyed with the idea of putting Cabrera into the leadoff spot. Regardless of where he ends up in the lineup, Cabrera is the leader of this roster and LSU will need him to play like it if it wants to go back to Omaha in 2020.