After Lost Seasons, Three LSU Pitchers Are Looking to Start Fresh With Healthy 2020 Campaign

Sophomore pitcher Nick Storz said he figuratively needed a map to know exactly what to do, exactly where to go. He couldn't believe that his time had finally come.

Three weeks ago, after two excruciatingly long years of injuries, the sophomore trotted out to the pitcher's mound for the first time, picked up the Rosin bag, patted it a few times, tossed it to the ground and began to throw. It was just a scrimmage, which certainly isn't the endgame for Storz, but that moment symbolized a return to the game he'd played all his life.

"It was awesome though I kind of needed a map to get out there," Storz joked. "It was all unfamiliar for a little bit but then it just kind of felt great to get back in the swing of things and get in some live situations."

In order to fully understand Storz' story, you have to travel back three years, when Storz was a senior in high school, viewed as one of the top pitchers in the country. Arm soreness wrecked his senior season and he ultimately came to LSU hoping to leave his mark with one of the top program's in the country.

Instead what followed was three surgeries over the next two seasons that pretty much kept him out of action during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. There was a bone spur removal from his right shoulder in his freshman year and a torn lat that went undetected by doctors for months that he underwent in October of 2018. Because the lat injury went undetected for so long, scar tissue began build up leading to a third surgery in May of 2019 to "clear things up."

"Your heart breaks for anyone who has an injury because these kids come to college with such dreams and aspirations," coach Paul Mainieri said. "Then when they get hurt, they're helpless, can't do anything about it. There's not a better kid on our team than Nick Storz, not a better attitude and he's persevered, he's fought through it and nothing would make me happier then to see him fulfill his ambition of pitching for the Tigers."

Storz says since the surgery last May his arm has felt great and the last six months has been about finding that velocity, that trust to go out on the mound and let loose without having to worry about another injury.

"I'm going to be 100% whenever they give me the ball to go on the mound. That's what I'm going to do and give it my all," Storz said. "Whatever my role is I'm going to try to help out my team as much as I can. That's what's been the hardest part the last two seasons is sitting from the sidelines watching, couldn't really help out. The biggest thing for me was to always come to the field with a positive attitude, be the best teammate I could be. The guys in the locker room always had my back so it made things a lot easier."

Storz wasn't the only pitcher that suffered frustrating, season-ending injuries in 2019. After a stellar freshman campaign in 2018, sophomore AJ Labas underwent shoulder surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2019 season.

Freshman pitcher Jaden Hill, who came into 2019 as a guy Mainieri thought would be a weekend rotation player and one of the best on the staff, lasted just two starts into his first season after elbow soreness continued to bother him.

Labas and Hill both said the moment they started to feel like their old selves was during fall practices in 2019.

"When I first noticed was during the first intrasquad scrimmage this fall," Labas said. "My velo was back up and everything was so much better than it was my freshman year."

Labas has since taken his return in stride, competing for one of the weekend starting spots alongside Cole Henry, Landon Marceaux and Eric Walker.

"He always had it in him, he's a strike throwing machine and he throws three pitches for strikes," Mainieri said. "Our hitters said this fall that they thought he was the hardest pitcher to hit because when all three of his pitches come out of his hand, they look the same and he can change speed so effectively."

Labas, who came into his freshman season with a back injury, said his body feels as good as it ever has, calling it a night and day difference.

"I came into my freshman year with a back injury so I wasn't able to work out like I wanted to and I feel like that led to my shoulder injury," Labas said. "The way my shoulder feels, the way my body feels, I think the surgery really helped out a lot."

On the other hand, Mainieri wants to be as cautious as possible with Hill as he'll start the season in the bullpen, designating certain innings for Hill with a hard pitch count as well to slowly work his way back.

"I thought we had the next Alex Lange last year when Hill showed up," Mainieri said. "The key with him is making sure we take good care of him and take it in baby steps instead of trying to get too much out of him too soon. I think in time you're talking about a guy that's really going to make his mark here at LSU."

Throughout all of the injuries for these three players last year, Labas said each one would check on the other throughout the season to see how the others were doing.

"We all connected, we've all been there so we know how to talk to each other," Labas said. "We'd ask each other how we're feeling all the time and just try to help each other get through those difficult situations."