LSU Settles on Blake Money, Ma'Khail Hilliard to Lead Off 2022 Opening Weekend
The offseason long question has been answered as LSU has settled on sophomore Blake Money to pitch opening day Friday and senior Ma'Khail Hilliard to get the nod Saturday against Maine.
Coach Jay Johnson is electing to keep the Sunday starter close to the vest for now but the Tigers now know who will be on the mound to start the 2022 season. The sophomore Money has undergone quite a physical transformation this offseason, losing nearly 40 pounds to get into the kind of shape that warrants a dramatic shift in consistent play.
As a freshman, he showed all of the tools to eventually be a great pitcher but could only last a few innings before fatigue settled in. Now he's in the best shape of his life and is one of the pitchers Johnson trusts most to get LSU off to the right start.
"I think he's got great stuff. You're talking about a fastball up to 96 mph with two to three plus pitches and a ton of strikes," Johnson said. "The simplistic answer is he has a lot of traits you need to win. He's competing at a high level and for me it's more about the reliability of the person. He'll get us off to a great start."
"He looks a lot more flexible, his ball is jumping out a lot more this year, his curveball is falling in for strikes," outfielder Dylan Crews said. "I'm really happy for him and looking forward to seeing what he does Friday."
As for Hilliard, he really became one of the great comeback stories for this program last season, starting the last few months of the season after Jaden Hill went down with an injury. Hilliard went through some really difficult personal tragedies in the offseason with the passing of his father, something he's been open talking about since announcing his return last summer.
"He played a huge part in the way I carry my everyday life so knowing I have my brothers to back me really gave me motivation to come back another year," Hilliard said. "I'm still gonna have that same focus on the mound because the rules of baseball don't change."
Hilliard has a five pitch repertoire to his game, adding a slider and changeup to the fastball and hard breaking curveball to his arsenal. Shortstop Jordan Thompson has faced Hilliard for the better part of the last two years and has seen how steady he is on the mound.
"Ma'Khail's always been nasty," Thompson said. "When you go up there, you know he's gonna pound the zone and is unpredictable in knowing what he's gonna throw. He's gonna dice guys up and we're really excited about that."
Johnson can go a number of different routes come Sunday but the one thing we do know is to expect plenty of pitchers to get opportunities during opening weekend.