LSU Baseball Excited To Face Another Opponent, Get 2022 Season Rolling
After an entire fall and spring practice session of facing the guys, it's hard not to fall into a rhythm. That's why LSU is ready to get the ball rolling on its 2022 season by welcoming Maine to kick off the Jay Johnson era.
Johnson, who is all about the process of improvement, is eager not only for his first game in Alex Box but more importantly, to see where his team is against other competition.
"We need to play somebody else," Johnson said. "Some of the guys, I have a pretty good idea of what we're getting. I'm pretty good with that but I think the game is going to make them even better which is great. We don't have maybe everything in that you'd want by the second or third year but that's ok."
Though COVID restrictions were lifted for some of the baseball season in 2021, sophomore Dylan Crews is ready to truly see what a packed crowd at Alex Box Stadium is like.
"We're prepared very well for this weekend," Crews said. "I'm very excited for this crowd we're about to get. I haven't experienced that yet so it's going to be cool, the atmosphere we're about to get. I'm really looking forward to seeing what our preparation is going to translate and expose what we need to work on."
The last part of that quote from Crews, "expose what we need to work on," is extremely interesting to how this team is approaching opening weekend. LSU has high expectations and lofty goals for this season, which is why the team isn't getting too high or too low on opening weekend. There are areas this group will soon find out need adjusting and that excites the players and coaches.
As it pertains to the offense, Johnson doesn't have a preference in front loading the lineup or spreading out the really talented bats in the order. Because good teams can do both and the goal for Johnson is that no matter where LSU starts in an inning, the Tigers are capable of scoring two.
That's part of what playing another opponent, seeing how guys handle different pitchers, ultimately will dictate how the lineup shapes later in the season. The other interesting component that will be easier to access after playing different opponents is learning which guys handle certain situations better than others.
Johnson has a core four he'll have on the field at all times, allowing for some leniency with how the rest of the order plays out. Throughout his career, Johnson hasn't been afraid of subbing players in and out of the lineup to best fit what LSU needs, whether it's offense or defense, to ultimately win a game.
"What's great about the team is that there are a lot of guys who do something well and you can utilize any skill they have to help in a given situation," Johnson said. "For some of those guys that means defense, for some of those guys it means offense so you take one or two spots and you can combine one player out of two or three players."
On the mound, Johnson is even more confident entering this season with what he's seen from the pitching staff. As a whole, Johnson has been impressed with the strike throwing this group has shown from back in the fall and is comfortable utilizing a number of pitchers in a game.
Early in the season, there will likely be more relievers as Johnson and pitching coach Jason Kelly continue to dissect who fits what role best. But there's little doubt the Tigers have a "good problem" with the high caliber arms they'll be able to throw at Maine this weekend and learn a little more about their rotation in the process.
"My job as a coach is to find out how to best put the whole thing together and right now there's not a ton of separation because a ton of guys have been throwing the ball well," Johnson said. "I'm excited to where we can keep guys in the lane where they can be successful, build off that and pass it to the next guy."
This team more than anything wants to face another opponent not just to get this season started but to fundamentally get a good look at how this group looks and what cracks could show that need preparing. It's a different approach but one that will benefit this team in the long run.
"When you get a chance to have games of consequence, you learn where you need to improve and there's always gonna be some of that in baseball," Johnson said. "I'm looking to play as well as we can to have success and learn where we need to go from here. The weekend will tell us what we need to be better at."
(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)