LSU Riding Into Final Non-Conference Series with Confident Bullpen
LSU knew a strength of this team would be its offense but from the outside not many expected possibly the biggest strength of this group to come out of the bullpen. The Tigers have simply been phenomenal in relief this year.
The really nice part about this staff is that after a few starting roles that have been carved out, this staff is more or less wide open in terms of defined roles. There have been so many pitchers making a positive impact on this team 13 games into the year that it sets up really well for confidence to really
"We have the luxury of not having to set it up any certain way and I think that's a strength of this team," Johnson said. "I think coach Kelly has done a good job of getting guys in their lane of what they need to do. I think we can keep game control, especially if we can control the ball and give our offense time to do what it's capable of doing. That's a really good recipe."
The emphasis more than anything with this staff is to throw strikes. It's a message Johnson has relayed to the media dating back to the early days of fall and the pitchers have by in large been very good at making opposing offenses earn what they get.
Carrying a strikeout to walk ratio of 130 to 41, it's been the arms out of the bullpen like Eric Reyzelman, Paul Gervase, Devin Fontenot, Trent Vietmeier, Bryce Collins, Grant Taylor and Sam Dutton who have really stood out this season. Johnson believes part of the reason for success out of this bullpen is because all of these pitchers have found a nice balance of velocity and command.
"I think as guys sell out for arm strength sometimes the command goes down so what I like about our staff right now is guys have made significant jumps but not sacrificing their ability to pitch," Johnson said. "There are a number of guys who have made a positive contribution. A couple of guys are emerging and I'm really confident in a lot of those guys. We're not even in a place where we can pair it down because so many guys are getting it done."
Trent Vietmeier is a fifth year senior on this team so he's been a part of many different throwing programs in the past and is really keen on what coach Jason Kelly has done with this staff. In prior years, Vietmeier said the Tigers' pitchers were throwing a lot more and it sometimes led to fatigue whereas this year their process has been more self driven, allowing their bodies to dictate when breaks are needed.
The staff as a whole uses cross symmetry bands and does a lot of hip and exercise mobilities to help get loose before a game or throwing session.
"Our numbers in the bullpen, we don't have many guys throwing under 90," Vietmeier said. "It's kind of a big league feel, you see major league guys go out there and do their own thing and he's added that into ours which is awesome. He has his own trust in us.
"The positive about our group is they show up everyday and there's a lot of things we need to improve on as we go and there's a willingness to do it."
(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)