Play Ball: LSU Baseball Gearing Up for Return to Fall Practice on Wednesday
Paul Mainieri hasn't had the entire LSU baseball team on the field together since that fateful March evening, when he learned that the 2019 baseball season was in jeopardy and eventually cancelled. The 2020 team has been back at school since Aug. 12 but have only been together one time in the six weeks since returning to campus.
That's all set to change on Wednesday when the Tigers officially start fall ball.
"I'm just so looking forward to being on the field tomorrow with everybody out there," Mainieri said. "We're just so excited to be back. We've done some small individual practices so I think that the players are prepared from an individual sense but we haven't done anything as a full squad yet."
The Tigers will focus primarily on fundamentals during Wednesday's first practice before scrimmaging for the first time on Thursday. Mainieri met with the media on Tuesday and there are many updates to dive into.
First and foremost, for the first time in what feels like ages for a fall camp, LSU is 100% healthy as the team begins.
In past seasons the Tigers have had guys who required offseason surgery but with the exception of sophomore catcher Hayden Travinski, there will be no restrictions on any of the players. Catcher Alex Milazzo has recovered some offseason arm surgery and outfielder Giovanni DiGiacomo has put a broken finger in the rearview mirror.
"It's really amazing, good things come to those who wait," Mainieri said. "A couple of pitchers are on a little bit different schedule than others because of some soreness but everybody should be ready to go. Everybody's been cleared."
Not many players in the SEC will draw more attention next season than junior pitcher Jaden Hill, who figures to assume the mantle left behind by Cole Henry as LSU's Friday night starter. Hill was sensational in 2020 out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit in 11.2 innings pitched and 17 strikeouts.
A clear cut first-round pick if he can stay healthy, Mainieri said Hill is one of the best athletes he's ever coached and that the main goal of his moving forward is trying to last deeper into ball games.
"We want to see him pitch well but we want to seem him pitch at length and be able to hold his stuff for a period of time," Mainieri said. "Can he do it for five innings? For seven innings? He's very capable of dominating a game as any pitcher in our league."
Hill is just one of 21 pitchers and 40 players overall on the LSU roster who Mainieri will be managing next spring. While that may seem like a lot and certainly in the grand scheme of things it's more than usually allotted, Mainieri said the Tigers are actually in a pretty good spot in regards to the number of players on the roster.
While LSU has 40 players on its roster, some programs haven't released their finalized roster yet because there are between 50 and 60 players on it.
"We're only five over the limit so we're not in a terrible situation," Mainieri said. "I'd rather not have too many guys and then have to deal with not giving anybody a real chance. I'd rather be leaner and count on the guys we recruited and make this work.
The Tigers have restructured their roster a little bit as freshman Brody Drost, who was initially thought to be a pitcher and outfielder for this team, will just stick to the outfield for the time being. On the flip side, pitcher Will Hellmers has proven to be an adequate hitter so Mainieri said he'll be playing both ways for the purple and gold this fall.
"I think the count is 21 pitcher and 19 position players and we're gonna let them go out there this fall and see what we've got," Mainieri said. "Everybody's going to be fighting for a role. It's all gonna work out, the class will rise to the top and the other guys will wait their turn."
The pitching depth is something Mainieri says has a chance to be really special with Hill, Landon Marceaux and AJ Labas as the starters with Devin Fontenot, Matthew Beck, Ma'Khail Hilliard, Trent Vietmeier, Nick Storz and Ty Floyd all out of the bullpen.
As for positions still up in the air, Mainieri said that shortstop and third base will be a battle as will most of the outfield positions. Giovanni DiGiacomo is a stellar athlete and will likely command one of the spots in the outfield.
"I love his defense, reminds me of Andrew Stevenson a little bit, but he needs to work on his batting," Mainieri said. "He needs to take his game to the next level."
Zach Arnold, Collier Cranford, Will Safford and Jordan Thompson will all be battling for that shortstop and third base positions while Drew Bianco, Dylan Crews, Gavin Dugas, Drost and DiGiacomo will be fighting for the outfield positions.
"Dylan Crews looks like a young Mike Trout when he's running around out there," Mainieri said. "He's not the fastest guy but he knows how to play the game. We can slide him over to right if Giovanni emerges, that'd be great."