Thirty-two games in, and it all appears effortless for Mark Laird.
Whether it’s his dazzling speed down the baseline or the seemingly uncatchable hits he can track down from centerfield, the true freshman never seems frazzled, jogging back to the dugout with the same boyish grin plastered on his face.
But there’s one phase of the Monroe native’s game that’s been anything but automatic.
“I don’t think I laid down one bunt in high school,” Laird said. “When I got here, I had never bunted in my life. It was something I had to work on.”
Either to move the leadoff runner over or simply to get an inning started with an easy base hit, Laird is often tasked with perfectly placing a bunt at a critical juncture of the game — as he did Sunday.
With LSU trailing Kentucky 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Laird laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved junior outfielder Sean McMullen to third base, the start of a five-run frame that propelled the Tigers to an 11-4 win. Laird’s bunt in the fourth also moved McMullen into scoring position, and the Tigers would later score three runs in the inning.
Laird, who led off throughout most of his career at Ouachita Christian School, now has settled into the two-hole for the Tigers (30-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference), a transition LSU coach Paul Mainieri wasn’t worried about for his prized freshman.
“I don’t think the second hole is any different than the first hole, really,” Mainieri said. “Mark handles the bat great, his bunting is good, he hits the ball well.”
The bunting hasn’t always been good, though, as Laird came in as a virtual novice to the precise art of positioning bunts, needing the trio of Mainieri, hitting coach Javi Sanchez and assistant coach Will Davis to teach him the skill.
After struggling in the fall, Laird returned to Monroe over winter break, where Mainieri said he honed the skill so perfectly, it vaulted him into a starting job over freshman outfielder Andrew Stevenson and McMullen.
“McMullen and Stevenson couldn’t [bunt] with the consistency that Laird developed it,” Mainieri said. “The finishing touch on him winning the starting job was the ability to bunt.”
Laird said his most difficult transition was picking which pitches to offer the bunt and that while he has no problem making contact, the problems arise in the placement.
Still, with 4.46 40-yard dash speed, Laird said if all goes according to plan at the plate, he has no doubts he can beat out anyone’s throw to first.
“You have to deaden the ball more instead of hitting it straight at them,” Laird said. “If I can deaden it and get it down, I have a pretty good chance of beating it out.”
Laird credited the coaching staff with helping his game develop as he transitioned to SEC play, but didn’t give any of his teammates much credit with helping along his newfound skill.
And with good reason, according to Mainieri.
“All the other guys that should have been able to bunt haven’t been able to, that’s why I needed to put him in the order,” Mainieri said with a laugh. “He didn’t get help from any of our players, I promise you.”
