In all of LSU coach Paul Mainieri’s 32-year career, he can’t recall a situation like this.
He’s got three capable catchers all competing with each other, and Mainieri said he’d use the opening weekend to toy with all of them behind the plate.
With those three games down, Mainieri said there’s one person inching ahead.
Sophomore Chris Chinea, who caught Friday night’s 2-0 win against UNO, drew rave reviews from his coach on his night behind the plate — especially his throw to gun down Chaz Boyer as the Privateer tried to swipe second.
Chinea also launched the Tigers’ first home run of the season Sunday against Grambling when he started at first base.
“I thought Chinea caught a really good game Friday night,” Mainieri said Sunday. “I think he’s a tad ahead of the other two guys now defensively. But they all did a great job.”
Stevenson’s new swing
After an inconsistent freshman season at the plate that saw him bat .193 in the bottom of the lineup, LSU sophomore outfielder Andrew Stevenson was given an ultimatum.
“I told him before he went away in the summer ‘You’ve got to change this. I played you this year just because of your defense. I’m not going to do that this year. … You’ve got to carry your weight offensively,’” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri
Specifically, Mainieri told Stevenson to change his swing. The St. Thomas More product had a tendency since high school to hold his hands high on the bat to try to produce fly balls.
Instead, Mainieri and hitting coach Javi Sanchez wanted Stevenson to lower his hands and produce back swing, which would induce more grounders and line drives — a perfect complement to Stevenson’s speed.
Initially, it was a hard sell for Stevenson. He’d instinctively revert back to his old swing in games and any progress Sanchez and Mainieri made would be lost.
But he settled on the new swing in the Northwoods League, where he batted .345 for the summer. He followed suit with a three-hit debut on Sunday in the leadoff spot with an RBI.
“Let’s see if I can keep this going throughout the season,” Stevenson said Sunday. “I was trying to settle everything down. I slowed down, picked good pitches to hit and relaxed up there.”
Mainieri not giving up on Foster
Aside from finding a closer, one of the biggest questions surrounding the Tigers is replacing Mason Katz’s and Raph Rhymes’ productivity behind sophomore shortstop Alex Bregman in the batting order.
After marveling at his newfound consistency in fall practice, LSU coach Paul Mainieri inserted junior Jared Foster in the clean-up spot for opening weekend.
Consistency was there — just not the kind Mainieri had envisioned.
Foster limped to a 1-for-13 weekend, flying out seven times and stranding nine Tigers on base. He wasn’t adept at working the count, either, as he got out on the first pitch twice and second pitch four times.
While admitting the struggles were evident, Mainieri said he liked Foster’s approach on Saturday when he hit an RBI double after Bregman dispatched a double of his own.
“He swung at pitches that almost hit him on the chin [on Friday night],” Mainieri said. “I just think he’s pressing a little bit. I know he wants to take advantage of this opportunity and he’s probably trying a little bit too hard. I’m not giving up on the kid.”