Sophomore left-handed pitcher Christian Pelaez is out for the fall and has decided to transfer to Miami Dade College at the end of the semester, LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said Wednesday.
Pelaez has been out for the majority of fall practice with shoulder pain and was out all last season due to arm surgery.
“He’s going to go to junior college in Miami and hopefully get an opportunity there to play,” Mainieri said. “He’s just so far behind everybody else that he’s just not going to get much of an opportunity, so I think that he feels his best chance to resurrect his career at a junior college.”
The Miami, Florida, native came to LSU as a three-time high school varsity MVP at Florida Christian High School. He was a Rawlings and Under Armour Preseason All-American in high school.
Jordan and Sciambra impressing in outfield, Fraley struggling to get hits
The Tigers’ outfield is one of their strengths heading into the 2015 season, and Mainieri has been impressed by the depth and performance of the position this fall.
Freshman Beau Jordan and senior Chris Sciambra have particularly impressed Mainieri and the coaching staff with their clutch hitting and playmaking in the outfield.
Sciambra hit a ground rule double this week in practice, and Mainieri said Jordan has had some timely hits in practice.
“Chris Sciambra, for the time he has been out there, has done some good things, and Beau Jordan the freshman has really done well,” Mainieri said. “[Sciambra] is a veteran player that I have a lot of confidence in. Beau Jordan has really impressed the coaching staff with some clutch hitting and some extraordinary play in the outfield.”
Jordan, a Lake Charles, Louisiana, native out of Barbe High School, came to LSU with numerous high school accolades, including being named a 2014 Baseball America Third Team All-American. He led Barbe to the 2014 State Championship while being named the tournament MVP, batting .398 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs.
Mainieri also said juniors Mark Laird and Andrew Stevenson have played well so far, but sophomore Jake Fraley has struggled to get hits.
“He’s making contact most of the time, he just hasn’t been getting a lot of hits,” Mainieri said. “I’m not really overly concerned with Jake. He’s had not quite as strong a fall as the other guys, but I’m not going to forget how well he did last year. I still think Jake’s a great player. It’s going to be good competition, but I think our outfield is one of the strengths of our team.”
Chinea impressing at first, catcher looking solid
So far, so good at catcher for the Tigers
The Tigers’ catching rotation is one of the more experienced on the squad, and Mainieri said the combination of senior Kade Scivicque, freshman Mike Papierski and junior Chris Chinea gives the Tigers a good threesome at the position.
Scivicque and Papierski have had good hitting stretches lately. Mainieri said Scivicque hit a ball off the center field fence Tuesday, while Papierski had both a left-handed and right-handed double.
“Scivicque has played really well as of late,” Mainieri said. “He seems like he throws everybody out stealing. [Papierski’s] very solid defensively. He’s not overmatched by any stretch of the imagination.”
Chinea has had a particularly good fall, Mainieri said. He’s playing mostly first base in practice and hitting the ball well.
“Chris Chinea has had as good a fall as anyone with the bat,” Mainieri said. “He’s playing mostly first base, catching about once a week. I think Chris is going to be one of our real leaders of the team this year.”
Chinea’s increased play at first gives the Tigers more options in their infield with senior Conner Hale undoubtedly becoming an everyday starter for the team.
Mainieri said there’s still a possibility for Hale to play at first, but he’s happy with the options he has at the position.
“I feel very confident about catcher as well as first base,” Mainieri said. “We can still decide to throw Hale at first base if we so desire, so we have got options, and I’m excited about that.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.