As LSU gets set to take center stage in Omaha for its College World Series opener against Tennessee, who Tiger fans will see start on the mound of LSU remains to be the primary question.
LSU will open its College World Series with Tennessee at 6 p.m. C.T. at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. The game will be aired live on both ESPN and ESPN-plus.
Paul Skenes is the most likely candidate for the starting job on Saturday night. Skenes has dominated all season long on the mound. He boasts a 1.77 ERA in 107.0 innings pitched along with 188 strikeouts. In fact, Skenes is 15 strikeouts away from LSU’s school record.
However, some Tiger fans don’t think Skenes should be the starter in LSU’s first game of the College World Series.
Below I’ve explained the common reasons why fans think Skenes should be the starter, and why fans think he should not be the starter. I’ve then provided my opinion on whether or not Jay Johnson should start Skenes.
Reasons fans think Skenes should start:
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He’s been the starter in just about every regular season series and postseason tournament (except the SEC Tournament, where the Tigers underperformed).
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He’s been LSU’s most consistent pitcher this season by a landslide.
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It would give Skenes the maximum days of rest to be available later in the tournament, if LSU were still playing by then.
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Starting the tournament off on a good note could set the tone of the rest of the tournament, and will give LSU considerably more momentum.
Reasons fans think Skenes shouldn’t start:
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With a win Saturday, it’s expected LSU will play Wake Forest, assuming it beats Stanford. Wake Forest being the No. 1 team in the country, having Skenes on the mound is the only way LSU could stand a fighting chance.
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Even if Wake Forest were to lose, Stanford is still a great team. Having your ace available could potentially put the Tigers in the driver’s seat of bracket two with Wake Forest already having a loss.
My opinion: Paul Skenes should start against Tennessee
In both the regional and super-regional opener, Skenes started on the mound. In all five of LSU’s postseason games, it hasn’t lost. In addition, Skenes was the Friday-night starter in LSU’s regular season weekend series. This all being said, it wouldn’t seem right to change a system Johnson and the team have run with most of the regular season and the entire postseason.
Skenes holds a 12-2 record on the season. His dominance has been arguably the best in the country. In Skenes’ first loss, he still did not cause much damage. On April 6 at South Carolina, Skenes gave up three runs on two hits in 3.0 innings, but he still struck out eight. Basically, Skenes went the entire regular season without a noticeably poor outing.
The one outing he did struggle in came in the SEC Tournament against Arkansas, which accounted for his second loss of the season. In 3.2 innings pitched, Skenes gave up five runs on four hits and struck out only three hitters.
A pitcher having a bad outing is strictly inevitable. For an LSU team that lacked consistency during the end of the regular season into the beginning of the postseason, Skenes is one of the only players that didn’t struggle for multiple games in a row or even multiple games at all. With Skenes, you know what you’re going to get when he gets on the mound.
Another reason Skenes should start on Saturday is that he would be guaranteed the maximum amount of rest to be able to pitch against later next week, if LSU is still playing that is. On stages like the College World Series, the last thing you should do is look ahead. But at the same time, planning long-term is something coaches are often forced to do. Guaranteeing that Skenes, LSU’s most consistent pitcher, will be available in the games that matter most could increase LSU’s odds in making it further in the tournament drastically.
Having Skenes available in the winner’s bracket matchup would be nice, but planning for an opponent ahead of the one in front of it would be LSU’s worst mistake. Doing that could even lead LSU to lose in its College World Series opener.
Even if Johnson decided to save Skenes for the winner’s bracket matchup, if LSU were to win, both Wake Forest and Stanford are teams that are good enough to hit Skenes. Both of Skenes’ losses came from teams that didn’t make it to Omaha. Of course the game isn’t played on paper, so anything could happen.
But from what’s expected to happen, LSU could end up in the same position whether or not it starts Skenes on Saturday. Thus, it’s the little things that will matter most when planning on when to throw Skenes.
In more times than not, the opening game is what sets the tone for the remainder of a tournament. Skenes doing what Skenes has done several times throughout the season can only mean that LSU will have the chance to build strong momentum in Omaha.
