As the Aug. 15 signing deadline creeps nearer, LSU baseball fans have awaited former LSU first baseman Matt Clark’s decision on whether he would return to LSU next season.
But even after the 2008 national co-leader in home runs signed Friday with the San Diego Padres, it could be LSU’s pitching staff taking a bigger hit from this year’s MLB draft.
The Tigers knew they would be losing then-senior pitcher Jared Bradford before his 2008 season even started, but the losses to the staff didn’t stop with the player LSU coach Paul Mainieri called “one of the greatest competitors [he has] ever coached” and “one of the greatest human beings [he has] ever met.”
Former LSU pitcher Blake Martin said he knew it was time to begin his professional career when former LSU associate head coach and pitching coach Terry Rooney announced on June 12 he was leaving to become head coach at Central Florida.
“He’s a great pitching coach, and being able to work with him for a year really helped me out a lot,” said Martin, who would have been a senior next season. “Once he left, I knew it was time for me to move on to the next level.”
Martin, now a member of the Minnesota Twins’ single-A affiliate in Beloit, Wis., said playing professionally is just adding to a year that has been a dream come true.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid – and also dreaming about the [College] World Series,” Martin said. “Being able to do both of those in the same year is just a really exciting thing.”
Former LSU pitcher Ryan Verdugo decided this past week to follow Martin’s lead and begin his own professional career by signing with the San Francisco Giants’ organization, foregoing his senior season.
Bradford, Verdugo and Martin finished first, second and third, respectively, for the Tigers in both innings pitched and strikeouts this past season.
The Tigers’ No. 4 and No. 5 pitchers in innings pitched and strike outs, rising seniors Jordan Brown and Louis Coleman, were also selected in this year’s draft.
While LSU expects Brown back for 2009, Coleman has yet to decide whether to return or sign with the Washington Nationals’ organization.
Rising junior reliever Paul Bertuccini said he could see Mainieri utilizing Coleman as both a starter and a closer in the same role Bradford played in 2008.
Bradford led LSU with 10 wins and five saves this past season.
Despite the departures of Bradford, Verdugo and Martin and the potential departure of Coleman, Bertuccini and LSU associate head coach and pitching coach David Grewe said they expect the Tigers’ pitching staff to be “really good” in 2009.
“We’re going to be a little bit more inexperienced than we were this past year,” Grewe said. “But I’m not worried about that. I have confidence that those guys will be ready to jump right into the fire and be ready to go.”
In addition to the departures from the 2008 staff, two former junior college pitchers expected to join LSU in 2009 have decided to sign with the teams that drafted them.
Ryan Chaffee and Jon Michael Redding both opted to play professionally next season instead of joining the Tigers.
Grewe said he expects the seven underclassmen – five freshmen – who pitched in 2008 to prevent the Tigers from a letdown in the wake of all the losses.
“The key is kind of those freshmen that all contributed this year – for those guys to step it up,” Grewe said. “For example, Anthony Ranaudo is going to be a key guy for us. He’s got a chance to be a power-arm guy.”
Ranaudo was 1-0 in one start and eight appearances in 2008, compiling 13 strikeouts and six walks in 12 innings pitched. The true freshman from Jackson, N.J., also allowed n opponents’ batting average of .128, the LSU pitching staff’s lowest.
Bertuccini said he is confident the Tigers’ pitching staff will help the team live up to expectations if the pitchers accept the roles Mainieri gives them.
“Everybody’s got to come in there and compete for a role,” Bertuccini said. “When it gets closer to the season, coach is going to put us in our roles where we’re best at. Coach Mainieri’s good at that. He finds out what we’re best at.”
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]