LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri has said his least favorite day of the year is the first day of the MLB draft when he has to say goodbye to veteran players and sweat out the potential of losing recruits to the big leagues.Last week Mainieri experienced another painful day when he heard two of his experienced pitchers, sophomores Joey Bourgeois and Chris Matulis, need Tommy John surgery.”I was absolutely shocked,” Mainieri said. “It was kind of a dark day for me.”Mainieri said the pair of pitchers found out around the same time after experiencing elbow pain.”They were playing catch and started feeling pain in their elbows,” Mainieri said. “They went to the doctor and found out they needed Tommy John surgery.”The procedure, named after a  former MLB pitcher, has advanced through the years, but recovery is still a lengthy road.It is caused from the wearing down of a ligament in the throwing elbow.”It’s a long process for them — the surgery and the rehab,” Mainieri said. “It’ll be at least a year before they will get back to form.”Mainieri said he was most worried about the pitchers themselves.”My biggest concern is for them,” Mainieri said. “They were both very distraught about the news for obvious reasons.”Mainieri said Bourgeois and Matulis have the capability to return to form after the surgery.Bourgeois started 12 games this past season, going 4-1 with a 6.68 ERA. The Lutcher High School product saw most of his time on the mound in the beginning of the season.Bourgeois only had one start in the final 23 games, working mostly out of the bullpen.Matulis was in the weekend rotation for some Southeastern Conference games before returning to the bullpen.The left-handed pitcher recorded a 5-3 record with a 5.33 ERA.”Things like this happen,” Mainieri said. “It’s sad because both of these kids have to improve.”They were both expected to at least vie for spots in the weekend rotation, which is already going to be young after the loss of Austin Ross to the Milwaukee Brewers and potential loss of Anthony Ranaudo to the Red Sox.”There’s going to be a lot of new faces on the pitching staff,” Mainieri said. “We’re going to have maybe 10 or 11 new pitchers.”Juniors Ben Alsup and Daniel Bradshaw are the most experienced pitchers left, even though both weren’t staples in the rotation.Alsup finished the 2010 season strong, allowing one hit in seven innings of work against Ole Miss in SEC tournament.Bradshaw was mainly limited to the bullpen but started and gave the Tigers a victory against Alabama in the SEC tournament championship game.Zach Lee, Ryan Eades and Kevin Gausman are all incoming freshman who were selected in this year’s MLB draft but could bypass the big leagues and compete for a starting job at LSU.”If we are fortunate with the draft, we could end up with a nice group of pitchers,” Mainieri said.Lee, who was chosen 28th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers, is believed to be staying at LSU to play football and baseball for the Tigers.The McKinney, Texas, native has been enrolled in summer classes and is practicing with the football team.Gausman was taken by the Dodgers in the sixth round.Eades, a Northshore High School alumnus, was picked in the 19th round by the Colorado Rockies.”There will be some growing pains,” Mainieri said. “We are going to be young, but it’ll be fun to watch them develop.”
 
 
 
—-Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]