Paul Mainieri addressed local media on Friday for LSU baseball’s annual media day at Alex Box Stadium Skip Bertman Field.
LSU is ranked No. 12 in the 2020 USA Today preseason baseball coaches poll which was released on Thursday. This marks the ninth-straight consecutive season that the Tigers will begin the season ranked in the top-15 in the country. Despite being ranked No. 12, the Tigers are seventh in the southeastern conference, and fourth in the western division.
With many new faces entering the 2020 Tigers team, LSU plans lean on a veteran pitching staff while they figure out the rest. This season’s staff features double-digit Tigers who recorded multiple innings of work last season, including three weekend starters – right-handers Cole Henry, Eric Walker and Landon Marceaux. If everyone can stay healthy, the Tigers have a chance to have one of the deepest bullpen in recent times.
“I’ve never been on a pitching staff where I go, ‘Man, I got too many arms.’It just doesn’t happen. You’re going to try and get through a 56-game schedule. Right now, we have 17 arms, and so far, everybody’s taking the ball,” said pitching coach Alan Dunn.
While the pitching staff is looking good to go, the rest of the pieces have yet to fall into place. The area of concern for the Tigers is the infield as LSU is only returning one infielder in junior shortstop Hal Hughes.
“Our infield is the most inexperienced group we have out there,” Mainieri emphasized. “I’m still waiting to see which players will rise above others and make a statement that they should be starting players.”
LSU brings in a talented class of newcomers composed of 10 position players and four pitchers, and it contains four players that have been chosen in an MLB Draft – infielders Zach Arnold, Zack Mathis and Cade Doughty, and outfielder Mo Hampton Jr.
LSU finished the 2019 season with a record of 40-26, ultimately falling to the Florida State Seminoles in the Baton Rouge Super Regional. For Mainieri and this inexperienced Tiger team, the expectations still will always remain the same.
“The expectations around here remain the same,” Mainieri said. “If we can keep a healthy pitching staff, we have a chance to get back to the big stage.”
The Tigers have not been back to the College World Series since falling to the Florida Gators in the championship series in 2017, but LSU remains to have its eyes on the prize.
The Tigers will kick off its season at Alex Box Stadium Skip Bertman Field on Feb. 14th against Indiana.
