The LSU baseball team is going through a huge transition across the board, but its biggest shoes to fill may be behind the plate.
Former Tiger catcher Micah Gibbs took his renowned talents to the professional ranks, leaving LSU with an inexperienced group to handle a talented but young pitching staff.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said Gibbs is the hardest player to replace from all the talent the team has lost in recent years.
“When we were on our way to the national championship and we had all these phenomenal players, I used to say our most valuable player was Gibbs,” Mainieri said. “You won’t notice Gibbs until he’s not here anymore, and unfortunately he’s not here anymore.”
The Tiger pitching staff is revamped this season and will have a stable of young catchers waiting to catch for them — most notably freshman Tyler Ross.
Ross fits the Gibbs mold of a big body behind the plate, and the 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound catcher knows who he’s replacing.
“I’m just going to play the game I know how to play,” Ross said. “We’ve got a great catching corps, and we’re going to go back there and do what we can to make an even transition from the era of Micah Gibbs.”
Senior pitcher Ben Alsup has liked what he’s seen from Ross at this early point of his career.
“He’s going to do a lot of really big things for us as a pitching staff,” Alsup said. “He’s really good defensively. He’s got a pretty good bat. He’s going to help this team out a lot.
While Ross made huge strides during the fall, Mainieri said the job is not his to lose.
Junior Jordy Snikeris — a junior college transfer from Texarkana Junior College — stands to also get some playing time early in the season.
Mainieri said a hamstring injury during the fall made it difficult for Snikeris to prove himself, but the Austin, Texas, native has been coming on strong recently.
“Ross and Snikeris are going to be the most important players for us because they’ve got to handle the staff,” Mainieri said. “But we have to keep reminding ourselves that Gibbs wasn’t always the seasoned veteran. He was a freshman at one point, too.”
A catcher needs an “overflowing amount of confidence” to be successful in college ball, according to Mainieri, because of the amount of things a catcher is required to do in a game.
“You’re in it together when you’re a catcher,” Mainieri said. “If the pitcher pitches poorly, as a catcher you have to have the attitude where you’ll take responsibility for that.”
The catchers will have to acquaint themselves with a pitching staff that has been overhauled from a 2010 staff that finished with a disappointing 5.56 ERA.
Alsup figures to anchor the staff after coming on strong at the end of last season.
Alsup finished with a 5-1 record and a 3.88 ERA — best of any 2010 Tiger starter — and said building trust in the battery is essential.
“In the locker room, we’re the best of buds because as a pitcher the catcher is your lifeline,” Alsup said. “If you’ve got two strikes on a batter with the runner on third, you don’t want to throw a pitch he can hit.”
Ross said he has been trying to build trust between himself and the pitching staff.
“You’re just hanging out with the pitchers — talking to them and getting to know them better,” Ross said. “Find out what they like and what makes them mad. The relationship with the pitcher is huge.”
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]