UPDATE (6:03 p.m. – 2/19/16): Freshman shortstop Trey Dawson will play tonight despite suffering from pink eye earlier this week. He will bat in the nine hole in the Tigers’ order
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Kramer Robertson walked out of the dugout for practice Thursday with his upper lip swollen twice its normal size.
The LSU junior second baseman removed his mouth guard — which he has to wear for 4-6 weeks — to speak to the media, revealing his teeth wired in place. He took a hard ground ball off his grill in a Tuesday scrimmage, starting “a week from hell” just four days before first pitch at Alex Box Stadium.
Medicine made Robertson sick to his stomach on Wednesday, and he isn’t thrilled about he’ll look on camera. Still, he’ll leadoff a mostly inexperienced lineup against Cincinnati at 7 p.m Friday, he said.
“I’m out here ready to go,” Robertson said. “I’m going to block out everything else and focus on Cincinnati.”
Robertson isn’t the only one starting the season with a cosmetic issue. Fellow middle infielder, freshman shortstop Trey Dawson, is suffering from pink eye, leaving him questionable for tomorrow night. In that case, JUCO transfer third baseman Cole Freeman will take Dawson’s place, but Freeman’s replacement hasn’t been determined, LSU coach Paul Mainieri confirmed via text message.
Even with an ailing team, needing as many reps as possible because of the youth, Mainieri is embracing his 10th opening night as the Tiger manager.
The first game is only comparable to one other day of the year, he said.
“There’s only two days to me every year that are really unique, Mainieri said, “opening day and the first day of the [College] World Series. The first day at the World Series always feels different because you’re in the big stadium, the big stage. You know what’s at stake. You feel like you haven’t played in forever because it’s been a full week since you’ve played in the Super Regional. But, outside of that, the rest of the season is just another day and let’s get after it.”
This year’s team is vastly different than the one that walked out of TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska after being eliminated from last year’s College World Series.
On its way to 54 wins last season, a potent LSU offense completed the year with a .314 batting clip, good enough for fourth in the country. An elder group of hitters outscored opponents by more than 200 runs, averaging nearly seven runs per game, and recorded a nation-leading 762 hits.
Despite sophomore Alex Lange’s dazzling National Freshman Pitcher of the Year season, perhaps the most overlooked aspect of the Tigers’ College World Series team was a pitching staff that ended the year with the second-lowest earned run average in the Southeastern Conference, which also ranked top-20 nationally. A starting rotation continuously searching for a No. 3 starter and an inconsistent bullpen clouded a banner year for Mainieri’s hurlers.
Now, the roles are reversed, as last season’s pitching staff remains mostly in tact and the batting lineup is filled with freshmen, transfers and inexperienced second-year players. For the second year in a row, junior Jared Poche’ will toe the rubber first for the Tigers, attempting to erase a two-error, six-run outing in a loss to TCU to open the College World Series last year.
Knowing Poche’s experience and mound presence, Lange is more than happy to follow Poche’ at 2 p.m. Saturday against the Bearcats.
“The way I look at it is I think Poche’ is the leader of the staff, and he’s going to go out there and set the tone,” he said. “Just like last year, I got to observe it, see how the game is going to go, try to get that atmosphere-feel of everything and really, really see how they attack — how they like to hit, where their comfort zone is, where they’re uncomfortable, what they struggle with. So, that is nice.”
A new arm also enters the fold in the Sunday starting stop at noon – senior Akron transfer John Valek III.
The now-defunct Zips program featured Valek as its ace, as he recorded a 6-6 mark with a 3.25 ERA. The Parkland, Florida native fanned 62 batters in his First Team All-Mid American junior season and is referred to as a “crafty lefty” by junior center fielder Jake Fraley.
“[Valek] can pitch, man,” Poche’ said. “I didn’t know much about him, obviously, coming from Akron. I just knew he threw 200-something innings in three years. Just that alone speaks volumes to the kind of competitor he is.”
While the bullpen is comprised of mostly familiar names, including Parker Bugg, Jesse Stallings and Hunter Newman, another pitcher in his first year with the Tigers could see action this weekend. JUCO transfer right-hander Riley Smith, who was originally in the mix to start on Sunday, said his shoulder soreness is fading and felt good after throwing a bullpen Thursday, leaving the possibility for him to pitch limited innings on Sunday.
“I was as accurate as you can be for haven’t had pitched a bullpen … [in] almost two weeks,” Smith said. “Offspeed was better, good changeup, fine fastball. I rushed little things because I was excited to get out there, but everything should be on course.”
You can reach James Bewers on Twitter @JamesBewers_TDR