LSU head coach Jay Johnson handles one of the hardest responsibilities of a head baseball coach well.
The timing of a pitching change and who to turn to is of the utmost importance for a baseball team, and LSU’s go-to guys have been emerging.
Since the season now has a good sample size of 26 games, let’s look at who has been the most trustworthy and reliable people out of the bullpen.
Gavin Guidry
“I trust Gavin with my life,” Johnson said.
Johnson has actually said that multiple times about his redshirt junior reliever. It shows on the field when Guidry is put into high-leverage situations.
He’s pitched 19 innings over the year, allowing 10 runs so far, good for a 4.26 ERA. He’s also struck out 30 batters while only walking eight.
Guidry is coming off a back injury that forced him to miss the entirety of last season. While he’s been fighting back, he’s looked just as strong as he did in previous years. Johnson’s trust in him is now seeing him come in with pressure on the bases.
“[Johnson] told me [to] go out there, set the tone and compete,” Guidry said after his outing against Louisiana. “That’s what I try my best to do. Just make pitches and compete and set the tone from pitch one.”
Ethan Plog
Plog is a sophomore JUCO transfer that Johnson landed a huge commitment with. He has been solid this year, being a reliable option out of the pen for LSU.
“It’s hard for guys to get really good swings on him,” Johnson said. “And if he’s mixing and landing his stuff and what we call controlling the count, it’s hard to score runs off him.”
His ERA is at 5.40 through 10 innings after being inflated by a couple of bad innings against Vanderbilt and Creighton. Outside of that Vanderbilt outing, Plog has been a solid option for Johnson and his staff.
“Executing one pitch at a time has been my biggest takeaway because if you see yourself executing, [it] just makes you feel a lot more confident,” Plog said.
He was the underrated player to watch coming into this year, and is now on everyone’s radar. Plog came out to relieve Reagan Ricken after a rough start against Louisiana Tech, and avoided some trouble on the basepaths with the help of three strikeouts.
“I think he’s a future major leaguer,” Johnson said.
Deven Sheerin
Sheerin is another pitcher that is returning to the field after missing the entirety of the previous year. He continues to shove much like Guidry.
The Mount St. Mary’s transfer tore his ACL in the fall of 2024, which was supposed to be his first year playing for LSU. He didn’t see game action until 2026 and has been dominant.
Sheerin stands tall at 6-feet 5-inches and 255 pounds, and delivers blistering fastballs. Like Guidry, Sheerin is starting to come into high-leverage situations, where he is dominating and keeping many runs from scoring.
He’s only been charged with six runs over his 13 innings, and they came from his first two appearances.
Sheerin is also starting to see longer outings, showing that Johnson is trusting him more and more. Over his first six outings, the most batters he faced in a game were seven. In his last three appearances, Sheerin has faced 10, 12 and nine, respectively.
His performances continue to impress as he makes a name for himself at LSU.
Mavrick Rizy
Rizy exploded onto the scene last year as a freshman and has continued to dominate into his second year.
The 6-foot 9-inches tall hurler imposes a presence onto the field that opponents can’t fight back against easily. Rizy has the best ERA on the team at 2.57.
He has pitched 14 innings over 11 separate appearances and has only allowed four runs and nine hits while striking out 20. He’s maxed out at just two innings pitched for an appearance, but has played his role well.
Rizy is a strong middle reliever to keep the lead intact or help fight back in a close contest.
Santiago Garcia
It’s a major compliment when the legendary Skip Bertman is impressed by your showings in spring scrimmages.
Garcia, a transfer from Oregon, impressed LSU coaches and has started to fall into a comfortable role in the bullpen. He has pitched 9.1 innings and has only allowed five runs, with three of those coming from his first appearance.
Like Sheerin, the number of batters Garcia is facing per appearance has risen over his last three outings. Against Creighton two weeks ago, he worked a season-high 2.2 innings, only allowing one hit, while being the lights-out arm the Tigers needed that night.
The junior is continuing to improve as he gets slotted in for big moments on the mound for the Tigers.
