The LSU baseball team officially began preseason practice today in preparation for its season opener against Kansas on Feb. 13, and with the unofficial start to the 2015 season comes the Tigers’ annual media day.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri met with the media to discuss the Tigers’ upcoming season. Mainieri started off excited to get the season started.
“It’s great to be back,” Mainieri said. “I have no huge announcements about my team. Everyone’s healthy and everyone’s available for practice. We have a roster of 33 guys. We had two players transfer over the fall semester.”
The Tigers come into the 2015 season with one of the youngest pitching staffs in the Mainieri era with the loss of ace Aaron Nola to the MLB.
Mainieri and his staff recruited hard for pitching prospects in the 2015 class, which was ranked the No. 1 in the country. The Tigers landed multiple talented gunslingers, including expected weekend rotation starters Alex Lange and Jake Godfrey.
Mainieri said, while the pitching staff is young, he’s confident in the talent and firepower of his young squad.
“You have to have courage to play freshman,” Mainieri said. “We’re going to use the first three or four weeks to determine our weekend rotation.”
Sophomore southpaw Jared Poche’, who was counted on as a starter a year ago, is expected to be the veteran presence in the Tigers’ 2015 rotation. The biggest question is where he will start.
Mainieri said he expects Poche’ to be the opening night starter, but he said the rotation is far from set in stone.
“Poche’ will be a weekend starter for us,” Mainieri said. “I’m pretty sure he will be our weekend starter.”
On the contrast, the Tigers head into the 2015 season with more pieces than they know how to deal with in the field. The possibilities are endless.
LSU kept intact the core of its lineup from a year ago, headlined by junior shortstop Alex Bregman and senior infielder Conner Hale. Bregman was named to two preseason All-American teams for his stout defending and consistency with the bat.
The lone question in the field for the Tigers is the replacement of third baseman Christian Ibarra, who graduated last spring. Possible replacements for Ibarra are endless, and Mainieri said replacing Ibarra is close to impossible.
“Third base continues to be a question for us,” Mainieri said. “We’ll be fine there, but replacing Christian Ibarra there is like replacing Brooks Robinson.”