LSU junior right-hander reliever Alden Cartwright is scheduled to have an MRI after injuring his throwing arm on the fourth pitch of his outing in Sunday’s 10-5 win against Auburn. But LSU coach Paul Mainieri is not optimistic about what the results will reveal.
“I don’t know what the result is going to be,” Mainieri said. “It will affect the long term in terms of his career, but the news will not be good even in the short term. Even if he’s got a sprained ligament, he’s probably not going to pick up a ball for 6-8 weeks, I’m guessing, which is probably going to be close to the end of the season. I’d like to be optimistic about it. I’m hoping he doesn’t require surgery because then, now, next season is in question.”
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Cartwright’s 1-2 offering to Auburn shortstop Cody Nulph was a ball low, and Cartwright immediately called for Mainieri and trainer Cory Couture. Junior right-hander Parker Bugg replaced Cartwright, who put ice on his arm in the dugout, for the rest of the at-bat and the inning.
Cartwright had become one of the Tigers’ most reliable relievers in his third year, holding a 3-0 record with 2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings this season.
In 11 appearances, including midweek starts against the University of New Orleans and Louisiana Tech, the Baton Rouge native struck out 13 while walking just four. Opponent’s batted .196 against him this season, which is second among relievers with double-digit appearances.
“I just feel so bad for the kid,” Mainieri said. “He just gives his heart and soul to this program. Nobody loves LSU baseball more than he does. There’s more talented pitchers than him, but nobody has a bigger heart. I just hated to see that. I can’t remember if it’s ever happened to me before in my coaching career, where a kid has literally called me in off the bench to come to the mound because he felt something happened to his arm when he threw a pitch.
“I tell you, I don’t ever want to experience it again, either, because it was just heartbreaking for me, gut wrenching.”
Mainieri “hopeful” Latz could appear in a midweek game next week
Depending upon how redshirt freshman left-hander Jake Latz looks and feels against live hitters in practice Wednesday, Mainieri said Latz could make his collegiate debut in one of the two midweek games next week.
With Mainieri and pitching coach Alan Dunn closely monitoring, Latz traveled to Auburn and threw an “intense, 43-pitch” bullpen on Saturday.
“He looked good, not holding back at all,” Mainieri said. “Most importantly, the next day, he felt fine, too. And he threw a little short box, and that looked pretty good as well, maybe even better than the bullpen.”
Latz, a 2014 11th-round selection by the Toronto Blue Jays, arrived in Baton Rouge from Lemont High School in Lemont, Illinois. Latz sat out his entire freshman season with stress reaction in his throwing elbow. He had surgery on the elbow in the fall and has been rehabbing ever since, targeting a return this month.
In his senior year of high school, Latz struck out 114 batters with 0.22 ERA in 62.1 innings on the mound, being named Illinois Player of the Year in 2014.
“So, the day after tomorrow, we’ll have him throw against some hitters,” Mainieri said. “That will even ramp up the intensity another notch, and then we’ll see how he feels after that. If that goes good, my hope is that he’ll be pitching next Tuesday or Wednesday [for] a couple of innings.”
Mainieri “not giving up” on Papierski despite Romero’s emergence
Mainieri hasn’t decided how he will use surging junior catcher Jordan Romero tomorrow against Southern, deciding between catcher and designated hitter. Despite Romero’s stellar weekend against Auburn, Mainieri made clear he hasn’t given up on sophomore catcher Michael Papierski, either.
Due to Papierski struggling to block an erratic third inning from right-handed starting pitcher Alex Lange on Friday against Auburn, Mainieri inserted Romero in the fourth inning.
“Alex’s command was off, and if you’ve ever tried to block a 93 mile-per-hour fastball in the dirt, it’s not a lot of fun, really,” Mainieri said. “But I just thought there should have been a little bit more effort to block him instead of just trying to pick balls all the time. He was just having such a tough time, I just thought we needed to make a change there.”
After picking up a two-run double in his first plate appearance, Romero went on to catch the remainder of that game and the entirety of the final two games of the series, totaling seven RBIs, two doubles and two home runs. Romero also caught a runner stealing second in the seventh inning of Game 2, which Mainieri believed was “a big play for us.”
The 10th-year coach also thought Lange, who struck out eight but gave up a career-high seven earned runs in his seventh start of 2016, improved with Romero in the game.
While Mainieri still believes Romero must continue to develop his receiving and blocking skills, he likened the Catholic High School graduate and LSU-Eunice transfer to former LSU catcher Kade Scivicque.
“When we recruited Jordan, I saw a lot of Kade Scivicque in him,” Mainieri said. “When Kade came here, he was not a finished product. In fact, when he first got here, I would say he was pretty rough in his receiving skills. And they improved enough that he became a Johnny Bench Award finalist and a fourth-round draft choice.”
However, Mainieri still considers Papierski “a vital part of our team.”
“In no way am I giving up on him,” he said. “I just haven’t figured out exactly how we’re going to manage it yet.”
Lochridge to see doctor for soreness in back
Freshman third baseman O’Neal Lochridge was scheduled to have a doctor’s appointment Monday afternoon to diagnosis soreness in his back, Mainieri said.
Mainieri said Lochridge, who has been dealing with a flare-up of a back stress fracture, took batting practice Sunday while the team was in Auburn, but he felt soreness Monday.
“Now, we need to be find out if it’s the bone or just muscle fatigue from doing it,” Mainieri said. “So, he had a doctor’s appointment at 2:30 p.m. He’s going to see the back doctor, so I’ll have a better idea after talking to the doctor when he sees him.”
Lochridge started 10 of 12 games he appeared him, batting .229 with 10 RBIs, two home runs, and three doubles. Fellow freshman Chris Reid has taken command of the starting third baseman role over the last three games.