To begin his nearly hour-long media day news conference Friday afternoon, Paul Maineri, the always loquacious 10th year Tiger baseball coach, had an quirky way of billing his 2016 team.
Really, Maineri thinks his team will need a Louisiana-based skin care product to relieve some growing pains early on.
“Probably the most important product we will have this year with our team is Boudreaux’s Butt Paste,” Mainieri said, drawing laughter from media members in attendance.
“People say, ‘What do you mean by that?’ And I say, ‘Well, I think the biggest problem we are going to have this year is diaper rash because we have so many young players.’”
Sure, Mainieri begins the 2016 season tasked with replacing eight of nine starters from his most frequent lineup in 2015, which featured seven MLB draft picks. But the quest back to the College World Series won’t be at the hands of all first-year players, as Mainieri is quick to point out.
In fact, there will likely be just two true freshmen, one outfielder and one middle infielder, in the opening night lineup against Cincinnati on Feb. 19.
“Everybody has this assumption that we’re going to be so freshmen oriented, and that’s really not going to be the case,” Mainieri said. “I think on opening day, we’ll have two freshmen in our lineup, maybe an outside chance of a third. But, the rest of the lineup is going to be filled with one junior college transfer and then six returning players.”
Beyond the two rookies — shortstop Trey Dawson and right fielder Antoine Duplantis — former Delgado Community College standout Cole Freeman will team with Dawson on the left side of the infield at third base. The middle of the field, though, will be led by two third-year players, junior second baseman Kramer Robertson and junior center fielder Jake Fraley.
Fraley, who was named a third-team preseason All-American by Perfect Game and D1Baseball.com, remains the only returning starter from last year’s 57-win club. Coming off a postseason where he batted .387 in eight games, the Middletown, Delaware native is poised to be the three-hole hitter for the Tigers, followed by sophomore left fielder Beau Jordan and speedy first baseman Greg Deichmann.
However, many will look at Fraley as a captain of the mostly-unfamiliar Tigers. So, the new No. 8 on the LSU roster is just going to continue to be himself, he said.
“I haven’t really changed anything,” Fraley said. “I’m still the same Jake Fraley. I go out there and give 110 percent every time I go out on the field. I try to make sure that they see by the way that I practice, by the way that I carry myself in certain situations, that’s what it takes to play at a school like this. It’s just those little things. You lead by example. You let them see that it does take a lot, and it’s a hard place to play.
“All you can hope is that they take that in and continue to take those strides forward like all of have done.”
It’s clear Dawson and Duplantis have made the most impressive strides of any of the young players. After all, Mainieri gave Dawson the unenviable assignment to step into a former All-American shortstop Alex Bregman’s shoes.
And Mainieri has already compared Duplantis, who is in contention to be the leadoff or two-hole hitter, to two of the most productive outfielders the coach has ever had — Andrew Stevenson and Mark Laird.
Even as a fresh face, Dawson agreed he can be a “quarterback” of the infield, as Robertson described the middle infielders’ roles.
“You got to be a leader if you’re going to play shortstop,” Dawson said. “You can’t be afraid of any situation at any time.”
Despite inexperience among most position players, sophomore catcher Michael Papierski will at least be catching an experienced pitching staff.
Sophomore right-hander Alex Lange returns after a 12-0 rookie season, which vaulted him to National Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Although the rotation hasn’t officially been set, Lange could be the Friday night starter, giving way to junior left-hander Jared Poche’ on Saturdays. Poche’, a nine-win starter from last season, has bumped his velocity and added a cutter to his arsenal.
“Each time I come out, [the cutter] gets better and better,” Poche’ said. “That’s more of like a feel pitch. The more you throw it, the better it gets.”
While the bullpen is filled with familiar names and also includes left-handed Akron transfer John Valek III, the No. 3 and No. 4 starting spots are still up for grabs, as transfer right-hander Riley Smith and sophomore right-hander Austin Bain are the main contenders.
Mainieri said Bain, who was 2-3 last year with 56 strikeouts, is “all the way back” after having shoulder surgery in the fall but is shaking off some rust. Smith, on the other hand, has impressed pitching coach Alan Dunn in the offseason with his mound presence, aggressiveness and ability to throw strikes.
“That’s the one of the biggest things that popped out at me,” Dunn said. “Because if you can’t throw strikes, you can’t pitch. He showed me the ability to pitch in the strike zone [and] command his fastball — with life on his fastball.”
Three injured Tigers out to start season
While Mainieri said sophomore designated hitter Bryce Jordan will be ready by opening night despite a “flare up” in his meniscus surgery recovery, LSU will be starting off the season without two new players and one familiar name who has yet to play an inning for the Tigers.
Mainieri confirmed freshman left-hander Nick Bush will miss the entire season due Tommy John surgery. Bush, a Leesburg, Georgia native, had surgery involving nerves in his elbow, Mainieri said. But, the coaching staff discovered Bush needed further surgery after the first bullpen he threw.
Junior college transfer outfielder Cody Ducote required surgery after cutting his hand on a broken bottle, Mainieri said. Due to the surgery, Ducote won’t be able to grip a bat until sometime in February, so Mainieri doesn’t expect he will be ready to play for “at least a month.”
Finally, redshirt freshman left-hander Jake Latz continues to recover from surgery to his elbow in the fall, which required a screw to be put in. Mainieri expects Latz to start throwing “in the next week or two,” but may not be ready for the first few months of the season.
“I’m still holding hope that maybe by late April into May that he might be able to contribute to the team,” Mainieri said. “Obviously it’s been frustrating for everybody, most particularly that young man. Very talented left-handed pitcher. He actually pitched 11 innings this fall, didn’t give up a run in the inner squad games. Had one outing where he went four innings, struck out seven and really dominated. And then his 11th inning, started not to feel so great.
“We’ve just got to wait it out a little bit and let him progress at his own pace and when he’s ready to go, we’ll know it.”