One year separated from the mound made junior pitcher Lane Mestepey realize what he wants to do once his baseball career is over.
The left hander said he wants to be a coach, and he got some experience last season, on occasion sprinting down to serve as the bullpen coach for a warming pitcher.
But in the meantime Mestepey is coming off shoulder surgery that sidelined him from LSU’s 2003 College World Series run. Mestepey was 11-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 2002.
The ace from the 2001 – when he was the Co-National Freshman of the Year – and 2002 seasons has not seen the usual effects that normally come with the tightening of the shoulder capsule.
“I haven’t noticed an increase in velocity,” he said. “They say you come back throwing harder, but really what it is is your work ethic afterwards [that allows this].”
Righthander Nate Bumstead established himself as a consistent Friday night starter in the Southeastern Conference last season, going 11-4 with a 4.42 ERA. However, in SEC contests Bumstead was 8-1 with a 3.55 ERA.
Bumstead said now he is working on a new two-seam fastball and is trying to work on increasing his velocity a bit. But Bumstead said his main focus is continuing to play to his strengths and throw strikes.
“Me and Lane kind of pitch the same way,” Bumstead said. “We’re not really overpowering, we just try to throw strikes. We have a lot of movement on our ball. Lane – that’s all he does is win.”
Pitching coach Brady Wiederhold said Mestepey brought many positives to the team last season when he could not play. Wiederhold said he will give the Tigers even more since he is able to pitch in 2004.
“Mestepey brings back a wealth of experience for all of the young players and the players that were here last year,” Wiederhold said. “As we’ve mentioned before, he’s one of a kind. Now this year that he’s able to pitch, he’s able to lead by example on the mound.”
Coach Smoke Laval said Mestepey’s velocity has gone down due to the team’s strenuous strength and conditioning program, but said the Zachary native is doing well.
“I think his breaking ball is better,” Laval said. “He’s thrown so many changeups that that’s become a better pitch. I’m sure he’s a little disappointed about his location within the strike zone. If I had a picture of where I’d want him, he’s right there.”
Questions are still present in the pitching staff, which is something coaches hope to get answers to during fall practice.
Sophomore Justin Meier was a key part of last year’s rotation and sophomore lefthander Jason Determann filled in both as a starter and out of the bullpen.
However, Meier showed an ability to be a closer in the famed Cape Cod Summer League, going 1-1 with a 1.19 ERA and six saves.
With Meier having success as a closer, last year’s closer Brandon Nall coming off of an arm injury and relief pitcher Billy Sadler signing with the San Francisco Giants, both Wiederhold and Laval said anything is possible – including Meier giving LSU an option at closer.
“It’s so early now, it’s hard to tell,” Wiederhold said. “With just a week of practice under our belts, I don’t like to rule anything out. There’s a possibility anything could happen.”
“Justin did a very good job in that role this summer in the Cape. He’s also very comfortable being a starter and filled that role for us in a valuable fashion for us last year.”
Other pitchers to follow during spring practice include lefthanded reliever Greg Smith, reliever Colin Smith and two redshirt freshman Justin Gee and Clay Dirks, both of whom were out with injuries last year.