HEIGHT: 6'1"
WEIGHT: 196 lbs.

HEIGHT: 6'4"
WEIGHT: 195 lbs.

HEIGHT: 6'1"
WEIGHT: 204 lbs.

STARTING PITCHING

Aaron Nola Jr.*
Cody Glenn Jr.*
Jared Poche Fr.*

Kyle Bouman Jr.
Mitch Sewald So.
Joe Broussard Jr.

Starting pitching will be a strength for LSU in 2014. The three guys who I have listed are projected starters for a majority of the season, Poche may or may not start to begin the year but I think he's one of the top arms on the staff. We begin with Nola, he's your Friday guy, the backbone of the pitching staff. Going undefeated last year through the regular season Aaron has shown the ability to flash greatness in every aspect of his game. His fastball sits anywhere 91-94mph and has a great slider and changeup which he throws for out pitches. There's hard to find a weakness in Nola's game, I see another spectacular year from Aaron. Cody Glenn is a guy that LSU needs to get going as he looks to settle into either the Saturday or Sunday spot. Glenn a lanky lefty who pitches to contact mainly sits 86-88mph and can touch 90mph on occasion. What Glenn does posses is a great 12-6 curve ball which is deadly against left handing hitting. Like Nola, Glenn has excellent command and will make the hitter earn a spot on base. The wild card on this starting staff will be the progression of freshman phenom Jared Poche the 2013 Louisiana Mr. Baseball and Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year. A southpaw, out of Lutcher, Poche comes in with similar merits that of to Aaron Nola in 2012. In 80 innings of work his senior year he recorded 143 strikeouts while tallying a 0.61 era and was a recruit that was graded out as a 3rd-5th rounder in the draft last summer. Sitting in the 89-90mph range Poche has the speed to strike hitters out if he can control his off speed pitches on a regular basis. The reviews from Alan Dunn on Poche is that the next Friday night guy is waiting in the wings. If LSU can get anywhere from 75-90 innings and a 3.00-4.00 era out of Jared that of similar to Nola's freshman year stats the Tigers will be a favorite in almost any SEC series. The loss of Ryan Eades certainly hurts in more ways than not; however this staff should see more consistent play on a weekend to weekend basis. Joe Broussard may have a Jared Bradford like role pitching anywhere and everywhere, for the sake of the preview I'll grade him with the relievers. Midweek pitching is a complete unknown currently...Mitch Sewald, Parker Bugg, Henri Faucheux, and Zac Person all may get a look. Similar to years past Mainieri may use Johnny all staff to see how he wants to rotate his bullpens for the weekend.

Nola
Arm Strength----------65
Movement---------------70
Stamina------------------65
Control-------------------75

Glenn
Arm Strength----------55
Movement---------------60
Stamina------------------60
Control-------------------65

Poche
Arm Strength----------60
Movement---------------60
Stamina------------------55
Control-------------------60

*Scale 20-Lowest, 50-Average, 80-Top of the Charts*

Strength-Top line Friday pitcher
Weakness-Experience at the Sunday spot

This post was edited on 2/8/14 at 2:23 pm

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Posted by Adam4848

Member since Apr 2006

19019 posts

Posted on 2/1/14 at 1:56 pm to Adam4848

HEIGHT: 6'1"
WEIGHT: 215 lbs.

HEIGHT: 5'8"
WEIGHT: 182 lbs.

HEIGHT: 6'3"
WEIGHT: 187 lbs.

HEIGHT: 6'0"
WEIGHT: 160 lbs.

RELIEF PITCHING

Joe Broussard Jr.*
Hunter Devall So.*
Kurt McCune Sr.*
Brady Domangue Jr.*

Zac Person Jr.
Henri Faucheux Jr.
Nate Fury Sr.
Parker Bugg Fr.
Troy Whitty Fr.

The bullpen was and still is the big question mark regarding the 2014 team. Nearly half of all innings pitched last year have departed. When I look at how the bullpen shapes up we first look into which of the starters out of Nola, Glenn, Poche, and Bouman will be the hybrid. I don't see any of those guys settling into a midweek starting role which would place them in the long reliever spot. This name gets brought up countless times again but its been adopted as the Jared Bradford/Louis Coleman role by Mainieri himself. For those out there unaware it's when Mainieri saves a top line pitcher on the staff to either assist in the closing out of a close ball game early in the weekend or save the arm for a spot start or long relief in the oncoming days. While this doesn't bring about a set schedule for the pitcher it is advantageous in tournament play when 4-5 starters are needed. Turning to the bullpen I think Joe Broussard and Kurt McCune lead the way in terms of experience and how many innings they can eat up. Broussard has the flashiest stuff, he'll sit lower 90's on his fastball and has an above average slider. He can be very good in two-three inning spurts. Kurt McCune is a guy who's seen his share of up's and downs, but he seemed to settle into a bullpen role last year which will be vital for the Tigers. Kurt may end up as the setup guy similar to Bourgeois or Rumbelow. Nate Fury has an arm injury that may or may not have him ready to contribute. His recovery time is still at least 4-6 weeks minimum. Hunter Devall and Henri Faucheux will be two situational left handed arms, the progression Devall's having I'm told is ahead of schedule; he will be needed. Zac Person, the teammate of probable closer Brady Domangue, from LSU-Eunice is a guy I really want to see in the way they use him. If the season started today Domangue would be the closer. After having a sensational career in JUCO Brady's experience and his ability to throw his out pitches for strikes are going to be called upon early on. The two freshmen arms I see with the most potential are Parker Bugg and Troy Whitty. Bugg while slowed with mono has been late to get out of the gate; however his stuff is ahead of the other freshmen and will see more and more innings as the weather warms. Whitty is a freshman with a ton of potential, Dunn is going to work him in when he can as his arm isn't as developed. Jesse Stallings and Chris Pelaez will both redshirt. Hunter Newman who has had arm soreness will not be ready to pitch for a while, he'll be monitored regularly until a decision is made.

Broussard
Arm Strength----------65
Movement---------------60
Stamina------------------50
Control-------------------60

Devall
Arm Strength----------50
Movement---------------55
Stamina------------------50
Control-------------------60

McCune
Arm Strength----------50
Movement---------------55
Stamina------------------60
Control-------------------60

Domangue
Arm Strength----------60
Movement---------------60
Stamina------------------60
Control-------------------65

*Scale 20-Lowest, 50-Average, 80-Top of the Charts*

Strength-Potential
Weakness-Experience

This post was edited on 2/9/14 at 1:25 pm

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Posted by 81Tiger