re: Baseball Preview: 2020 Season (Feb 10th - Pro Prospects & SEC Predictions)

STARTING PITCHING

In theory LSU brings back every starter here…you lose Hess who bounced around between starter/relief yet you get AJ Labas back from Tommy John Surgery who I think will be more steady at the back end of this rotation. LSU who brought in the #1 recruiting class in 2018 which was mostly centered around premier power arms is about to start reaping the benefits. Cole Henry, Landon Marceaux, and AJ Labas will be the starting rotation opening weekend. Eric Walker right now is that fourth starter or long reliever who could bounce between weekends to midweek starts as needed. Brandon Kaminer a JUCO lefty is a guy I could see molding into a starting role if the staff doesn't need him as a main bullpen guy.



Friday-Cole Henry So. 6'4 211lbs (18)

Cole Henry who is a draft eligible sophomore in 2020 right now is the most complete pitcher on this staff. Fastball is a steady 93-95mph and he can and will run it up higher in the later months as the weather warms up and arm is looser hence my higher grade. Curve ball is a true out pitch with 12-6 motion that has shown the ability to get swings and misses. Changeup wasn’t as effective a year ago but he’s starting to use it more and it’s going to become more effective with the arm slot he’s established now. Cole simplified his delivery over the off season to cut down on arm soreness...that along with the 4 months of rest right now is paying dividends. The SEC pitching this year is deep and Henry is going to fly under the radar a bit as only a true sophomore but he absolutely has the stuff to dominate any game at any time. Facial expressions are always stone cold, he works fast, and repeats his mechanics…all of signs of a prototypical Friday night guy. Henry was about as solid as you can ask of a freshman and when he went down with soreness late last year the team really went into a lull. If Henry has the year he is expecting to have he’s going to be a first round draft pick in June.

Cole Henry

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



Saturday-Landon Marceaux So. 6'0 177lbs (11)

Landon Marceaux another sophomore went through a complete transformation in the off season where he shed 15 pounds where he has improved both his strength and stamina. Four seam fastball is 90-93mph most of the time and also has a two seamer with late life running away from lefties and in on the hands of righties. The ability to throw both at the same time is what separates him from a good to elite in this league. The curve ball had such good life on it a year ago but Landon had trouble getting it over for a strike consistency and when it would break down in the zone had trouble getting hitters to bite on it. He’s transformed that pitch into more of a slider or “slurve” where he can throw out of the same arm slot as a fastball and get more lateral motion. The changeup is good, not a true swing or miss pitch but it’s something he can get hitters to roll over or ground out more times than not. Marceaux doesn't need to be a swing and miss pitcher, he has the ability to feel the game out where he can mix and match by working both sides of the plate. Because he has four distinct pitches he’s able to be aggressive not allow anyone to sit on a fastball. I love him in that Saturday spot where he can go head to head with any other guy in the conference. I think his freshmen year was a giant learning curve and he had to take some of the bad with the good. All accounts have shown that he's been one of the hardest workers to get to where he wants to be and where he wants to be is a 1-2 round pick in the MLB draft next season.

Landon Marceaux

Arm Strength---------65
Movement-------------70
Stamina----------------60
Control-----------------60



Sunday-AJ Labas RS-So. 6'3 223lbs (26)

AJ Labas who missed all of 2019 with a shoulder injury was highlighted in Mainieri’s media comments weeks ago with great enthusiasm in how much better AJ looks compared to his first year and what he can bring to this starting rotation. AJ's a big bodied guy that Mainieri signed late in the process years ago. What's crazy is Labas wasn’t even at 100% in 2018 because of a lingering back injury and still put up impressive numbers. The velocity this spring has been way up where he’s sitting 91-93mph whereas years ago could only muster up 88-89mph. His defining attribute is control at all times and much like Marceaux has multiple pitches he can throw at any time out of the same arm slot. I really love his changeup which is a plus plus pitch and can make right handed hitters look silly at times. Curve ball is tight and shows 11-5 motion. Having a good Sunday starter in the SEC is not something to take for granted and having someone who can consistently get 5-6 innings is an absolute blessing. Because Labas pounds the zone he’s going to be able to stretch games longer and longer as we progress to give the bullpen a chance to close out games rested. I’m very excited to see Labas back in on the mound for LSU.

AJ Labas

Arm Strength---------65
Movement-------------65
Stamina----------------55
Control-----------------70


Midweek-Eric Walker RS-Jr. 6'0 175lbs (10)

As surprising as this may sound Eric Walker lead LSU in innings pitched a season ago. In all honestly it wasn’t the season he hoped to build upon coming off of Tommy John Surgery but he’s one of those season veterans every champion has and is going to be a key to LSU’s title run in 2020 where pitching is a premium. Fastball is only 87-89mph most of the time and an average pitch, change up is the bread and butter. Most of his struggles last season were due to command and getting his feet wet so I'm interested to see how well he's able to limit that in 2020. The coaching staff hasn't announced a midweek guy yet but Eric makes the most sense here given the depth at bullpen. I also would like to see LSU put some more effort into winning more midweek games which most of the time won't help your RPI but it can hurt it...in a deep SEC this year every win counts.

Eric Walker

Arm Strength---------45
Movement-------------65
Stamina----------------55
Control-----------------65


My Take: I like this group ALOT. As you'll notice they aren't getting a ton of love from the media in these preseason lists but each starter has experience, each starter is healthy, each starter is well rested. The floor is high with these four and they can all work late into ball games on any day which is a good insurance for an already deep LSU bullpen. In the off season I did some research on returning innings with each pitching staff LSU has had under Mainieri and this team has the second most innings returning only behind 2016. I have one word to describe this group...steady.

POSITION ADDITIONS:
AJ Labas (injury)

POSITION LOSSES:
Zack Hess

POSITION OVERALL GRADE: 70