LSU baseball update from Coaches Committee meeting Tuesday night

Mikie Mahtook was the guest speaker. He is enrolled at LSU this semester taking 18 hours. He said he promised his mother he would get his degree when he left early for pro ball. He hopes to be assigned to the Durham Bulls (Triple A affiliate of the Tampa Rays) to start the season but he may start back at Montgomery in Double A. He also has been working out with the current LSU players.

LSU has signed 19 players for the 2013-2014 signing class, 8 pitchers and 11 position players.

Javi said he expects 3 of the signees to be drafted very high in next June's baseball draft which will make it a challenge to see those players ever play for LSU.

Of those 3, one plays for Terrebonne High School. He is rated by one draft rating service as the #4 high school outfielder in the country. He won the home run derby at the Perfect Game All American Classic competition last August held at San Diego Padres' PETCO Field.

Another is a 6'9", 260 lbs. JC pitcher from out of state.

Of local interest Blake Dean's younger brother, Dakota Dean, is one of the signees.

Also, most LSU fans know of Kim Mulkey-Robertson, the Baylor women's basketball coach who played in college for La. Tech. Her son is a signee. He is the starting QB on his high school football team, point guard on the basketball team and plays the left side of infield in baseball. He also had baseball offers from Baylor, Arkansas and Texas A&M.

Regarding this coming season, Coach Mainieri said this team is the most athletic team he has had since the 2009 CWS team. He said fans will notice much improved team speed and hitting with more power.

All of the positions are pretty much locked down except for two outfielder spots (Raph Rhymes has one OF position secured.)

The Friday/Saturday starters will be Aaron Nola and Ryan Eades but not necessarily in that order. He pointed out that Eades pitched 17 innings in the fall scrimmages and did not give up an earned run. In one of the Purple/Gold World Series games Eades ended an inning by striking out Mason Katz and Raph Rhymes back-to-back.

The season starts February 15 with a 3 game series with Maryland. He said Maryland is projected to be a pre-season Top 25 team so the opening series with them will be a good challenge to start the season.