re: Baseball Preview 2023 Edition (Feb 10th - Pro Prospects & SEC Standings)

CATCHER



Alex Milazzo R-Jr. 5’10 190lbs (7) Bats-R Throws-R
Brady Neal Fr. 5’10 180lbs (16) Bats-L Throws-R
Hayden Travinksi Jr. 6’3 218lbs (25) Bats-R Throws-R
Jared Jones Fr. 6'4 230lbs (22) Bats-R Throws-R
Ethan Frey Fr. 6'5 215lbs (33) Bats-R Throws-R

One of the more difficult positions to predict right now...I've gone back and forth on this for awhile and it's still way too early to tell a true front runner. Alex Milazzo returns as one of the premier gloves in all of college baseball. Right behind him is Brady Neal who by my calculations is the highest rated catcher that LSU has ever gotten to campus in the modern era. Hayden Travinksi, Jared Jones, and Ethan Frey provide much needed depth and will rotate a bit here during the non conference schedule although we all know this won't be a true five way competition. There is no doubt that Milazzo will give LSU the best proven glove in a lineup that already appears potent so the question to be answered is how quickly does the coaching staff feel confident with Neal as this spring progressed. Over the years this position has presented to be very difficult for true freshmen let alone one that reclassified so to jump in immediately not give up a starting spot remains to be seen.

Right now Alex Milazzo is the odds favorite to start on opening night. With Alex you’re getting a veteran behind the plate who can command the pitching staff and neutralize an opponents running game. Going into his fourth season Milazzo’s tenure at LSU has been derailed somewhat by a shortened Covid season in 2020 (16 games played) and a knee injury in 2022 (12 games played). Now fully healthy Alex I think the coaching staff can use him in multiple ways which going back depends more on how fast Neal progresses. Both his glove work and arm is plus plus...he routinely makes plays as a catcher than are not routine at this level. Two years ago I was more bullish on how his offensive numbers would improve and I was proven wrong. There’s no doubt that this entire position makes or breaks on how well Milazzo can fit in at the bottom of the order. There are things that he can do well here that won’t show up on stat sheets like working counts, advancing runners, sacrificing…I don’t think his bat will be such a black hole that we’ve become accustomed to but he needs to improve on his slugging % to an extent. Power is below average, there hasn’t been much progression there. Speed is below average for the position.

Brady Neal, a freshman out of IMG who reclassified from 2023 to 2022 was one of the position players I had little to no faith would make it to campus. Neal who was one of the youngest draft eligible high school prospects a year ago will only be 18 this spring. It’s incredibly difficult to ask a true freshman to jump into one of the harder positions at the collegiate level and excel on a consistent basis so any expectations that he'll seemingly jump in and put up ALL-SEC numbers need to be tempered a bit. Johnson has made it known that there will be rotation at this position to start the season so Brady will get his chances. Not one tool jumps off the page at this point in his career but his overall floor is extremely high and this is one of those players who will exponentially get better over the next two to three years as his frame will fill out. Not comparing players but his general makeup reminds me of Miss St. Tanner Allen. Glove and receiving is steadily improving and if we weren’t constantly comparing to Milzzao it would be an improvement than what LSU had to work with a year ago. Arm is a plus tool and as long as he can keep it down will be fine. Stance is somewhat neutral in the batters box and tends to makes good reads on pitching where he’s able to stay low/make good leverage/drive balls. Power is an average to slightly above average tool right now that will become a plus plus tool by the time he’s draft eligible. One of the things I most love about Neal is he’s an all around athlete and moves extremely well for his frame, one of the faster catchers LSU’s had in recent memory.

Hayden Travinksi if you were to ask is third right now. You get a power right handed bat who had to jump in and play everyday last year for a portion of the season. Look for Hayden to serve as a pinch hitter late in games and work his way into a catching rotation at least during some week night games early on to get him some at bats.

Jared Jones and Ethan Frey who I’ll highlight at other positions were recruited as catchers but will find playing time earlier at 1B and DH respectively.

My take: If I had to predict what happens right now both it’s that both Alex Milazzo and Brady Neal separate themselves from the rest of the pack and split time to an extent the first couple of weekends. You have a top heavy start to the SEC schedule and what will most likely be some low scoring games so I’m leaning towards Alex as the man to beat to start conference play even if he’s not putting up impressive numbers at the plate. Overall Brady Neal is the more talented catcher but will need to prove that he can handle this pitching staff that is loaded with future MLB players at the ripe age of 18…it’s a lot to ask for a true freshman. All is not lost if Neal doesn’t start early on because he tends to hit in bunches and I think they’ll try and find him at bats from the left side someway. Overall the position is much deeper than it’s been in some time, the coaching staff hit on every recruit they signed and for the foreseeable future there should be stability here.

Alex Milazzo

Power------40
Hitting------40
Speed------45
Fielding----75
Arm---------75

POSITION ADDITIONS:
Brady Neal
Jared Jones
Ethan Frey

POSITION LOSSES:
Tyler McManus

POSITION OVERALL GRADE: 65