Jared Jones Fr. 6’4 230lbs (22) Bats-R Throws-R
Brayden Jobert RS-Jr. 6’1 215lbs (6) Bats-L Throws-R
Paul Skenes Jr. 6’6 235lbs (20) Bats-R Throws-R
Cade Beloso Gr-Sr 6’0 216lbs (24) Bats-L Throws-L
Hayden Travinksi RS-Jr 6’3 218lbs (25) Bats-R Throws-R

Every person I have listed here is a smash brother with above average power. I have no doubt Johnson is going to utilize this spot to incorporate more power into the lineup where LSU can rely on extra base hits with it’s lack of speed. The assumption right now is Paul Skenes will pitch on Friday nights and DH when he can. There has been no defined role and because of this I’m going to focus on him pitching and others taking over this role when Paul is not getting at bats. Jared Jones and Brayden Jobert would be at the top of my list here. Guys such as Cade Beloso and Hayden Travinksi who might not be starting provide platoon and/or pinch hitting options here. A number of other guys could factor here.

Jared Jones is an absolute unit. If he was standing in a photo from the any of the 2011-2016 LSU teams he would probably look out of place. Jones, a top 50 overall high school prospect out of Georgia, was another prospect who could have easily signed an MLB deal last summer...any other year he would be the highlight of the recruiting class…this year he’s the fifth best which has allowed him to fly under the radar a bit. Extremely rare and advanced physical frame that you don’t see much of at the college level. Lower body strength is apparent, great hip drive, great bat speed, other than his arm the power tool will play right away and eventually become his best tool. I’m not ready to give him a perfect power tool before his first college at bat but I was close. Has continued to sneak up on the DH spot with impressive outings during the spring where he’s distancing himself from some of the other freshmen bats. Ball comes off his bat differently. Great fastball hitter, going to keep a close eye, would like to see him sit back more on offspeed junk where his hands get ahead of his core at times. Hitting average will come in time, for now he might show a lower average with a skewed slugging percentage. I would get him as many at bats as possible during the non-conference and get him comfortable. Speed is below average.

Brayden Jobert spent most of his time at DH in 2022 and he gives you the best power threat from the left side at the position. Jobert’s SEC starts showed times of great promise and great inconsistency…4 HR’s in 4 games…2 HR’s over the next 20…before exploding during the final regular season series with 3 HR’s in 3 games. More competition this year will only help push Brayden to play to a higher level…at the same time LSU will have much more options to go to if a guy isn’t seeing the ball for a couple of weeks. I still think Jobert is going to be a big piece of this lineup.

Talking about units…Paul Skenes is one of more advanced frames I’ve seen on the mound for LSU in years. If Paul wasn’t recruited here to pitch on Friday’s he would be your DH. Skenes has shown the ability to hit over 0.300 and 10+ HR’s during both of his years at Air Force while catching and relieving. Great pop in his bat with the ability to drive the ball to all fields. I think Paul will get at bats this spring but more so on his own terms if that makes sense. LSU has options so Skenes shouldn’t be forced into more than 100-125 at bats. I think they’ll take the cautious approach early during the year…come post season all bets are off.

Guys such as Cade Beloso, Hayden Travinksi, even Ethan Frey will get looks here as well.

My take: There are a ton of power options at Johnson’s disposal. You have veterans, you have a two way player, you have an emerging true freshman. There will be rotation at this position, as long Paul Skenes focuses on pitching then I’m leaning towards it being a Jared Jones vs Brayden Jobert battle and I love what they have in Jones. It should be noted that Jared Jones is another draft eligible sophomore. Either one who wins the spot will probably slide in as a power threat towards the bottom of the order.

Jared Jones

Power------75
Hitting------50
Speed------40
Fielding----50
Arm---------60

POSITION ADDITIONS:
Jared Jones
Paul Skenes

POSITION LOSSES:
NONE

POSITION OVERALL GRADE: 65

This post was edited on 2/7/23 at 7:07 am

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Posted by Adam4848

Member since Apr 2006

19065 posts

Posted on 2/1/23 at 5:45 am to Adam4848

STARTING PITCHING

Friday – Paul Skenes 6’6 247lbs Jr. (20) Throws- Right

Saturday – Thatcher Hurd 6’4 214lbs So. (36) Throws-Right

Sunday – Ty Floyd 6’2 200lbs Jr. (9) Throws-Right

Midweek – Chase Shores 6’8 245lbs Fr. (34) Throws-Right

Jay Johnson completely overhauled this pitching staff in one offseason which will give him and Wes a number of options and ways they can bridge to the back end of the bullpen. I’ll try and explain how I think this rotation will work moving forward. If you go and look at any transfer portal list going from D-1 to D-1 schools I would argue both Skenes and Hurd are in the top 5. The best transfer class and the best recruiting class will make things a bit easier. To me Paul Skenes on Friday’s, Thatcher Hurd on Saturday’s, and Ty Floyd on Sunday’s, Chase Shores in the midweek to start.

Paul Skenes will start opening night and has all but locked in the Friday night role for LSU. Paul, a transfer out of Air Force has one of the most physically intimating frames on the mound. Jay Johnson locked up Paul’s commitment last summer with the pitch to transition from C/SP to a starter in the SEC. Skenes has shown the ability to dominate at every position they tried him at…2021 became their closer while hitting 10+ HR’s. They ended up starting him in 2022…where was their ace pitching 85 innings and hitting 10+ HR’s leading Air Force to a regional appearance. Things are going to more focused doing one thing. Paul’s delivery is compact and he’s shown the ability to locate his 2 best pitches in any count he needs to. Fast ball sits 94-98mph and has late run. Slider his best out pitch that shows the same mechanics out of his hand and runs away from right handed hitters. Changeup hasn’t been used a ton maybe 5-10% but has nice life on it…will be interested how often they mix that in. Skenes will be one of those high BB/K rate pitchers so he’ll run his pitch counts up, how deep will he be able to work into games?

Thatcher Hurd would be my Saturday guy. In terms of stuff he might be a Friday night guy any other year. Hurd was another top 50 overall recruit who ended up making it to campus for UCLA as a true freshman in 2022. After dominating early in the non-conference schedule eventually became a weekend starter before suffering a stress fracture in his back similar to Josh Smith during the second week of conference play …an injury that requires complete rest. Thatcher’s recovery has gone better than expected and to date has had no set backs. The only knock I would have on starting him is the stamina will need to be built up where he may go a couple of 4-5 inning stints before they take off the reins…again LSU has the relievers to mask this to an extent early on. Hurds fastball can reach 94-96mph, everything out of his arm tends to stay down in the zone. Great power slider with more vertical break at the end than you’re used to seeing. Change up is fine, I wouldn’t label it as a plus pitch. Hurd has the potential to become a top 10-15 overall pick in next years draft and I would classify him an a well above average number 2 starter. Ceiling is extremely high here.

Ty Floyd most likely will be in LSU’s rotation and I’d leave him as the Sunday guy. Floyd who came into LSU as one of their better pitching prospects has seen both highs and lows…the lows directly relating to the inability to locate any off speed pitches with consistency. Fastball which was down a couple of years ago has started to pick back up where he’s now 92-96mph. Has primarily worked with Wes over the fall to incorporate his curve and changeup in both pitcher and hitters counts. Curve is a true 12-6 with great break which slows the hitters down. Change up is one of my favorite pitches out of him and he’s shown the ability to work it against left handed bats tailing down and way. One thing that does help Ty is the arm slot he uses which hides the ball more so than other arms on this staff. As long as he’s able to mix and match early in the counts on any given day I think the fastball will run quicker to hitters and he’ll be able to get more swing and misses with that pitch over anything else. One of those pitchers who played very well down the stretch and is ready to breakout and become a guy that can get through the order 2-3 times.

Chase Shores is a prospect I basically wrote off who would sign professionally last year. Shores is the 3rd highest rated pitcher from the 2022 high school class to attend college, like I keep saying any other year and Shores would be forced into a Saturday or Sunday role out of necessity. When you start to look at what it’ll take to make a deep run into the SEC tournament/Regionals/Supers/Omaha you need to have a fourth starter groomed and able to take the ball. Shores may very well end up as one of LSU’s top leverage relievers but with some of the high profile names I’m leaving off of this list (Taylor/Little/Collins) you have the chance to get Shores starts during week nights against in state competition. At that point the coaches need to decide whether his arm will be needed on the weekends, personally I think he will but where he fits right now is unclear. Fastball is 95-99mph and sometime during the late spring he’ll touch 100mph when the weather warms. Chase added a lot to his frame the past 3 seasons and with his 6’8 frame he’s got the ability to continue to add strength where his two seem fastball can run up on hitters. Slider shows more break, not sure if that’s something he’s been working with Wes to tweak but it has a ton of life. Changeup is still a work in progress. Has the potential to be a top overall pick in three years.

My take: Overall it’s the best position group on the team, I can’t rate it a perfect score because they haven’t won anything. Everyone of these four guys has the makeup to go in the 1st round of the MLB draft and each pitcher shows great velocity with the ability to strike hitters out. LSU is also going to have a deep bullpen so having starters such as these guys is a luxury but it’s a necessity to winning in Omaha.

Paul Skenes

Arm Strength---------75
Movement-------------70
Stamina----------------65
Control-----------------60

Thatcher Hurd

Arm Strength---------70
Movement-------------70
Stamina----------------50
Control-----------------65

Ty Floyd

Arm Strength---------70
Movement-------------55
Stamina----------------55
Control-----------------50

Chase Shores

Arm Strength---------75
Movement-------------65
Stamina----------------60
Control-----------------60

POSITION ADDITIONS:
Paul Skenes
Thatcher Hurd
Chase Shores

POSITION LOSSES:
Ma’Khail Hilliard

OVERALL POSITION GRADE: 75

This post was edited on 2/9/23 at 7:04 am

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