re: Official Adam4848 Baseball Preview Feb 10th (Pro Prospects)

STARTING PITCHING

Alex Lange


Jared Poche


Riley Smith


Austin Bain


Alex Lange So. 6’3 200lbs (35)
Jared Poche Jr. 6’1 210lbs (16)
Riley Smith Jr. 6’2 190lbs (44)
Austin Bain So. 6’1 195lbs (18)

In what LSU will lack in the field it should more than makeup with the pitching staff in what may be the deepest staff as a whole Paul Mainieri has fielded as the head coach of the Tigers. The only pitcher to exit that logged any kind of significant innings as a part time starter was Jake Godfrey who struggled more times than not and finished the season with the second highest ERA on the staff. Under the highly respected Alan Dunn LSU returns both its Friday and Saturday night pitchers in Alex Lange and Jared Poche. Building depth as well as a strong #3 and #4 will be the main focal point moving forward, currently JUCO transfer Riley Smith and sophomore Austin Bain are heading that category.

Alex Lange is the next Coleman, Ranaudo, Gausman, Nola, he’s the current face of the program, and he’s a guy that you give the ball in a do or die situation with absolutely zero hesitation. Let’s not sugar coat this what Alex Lange did last year as a freshman in the SEC was not only remarkable it was almost video game esque. Exactly a year ago starting rotation desperately needed one of the freshmen to step up big and he shattered expectations. I think Alex should assume the role of the Friday night starter as in most cases you typically want your power arm to pitch the first game of a series. With Alex you’re getting a poised flame thrower who will consistently pop the mit 94-95mph by SEC play with his fastball hitting 96mph towards the later months of the season. What MLB teams are drooling over is the curve ball, a true 12-6 and the reason it works so well for him is the arm angle and release point. To the batter both come out within inches apart from each other and at the speed he throws it typically in the mid 80’s by the time the hitter recognizes the rotation there is nothing that can be done. The game he pitched against Cal State Fullerton in the elimination game of the College World Series from the 2nd inning on was almost comparable to that of clinic video…this all as a freshman. His changeup is improving and when he can consistently get it over the plate Lange will have every tool he needs to dominate on the collegiate level, it is not a coincidence the roll Alan Dunn has played in his extremely young career, the future is bright…very bright.

Jared Poche is as steady as they come; as a freshman he was thrown into the starting rotation to compete and hold down a spot which he did as a sophomore was thrown into the Friday night role and asked to carry the team and he did. If Poche gets the nod on Saturday’s you’re getting a plus #2 starter who can hit 92-93mph from the left side although he tends to sit around 89-90mph. Jared pitches almost exclusively to contact unlike Lange who is your prototypical strikeout flamethrower. Pitching behind a hard throwing righty with a deceptive lefty not only throws the opposing hitters timing off balance it gives them an entirely new arm angle to focus in on. While Poche has an above average fastball and well above average changeup what gives teams fits over the past two years is a curve ball that is blossoming and may be his second best pitch. At times Poche has been susceptible to running into an off game every couple of starts or a big inning although for the most part he’s been as consistent an arm as you could ask for. The now junior can mix and match off speed at any time in the count as well as anyone on the roster. Look for Poche to be a top 10 round draft pick if he puts up another solid campaign as a starter.

Riley Smith who may get the first crack at the Sunday spot is an outstanding JUCO transfer who was selected in the 31st round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in last year’s draft and will be a top draft prospect this year as well. Smith has a fluid delivery coming out of a 3/4 slot creating downhill run on his fastball that can consistently hit 93mph when he’s on. What he does have as well is an excellent slider which he has fine-tuned in junior college under Tom Arrington. I like that he has both the capacity to become a starter or a lockdown closer, but seeing the amount of depth returning for LSU both Dunn and Mainieri elected to try him as a starter and he hasn’t second guessed that decision yet. I do think Smith will get his opportunity to run with the Sunday job and maintain it as long as he’s effective. Like Jared Poche with a solid season as an LSU starter Smith will be taken in the top 10 rounds of the MLB draft.

Austin Bain will be a wildcard for this pitching staff. While at the moment LSU appears to be stockpiled with weekend starters it doesn’t need to be said that lack of fourth starter was a topic brought up to the coaching staff multiple times last June and an emphasis for 2016. Bain is another young electric arm who has pitched both as a starter and out of the pen. How fitting that “The Big Four” of Lange, Godfrey, Marshall, and Latz did not include this young man only to find him in a much bigger role than many anticipated due to his tremendous hard work. The fastball will sit 90-91mph with sink to it which is how he induces many ground ball outs, when he needs to he can run his fastball higher. The secondary pitches were a tad on the raw side coming out of high school; if he can develop at least one to be above average he’ll be a very solid fourth starter. Now after all of this where does he fit in the rotation? I think a sensible plan of action would be to groom Austin as the midweek starter with the likelihood he could assume the role of long relief in SEC play a job he excelled at more times than not as a true freshman. While midweek play is not as vital to a season’s success my reasoning for keeping Bain at that spot at least until SEC play would be to keep his pitching on a set schedule as well as give Dunn another option for the Sunday spot. As the season matures I do think Mainieri may try and groom a pitcher such as Caleb Gilbert or Cole McKay to be that fifth emergency starter, both young power throwing righties who will be starters at LSU before their careers are over. For now I will cover those two freshmen with the relievers.

As a unit this group is balanced with experience as well as potential and is one of the overwhelming strengths of the 2016 baseball roster. If it does indeed set up as Alex Lange-Friday, Jared Poche-Saturday, Riley Smith-Sunday, and Austin Bain-Midweek you’ll have 4 quality starters with the option of slowly working one to two of the freshmen in as Dunn deems fit. I could see Smith and Bain each be given the opportunity as to why they should be given the Sunday spot; however these situations tend to work themselves out.

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

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

Smith
Arm Strength---------65
Movement-------------60
Stamina----------------55
Control-----------------50

Bain
Arm Strength---------60
Movement-------------60
Stamina----------------50
Control-----------------50


FINAL GRADE: 70