Caleb Gilbert had shoulder surgery this summer - will miss fall ball

Hopefully it makes him throw like he is capable of

Omaha championship series or bust

With the insane amount of pitching depth on this year's team, coupled with this surgery, I wonder if they will just redshirt him and get him ready for 2020 when he could conceivably have a bigger role...

It was obvious that something wasn't right with him this past year. I wasn't sure if it was he was injured or not, but I guess it looks like he was...to some degree.

Hopefully he can pitch like he did in 2017, b/c he was a VERY effective pitcher that year (especially in the post-season). He pitches to contact, so he shouldn't have a high strikeout rate...he had a very respectable strikeout rate in 2017 though. The fact that he can be a starter, long middle relief, or setup guy makes him very valuable if he's on his game.

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The fact that he can be a starter, long middle relief, or setup guy makes him very valuable if he's on his game.

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Exactly. The staff is still relatively young and he can provide innings in a variety of ways.


Just a random reminder: There are still 36 players going into the fall. We still have 1 more cut to go.

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Going to depend on the catcher. Just about every other spot is solid to ++.

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I think the infield will be serviceable. That's assuming Smith and either a combo of Beloso, Willis, or Garza will be at 1st. The three I feel like he cannot sit and if Mathis takes over at C full time maybe Willis tries out at 3B in the spring.

If Hughes, Broussard and Dugas can split the other two spots the team as a whole will be a machine.

Beck threw the most innings of any LSU pitcher this summer (only 3 pitchers played in summer leagues). He threw 31.2, but struck out 47 and walked 28. So he threw a lot of pitches this summer.

We have 20 pitchers on the roster currently. Under Mainieri, we've never had more than 18 guys pitch in a season. And that was last year. We've had 17 guys a couple of times.

There are only about 500 regular season innings to go around. And if we make it all the way to the CWS championship you can add maybe another 140.

640 innings isn't as much as it sounds like if you're trying to spread it over 18, 19, or 20 guys. At least having two proven guys shut down for the fall allows more innings to be spread around then. I have to think that someone redshirts if no one transfers (at this point we still need to lose one person to get down to 35).

In Mainieri's 12 seasons we've had 12 pitchers throw over 100 innings. 5 season we had two, two seasons we had one, 5 seasons we had none.

Since Dunn has been here, there has been larger clusters of pitchers throwing between 20 and 40 innings, with a couple of workhorses throwing 90+. Our worst pitching seasons seem to happen when there is no real work horse but a bunch of guys between 40 and 60 innings.

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I wonder if they will just redshirt him and get him ready for 2020 when he could conceivably have a bigger role...
You mean bench someone who the doctors clear and who could have a major impact on the staff in a year we will likely be a top 3 team from start to finish?

What a great idea!!!

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I don't see the reason for the smartass reply.

Obviously if he's back to 100% and pitching like he did to finish 2017 then you pitch him.

If he's still throwing like he did last year then he will have a hard time finding innings on this staff.

I guess it really just depends on his health status come the spring.

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- CF Zach Watson has resumed baseball activities after breaking his hand in non-baseball accident

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What's up with Watson & his hand injuries? Isn't this the 2nd time that's happened?

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Just a random reminder: There are still 36 players going into the fall. We still have 1 more cut to go.

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Assuming they keep Doughty and Moffitt for family reasons (because those are the 2 most obvious choices by far), I don't see how it isn't Trent Vietmeier, unless it's Bryce. Those are really the only logical looking choices.