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re: Which pitchers in the portal are we pursuing?
Posted on 6/15/26 at 8:13 am to Ampipe96
Posted on 6/15/26 at 8:13 am to Ampipe96
Yeskie's development is in question. These guys come in with so much promise. A year with Coach Yeskie, they have problems consistently throwing strikes, and when they do, it's right down the middle for a home run or a base hit.
3
Posted on 6/15/26 at 8:20 am to 304tiger
quote:
We COULD be pretty good in terms of starters right now. We're returning Evans, Schmidt, Moore, Paz, and Rickin. We added the top pitcher in the portal who can also start in Hood.
The potential is there, but it’s far from a given
Posted on 6/15/26 at 8:20 am to Kool Kaliper
quote:
Yeskie's development is in question. These guys come in with so much promise. A year with Coach Yeskie, they have problems consistently throwing strikes, and when they do, it's right down the middle for a home run or a base hit.
Yeah because he didn't develop any pitchers at all his first two years here
Posted on 6/15/26 at 8:43 am to Kool Kaliper
It’s impossible to fix everyone. And honestly with transfers, the exposure Yeskie gets with them is rather limited in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes it takes years to fix control issues. And a lot of times it’s never corrected. There are a ton of MiLB players with great stuff that still cannot throw strikes.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 8:53 am to Kool Kaliper
The key is they need to bring in guys WITHOUT control issues and so we dont just expect Yeskie is going to fix them all that do have control issues. We paid for that dearly this past season with way too many guys who couldnt control the zone.
The more guys you bring in who can already throw strikes the less chance you have the majority of your staff isnt able to throw strikes.
Pretty basic concept that I think Jay and co are fully on board with this go around.
I dont think they are going to bring in a reliever who had like 30 IP and 25 BB, 6 HBP and 5 WP but because he had 40 K believe they can fix the control issues.
There's a reason they were perfectly ok with letting a guy like Mavrick Rizy walk.
The more guys you bring in who can already throw strikes the less chance you have the majority of your staff isnt able to throw strikes.
Pretty basic concept that I think Jay and co are fully on board with this go around.
I dont think they are going to bring in a reliever who had like 30 IP and 25 BB, 6 HBP and 5 WP but because he had 40 K believe they can fix the control issues.
There's a reason they were perfectly ok with letting a guy like Mavrick Rizy walk.
This post was edited on 6/15/26 at 8:55 am
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:20 am to thunderbird1100
quote:
The key is they need to bring in guys WITHOUT control issues
Easy to say. They have to stuff first, which is why they recruit the “stuff” before anything.
Guys with stuff + control aren’t in abundance. Recruiting a guy with control and average stuff will generally not play well in the SEC.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:29 am to Lester Earl
Yeah control is awesome, but if you don't have "the stuff" to go with it you're often just putting it right where guys can hit it
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:31 am to Fun Bunch
quote:
Yeah control is awesome, but if you don't have "the stuff" to go with it you're often just putting it right where guys can hit it
Not if you have actual control and can hit your spots exactly. If you don't have elite stuff, your "misses" have to be barely balls where a hitter will chase and you will occasionally get a beneficial call from the umps.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:33 am to Lester Earl
quote:
Guys with stuff + control aren’t in abundance.
They're not unicorns, but they certainly are rare in HS and in the portal.
Control is usually a function of repeatability. That's part of why a guy of Rizy's height has those issues pretty often. Very tall or even longer than normal arms mean significant changes in delivery point with small changes in arm slot, body position, and release points. It takes a lot of focus on minor details and practicing beyond just muscle memory to maintain it. Not everyone is mentally structured to do that pitch after pitch.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:35 am to Lester Earl
quote:
Easy to say. They have to stuff first, which is why they recruit the “stuff” before anything.
Plenty of guys have good enough stuff and throw strikes. We dont need to get every single guy to have MLB throw 95+ with 4 pitches type "stuff" but they cant consistently hit the broad side of the barn with any of them really
Cowan was one of more effective overall pitchers the last couple seasons and is not an MLB stuff guy whatsoever. We dont need a team full of Cowan's but first and foremost get more guys who can hit the damn zone to start with. It's pretty clear Yeskie isnt a miracle worker with a bunch of guys who cant hit the zone. There's plenty of college pitchers out there with good enough stuff for the SEC/college and manage to not give a free pass an inning as well. Sure, take your chance on a handful of guys with elite MLB type stuff but might need some development, we cant have a whole staff like that though.
Auburn led the SEC in conference ERA as a staff this year. They dont have a single pitcher listed on MLB's Top 200 list for 2026 draft
This post was edited on 6/15/26 at 10:38 am
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:35 am to Fun Bunch
need to adjust pitch selection and strategy to go after hitters more and fill up the zone and make hitters earn it and let the defense do the work. Consistently get ahead in the count and then you can see if guys will chase junk. This year it seemed that way too often they were calling pitches to avoid hits and try to get strikeouts. Asking young guys to be perfect in non-advantageous counts too often and it ended up in way too many walks and passed balls due to poor location on these pitches. simplify the approach. the stuff is there. you may give up a little more earned here and there but if you wipe out a large chunk of free passes you will be much better off in long run.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 10:40 am to mdomingue
quote:
Control is usually a function of repeatability. That's part of why a guy of Rizy's height has those issues pretty often. Very tall or even longer than normal arms mean significant changes in delivery point with small changes in arm slot, body position, and release points. It takes a lot of focus on minor details and practicing beyond just muscle memory to maintain it. Not everyone is mentally structured to do that pitch after pitch.
Randy Johnson didn't really put it together until he was like 26. For an absolute freak of nature talent to not figure it out until after about 8 combined years of college, minor league, and major league baseball, when he was given a shitload of innings, means that guys that aren't freakishly talented (mentally or physically) like he was stand a much lower chance of figuring it out.
This is specific to the conversation about super tall guys, in support of your statement about why it's harder for them.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:13 am to Lester Earl
quote:
Recruiting a guy with control and average stuff will generally not play well in the SEC.
Zach Cowan says hello
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:19 am to Bert Macklin FBI
quote:
Not if you have actual control and can hit your spots exactly.
This is complete fantasy.
Yes blah blah blah Greg maddux.
There is too much info these days to very easily refute what you are saying.
This post was edited on 6/15/26 at 11:31 am
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:20 am to Underteaux
If by a miracle we get one of our top HS pitchers in that certainly will help. But it looks like a longshot at this point. We only signed one in state player. Out of state guys probably will sign with MLB. But you gotta try.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:21 am to BayouPride
quote:
Zach Cowan says hello
Zac Cowan got swings and misses on his change up in the zone when guys knew it was coming, against SEC hitters. It's absolutely a plus pitch.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:23 am to BayouPride
quote:
Zach Cowan says hello
I like Cowan and he has certainly contributed to LSU's success since he got on campus.
If we had a staff full of Zac Cowans, LSU would never win anything meaningful. That should be obvious.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:24 am to docTQ4
Truth. We need to cut down on the opposition scoring. That includes defense for certain. We had way too many errors. They change the rhythm and dynamics of the game.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:26 am to BayouPride
quote:
Zach Cowan says hello
Creating theories based on outliers is a faulty exercise.
And I’m still not sure yall understand why Cowan was good. On top of being a multi-pitch pitcher, he has like a 70 grade changup. These guys don’t exactly grow on trees.
Posted on 6/15/26 at 11:28 am to Mobiletiggah
quote:
Truth. We need to cut down on the opposition scoring. That includes defense for certain. We had way too many errors. They change the rhythm and dynamics of the game.
Speaking of rhythm and dynamics of the game...I'm wondering how good our staff can be if the level of catcher play doesn't improve from last year. I guess the good news is only one of Bide or Serna needs to take the leap defensively, but IMO whether or not that happens may be more impactful than any pitchers we pick up in the transfer portal.
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