l have been looking around the net getting some info from friends around BR and other forums about what we can expect from LSU Baseball this year: Line Up: C-Liuzza/Lara (freshmen that will need some breaking in for next year) 1st - Jordan Mayer 2nd - Chris Jackson (having some elbow problems) SS- Hollander / Ogata (will Holly probably geting the most P.T. if he can keep raking) 3rd- Will Harris RF- Broschofsky/Sprowl/Stewart (our real question mark, can any throw well) CF-Bogany LF-Stewart/Sprowl Note**Quinn Stewart has an injured hand(dunno whether its was surgery or something else, but hopefully he has adequate time to heal) Still Early, but if CJ has more problems with his arm, JP Padron may play 3rd, Ogata to 2nd, Mayer to DH, and Will to 1st. We have a very young team and lack alot of power this year. Smoke will have to play some small ball, but has some great runners in CJ, Hollander, and new comer Bogany who had 19 steals in his last season of H.S. baseball. Bogany looks to be a JC Holt style player, lacking major power, but making up for it with smart base running and speed/speed/speed. lf he proves to have a good bat, i could see him taking over for Hollander at lead off. Our other newcomer Ogata, i don't know to much about, so i will have to get back to you after i look up his H.S. stats. Team leaders this year are going to have to be Will Harris, Matt Liuzza, and CJ for sure. Stewart, Sprowl and JP Padron will have to find there swings for this team to score runs. We will not be able to rely on the 3 run homer this year because the only power in the line up will come from Mayer and Harris. Pitching: Friday Ace: Dirks (friend talked to him at the bar the other night) Saturday: Ramirez and Meier (which ever has the hot arm, but my moneys on Ramy) Sunday: Bonura (been hearing good things about him so far) English (out this season, had TJ surgery) Pen: Will be a weakness... we have plenty of arms, but how many will step up like Determan and Faircloth. We are very young, and will lose some ballgames, but this is Smoke's year to prove to (me) that he is capable of coaching well. ln closing, i would like to see Smoke start to develop a closer. Chase Dardar has a nasty fastball, so he will be one i look at to step up. He came out last year and looked like crap, but as the season progressed he got alot better. Cahill also has some good stuff, but had alot of control issues last spring. l think these two will be keys to our success. Freshman Coleman has been turning some heads also (rumor), and may challenge for weekend starts if he can prove himself early (if given the shot).
I think i heard that Harris was putting in some time in at pitcher earlier this year. Correct me if i am wrong
Seems doubtful, because we will need him in the infield. But ill talk to my friend and see if he has heard anything from the players.
Bryan transferred to Cal St. Fullerton http://fullertontitans.collegesports.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/harris_bryan00.html
Thanks for baseball info. I was wondering about the season lately and you saved me a whole lotta trouble! It's weird not to see Mestepey's name there. he was there for 5 years, but it seemed like forever! I bet he comes back someday as a pitching coach or assistant.
Hopefully Hollander can keep getting those walks. He sure seemed to go through streaks in his limited time but when he had patience, he could get on base
this is a unique year for LSU baseball. for once we come in as the underdogs due to attrition and lack of expected production from the heralded players plus injuries (again). losing stavinoha, ryan patterson, clay harris, blake gill, determan, smith, mestepey and faircloth was tough enough without adding cj and jordan. if not for the injuries id have higher hopes. While not having proven talent on paper is a bad thing, it will be refreshing to see some young blood come in and play and possibly overachieve. Many times it seems LSU underperformed when even the coaches were quoted as saying we had the best and deepest pitching staff ever the last couple of years. that group ended up winning zero games in omaha. looks like we had too many chiefs and not enough indians. or for whatever reason, the mix wasn't right. I asked here where derik olvey fit into the this year's squad ..he's the transfer from notre dame who was supposed to be an excellent pitcher. well i heard on buddys show he was interviewed and intimated he was gonna be in the rotation. supposedly has a nasty 12/6 hook at about 70 mph. if he can throw upper 80's he could be fun to watch. turtle said Robert Lara, the backup to liuzza has an absolute laser. he came from the miami area saying he wanted to get away...maybe he couldnt speak spanish. he needs time to develop his hitting....like most catchers. great defensive skills as well. another true frosh jason ogata is said to be an excellent infielder whos normal position is SS but will play 2nd. i think he is assured a fulltime position for defense and added pop. he doesnt have a great arm so 2nd will be a better fit. he has excellent power for his size and was supposedly was a star tailback in hs til he got knee problems. doesnt affect his running on the bases though so we get some needed speed from him. buzzy haydel is likely even a better fielder than ogata and will probably play 3b when will pitches in relief but otherwise backup ogata. oh and someone said ogata had one of the prettiest swings ever. i doubt that cuz that always belongs to lefties. always will. jt wise (naturally a catcher) and will harris will likely be used at the corners/dh and be setup men out of the pen. i think wise lacks just a little bat-speed from what i heard but they have worked and improved it. also he looked good in the fall at the plate. looks like we are getting more versatile players of late anyhow. the jewel of the class is definitely jarred bogany which was no secret. they expect him to be a 20/20 guy. thats golden in college and something we've never had here. he can do it all and even as a freshman is said to be a man amongst boys out there. i think bogany, lara and ogata were all drafted. could be a nice foundation to the team's future if we can keep them together til they are jrs/srs. a great outfielder and a excellent defensive catcher with a great arm go a long way to winning close games. i always though dustin weaver would be our best catcher ever but that never panned out. steven waguespack (i think thats his name) is gonna play 1b while mayer is out. left handed and a better defensive player. lefties are much better suited at 1b for the shots down the line and for pickoffs. he's probably a more consistent bat but definitely not the potential of jordan. i think hes a transfer from delgado or some local jc? has to be with that name. he is supposed to be a good contact hitter who rarely ever strikes out. jordan struck out far too much in situational hitting so we trade power for consistency here. the more i hear about these kids, the more excited i get. i dont have great expectations record-wise but the defensive potential of the younger guys is the best i can remember. their speed may be much better than what we thought. in the past, we'd recruit the maulers and lose the one or two skill guys to the draft. maybe once this year, we can see someone hit a cutoff man from the outfield. that'd be special and something ryan patterson never did once even though he was one of my favorite players. one worry i have is a lefty out the bullpen. ryan byrd is about the only one im aware we have on the staff outside of dirks who is a starter anyhow. i dont know anything about byrd beyond that. maybe this will stop smoke from relying so much on the lefty righty matchups and just throw the better pitcher but we don't have anyone proven in the pen. bonura has supposedly been unhittable at times just inconsistent and chase dardar has improved a lot just inconsistent as well.
