LSU pitching depth finally surfacing
Back in January, college baseball observers felt that LSU would go as far as its pitching staff would take it.
Everyone knows the personnel facts by now.
Jake Fraley was the only returning every day starter in the lineup. The Tigers returned nine pitchers from a 2015 pitching staff whose ERA was a spectacular 2.98. Included in those returnees were top-of-the-rotation hurlers Alex Lange and Jared Poche.
A season ago, Lange and Poche were a combined 21-2. With just two weekends remaining in the 2016 regular season, Lange and Poche have combined for barely more than half of that victory total. Lange and Poche are a combined 11-7 so far this year.
In addition, the returning relief pitchers have been in a season-long rut. Only two relievers have an earned run average below 3.00 – Hunter Newman at 2.08 and Alden Cartwright at 2.93. The Tigers lost Cartwright to a season-ending elbow injury before the midway point of the schedule.
LSU had three newcomers on the pitching staff – Akron transfer John Valek, junior college transfer Riley Smith and freshman Caleb Gilbert. Valek, who has won six games, was bumped from the weekend rotation against Arkansas after two poor outings.
Smith has been on the shelf for most of the season due to an arm injury. Gilbert, who was designated as the closer at the start of the year, had his problems and fell down the pecking order in the bullpen.
Seven of the eight new batters in the lineup are batting higher than .300. The surprisingly-productive offense is the reason the Tigers are still contending for a NCAA regional tournament host spot heading into the opener of the series against Tennessee in Knoxville on Friday (5 p.m. Central/SEC Network+).
LSU will take a five-game winning streak into the series against the Volunteers after sweeping a doubleheader at Notre Dame on Wednesday by scores of 1-0 in 11 innings and 3-2. Last weekend, the Tigers swept a three-game series from Arkansas at The Box.
The manner of these five victories has been different. Four of the five victories came by one run. Prior to this streak, LSU had a 3-5 record in one-run games this year. The last time the Tigers had such a stretch of four one-run victories in five games occurred in 1979.
In three of these five victories, the Tigers scored fewer than six runs. LSU had a 3-12 record in games in which it scored fewer than six runs before the winning streak.
In the past five games, Tigers hitters have just a .245 batting average. The three primary starting pitchers – Lange, Poche and Valek – have a high 4.61 ERA in that span.
So, what has been behind this winning streak?
It’s pretty easy to see. The ‘other’ pitchers on the staff have recorded a 1.53 ERA in 32.1 innings during the winning streak. Opposing hitters have a .209 batting average against the ‘other’ pitchers in this stretch. By comparison, hitters have a .339 batting average against Lange, Poche and Valek.
Two pitchers who were going to be counted upon earlier this year have been the leaders of the resurgence. Gilbert stepped in for Valek last Sunday against Arkansas and threw five shutout innings in a 7-1 LSU victory. Gilbert admitted that he is far more comfortable being back in a starter’s role.
Prior to the Arkansas series, Smith had thrown 6.2 innings all year. First, Smith tossed two shutout innings in relief in the middle game of the Arkansas series when the Tigers rallied from a 9-1 deficit to win in 10 innings.
Then, coach Paul Mainieri gave Smith his first start of the year in the second game of the doubleheader against Notre Dame. LSU had used six pitchers in its 1-0, 11-inning first-game victory. So, the bullpen was rather thin for the second game.
All Smith does is go out and give the Tigers six shutout innings. LSU needed Smith to throw scoreless baseball as it didn’t score three runs until the seventh inning. For the first time all day, the Tigers bullpen struggled in the bottom of the inning. But, Jesse Stallings got a game-ending strikeout in a 3-2 victory.
Some projections have LSU hosting a regional tournament. Others have the Tigers traveling to a regional. The one definite is that LSU would definitely help its cause by winning the series against a Tennessee team, which is in a three-way tie for last place in the overall SEC standings.
Lange will get the start in the series opener Friday. Poche will start the Saturday. One would believe that Gilbert will be the Sunday starter although there has been no official announcement.
But, most importantly, it seems for the first time all season there are signs that the entire Tigers pitching staff is ready to make a major contribution.
Here are the statistics for the LSU pitchers during the current five-game winning streak.
Riley Smith: 2 games, 8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Caleb Gilbert: 1 game, 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Parker Bugg: 2 games, 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
John Valek: 1 game, 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
Austin Bain: 2 games, 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Russell Reynolds: 2 games, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Hunter Newman: 2 games, 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 2 saves
Alex Lange: 1 game, 7.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1-0, 3.68 ERA
Jesse Stallings: 2 games, 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1 save
Doug Norman: 2 games, 4.1 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 3 K, 0-0, 6.23 ERA
Jared Poche: 2 games, 2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 0-0, 18.00 ERA
TOTALS: 5 games, 46 IP, 42 H, 16 R, 12 ER, 17 BB, 38 K, 5-0, 2.35 ERA, 3 saves