Around the Horn: Fall Ball Update 1.0

On3!

Shea D gave me a call a couple of weeks ago and asked if I’d hang out with y’all and talk a little baseball. There are very few things I’d rather do, so here I am. Really fired up about it.

I know y’all are all laser focused on the Class of 2023 and the Crimson Tide, but if you can deviate your attention briefly to baseball, I’d highly suggest it. This team is LOADED, and in talking to some people in the program, they are really fired up to get out there in the spring. 

I’ll check in periodically with updates during the fall.

You’ll hear from me weekly during the season. 

The team has been together about a month practicing and scrimmaging. I’ve stopped in four or five times. A few observations…

As far as returning players go, Grant Taylor appears to be the guy who has taken the biggest leap. Taylor was a key bullpen piece for LSU as a freshman, but he got tired towards the end of the year. Velocity was still pretty good, but he lost the strike zone. Three walks against Missouri, five against Alabama. Fell behind a lot. LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson has cleaned that up a little bit, and Taylor is dominating. He’s 96-98 with the fastball, and the breaking ball is sharp. He struck Dylan Crews and Tommy White out consecutively last week and has been really tough to hit. He’s going three innings at a time right now, and the staff tells me they’re looking at him as a potential starter who could easily slide into the back end of the bullpen if need be.

As you’ll see with the more I write, they have lots of options on the mound. That’s a serious change of pace from last year.

Jordan Thompson is healthy. He drove a lot of folks nuts last year with the early season errors at shortstop. It even resulted in a brief flip flop with Cade Doughty to clear his head. What some of us didn’t know was that he had knee surgery two weeks before the opener and was just gutting through it. He made 10 errors in the first 20 games. He made two in the last 16. He’s going to be the shortstop, and I think he’ll do a great job defensively. College shortstops make errors. But it won’t look like it did last February and March. 

There was some thought when Tommy White decided to come to LSU that he might have to play 1B, which would send Tre Morgan to the outfield. Not the case. Tre Morgan is the first baseman. White has impressed the staff with his ability to play third base. He’s only made one error in a month of scrimmages. White was mostly a DH last year at NC State where he set the national freshman home run record with 27. He also hit .362. He’ll play third this spring.

Gavin Dugas is making the move to the infield, or at the very least they’re seeing what that looks like. Dugas played some infield his first two years before moving out to left field. He was also an infielder in high school. Last weekend he hit two HR in a single scrimmage. Man, wouldn’t it be nice if the guy who hit 19 HR and led the SEC in RBI joined the party this spring instead of the guy fighting injuries all of last year? 

LSU head coach Jay Johnson has been a baseball coach for two decades. He’s never been in a situation before where four catchers deserved a look. That’s the case right now. When you have a staff full of guys with 95-99 mph fastballs and good breaking stuff, you need a guy back there who can handle that.

Alex Milazzo can. If he hits .187, he won’t play. If he hits .247, he will. Brady Neal is the future of that position, in my opinion. He’s got a great left handed swing and can really defend. Neal was a significant draft risk but put first round money in his mind and never came off of it. The Brewers drafted him late but had no chance to sign him. The staff still believes in Hayden Travinski’s bat. And Jared Jones is a big 6-foot-4, 230-pound freshman catcher with light tower power. The plan right now is for all four guys to get early season at bats. That’s a luxury LSU should have because they’ll dominate on the mound pre-conference and should be in some lopsided games. 

Speaking of the mound, I’ve gotten two good looks at Paul Skenes, the Air Force transfer. He’s all of 6-foot-7 and throws 98 mph from a 3/4 arm slot. Everything he throws runs. That’s why he was selected to pitch for Team USA this past summer and why he left the Air Force to make a run at pro baseball. Skenes will be in the weekend rotation, and he’s going to hit when he doesn’t pitch. His days of catching are over, though.

Lastly, Thatcher Hurd is feeling good. Last year at UCLA he forced his way into the weekend rotation before stress fractures in his back sidelined him. In consecutive early season outings he struck out 25 guys in a total of 10 innings. He went six innings allowing two hits and a single run against Arizona right before he got hurt. Hurd is a potential Top 10 pick in 2024. Fastball has been 92-95 with a nasty slider and good curveball. They’re taking things VERY slow with Hurd this fall. His first two outings were one inning. His third outing was two innings. No reason to rush him, but Hurd is a Friday night talent when healthy. 

There’s always more, and I’ll check in with another update in a couple of weeks. If you’ve got questions, I’m happy to answer. This baseball team is going to be special. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say it might be the most talented team in school history. Doesn’t mean they’ll win a single postseason game, but the collection of talent is jaw dropping.  

Now back to Bama talk, right?