SB Nation - Jared Mitchell

Where Does Les Miles Stand?

Richard Pittman — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:56:51 -0000

What is this man's future? (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Let's get one thing out of the way first. I have never seen a coach criticized as much without losing a game as Les Miles has been criticized this season. Let me quote part of a message that appeared on a prominent LSU website yesterday:

With the press and fans on Miles like they are at this point in the season, there is no way he can come back. There is nothing he can do IMO to win back the needed support.

It is just gotten to an unacceptable level. Media allies have turned and will not go down with him.

It's a harsh and dismal assessment. We see this sort of thing a lot on message boards, but this one is different. This is not coming from a yahoo, but rather from one of the more respected posters around. One who, honestly, I would consider to be an asset to any website he frequents.

This particular poster goes on to specifically criticize Miles for allegedly not always playing the best players, instead opting to reward seniority. In particular, he is critical of the offensive line personnel and the infrequency of Russell Shepard's appearances on the field.

I don't agree with his assessment, especially the "there is no way he can come back" conclusion. There's a very easy way for Miles to re-earn the esteem of LSU fans. Just win. If LSU wins next week against Georgia, ugly or pretty, personnel changes or no personnel changes, blowout or tight win, pure luck or inevitability, the troubles of the previous 4 weeks will be virtually forgotten. At least for one week, and probably until the Auburn game.

Before this season, I would have said that winning cures a lot of ills. And while that hasn't exactly been true this season so far, we always looked at the Georgia game as one of those season markers. It's a game we would have cautiously said before the season was a 50-50 game (at best). After four Saturdays, I see no reason to change that assessment.

This is not to say that Les Miles is above criticism until he loses. Far from it. In fact, there are numerous criticisms that I have. I agree with the above poster who says that it appears Miles favors seniority over talent. 2006's heavy reliance on an apparently completely washed-up Justin Vincent was Exhibit A. Last year's continued reliance on Danny McCray as a nickel back was Exhibit B.

I will also criticize some of Miles' decisions in recruiting. We had Frank Alexander in our back yard and let him go without ever seriously recruiting him. Now he's a highly regarded starting defensive end for Oklahoma, and we're struggling to get consistent production from the position except for Rahim Alem. And it's not like he was a late bloomer. OKLAHOMA wanted him. He refused to seriously recruit Dez Bryant, and let Darrington Sentimore go to Alabama almost without a fight. Bryant's an All-American, and while the jury is still out on Sentimore, LSU is facing a depth crisis at defensive tackle after this season and there appears to be no immediate help coming in the 2010 class. The defensive tackle situation has been exacerbated by recruiting a glut of offensive linemen and moving defensive tackles to the other side of the line to make their numbers even bigger.

The 2006 class is its own subject. Not a single offensive lineman from that class ever played a snap for LSU. The decision (or perhaps simply the eventuality) not to sign a quarterback to hedge our bets with Ryan Perrilloux arguably destroyed the 2008 season (along with the decision to promote from within to the vacated defensive coordinator job). The wide receiver corps from that recruiting class (Chris Mitchell, Jared Mitchell, and Ricky Dixon) is devoid of impact players. The linebackers appear to only now be emerging as good players.

I'm also not pleased that he couldn't reel in a good player like Janzen Jackson. That loss will hurt bad, as Jackson is on his way to being an impact player for Tennessee in the future. I will give him a pass for the McKnight situation, because it appears that McKnight was dead set on leaving the state from the beginning, and was only giving us lip service.

As for the specific suggestion that Miles is leaving one or more of his best 5 offensive linemen on the bench, I have no idea, but the experiences we've had with Justin Vincent and Danny McCray certainly lead us to believe it's possible. As an aside, it appears that now that McCray's role has changed, he's doing quite well, but that doesn't change the fact that he was ill-suited for his previous role.

Les Miles' tenure at LSU has not been above criticism, but again, football is about winning, and except for last year, Miles has done that with an admirable frequency. And so far this year he continues to win games. And everyone seems to forget Les's outstanding coaching job in 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and a devastating pre-season injury to our best running back. We also tend to forget that Miles is only two seasons removed from winning a national championship. I don't care whose recruits you're playing with. You can't win the national championship if you can't coach, even if you have superior talent (which is debatable).

In short, I think there's something to the criticism Miles is receiving. It's not all false. It's just a little overwrought under the circumstances. Miles has made mistakes, and the problems this team is facing this year won't go away on their own, but they also haven't cost us anything yet. Nothing is irretrievable yet, but things must be retrieved.

I'm a pragmatist at heart, and when something doesn't work I think the best thing to do is to try something, and if that doesn't work try something else. Whatever you do, don't let a problem sit around festering without trying to do something about it. It's better to try something and be wrong than to try nothing. Heck at least you tried.

So let's see what happens in the next 7 days before we start really speculating about Miles' future.

Live-blogging Les Miles

cocknfire — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:53:11 -0000

11:53 a.m. ET "Summer's over." Hey, Les, Tim Tebow is the only one in the SEC who can alter the laws of meteorology. So until he says it's over, it doesn't end until Sept. 22.

11:55 a.m. ET "Eight victories and a bowl win -- that was not enough." Eight victories included the bowl win, by the way.

11:56 a.m ET Jordan Jefferson would start if the season began today, but Miles believes both Jefferson and Jarrett Lee will be better this year. Maybe Jarrett Lee can throw just five pick-sixes this year.

12:01 p.m ET He's been asked "did I vote for Tebow? And I certainly did." Story's over, Les.

12:02 p.m. ET How big a shock was last year to players used to winning 11 games a year? "I think our team has prepared in earnest and I think it'll be seen this fall."

12:03 p.m. ET Playing off of Spurrier's Tebow trouble, Les Miles is asked if he filled out his All-SEC ballot. IT LIVES!!! (Miles has help, but it's ultimately his call.) Does fill out Top 25 ballot.

12:10 p.m. ET Did he enjoy going to Omaha for the College World Series, and did the "air time" help with recruiting? Miles respects players who play two sports and can handle the academics. "I can't tell you how much I enjoyed watching Jared Mitchell lead off the third game with a home run. ... The only thing I can tell you about air time is if they're taking pictures of a football coach in the stand, it's a slow game." There was a Big Ten team in the CWS?

12:17 p.m. ET Trindon Holliday, or more accurately trindonhollidayzoomzoom: "I think he's a football player." Not afraid of contact. "I think we're going to run him from the backfield more." Thinks he inspires young children, including one of Miles' sons, and is a public favorite because of his relative lack of height.

12:20 p.m. ET Everyone can draw up a playoff scenario -- until you bring in college presidents and bowls and televison. This is actually an underrated point -- playoff supporters tend to underestimate the significant logistical issues with getting there. "I think this is a system that has its advantages."

12:24 p.m. ET Doesn't think the co-defensive coordinator set-up led to the defensive problems.

How Did Richard Do?

Richard Pittman — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:00:25 -0000

Before the Championship Series started, I exchanged a Q&A with Burnt Orange Nation, wherein I gave my thoughts on how the series might go and how each team had its advantages. Let's see how I did:

Blake Dean and Ryan Schimpf are lefties who hit righties really well, but the real key is Jared Mitchell. Mitchell plays every day, and there probably isn't a hitter in the CWS who is better against right handed pitching than Mitchell is. He hits the ball hard and is a tremendous home run threat against right-handed pitching. The contrast with how he performs against lefties is striking. Against a left-handed pitcher, Mitchell strikes out a lot, has a difficult time pulling the trigger on a swing, has a hard time finding the ball, and when he manages to hit the ball he has almost no extra-base power. Whan a lefty is on the mound, Mitchell is the worst hitter in our lineup. When a righthander is on the mound, he is our best.

Mitchell was pretty good against right-handed pitching, but one of his two biggest hits of the series, the 2-RBI triple in Game 1, came off of the left-handed ace Austin Wood.

If Texas wins, they probably got one of their wins in the Tuesday game, when we will probably have to go with a pitcher other than Louis Coleman or Anthony Ranaudo.

Ding Ding Ding, but...

As for how they beat Coleman or Ranaudo, it probably starts with defensive struggles on LSU's part.

We were outstanding defensively for the entire 1st and 3rd games, except for Austin Nola's errant throw in the 3rd game.

The other area we've probably failed in the event of a Texas win is in baserunning. we were terrible about getting thrown out on the bases until very recently. It seems Mainieri has taken the approach in the NCAA Tournament to just let our hitters hit rather than try to "put pressure on the defense" by being aggressive on the bases. Being aggressive on the bases has just gotten us a ton of outs this year. If we revert back to that kind of strategy, it wouldn't surprise me if we've given you 4 or 5 outs over the course of 3 games by trying to steal or take extra bases.

We played it pretty safe the entire series, and when we did take a couple chances (Lemahieu's stolen base, the hit-and-run), it worked out for us. We did not get picked off (Texas did). We did not get thrown out at home or at 3rd base. We did not get caught stealing.

Also, while Ranaudo and Coleman have been outstanding, neither has been immune to a subpar outing.

Ding Ding Ding.

As for your roster, I am most concerned about any left-handed power hitter. As such, I am most concerned about Brandon Belt. He's your best hitter, and really your only left-handed power hitter. Louis Coleman is nasty to right handed hitters because of his 3/4 arm delivery. But the cost is that he has a commensurately tougher time with left handers. And while both Coleman and Ranaudo are very tough, both have given up the long ball. Opponents have hit 16 home runs off of Coleman and 14 off of Ranaudo in about 240 innings between them. That averages out to a home run every 8 innings.

Where to even begin? Belt was not close to their best hitter. He wasn't even their best left-handed hitter. That honor goes to Russell Moldenhauer, who was 5 for 11 with 3 home runs. Louis Coleman, nasty to right-handers, gave up 3 home runs to right-handed hitters. Coleman and Ranaudo both gave up home runs at a much more rapid rate than they had on the season, though Ranaudo gave up only 1 in 5 1/3 innings.

In response to a question about facing adversity:

The key is playing good competition. We've played good competition. UVA was supposed to beat us in the first round with an ace lefty on the mound. Rice supposedly had better pitchers than anyone we've faced this year. Plus, every team here is good. Or at least, they're hot. ...

To answer your question a little more seriously, I'm not sure I agree that we have not faced adversity. In the very first game of the NCAA Tournament, we were losing to Southern University going into the bottom of the 7th. In the first game of the CWS, Anthony Ranaudo didn't make it through 4 innings and we were losing in the bottom of the 5th with our middle relief in the game. It remained very close until the bottom of the 8th when we scored 3 runs and got some distance. It's not like this team hasn't faced a challenge.

I'll give myself partial credit here. I played up our prior competitors, but surely Texas was the best team we faced. However, we seemed to do quite alright with adversity, thank you very much.

What did we learn here? First, pay very little attention to me when I start telling you how things will go. It's not like I know what's going to happen or anything. However, I think that's part of parcel of the lesson to pay very little attention to anyone who thinks they know the future. Sports is an unpredictable sphere of life. The saying is, "That's why they don't play the games on paper." You can look at matchups and stat sheets all you want and get an idea of how two teams would average out against one another, but so much of the outcome of an individual game is determined by random events timed in a certain way. That's what makes sports so fun and exciting. You don't know what's going to happen, and you certainly don't know HOW it's going to happen.

Second, we probably all missed how Texas's big ball park impacted their pitching. Sure, Jungmann was outstanding, but all of their pitchers came here with miniscule ERAs. While Chance Ruffin was certainly good, his final line in the first game was 5.2 innings pitched with 3 earned runs. Austin Wood leaves the CWS with 4.1 innings pitched and 4 earned runs against. Austin Dicharry went 1.2 innings pitched with 2 runs against. Cole Green pitched two innings and gave up 4 runs.

Third, we are awesome.

LSU Baseball: A Look Ahead

Richard Pittman — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:30:12 -0000

In the tradition of obnoxious commentators the world over, when the home team wins a championship, it doesn't take long to start wondering whether we can win another. Paul Mainieri seems to think we've got what it takes to contend again next year:

LSU expects to return at least 10 major contributors who were freshmen or sophomores on the 56-17 squad that won the Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament titles and swept through its NCAA regional and super regional.

Among them are second baseman DJ LeMahieu, center fielder Mikie Mahtook, catcher Micah Gibbs, shortstop Austin Nola, No. 1 pitcher Anthony Ranaudo and closer Matty Ott.

"We’ve got a good core of kids coming back for next year’s team, and if we hold on to some key recruits who were drafted, I don’t see why we can’t have a very solid team," Mainieri said.

Nevermind for a second that the writer of the article seems to think DJ Lemahieu is likely to return. He is probably the only observer who thinks that. Moving along from that point, let's examine the question. What will LSU return, and what will LSU lose?

We know that the following key players will be returning to the team, barring something thoroughly unexpected:

Mikie Mahtook
Leon Landry
Tyler Hanover
Austin Nola
Micah Gibbs
Anthony Ranaudo
Matty Ott
Austin Ross
Daniel Bradshaw
Paul Bertuccini

In addition, the following role players from this season will be returning:

Chris Matulis
Grant Dozar
Johnny Dishon
Randy Ziegler
Beau Didier
Jordan Nicholson
Ben Alsup

The following players were drafted and there are varying degrees of likelihood of them returning:

Jared Mitchell (see ya around)
DJ Lemahieu (we aren't getting our hopes up)
Ryan Schimpf (50-50 shot at best to return, but all depends)
Blake Dean (CW says he'll likely return)
Sean Ochinko (CW says he'll likely leave)

We lose the following contributors, who have used up their eligibility:

Louis Coleman
Derek Helenihi
Nolan Cain
Ryan Byrd
Buzzy Haydel
Nick Pontiff
Chris McGee

In addition, we can't rely on Chad Jones to return, as we do not know where his football career will take him in 2010.

That's a pretty good core of players returning. We have a bona fide #1 pitcher, a shutdown closer, a little power hitting with Gibbs, Landry, and Mahtook, experienced infielders in Hanover and Nola, two more starters with the potential to be weekend starters in Ross and Bradshaw, and at least one good short reliever.

That's a good starting point. One has to expect that Nola's offensive is going to improve, and that Mahtook will grow more studly in the next 6 months. Hanover will likely smooth some of his rougher edges, and Gibbs will continue just being Gibbs.

We would like to add more reliable power hitting to that lineup, and that is where a guy like Blake Dean and/or Ryan Schimpf can come in very handy should either or both decide to return. One or more of the little-used young players who waited their turn this year could be the next good power hitter. Beau Didier needed season-ending surgery but was given one at-bat. He his a home run. I don't know much about Didier, but I would say that's a very promising start.

We would like to add one consistently good weekend starter to replace Louis Coleman, easily the most important player we are losing. Daniel Bradshaw might emerge as that guy. We may find that guy among the new recruiting class is Brody Colvin and/or Zach Von Rosenberg. Or, a guy like Randy Ziegler or Chris Matulis could develop. Matty Ott could be moved into that role if someone emerges to take the closer spot. It would also sure be nice if Austin Ross would give us the good outings we sometimes see from him a little more consistently. Another year of experience could do that for him.

My opinion is that if all the drafted players leave, it would be too much to hope that all those pieces could be so easily replaced. Getting Dean back would be a great start. Getting Schimpf back along with him would make us a threat to beat anyone.

The big key will be compensating for the loss of Louis Coleman. Surely no one person will emerge who will give us next year what Coleman gave us this year. Instead, we will have to see several pitchers improve their games enough that they collectively improve our team enough to overcome that loss. In addition, someone will have to emerge as a go-to starter, even if he isn't quite Coleman-esque. This tournament has shown us what two good starting pitchers will do to opponents (having a guy like Coleman pitch against Minnesota whentheir staff was burned was a huge advantage). Only Texas was able to match what we had in that department.

Chad Jones is also an X-factor, as he may or may not return, but if he does he could be the starting right fielder, the designated hitter, a short relief specialist, or even the closer. Or he could be preparing for the NFL draft in March instead of preparing for a baseball season.

If the pieces fall into place, the 2010 version of the LSU baseball Tigers can be incredible, but there's a lot of details hidden by that "if". We'll get our first indication of where the 2010 season is heading on August 15, the deadline for MLB teams to sign their draftees. Last year's August 15 was huge for LSU as it was the day we found out we would get Louis Coleman back. It was the day that set the stage for June 24, 2009.

LSU 11 - Texas 4: National Champions!

Richard Pittman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:03:19 -0000

Ed. Note: Corrected embarrassing error in the score in the title. The flogging from management was severe.

Anthony Ranaudo certainly didn't get the great outing we hoped for, but he fought through 5 1/3 innings, giving up 8 hits and 5 walks but only 4 runs, and another outstanding bullpen outing shut the Longhorns down from there.

Offensively, the Fightin' Tigers started out fast, with a 3-run first inning home run by Jared Mitchell, followed by a run in the 2nd on an RBI single by Ryan Schimpf, ultimately chasing Texas starter Cole Green.

Anthony Ranaudo was staked to a 4-0 lead, but he loaded the bases in the first without giving up a run, and then loaded them again in the 3rd, walked in a run, and allowed another one to score on what could have been an inning-inning double play had he not allowed a double steal through his own inattention.

Ranaudo would get through the 4th and then gave up a 2-run homer in the 5th that tied the game at 4-all. Things started looking pretty sour, as the Tigers had not gotten a hit in 3 innings off of Texas reliever Brandon Workman, and our ace pitcher was apparently all but done.

The Tiger offense came alive in the top of the 6th.

Jared Mitchell started the inning with a walk, and then advanced on a wild pitch. Mikie Mahtook laced a double to right center that scored Mitchell. It would prove to be the game winning RBI, his second game winning RBI of the championship series. Gibbs reached on a misplayed bunt, and Helenihi hit a sac fly that I thought was going to get out of the yard, but was deep enough at least to score Mahtook. After a groundout by Nola and after Lemahieu reached, Texas brought in their ace lefty closer Austin Wood to face lefties Ryan Schimpf and Blake Dean. It would not work out well for Texas.

Wood had problems finding his spot and ended up hitting Ryan Schimpf to load the bases. Then he hit Blake Dean to score the third run of the inning. Ochinko went to the plate looking for a fast ball strike from the struggling pitcher and knocked it into left field to score Lemahieu and Schimpf to give LSU a 9-4 lead. The inning ended on a lineout by Jared Mitchell.

Ranaudo returned to the mound in the 6th to face one batter, and induced a lineout to centerfield. After that, the bullpen came out and mopped up.

Chad Jones ended the 6th inning by inducing two beautiful strikeouts against left handed batters. His slider is a monster, and the Texas lefties were completely overmatched by it. Then he was rewarded with an opportunity to pitch the 7th inning as well. He got 3 more outs allowing only one baserunner, on a hit by pitch.

The Tigers scored a run in the 8th and a run in the 9th on a majestic bomb by Sean Ochinko, who was outstanding both offensively and defensively all night.

Louis Coleman, on one day's rest, came out to pitch the 8th and then the 9th. There was no drama. Texas was a defeated team at that point, and put up no challenge to Coleman despite his rough outing on Monday. He struck out the side in the 9th inning, finding a perfect spot on the outside corner that the Longhorn hitters couldn't hit but that the umpire called a strike.

In the end, the senior pitcher, who has been so important to this program, got an opportunity to be the center of the celebration shot. It was a fitting end to a great career by a Tiger who passed up the pros to come back for his senior year and an opportunity to win a national championship.

The offensive stars were Sean Ochinko, who was 4 for 5 with 3 RBI, Jared Mitchell who hit the 3-run home run and started the 6th inning rally, Ryan Schimpf who had 2 RBI, and Mahtook who had the game winning RBI.

Defensively, Derek Helenihi made several outstanding stops at 3rd. Chad Jones and Louis Coleman pitched 3 2/3 great innings in relief. Gibbs didn't let runners advance when Ranaudo was really struggling to find the strike zone.

It was a great way to end a great season. We'll have more, but right now let's just celebrate.

OK, I Lied; That Wasn't All

Richard Pittman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:30:45 -0000

LSU survived a subpar performance from Louis Coleman, who did not throw enough strikes and threw the ball up in the strike zone. How many ground ball outs did we get from Coleman? If it was more than 3, I would be surprised.

We survived a 10 strikeout performance from Chance Ruffin, who was spectacular until he a) cramped and b) ran into a little trouble in the 6th and they decided to bring in Austin Wood to finish off Jared Mitchell.

We survived Ryan Schimpf striking out twice without swinging the bat in either trip to the plate.

We survived our starting center fielder cramping up.

We survived what I thought were three bad coaching decisions: a) the decision not to start Leon Landry in place of Sean Ochinko, b) the decision to bring Coleman back out in the 7th inning, and c) the decision to pinch run Landry for Ochinko in the 9th when Landry would have made a great pinch hitter for Nola a couple batters later. None of those decisions worked out for us, and all were questioned at the time. One of Texas's home runs barely cleared the fence and Landry may have been able to get it. Ochinko did not hit. Coleman gave up a home run in the 7th. Hanover was unable to do anything productive in place of Nola.

We did it with 5 innings of no-hit baseball from the relief pitchers. One inning from Chad Jones; one inning from Paul Bertuccini, and 3 great innings from Matty Ott, all to give us a chance to get two runs with two outs in the top of the 9th to tie it up, and then a run in the 11th to take the lead, and then finally to hold the lead through the bottom of the 11th.

If there was an offensive star of the game, it was DJ Lemahieu, who had 3 RBI on the night with a home run and the aforementioned 2-out 9th inning double. Special mention also must go to Jared Mitchell, who hit the ball hard almost every time up to the plate, and who had 2 RBI of his own. And of course, Mikie Mahtook got the game winning RBI.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, and we got timely hitting in exactly the right spot, with Mitchell's 2-run triple and Lemahieu's 2-run double, even though we hit poorly for much of the game.

Now we just need to get one more. I think we need to go Ross/Bradshaw in Game 2 and save Ranaudo for a Game 3 when he would be better rested.

LSU vs. Arkansas, CWS Game 3 (for LSU) Preview

Richard Pittman — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:22:16 -0000

Here we are, at a game we discussed in generalities yesterday, but now we have to get into specifics. It has been well-documented that Arkansas's starting pitching situation could be charitably described as "murky". Let's look at Arkansas's starting pitchers and what exactly in wrong with them:

Dallas Keuchel: staff's ace, 17 starts on the season, but he pitched 4 innings on Wednesday on 3 days rest.

Brett Eibner: 17 starts on the season, only 3 days rest, got lit up on Monday, been losing pitcher twice against us.

TJ Forrest: 11 starts on the season, only 3 days rest, got knocked out of game on Monday.

Drew Smyly: 14 starts on the season, pitched into the 5th inning on Wednesday.

Bryan Bingham: 2 starts on the season, 6.1 innings pitched, 12.79 ERA.

Mike Bolsinger: 1 start on the season, pitched 3 innings on Wednesday.

Justin Wells: 1 start on the season, 49.1 innings pitched in 25 total appearances, 4.20 ERA.

Sam Murphy: 1 start on the season, 39.1 innings pitched in 20 total appearances, 6.41 ERA.

That's it. That's every pitcher Arkansas has started in any game this year. Keuchel, Bolsinger, and Smyly probably are completely spent, at least for Friday. Bolsinger could probably come back on Saturday if needed, but I can't think any of those guys would throw one competitive pitch on Friday. Eibner and Forrest could go on three days' rest, and neither threw a ton of pitches on Monday, but we've beaten Eibner twice this season and he was not good at all on Monday. The rest of their pitchers have started a grand total of 4 games, and Bingham was not remotely successfully at it.

Arkansas, therefore, has the choice of either bringing back a pitcher who has been proven to have nothing for us, and on short rest, or they can bring in a pitcher who is not accustomed to starting and has not proven to be capable of it. According to sources, they are going to start their closer, LHP Stephen Richards. Maybe they read my column.

If I was Arkansas's coach, I would take a lesson from Nicholls State.

On April 15, we played Nicholls State at the Box in a midweek game. Nicholls used 8 pitchers, the first for two innings and each subsequent pitcher for an inning. Nicholls won the game 3-1, giving up a total of 4 hits. Their pitchers kept us totally off balance the whole game.

There were some other factors going on there. It was a midweek game, and actually our second midweek game of the week. We were not using our best lineup. We were flat, and were starting our worst stretch of the season, as we would lose our only SEC series we would lose all season that next weekend, when we dropped 2 of 3 to Tennessee. But Arkansas is in a terrible jam here, and they have to come up with some way to beat LSU not once, but twice. Asking 7 to 9 pitchers to give them one or two outstanding innings may be the way to go.

It's not a strategy you want to use every game. It's a strategy born of desperation, but Arkansas is in a desperate situation. Their best pitchers (except closer Stephen Richards) are burned up, and they need to win two games in two days against a very good team. It's time to break out an unconventional strategy.

Knowing that baseball managers are particularly loathe to try anything bold, I doubt they'll do that. Instead they'll trot out Eibner, Wells, Murphy, or someone who has never started before, and try to ride him for 5 innings or so.

Here's how I counter that: as soon as Arky gets through their lefthanded pitchers, bring in Leon Landry. Every pitcher I've mentioned being available after Richards is a righty. Leon Landry crushes right handed hitting better than anyone on our roster with the possible exception of Jared Mitchell. His platoon-mate, Sean Ochinko, has seemed to struggle a bit lately hitting righties. Plus, this CWS has exposed Ryan Schimpf as an outfielder. He is playing out of position and is unaccustomed to trying to run down long fly balls. It showed against Virginia when he misplayed that ball that was incorrectly ruled foul and should have been a triple. It's showed in poor throws to the cutoff. He is not an instinctive outfielder right now.

Leon Landry, in addition to being an outstanding hitter against righties, is also an exceptional defensive outfielder. Schimpf can slide down to first base (where he is, admittedly, also not a natural, but it's also an easier position to field). At least he is an experienced infielder, and the only struggle he should have at the position is in catching difficult throws from Helenihi or Nola across the diamond. But it's not like Sean Ochinko is exceptional at that either.

Actually, Arkansas lists a lot of left-handed pitchers on their roster, but most of them have only pitched a handful of innings, and one or two would be seeing their first action of the season if they were used here.

i don't want to get overconfident, but we really should be able to put a lot of runs on the board. The pitching just won't be there on the opposite side unless they get a Herculean effort from an unusual source.

It is anticipated that we will be pitching Ranaudo. The comment section to yesterday's post had an extensive discussion of the possibility of pitching Bradshaw. The advantage in going with Bradshaw would be a) he has pitched well lately, and b) Arkansas hasn't seen him before. Arkansas has seen Ranaudo, and they've beaten him.

The logic in starting Bradshaw is sound, and I would be happy if we went that direction (even though I know we won't), but let me suggest another alternative. Ryan Byrd was great in the SEC Tournament and hasn't gotten back into a game since then. He is our best left handed starter and a senior. Arkansas is a very lefty-heavy lineup (4 of their 5 best hitters are lefties), and a junk ball lefty like Byrd can really have success. Byrd is the kind of guy who can have particularly good success against Arkansas's best hitters, and this will keep Arkansas from putting together big innings. If we perform as expected offensively, the game should be ours in that case.

And heck, it's not like he isn't rested.

Game starts at 1:00pm. I will be working. I hope to be able to keep up, and Tivo is my friend. Open thread will go up at noon.

LSU 9 - Arkansas 1: Rarely In Doubt

Richard Pittman — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:02:23 -0000

The LSU Tigers displayed offense, defense, and pitching en route to a 9-1 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks, putting the Tigers in really good position to advance to the championship series later in the week, needing only one win in two games against either Arkansas or Virginia.

Louis Coleman was not great early, but after getting out of a couple of jams in the early innings, he settled down and powered his way through the middle three innings while waiting for LSU's bats to blow it open. It did not take long.

LSU busted out quickly with a hit by Lemahieu followed by a 14-pitch walk to Ryan Schimpf, which may have been the key at-bat of the game, or at least the key at-bat of the early innings. After inducing outs from Blake Dean and Micah Gibbs, Mikie Mahtook lined a 3-run home run over the left field fence to give the Tigers an immediate 3-0 lead. We weren't done in the inning as Jared Mitchell followed with a double, but was left stranded.

Louis Coleman was not his usual self in the first few innings. He struggled with his control, giving up a walk in the 2nd inning and a walk in the 3rd. Arkansas scored a run in the first inning on a one-out double, a single, and a sacrifice fly. Arkansas left a runner on in the 1st, two runners on in the 2nd, and left the bases loaded in the 3rd. Coleman's pitch count was getting high and it did not look like he would make it very long in the game, though he had successfully pitched his way out of the jams, giving up only 1 run through three innings.

Meanwhile, Arkansas's starter Brett Eibner, who I thought probably never should have been pitching at all, did not make it through the second inning, as a 2-out double followed by an RBI single and then a walk force Arkansas into the bullpen early. Right handed pitcher TJ Forrest settled the game down for a while, getting through the rest of the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th, and the 5th without allowing another run to the Tigers.

The 6th inning was where the Tigers blew the game wide open. After Derek Helenihi flied out to open the inning, light-hitting Austin Nola deposited the ball over the left field fence on a very hard hit line drive that suggests to me that Nola has the potential to be a real hitter going forward. Schimpf walked and Blake Dean continued the scoring with LSU's third home run of the night to give the Tigers a 7-1 lead. After Mahtook and Gibbs reached, Jared Mitchell hit a clean single that scored Gibbs and drew an errant throw that allowed Mahtook to score and Mitchell to advance to 3rd base. The inning ended with Mitchell on third and LSU with 9 runs on the game.

Getting out of the bases loaded jam in the 3rd inning seemed to energize Coleman, who dominated the next three innings, allowing only two baserunners in the middle innings, recording 2 strikeouts without a walk, and allowing no runner past 2nd base. With LSU leading 9-1 after 6 and Coleman having pitched over 100 pitches, he was lifted and Daniel Bradshaw came in to start the 7th.

The rest of the game was pretty uneventful, as the Tiger hitters didn't bust through again, and the Arkansas hitters seemed to not be giving much effort from that point forward. Bradshaw pitched two scoreless innings and then Nolan Cain finished off the game. After failing to score with the bases loaded in the 3rd inning, Arkansas did not get another runner past 2nd base the rest of the night.

Jared Mitchell, who one might perceive gets criticized here, had a great night, going 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and a single that resulted in 2 runs scored. I don't actually criticize Mitchell, and I don't think anyone else does either. I just criticize the decision to play Mitchell against left handed pitchers when he so obviously cannot hit them right now. He still crushes righties, and he proved it again tonight. Lemahieu also had 3 hits and set the table for Schimpf, Dean, Gibbs, and Mahtook. Austin Nola had his home run and another base hit. Lemahieu and Nola also played very well in the field, each getting us an out that ordinary fielders may not have been able to get.

On Friday, we will play the winner of Wednesday's Virginia vs. Arkansas matchup, as Virginia eliminated Cal State Fullerton earlier in the day. If we win that game, we advance to the championship series. If we lose it, we play again the following day. Later in the week, we will discuss the issue of how Paul Mainieri should plan the pitching for the Friday and Saturday games. There are options.

Tigers and Potential Tigers in the Major League Baseball Draft

Richard Pittman — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:15:57 -0000

I wrote a long entry about the Tiger players and the Tiger prospects drafted in the first two days of the Major League Draft, but it got eated, so we will try it again. So far, the Major Leagues have conducted 30 of their projected 10,000 round draft, and the following LSU players and prospects have been drafted:

Jared Mitchell, 1st round, White Sox
Slade Heathcott, 1st round, Yankees
DJ Lemahieu, 2nd round, Cubs
Louis Coleman, 5th round, Royals
Ryan Schimpf, 5th round, Blue Jays
Zach Von Rosenberg, 6th round, Pirates
Brody Colvin, 7th round, Phillies,
Chad Stang, 8th round, Brewers
Blake Dean, 10th round, Twins
Sean Ochinko, 11th round, Blue Jays
Mitch Mormann, 20th round, Giants,
Wes Luquette, 27th round, Pirates

Of those, only Coleman is a senior at LSU. Signed prospects are italicized.

Everyone believes Jared Mitchell is going to sign with the White Sox and that Slade Heathcott will get boatloads of money to play in the Yankees minor league system for a while. After that, things get more interesting.

The Cubs drafted Lemahieu expecting him to sign, and he very well may. I think he could be well-served by coming back. He is a rare draft-eligible sophomore, which means he could come back and still have options later. Plus, his draft stock could be well served if he comes back and develops a power hitting game. He is a very good contact hitter, but his power numbers are nothing special. His tall frame and his reactive fielding style scream "third baseman" to me, but his hitting numbers scream "middle infield." If his future is on the corner of the infield, he will need to develop his power. He can do that in the minor leagues, or he can come back and take his chances in next year's draft. If he comes back and does not improve his power game, he could actually drop in the draft, however.

Ryan Schimpf had a breakout year for LSU and came out of nowhere to be a high-round draft pick. In case you didn't realize it, Schimpf has been our best hitter over the course of the season. He was rewarded with a 5th round selection and will probably see a six-figure signing bonus. Blake Dean has a more interesting choice. He did not have as good of a year as he hoped, and he did not earn a regular position, instead DH'ing for most of the season. Not using him in the field hurt his draft stock. If he comes back and plays a position and has the kind of year he was expected to have this year, he could really move up. But if he comes back and just DH's again, it won't really help him. He has a decision to make, because he likely will not get a huge signing bonus.

I don't know Sean Ochinko's intentions, but I am pleasantly surprised that he was drafted as high as he was. He was probably helped by his versatility to play 1st base or catcher. Catchers are very valuable.

Probably the hardest job a college baseball coach has to do is to recruit his team. It is a more intricate and complex art than it is in football or basketball because the MLB draft can get you at any time. To succeed as a coach, you have to recruit really good players.. but not TOO good. It doesn't do you any good to sign great players if they all end up signing with a major league team. Instead, you have to find players who are very good, but who aren't going to get enough money thrown at them to convince them to go to the minor leagues. Many a good recruiting class was felled by this problem. And with only 17.3 scholarships to give out to fill a 35-man roster, it is helpful if you can find some really good players who can pay their own way.

We will really have to keep an eye on Zach Von Rosenberg and Brody Colvin. Both of them expected to go much higher than the 6th and 7th round, respectively. They are both right-handed power pitchers, and potential aces in the mold of Coleman and Ranaudo. Colvin, for one, has said in an article published after he was not drafted in the first three rounds, that he will almost certainly be going to LSU. Von Rosenberg has previously said that it would take a lot of money to convince him to bypass college. Both would have to be offered significantly more than is typical of where they were drafted, but it is not that uncommon for some major league teams to pay a premium for players whose draft stock slipped because of signability issues.

Chad Stang is unfamiliar to me. He is a junior college signee out of Texas and plays outfield. Before he was drafted, I had never heard his name mentioned as a pro prospect, and I don't really know what kind of player he is or whether he is likely to sign. He will be offered a substantial signing bonus to induce him, but I doubt it will be six-figures.

I am similarly unfamiliar with pitcher Mitch Mormann.

Wes Luquette is an interesting case. He is a catcher from a Louisiana high school. He injured his arm and will need Tommy John surgery. He is not likely to be able to play until the 2011 season, but he was drafted in the 27th round. That he was drafted at all under the circumstances is remarkable. I imagine he will end up at LSU, but I suppose you never know.

August 15 is the last day for Major League teams to sign their draftees, otherwise they lose the right. We will know a lot more about what the 2010, 2011, and 2012 teams will look like after that date.