Home sweet home: Lawmakers keep Manning Passing Academy in La.
July 16, 2013
LSU has question marks with season 45 days away
July 16, 2013
The LSU baseball team was hit hard this week by the MLB.
The Tigers announced last Friday that nine players from this year’s College World Series team have signed contracts to begin their professional careers.
Pitchers Ryan Eades, Nick Rumbelow, Will LaMarche, Chris Cotton and Tri-parish native Brent Bonvillain join position players JaCoby Jones, Mason Katz, Ty Ross and Raph Rhymes as LSU standouts who have inked to begin their careers at the next level.
Cotton, Bonvillain, Katz and Rhymes were seniors and didn’t have the option to return.
Eades, Rumbelow, LaMarche, Jones and Ross were underclassmen who had the option to return to the program if a deal couldn’t be reached with the professional team.
The losses will deal a big blow to the Tigers’ depth chart from this past year’s team that won the Southeastern Conference Championship and also pushed to the College World Series.
Eades was the first LSU player off the board – taken by the Minnesota Twins with the 43rd overall pick in the MLB Draft.
Jones (87th overall – Pittsburgh Pirates) , Katz (125th overall – St. Louis Cardinals), Rumbelow (224th overall – New York Yankees) and LaMarche (276th overall – Detroit Tigers) were taken in the top 10 rounds of the draft and were expected to reach deals with their professional clubs.
Ross was taken in the 12th round with the 372nd overall pick by the San Francisco Giants. He was considered by many experts as a possibility to return to school.
But he accepted the Giants’ offer and started his professional career this past week.
A Thibodaux High School graduate, Bonvillain was not selected in June’s MLB Draft. But after the draft, he signed a free agent deal with the Kansas City Royals. He is currently playing in the Rookie Pioneer League for the Idaho Falls Chukars.
While the Tigers lost a record-high number of players to the MLB, the news wasn’t all bad for LSU.
The school announced that starting third baseman Christian Ibarra plans to return for his senior season.
Ibarra hit .305 with 6 home runs and 39 RBIs as a junior with a .414 on base percentage.
He was selected in the later rounds of the draft and will likely return to school.
In addition to the current members of the team, four LSU baseball signees were also picked in the MLB Draft – Terrebonne standout Justin Williams, pitcher David Palladino, outfielder Nick Longhi and pitcher Parker Bugg.
Williams and Palladino were early round picks who have already inked to begin their professional careers.
Longhi and Bugg have not yet reached deals and are likely to enroll at LSU.
Williams continues torrid pace
Life on the farm continues to be good for Williams.
As of last Friday, the Tri-parish native and Terrebonne High School standout has played 11 games for the Diamondbacks’ rookie ball team from June 21 – July 12.
In those games, Williams has recorded 17 hits in 47 at-bats for a .362 average.
Williams has recorded hits in nine of the 11 games with six multi-hit games.
The thing the Diamondbacks may be most impressed with is the slugging and clutch hitting that Williams has possessed.
Williams has recorded seven hits in 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position with 11 RBIs.
He also is crushing right-handed pitching during his time in the minors – hitting righties with a .419 clip.
A left-handed batter, Williams is also holding his own against left-handed pitching, owning a .250 batting average and a .333 on base percentage. The Diamondbacks have also posted a 9-8 record through their first 17 games of the season. They are competing in a division with the Giants, Angels, Cubs and Athletics.
Thibodaux’s Granier makes prestigious list
While Terrebonne’s Justin Williams continues to make his mark in the professional ranks, Thibodaux’s Drew Granier is making his climb up the farm system.
The 6-foot, 180-pound right handed pitcher has moved up to Class AA and is currently pitching for the Midland RockHounds of the Oakland A’s farm system.
The Tri-parish native has excelled in his new team, posting a 2-1 record in four starts in AA with a 1.48 ERA. For his efforts, MLB.com has named Granier the team’s No. 18 prospect.
