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LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri is no stranger to midseason changes.
In 2008, the coach benched catcher Sean Ochinko in favor of true freshman Micah Gibbs.
That move drew ire from some in the Tiger fan base, but LSU responded to the change and won 23-straight games and advanced to the College World Series after being in the bottom half of the Southeastern Conference for most of the season.
Last season, Mainieri tinkered at midseason again and placed true freshman Austin Nola at shortstop, moved D.J. LeMahieu from shortstop to second base and Ryan Schimpf from second base to the outfield.
The coach’s move again yielded pay dirt and the Tigers took momentum into the postseason and cranked out a College World Series title.
This year, the Tigers’ fourth-year skipper is at it again and he’s moved junior pitcher Austin Ross from his role as the team’s Saturday starter into the bullpen, where he can serve as a bridge to All-American closer Matty Ott. The move makes sophomore pitcher Chris Matulis the team’s new weekend starter.
Mainieri hopes the move will yet again spark a run that will culminate in the Tigers making a trip to Omaha.
“The longer Matty has to pitch, the less effective he’s going to be,” Mainieri said in his weekly radio show. “I think Ross is going to be great, and he’s fine in that situation. We just have to make sure Matulis gives us a good outing on top of it.”
The first weekend of the experiment came two weekends ago in the team’s weekend series against Auburn, and it got mixed reviews.
Ross was dominant in his new position in the pen and fired four innings of effective relief, but Matulis was not able to make his new role work and he allowed six runs in just five innings.
“Austin Ross threw so well,” Mainieri said. “That’s probably as good as I’ve ever seen him pitch. He was in total command and he was dominating … Matulis’ performance, let’s just say it wasn’t as inspiring.”
The need for the move comes because of the struggles LSU’s pitching staff has had all season.
With Anthony Ranaudo out for most of the early portion of the year, opposing teams have gotten into the Tigers’ bullpen early in games and as a result, LSU ranks No. 9 out of 12 teams in the Southeastern Conference in ERA.
But Ranaudo is back, which made Ross expendable to be placed in the bullpen and the move is one the coach said should allow his team to peak at the right time again.
“I still think our best days are ahead of us,” the coach touted. “I think these kids are starting to realize how good that they can be and their confidence is growing.”
While Mainieri made the move in the rotation on his own, the team has also been forced to tinker with its batting lineup thanks to an injury to sophomore left fielder Trey Watkins.
Watkins dislocated his elbow diving for a ball in the outfield in LSU’s April 3 win against Georgia and Maineri said his return is not imminent.
“I wouldn’t count on him being back for the next three weeks or so,” he said.
In his absence, Johnny Dishon has served as the team’s primary left fielder. But Dishon has not been able to find the hitting stroke Watkins enjoyed and is hitting just .188 as of April 14.
Watkins was hitting .315 in the leadoff spot before his injury and had a .466 on base percentage.
“Johnny is the equal, if not better than Trey Watkins defensively, as well as a base runner and a base stealer,” Mainieri said. “The big difference is certainly their hitting ability. Johnny has struck out quite a few times, where Trey was a guy who’d work the count and put the ball in play. That’s where we’re missing Trey the most – swinging the bat.”
But the SEC schedule will not wait on Watkins’ return and LSU will play Ole Miss this weekend and Florida next weekend – both top teams in the conference.
LSU joins those teams, as well as Arkansas and South Carolina in what figures to be an exciting stretch run of the season.
“It’s a tough league and everybody’s going to beat everybody,” Mainieri said. “Nothing has been decided and we’ve got a long way to go.”
LSU junior pitcher Austin Ross fires a pitch during a game this season. With LSU’s pitching staff reeling, Tigers’ coach Paul Mainieri has moved Ross into the bullpen. * Photo by STEVE FRANZ / LSU Sports Media
