Nick Storz’s season is officially over.
LSU is shutting down the much-ballyhooed hurler after his latest setback, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said Tuesday afternoon. The news puts an end to a saga that’s run concurrent to LSU’s injury-ravaged season.
Storz re-aggravated his shoulder playing long toss last Thursday, one day after he returned to action and pitched two scoreless innings in relief against McNeese State.
LSU will send Storz back to the doctor in the near future to have his shoulder re-examined, Mainieri said. The soreness has come and gone all season since the freshman underwent surgery to remove a bone spur back in the fall.
So ends a confounding season for the highest-regarded member of LSU’s signing class who actually made it to campus. At one point this season, Mainieri raved that the Brooklyn native had the stuff to become a Friday night ace once healthy.
However, every encouraging step forward was inevitably followed by a frustrating setback. Storz finishes his first collegiate season having thrown three scoreless innings over two appearances with three strikeouts.
Since he pitched after the halfway point of the regular season, Storz isn’t eligible for a medical redshirt. That’s really a moot point though, according to Mainieri, as the staff expects the hard-throwing right-hander to be drafted and sign professionally once he’s eligible for the MLB Draft.
LSU still believes Storz will be a major factor in the weekend rotation in 2019, but after months of updates, any hope of him bolstering the bullpen for a postseason run has been extinguished.
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