GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson will start the same pitching rotation in a three-game Southeastern Conference series against Mississippi State beginning Thursday at Alex Box Stadium that he has all season. But he’s starting to waver somewhat.
Sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson (5-0, 2.65 ERA, 34 innings, 8 walks, 56 strikeouts) will start the opener (7 p.m., SEC Network) for No. 5 LSU (23-3, 4-2 SEC) against junior right-hander Evan Siary (0-0, 2.31 ERA, 11 and two-thirds innings, 3 walks, 15 strikeouts) of Mississippi State (16-9, 1-5 SEC).
Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson (3-0, 4.50 ERA, 32 innings, 8 walks, 46 strikeouts) and redshirt sophomore right-hander Chase Shores (4-1, 4.88 ERA, 27 and two-thirds innings, 12 walks, 30 strikeouts) are LSU’s other two starters for Friday and Saturday in 6:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. games, respectively, on SEC Network+.
But on Wednesday afternoon, Johnson appeared on the verge of changing things, sooner or later, possibly with highly touted freshman Casan Evans.
CASAN EVANS WAS NOT COMING OUT OF THE GAME
A 6-foot-2 right-hander from St. Pius X High in Houston, Evans has the best earned run average on the staff at 1.12 – excluding three pitchers at six and a third innings or less. Evans is 1-0 on the season with a team-leading four saves in eight relief appearances and 16 innings. And he has one of the better strikeout-to-walk ratios on the team with 28 to five for a 5 to 1 ratio. He has not allowed a home run and has one of the lower batting averages allowed at .193.
Over his two SEC appearances on Sunday at Texas and the previous Saturday against Missouri, Evans has allowed one run in six innings for a 1.50 ERA on six hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. He got the save against Missouri in a 7-6 win in which he allowed two hits in a two and a third innings. He entered that game with runners on first and third with two outs in the seventh and up 7-6, and got a ground out.
In the eighth, he got himself in trouble by loading the bases with one out, but he struck out the next two to end the inning. Then he came back in the ninth and struck out two, allowed a single and got the last out on a grounder.
“He’s going to be a starter here obviously at some point,” Johnson said. “The pitch mix allows for him to extend. The talent allows that. But he can’t just go from 30 pitches to 80. We have to do that correctly.”
So, a week or two, depending on what the weekend starters do.
Asked point blank if Evans could be a weekend starter this season, Johnson said, “I don’t know. I hope at some point this year. I have full confidence in the guys who are doing it (in the weekend rotation), but he’s a great pitcher.”
Decisions, decisions.
Anderson has been a quality, consistent ace so far with a .205 batting average allowed and a 7 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the team with 56 and eight. But he has allowed five home runs. Eyanson and Shores have had bouts with inconsistency.
Shores leads the team in walks with 12, and he has allowed the highest batting average at .300 among pitchers who have thrown more than one inning. He is also coming off his worst game in the 6-2 loss at Texas Sunday – seven hits, five runs and two walks in four innings.
“I have more to work on with them,” Johnson said of his weekend rotation pitchers. “But that’s the plan right now.”
Johnson is torn about moving Evans to the weekend rotation, because he likes having one of his best pitchers as his closer. And Evans has clearly been one of his best pitchers. Compounding Johnson’s inner debate is not having veteran junior closer Gavin Guidry available. He has missed the whole season with a back injury and will not be available this weekend.
In addition, freshman William Schmidt, who was more highly touted out of Catholic High in Baton Rouge than Evans, has struggled of late and can’t be trusted with high leverage relief just yet. Over his last three appearances, he has allowed five runs on six hits with six walks in 3 and a third innings for an ERA of 13.50.
Another possible new starter is junior Zac Cowan (2-0, 1.27 ERA, 2 saves), but he has been excellent as a reliever. He has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio on the team at 9.67 to 1 with 29 strikeouts and three walks.
“One of the best guys is going to stay right there (in short relief),” Johnson said.
Without Cowan or Evans pitching on Saturday out of the bullpen, seven LSU relievers allowed nine hits and seven runs with five walks for a 17.10 ERA in an 11-7 loss.
“As we saw Saturday, if you don’t have him (a top pitcher closing) there, it gets really hard to finish games vs national championship-caliber teams,” Johnson said.
At some point, Johnson may have to make one of his best relievers a starter. In the meantime, he and pitching coach Nate Yeskie will be trying to improve those relievers who struggled Saturday – Conner Ware, Schmidt, Connor Benge, DJ Primeaux, Jacob Mayers, Dalton Beck and Mavrick Rizzi.
“We’re on top of that,” Johnson said. “We had a good meeting Monday morning with a few things for a few guys. Guys will continue to advance.”
And more decisions will have to be made.
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