We’ve been here before, there’s no need to panic. Yet.
Let’s start with something we can all agree on: a 2-7 start to conference play is unacceptable at LSU.
I can agree to that, LSU fans can agree to that, the players can agree to that, and Jay Johnson can agree to that. It has been a brutally disappointing start to the season, with some close losses and some games where the Tigers were not competitive. This isn’t meant to excuse anything or let anybody off the hook. The team needs to play better.
And they will.
Watching this weekend’s series against Arkansas, ESPN kept showing a graphic showing how Ole Miss and Mississippi State cratered immediately after their titles. I get where they were going with it, but I think it’s far too early to begin drawing those comps. LSU is too far a talented team to be written off before the calendar even flipped to April.
Yes, it’s probably too late in the game for LSU to capture a regular season crown, but we don’t update The Intimidator for those. Regular season titles are little more than footnotes. Our goal is to play the best baseball we can in May and June. That’s what happened last year, when the LSU pitching staff was an abject disaster heading into the SEC Tournament and magically turned into the team’s greatest strength after Memorial Day.
While there are a few holdovers from last year, this is a different team and there are some adjustments to make. Paul Skenes is gone, and instead of one top-line clear cut stud LSU portaled in two weekend staters. Tommy White went from half of the most feared hitting duo in the sport to having to be the main bat. Jared Jones, who was a Freshman All-American that struggled to find playing time because of Tre Morgan, is being asked to contribute more, as is Brady Neal and Paxton Kling. Senior and veteran presences like Morgan, Cade Beloso, and Gavin Dugas are absent.
We saw a great example of this Friday night in Fayetteville when Jay Johnson put in highly touted freshman Cam Johnson into the game in a high leverage situation. Johnson struggled to find the zone and walked in a run, but after a mound meeting decided to keep him in, even it meant conceding a run and possibly the game. Because it wasn’t about that one game, it was about putting Johnson in a situation where he would be able to demonstrate how he handles pressure and adversity, because as tough as that moment was for him it has nothing in comparison to what he’ll face in a Regional, Super Regional, or Omaha. It’s better to put the players in situations and let them fail now so that later they can figure it out.
I would personally prefer it if Johnson didn’t tinker with the lineup as much, because I believe that a lineup that wakes up every day knowing when they will hit and where they will field is a confident team, and a confident team is a good team. But then again, Jay Johnson has exactly one more championship ring than I do and it’s important to get that experience across the entire lineup.
And look, part of LSU’s woeful record is the fact that they absolutely got a tough draw of the schedule to start. There are quite a few teams that would struggle on the road against Mississippi State and Arkansas alternating with Florida and Vanderbilt. The fact that LSU is trying to establish that experience is only compounded by that.
What’s painful about LSU’s record is how easily it could be flipped. They dropped absolutely Sunday clunkers to Mississippi State and Florida but should have had the Florida series locked up on that Saturday and were competitive in all three games against Arkansas. They made pretty good contact off Hagen Smith and had a lead on Friday and Saturday, they just couldn’t hold on and get a clutch hit late in the game when they needed one the most. Those losses hurt in the moment for sure and were frustrating, but those results are not going to bar this team from achieving its goals.
The wins will come with experience, experience the Tigers are currently loading up on even if the results aren’t breaking their way. LSU may in fact lose this upcoming series to Vanderbilt. As always, they are a talented and superbly coached team who have a plan of attack and stick to it. They may lose the next one to Tennessee in Knoxville. Those games matter – we wouldn’t keep a record if they didn’t – but remember, our season isn’t defined by what happens in March and April.
We’ll see you in the summer.