Transformed Ricken deals in debut

By Hunt Palmer

Reagan Ricken spent the fall of 2024 on the football field.

Twelve months later, the former star quarterback for Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., went from pig skin to pigging out. Unlike other freshmen in college, Ricken deliberately worked with LSU strength coach Chris Martin to put on weight.

It worked.

“I’ve put on over 30 pounds since I got here over the summer,” Ricken said. “Really putting muscle on and trying to fill my body out and just make the mechanics the best they can be.

“The reason I did it, I was 190 coming out of high school. That wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to put weight on. It had to do with just keeping the velo longer into the game just as the innings go. I just don’t want that to change. It’s to the hitter’s advantage when it does.”

Lots of protein packed Ricken’s diet. The weight room was a second home.

That concerted effort didn’t affect Ricken’s pitching. Perfect Game called him a top five right hander in California and a top 15 right hander in the country coming out of high school. The step up in competition in the fall confirmed that.

Wednesday, Ricken made his in-game debut and fired three scoreless frames without allowing a hit against Nicholls.

“He had a great fall,” said head coach Jay Johnson. “He had a great outing against Southeastern Louisiana. He started every weekend (in the preseason), so that’s actually the first time we actually brought him out of the pen. I think he was better (Wednesday) than in those games, but I have all kinds of faith and all kind of plans for him at LSU.”

When Johnson says things like that, it’s wise to listen. While Ethan Frey was battling for at bats as a young player with stars like Dylan Crews, Brayden Jobert and others roaming the grass, Johnson claimed Frey “could be an All-American here”.

Two years later, Frey hit .331 with 13 homers in the middle of the order for a national title team.

It takes development, and Johnson prides himself and his program on development young talents into future collegiate stars and pro players. Ricken’s first step was packing on the pounds. There’s another aspect to the game Ricken is focusing on.

“A lot from the mental side of the game,” Ricken said. “It’s something I really wasn’t big on coming out of high school. It’s something they’re big on here. I’m starting to take advantage of it more. It helps me stay calm when I’m out there.”

Nerves didn’t appear to show up Wednesday. Ricken retired the first six men he faced on just 15 pitches, 12 for strikes. He ended up throwing 38 pitches which is a nice stretching out.

“He’s going to be right in the thick of things for three years,” Johnson said. “It was about finding the right spot. We did this last year with William (Schmidt). We would start him, but we would reverse engineer the game and bring him in in the fifth or the sixth. I think we did it against (Nicholls) down there last year. That’s kind of what the plan was today. He’s going to be awesome here.”

It far too early to tell how ‘awesome’, but Ricken has the tools to be great. He’s got a pitcher’s frame, the athleticism to be a quarterback, a mid 90s fastball and a nice changeup he used to get a strikeout on Wednesday. He told the media after the game that he’s working on tightening his slider.

It’s all part of the script for creating the types of pitchers that propel LSU’s program toward winning games and piling up more strikeouts than any program in the country the last two seasons.

LSU now heads to Jacksonville with a rested staff after a taxing week. Johnson saw it another way. LSU’s depth was on display.

“That’s five games in six days, and we’re running out Reagan Ricken for the last three innings,” Johnson said. “That guy probably can pitch on Friday here at some point.”