LSU’s weekend rotation is coming back.
That’s a rarity. It’s also rare for LSU to finish 9-21 in SEC play. That means the rotation has to be better and more durable.
Cooper Moore only made two SEC starts a season ago. Casan Evans wasn’t healthy the last month of the season, and William Schmidt missed his final two starts.
Moore had elbow surgery, not Tommy John, and is on the mend.
“He’s working his way back,” LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson said Wednesday. “He’s throwing with great intent, probably ahead of schedule. He will not pitch in the fall. The type of pitcher he is, you know, command, control, strikes, pitchability, that’s not going to affect him like moving into the season at all…He’s done a good job physically. Looks stronger.”
That’s the high-floor option in the rotation. The ceiling of the staff, and the team, more so hinges on Evans and Schmidt making starts and eating up innings.
That didn’t happen a season ago, and the summer was geared toward it.
“We met with both of those guys at the end of the season, and there was that part of it, and then there was pitching and development, you know, part of it and we’re very intentional with what we did or what we’re doing with them,” Johnson said. “In Casan’s case, he’s done a really nice job of that, not just physically, but the throwing volume increasing.
“It’s like golf,” Johnson said. “I hear this about golf all the time, like the better you get, the harder it is to get to the next click. I’m not very good at golf. That’s what I hear, though. So, I would say that you know the one positive about it’s not easy to get through an SEC lineup twice, forget three times. That wasn’t even a thing last year. So, like that gets your attention.”
SCHMIDT SETTLING
MLB second-round picks don’t usually end up in college.
Logan Schmidt certainly didn’t intend to be at LSU, but some dominos fell LSU’s way in the draft process. Now, he’s in his second month on campus with the program.
“Sometimes it’s good to get lucky,” Johnson said. “And that’s what happened. In this instance, there was not one thought, from the signing date until the last day that you could sign with a pro team, that Logan would be here. And I say that out of the greatest respect for who he is and who he’s capable of being as a pitcher.”
The hard-throwing southpaw turned down over $1 million from the Cleveland Guardians and came to school. That was decision No. 1.
Second, he had to take some time off. His 18-year-old lefthander was ready for pro ball in July. Now, his first outing won’t be until February.
“He will not pitch in a game or a scrimmage until November 1st, and the reason behind that is there was an expectation he was going to sign,” Johnson said. “So, he was completely built up to sign and go out and pitch professionally right after the draft. So, working with Logan and (high school coach) Jared (Sandler), we worked out a plan to kind of de-load after that, instead of staying ramped up from his high school season, and all the way through the fall and then all the way through the spring. So, a de-load, and then we’re reloading him and not having to reload him so fast.”
Schmidt is a polished product mechanically. Johnson said he threw 80% strikes in his senior season in Southern California.
After he makes his first start on that November sunder, he’ll throw four Sundays in a row entering the winter break.
When he returns in January, the suggestion is that Schmidt will be ready to help the Tigers early and often.
“He’s off to a great start, and he’s going to really impact us in a real positive way for the next three years,” Johnson said.
TWO-WAY PLAY
During his time at LSU, Johnson has coached a handful of players who could both pitch and hit. None have done so at the SEC level.
Dalton Beck pitched some innings and delivered a big hit against Tennessee, but he didn’t play a key role as either a pitcher or hitter in 2025.
Paul Skenes had the ability, but he was too important on the mound. Jake Brown didn’t provide enough with his arm and became an All-SEC batter and staple in right field. Gavin Guidry didn’t hit and threw huge innings for three seasons.
Lucas Nawrocki will do both.
“He’s doing both,” Johnson said “Just so we’re clear, he is a two-way player. That is not up for debate. It will not change over three years here. He’s definitely going to be a two-way player.”
While unique to his time at LSU, this is something Johnson has handled many times in his career at lower levels.
Future MLB players don’t show up in an assembly line at San Diego or Nevada, so the best players have to do more. That often meant hitting and pitching.
Johnson handles the offensive side, pitching coach Nate Yeskie works on the mound.
“Being really intentional about what we’re doing with time is ultra important,” Johnson said. “So, as an example, in the phase we’re in right now, he’s (throwing bullpens) Tuesday and Friday as part of our deal to build the load. He’ll always throw on the first day of scrimmages for the week, and then do his rehab throwing and then be a position player the rest of the time.
“But then he won’t swing right now on the days that he’s penning,” Johnson said. “And he’s a left-handed thrower, left-handed hitter, so all the rotations are the same. So, you have to pay attention to balance in the body, load, lifting. It’s all dialed in and communicated.”
Nawrocki figures to help immediately on the mound with his wipe-out slider and low 90s fastball. His impact in the lineup is to be determined.
LSU has a stacked group of veteran position players which includes deep left-handed hitting.
The pitching staff is a bigger question, and Nawrocki may provide an answer. The young talent is already proving himself to be among the hardest workers on the roster.
“We thought about skipping a pen for no other reason than load management,” Johnson said this week. “And I’m like, well, this guy’s just going to replace it with 500 swings. And so, that’s not the end goal. We actually kept the pen. Him getting here and doing his work is not going to be an issue. So, it’s just more him communicating with how he feels and load management.”
