LSU Athletics
By Hunt Palmer
In back-to-back seasons, LSU has formed a lethal one-two punch in the rotation.
Gage Jump and Luke Holman were great. Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson were elite, and they carried LSU to a title.
Anderson’s emergence will go down in LSU lore. In Omaha, he fired 16 innings of one-run baseball with 17 strikeouts and two extra base hits allowed. Eyanson got LSU into the seventh inning of the clinching game, and Chase Shores was able to take the baton from there.
LSU won the last nine games Eyanson pitched in and 17 of Anderson’s 19 starts. Those two are off to the professional ranks, and it’s time for Jay Johnson and Nate Yeskie to remake the weekend rotation once again.
WHAT WE KNOW
Casan Evans was sensational as a freshman.
He went 5-1 with a 2.05 ERA and seven saves in his rookie campaign. He and Zac Cowan emerged as the go-to bullpen options in high leverage spots, and they shined all season.
Johnson elected to move Evans into the rotation prior to the Tennessee series. He made three league starts with mixed results. Against the Vols, he worked six innings of two-run baseball with six strikeouts and no walks. The next two starts weren’t as good.
At Texas A&M, he walked three and gave up three hits. Moreso, he couldn’t get ahead in counts, and his pitch count swelled to 93 in 3.1 innings. Then Arkansas really barreled him up for four innings, collecting seven hits and four runs.
Evans went back to the bullpen and was sensational in his last four outings of the season.
His best was against Little Rock in the regional championship game. He entered second inning as the Tigers trailed 5-1 with the season on the brink. He worked six innings and allowed a single run on four hits with 12 strikeouts including nine straight at one point. That was a 106-pitch outing for Evans who showed he can handle a starter’s workload.
Evans has a fastball that hovers around 94 mph, and his changeup is his best secondary pitch. The breaking ball has been an emphasis in the offseason.
While Evans is adjusting to being a starter, Cooper Moore has done it. He made 14 starts at Kansas last year and was named a Second-Team All-Big 12 hurler with a 7-3 record and an ERA of 3.96. He punched out 85 against just 19 walks in 88.2 innings.
Moore also sits around 93 mph with his fastball and throws a hard slider at about 87. He lives in the strike zone and has put together some solid preseason starts this month.
Cooper Williams offers a left-handed rotation option. The 6-foot-4 southpaw made 21 appearances last season and worked to a tidy 1.80 ERA. Williams throws in the low 90s from a 3/4 arm slot and spins a sweeping breaking ball that is tough on left-handed bats. He’s been stretched out in the preseason
Cowan has a full season of starts under his belt from 2024 at Wofford. He was a bullpen bullet for LSU last year until he was thrust into starting roles in multiple NCAA Tournament games. Against Little Rock, he gave up five runs in 1.1 innings before Evans saved the day. However, two weeks later in Omaha he worked into the sixth against Arkansas and allowed just one run on four hits. Cowan sits in the low 90s and has a great straight changeup. His breaking ball is not a plus pitch.
And then there’s William Schmidt. The sophomore was up to 99 mph in the fall and has a devastating breaking ball. However, he walked 11 in two SEC innings last year and was essentially relegated to midweek innings. Saturday was Schmidt’s best outing of the preseason. He struck out 11 in four shutout innings.
HUNT’S PROJECTION
Dominant relievers don’t always translate to starters. Zack Hess struggled making the move in 2018. Last year Gabe Gackle tried and failed at Arkansas.
Evans is likely LSU’s top guy entering the season. I’m betting on him sticking in the rotation.
Moore is the safest bet of them all. He’s the highest floor addition to the staff. Moore is not a fit at the front of a great staff, but if he can slot in on Saturday or even Sundays, that will work nicely. For a higher ceiling, look at Schmidt. In terms of pure stuff, he’s LSU’s most talented option. Can he harness it?
It would behoove Johnson to give Schmidt some serious runway early in the season. If the lightbulb goes on, look out. LSU becomes a different team.
Williams allows for LSU’s best shot at having a left-hander in the mix. He’s been excellent in the preseason and will likely get a start over the course of the first week. I think Cowan goes to the bullpen.
It would surprise me a little bit if the first three starters are the same three in the SEC opener. It would stun me if those three stayed the same through 10 SEC weekends.
Moore is going to be a starter. I think he’ll make 14 weekend starts. I’m betting on Evans sticking, too. The third slot is basically up to Schmidt to nail it down or lose it. Williams will be waiting.
LSU plays five games in six days to open the season before they go to Jacksonville. That three-game weekend against Indiana, Notre Dame and Central Florida will be the first real look at a rotation. After that, two weeks remain before SEC play.
For LSU to be the best team it can be, Evans and Schmidt need to morph into the one-two punch.
If that doesn’t happen, the bullpen depth may have to be LSU’s pitching strength as opposed to a two-man punch at the top.
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