Position Preview: Relief Pitching

By Hunt Palmer

February thoughts rarely align with June realities in college baseball.

Fifty-six games over 14 weeks weave an unpredictable story. This time last year Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson weren’t widely regarded as the best one-two punch in the country. They were.

Right now, LSU doesn’t have proven commodity in its projected rotation. Perhaps that emerges. Perhaps it doesn’t.

It’s unlikely LSU boasts the No. 3 pick in the draft and two of the top three strikeout pitchers in America again.

What feels more probable is LSU’s bullpen emerging as a force. Jay Johnson has called it the deepest staff he’s coached at LSU and declared a small amount of separation between the staff’s top arm and No. 12.

I included Casan Evans, Cooper Moore, William Schmidt, Cooper Williams and Zac Cowan in the starters preview. I mentioned there that I thought Cowan would work out of the bullpen.

That leaves 15 more healthy pitchers to look at.

RHPs

Gavin Guidry – Fourth year in the program. Healthy. Looked phenomenal in the fall.

Mavrick Rizy – 6-foot-9 with a fastball near 100 mph. High leverage potential.

Jaden Noot – Threw important innings late last year. Mid 90s fastball and a plus changeup.

Grant Fontenot – Biggest sleeper on the roster. Fastball in the mid 90s. Late bloomer as senior.

Connor Benge – Fastball slider mix. Threw a lot early last year but lost his command and role.

Deven Sheerin – Physically imposing right-hander with a heavy mid 90s fastball. Could be a late inning stopper.

Dax Dathe – Oldest player on the team. Played for Houston and Texas Tech. Depth righty.

Regan Ricken – Great athlete. Former high school QB. 6-foot-5 freshman and throws hard.

Marcos Paz – Elite stuff. True freshman, 18 months post-Tommy John. Future star.

Zion Theophilus – True freshman from Cincinnati. Works from the stretch. Bulldog attitude.

John Shahrdar – Senior walk on from Shreveport. Played at Northwestern State.

LHPs

DJ Primeaux – Made 22 appearances last season. Situational lefty.

Santiago Garcia – Emerged as key LHP for Oregon in 2024. Steven Milam’s high school teammate. Plus curveball.

Ethan Plog – Brutal on left-handed hitters. Quick arm action, sweeping breaking ball.

Danny Lachenmayer – 6-foot-3 lefty who had nine saves for NDSU last year. 56 strikeouts in 38 innings.

There’s a lot to chew on here, but I’ll be as direct as possible.

I think Cowan and Guidry are immediate high-leverage right handers who will be asked to close out tight games early in the season. They’re veterans, and they have the pitch mix to get late outs.

I would put Rizy and Noot in trusted roles, as well. Noot can obviously give more length. Rizy feels like a seventh or eighth inning guy who is in for three outs at high octane.

Fontenot, Benge and Sheerin are all fastball-slider guys with mid-to-high 90s velocity. Sheerin and Fontenot will be trusted in bigger spots. Benge is a depth piece that should see midweek innings.

The lefties are the next bucket. Plog and Garcia are going to be huge factors on this team. They’re really, really tough on lefty hitters. I’ve yet to see a poor Plog outing. The coaching staff is very high on him. Lachenmayer is young, and he’s got some talent. He’ll throw low leverage innings early on. Primeaux is down the line a little bit, but he was called on in two regional games and a super regional game last year. He got one out in all three cases.

Then the three freshman righties. Paz would not be in college if not for Tommy John. He’s got big time velocity, and I think he will become a real factor by April. Expect short stints early as he eases back into competition. Ricken profiles as a starter during his career. Just not on this team. Theophilus profiles as a reliever. But he’ll have to battle for a role on this roster.

The last two are the veterans from lower-level baseball. Dathe has played at JUCO and D2 levels between time at Texas Tech and Houston where he was a position player. Shahrdar was out of baseball last year.