Class of Newcomers Includes Five Players Selected in MLB Draft
BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri expressed confidence Tuesday that a 14-man class of newcomers will significantly impact the 2012 Fighting Tiger squad.
The new group of Tigers includes eight pitchers and six position players. Five of the players were selected in the 2011 MLB Draft and elected to enroll at LSU instead of beginning a pro career.
“We were able to hold on to five of our eight signees that were drafted,” Mainieri said. “The challenge is to sign the best players in the country that will come to school. Any player that we sign we believe will attend school, and we’re very excited about those players because they will make a major impact on our program.
“Even the players that were not drafted, we feel very good about them and think they will be some of the best players in our program as we go forward. The draft is not necessarily an indicator on who will become vital players in our program. We’re excited about everyone that is joining our team.”
The 14 newcomers start classes at LSU Monday and will join the returning players for conditioning drills and individual workouts over the next several weeks.
The Tigers begin their six-week, full-squad fall practice session on September 25. The 2012 season starts on February 17 when the Tigers play host to Air Force in Alex Box Stadium.
“We’ll have 40 players in fall practice,” Mainieri said. “We’ll have to make some decisions before our first game in February about who will be on our final 35-man roster. I think it is a talented team, particularly on the mound. This might be the deepest pitching staff I’ve ever had as a coach. I am excited to see what (LSU pitching coach) Alan Dunn does with this staff because we have a chance and a need to be a dominant pitching staff come spring time.
“I know people are concerned where the hitting is going to come from. With the change of the bats and the roster limits, we’ve had to make some adjustments with the style of play. I feel confident going into this year that we’re going to come up with an effective plan at the plate. It will continue to be a work in progress, but I feel that we’ll be a scrappy, hard-nosed offensive team, a good defensive team and an outstanding pitching team. That’s what is going