You asked about LSU’s batting order, recruiting and pitching. Here are our answers.

NOTE: Every so often, Leah Vann reaches into her mailbag and answers a few of your questions regarding the LSU baseball team and the college baseball landscape. Here, she gave some of her answers ahead of the Tigers’ game against Texas A&M in the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday. 

Q: What’s the logic behind a ~.220 hitter in the No. 2 spot? I feel like (Josh) Pearson didn’t get very many at-bats this year to warrant such a leap into the lineup.

There are two reasons I think Pearson could be in this spot, though it’s debatable how justified those reasons are.

Pearson went 3 for 7 (.428) against Georgia last week. Then he went 2 for 4 against South Carolina on Wednesday, walking once. He does get on base a lot (.404 on-base percentage this season, .434 in conference play), which might be why.

But putting a left-handed batter second in the lineup against Arkansas’ Hagen Smith and Hunter Hollan, two of the best lefties in the SEC, when he’s batting .259 against left-handed pitchers this year is a little beyond me.

The reason for having Pearson in the lineup is positioning — with Tre’ Morgan moving from the outfield back to first base, you need another outfielder, and he’s the most experienced option. 

Q: What was the purpose in putting Tre’ Morgan in LF when he was just going to come back to first in the postseason? Isn’t that getting him out of rhythm?

Though he didn’t go into detail, LSU coach Jay Johnson hinted that Morgan has been a little beaten up this season after the Tigers’ game against McNeese State on May 16: “Tre’s dealing with a lot. You don’t see it because he played as good as you could play, but I mean, the body’s not in great shape.”

So besides trying to maximize production at the plate by sneaking a power hitter like Jared Jones, or an experienced hitter like Cade Beloso, into the lineup, there have been some health-related reasons for keeping Morgan in left field. This was the first time this season Johnson has said something about Morgan’s health. Morgan has played in 55 games this season.

Q: Does LSU have any incoming freshmen who project out like DC4 (Dylan Crews)?

The answer is maybe, but it’s a matter of whether they get to campus.

Crews’ case was an anomaly because of the shortened 2020 MLB draft. LSU has four commitments from the 2023 class among MLB Pipeline’s Top 150 draft-eligible players.

The top commitment is a two-way player, catcher and right-hander Blake Mitchell, who is projected to go No. 13 overall. He was the Gatorade player of the year as a junior at Sinton High School in Texas. The fourth of those top four is shortstop/second baseman Steven Milam from New Mexico. He’s projected to go No. 97 overall whom scouts describe as a “mini-Alex Bregman” (he’s 5-foot-8). According to MLB Pipeline, Milam is a switch hitter but doesn’t have a lot of power, though he drives the ball through the gaps. He probably has the best chance of the top four to actually go to LSU because of his size — but the highest-drafted player LSU took in last year was Brady Neal, whom the Milwaukee Brewers selected in the 17th round. 

Q: Any update on Brady Neal? 

Brady Neal has been taking batting practice and catching bullpen sessions and is available for the tournament. Whether he plays is another question. He hasn’t swung a bat in a game situation since April 7. He could use the practice, but the postseason isn’t practice, and he’s a true freshman. 

Q: What are your thoughts on a coin flip deciding home teams for the tournament? 

Dumb. Should go to the higher seed. But I’ll do you one worse: How about a coin flip deciding whether you go to the high school football playoffs? The most famous case, of course, was in 1988 in Texas, when the battle for a postseason berth in Disctrict 4-5A was decided by having three high school coaches from Midland, Midland Lee and Odessa Permian high schools flip coins at the same time at a designated truckstop in west Texas. Odessa Permian and Midland Lee advanced to the state playoffs over Midland High simply because their coaches both had their coins land on heads.

Coin flips have decided playoff berths for many teams in Texas since then. Sometimes there’s no other way to break a tie. 

Q: If LSU defeats Texas A&M, do you think there is a chance we see some true freshman pitchers, to give them some live pitching in circumstances that don’t mean a whole lot? What about Will Hellmers? 

It’s likely Griffin Herring and Gavin Guidry will pitch in the tournament just to stay on schedule, and because they give LSU a good chance to win. I doubt we see Aiden Moffett or Micah Bucknam pitch unless the Tigers really get in a bind.

As for Will Hellmers, he has an ERA of 9.00 through 11 innings, with 14 strikeouts and nine walks. It’s been a tough season for him. I know there have been worse numbers for Christian Little and Thatcher Hurd at times, but Hellmers was not a Johnson recruit, and Little and Hurd have more upside when they’re on their game.