LSU pitching coach Jason Kelly stands on the field before the Tigers' season opener against Maine, Friday, February 18, 2022, at LSU's Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU catcher Tyler McManus (26) speaks with LSU pitcher Trent Vietmeier (30) in an intrasquad scrimmage, Friday, November 12, 2021, at Alex Box Stadium on the campus of LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU pitching coach Jason Kelly stands on the field before the Tigers' season opener against Maine, Friday, February 18, 2022, at LSU's Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
LSU catcher Tyler McManus (26) speaks with LSU pitcher Trent Vietmeier (30) in an intrasquad scrimmage, Friday, November 12, 2021, at Alex Box Stadium on the campus of LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
Graduate student Trent Vietmeier stood tall but relaxed Thursday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, sporting an “LSU Strength” T-shirt with a barbell and weights.
It had been a while since Vietmeier had spoken to media, and when he was asked how he's doing, he shrugged his shoulders, clasped his hands together and said: “I’m in the best shape of my life.”
Not just physically, he meant, but mentally. As one of three fifth-year pitchers on the LSU roster, he knows a thing or two about how to handle the ups and downs of the job. But he also feels as though new pitching coach Jason Kelly has unlocked something special in the LSU bullpen: creativity.
“Honestly, it’s kind of a bad thing to throw too many strikes; I know it sounds crazy,” Vietmeier said. “He teaches us how to make the ball look like a strike, and that’s the main thing pitching. It’s a mind game the whole time for us, and that’s what JK (Jason Kelly) has taught us.”
So far, it has worked. Going into this season, pitching was the No. 1 question for LSU in its first year under coach Jay Johnson, and after tallying its first one-hitter since 2017 against UNO, the bullpen has continued to impress, even through the Tigers’ losses.
LSU (10-3) begins its final nonconference series at noon Friday with the first of three games against Bethune-Cookman (5-7) of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Next weekend, the Tigers will open Southeastern Conference play with a home against Texas A&M.
Despite a 1-2 showing on the road last week at the Shriners Classic in Houston, the bullpen was the strength of the team.
Six relievers went 4⅓ innings Friday against Oklahoma, allowing one earned run on five hits, striking out five and walking two in a 5-4 win.
Three pitchers, including Vietmeier, followed Ty Floyd to limit No. 1 Texas to just one run on three hits through five innings Saturday, when the Tigers lost 6-1. Defensive mistakes undermined the staff Sunday against Baylor. Through seven innings, the bullpen allowed six earned runs on nine hits and two walks.
Vietmeier came into both the Texas and Oklahoma games at the Shriners Classic, then finished the final two-thirds of an inning in Wednesday's 6-2 win against McNeese State.
Johnson described Vietmeier as “steady,” on Thursday, meaning, he knows what he’s going to get out of the veteran.
He’s not a high-velocity pitcher, throwing a slider, cutter and a changeup. But once the cutter is warmed up for the season, the fastball will follow. Again, it’s about hitting spots, he said, not velocity.
Ma’khail Hilliard, Johnson said, is similar, throwing upper-80s breaking pitches that hit the spot.
Kelly’s emphasis on adding the changeup pitch is also something new. He forces everybody to learn it in the fall, but that doesn’t mean everyone will develop it and use it. Kelly estimates it will become a part of five or six pitchers’ repertoire.
So far, Devin Fontenot, who usually throws a fastball or curveball, has added the changeup, while Cale Lansville and Eric Reyzelman are close to being able to use it consistently.
“It’s an interesting concept to try and tell a 17-year-olds to throw it slower in high school, so a lot of them don’t show up with a feel for that pitch,” Kelly said. “As you get to this level, or the next level, those hitters can handle 105 mph, so you’ve got to have something else to combat that.”
A changeup, Kelly said, is also less stressful on a pitcher's arm. Health is the emphasis of Kelly’s throwing program that Vietmeier said is also different than previous years.
“We threw a lot last year and in the prior years as well, and a lot of guys could adhere to it and overcome soreness, but a lot of guys couldn’t get in the right groove,” Vietmeier said.
That also includes allowing pitchers to prepare for games in the ways that make them most comfortable — a freedom more representative of a major league bullpen. Other than hip exercises, Vietmeier said he’s just a guy who goes out there and throws the baseball — no weighted balls or anything crazy.
Going into this weekend's series against Bethune-Cookman, Johnson has named Blake Money as the starting pitcher for Friday; he has yet to announce Saturday or Sunday starters.
So far, Floyd, Hilliard, Will Hellmers, Riley Cooper, Grant Taylor and Garrett Edwards have started on the mound for the Tigers.
But Johnson is confident that anyone in the bullpen can finish the job on the back end, and he’ll use as many pitchers as he likes.
“I’m not even in a place where we need to pare it down right now,” Johnson said. “Because so many guys I feel like can get the job done.”
Email Leah Vann at lvann@theadvocate.com.
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