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College  | Story  | 3/7/2017

College Spotlight: LSU

Jheremy Brown     
Photo: LSU Athletics
 


Perfect Game College Player Database
Weekly Spotlights: Week 1 | Week 2 | Frisco Classic

Every week during the 2017 college baseball season we will be pulling at least one report, and corresponding video when available, of a player entered into the College Player Database. This week will be a little different given Perfect Game's presence at three major college baseball tournaments, including the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Below we will share one detailed report of a player from each of the six participating teams (Baylor, LSU, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech) starting with the sixth-ranked LSU Tigers. All of the reports entered into the database can be found in one, easy-to-find place as linked above, and can also be accessed off of the individual PG player profile pages.

To access all of the reports you will need a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) subscription. To learn more about the CBT and to sign up today please visit this link.


There’s not need to go and hit the panic button if your one of the many LSU fans you took the trip over to Houston this past weekend. The Tigers may have gone 1-2 at the Shriners Classic, but if you could remove a single inning from either of those two games then they could have very realistically gone 3-0. A pair of abnormalities also took place in that ace righthander Alex Lange didn’t make it out of the second inning and senior shortstop Kramer Robertson was held hitless.

Enough of the bad news though as second baseman Cole Freeman continued to be a catalyst atop the order and Greg Deichmann hit his fifth home run of the season, while freshmen infielders Josh Smith and Jake Slaughter, along with Sunday starter Eric Walker, are a handful of very bright spots for the future of LSU. Jared Poché continued to play his video game that’s been the early start of the 2017, even though he did allow three base hits over seven innings, while hard-throwing relievers Caleb Gilbert and Hunter Kiel pumped mid-90s fastballs for strikes.

There’s certainly depth and talent to this team that is currently ranked sixth in the rankings and they look to rebound with a couple of midweek games before taking on Wichita State at The Box.




Greg Deichmann, OF

A draft-eligible sophomore last spring who was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 26th round, Greg Deichmann has picked up right where he left off in terms of offensive production and is on pace to surpass what he did as a sophomore. 

Speaking of Minnesota, that’s where Deichmann first put on his big lefthanded power on display as a rising sophomore at the Perfect Game Junior National Showcase in 2012 before powering his way on to a PG All-American selection in 2013 and is now in the heart of the LSU order. Not much has changed since then for Deichmann, aside from added physicality, as he still shows quiet yet explosive hands and plenty of strength off the barrel. 

His approach and overall swing at the plate are simple and it’s a balanced, short shift into contact which allowed for him to stay on time while generating natural leverage to his swing. He found the barrel more than once on the weekend as he hit a long home run off Baylor’s Montana Parsons on a changeup left up in the zone (see video) and even some of his outs were of the loud variety as he lined one ball to the shortstop that came off the barrel at 103 mph. Deichmann rarely expanded the strike zone throughout the weekend, and though there’s some aggressiveness to his approach, there’s also some selectivity which had helped guide him to a .366-5-17 line through the first three weeks of the year. 

Deichmann has also made the transition from corner infield to right field this spring where he hasn't looked out of place one bit. Though not challenged at all throughout the weekend, reports have been solid thus far on his defensive play as he's athletic enough to cover ground and shows solid arm strength with plenty of carry.




Jared Poché, LHP
There’s no other way to describe the start to the 2017 season for LSU senior lefthander Jared Poché other than remarkable as he had allowed just one base hit heading into his third start against the Baylor Bears in the Shriners Classic. The talented lefthander once again did his thing as he scattered three base hits over seven innings of shutout baseball, maintaining his flawless ERA over now 22 innings. 

Regardless the level those types of numbers are impressive and he’s able to do it by relying on a strong feel to mix his pitches, command the zone and repeat his delivery. Working from a higher three-quarters slot, Poché isn’t going to attack you with a mid-90s fastball that his statistics may indicate and that’s the beauty of what he brings to the mound. 

Consistently on top of the ball creating plane and angle Poché bumped as high as 89 mph with his heater against the Baylor Bears and would manipulate the life and velocity of the pitch down to 83-84 mph showing shorter running life to his arm side. He understands his strengths on the mound and doesn’t try to be a power pitcher and thus far the results speak for themselves. Over his seven innings of work Poché managed to punch out five without issuing a free pass as he can expertly move the ball to either side of the plate while mixing in his off-speed. 

The senior lefthander showed both a slider and curveball Saturday afternoon against Baylor though the curveball was called for more often. Like his fastball there was a wide velocity range for his curveball as he would add and subtract velocity, which in turn morphed both the shape and depth of the pitch. When thrown in the mid-70s the pitch showed tighter rotation and shorter depth as opposed to the low-70s offering which provided a different look with much bigger depth and served as a get-me-over early in the count. Poché’s slider bumped into the upper-70s and essentially gave him a third breaking pitch, all of which he threw for strikes. 

On a pitching staff that’s loaded with power arms, Poché understands how to pitch and more importantly knows how to compete and win in the juggernaut that’s known as the Southeastern Conference.


Other Louisiana State players added to College Player Database:

• Austin Bain
• Antoine Duplantis
• Cole Freeman
• Caleb Gilbert
• Hunter Kiel
• Alex Lange
• Kramer Robertson
• Jake Slaughter
• Josh Smith
• Eric Walker
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