LSU Pitching Coach Jason Kelly Says Tigers Not Done Making Big Moves With Baseball Roster
The Jay Johnson era is off to a glowing start in his first few weeks with the program. He's brought in All-American Jacob Berry and catcher Tyler McManus to boost the offense but has also made two critical assistant coaches in pitching coach Jason Kelly and recruiting coordinator Dan Fitzgerald.
Most recently, the Tigers landed their first pitcher via the transfer portal in Eric Reyzelman, a hard throwing San Francisco transfer who throws 94-97 and will undoubtedly be an asset for the Tigers. But Kelly said on Off the Bench Friday that the purple and gold aren't done adding elite level pitching to the 2022 roster.
"I don't think we're done bringing in a couple of more arms," Kelly said. "That's going to be discussed and now that I'm official, I think we might bring in one or two more real big pieces for us."
Kelly walks into a tricky situation with the pitching rotation in 2022 at LSU. He was a part of an Arizona State team in 2021 that had to replace its entire starting pitching rotation and closer by mid season.
It was a tumultuous season but one that ended in success as the Sun Devils found a way to claw to the NCAA Tournament.
"It was full of ups and downs and losing those guys in the season, it felt like the end of the year. It was an incredible experience of perseverance from our guys. We took criticism, we fought back so I'm not going to say it's the best coaching job I've ever done but it was the most interesting."
It's a situation that Kelly will have to carry over with him from Arizona State to LSU as the Tigers have the difficulty of replacing starting pitchers Landon Marceaux, AJ Labas, Jaden Hill and Ma'Khail Hilliard as well as closer Devin Fontenot. The Tigers figure to return freshmen like Ty Floyd, Will Hellmers, Garrett Edwards and Javen Coleman, all guys who have showed flashes of immense potential but need to develop.
Kelly, who is known to be one of the best pitching recruiters but also developers in the game, is excited for the chance to get to work with some of the returning players.
"I've got a chance to look at a little bit of video and one thing I do know is everybody I've met is a really high character kid and is excited about the next step," Kelly said. "It's a super regional team and there's a lot of those characteristics in place that maybe you can't teach. Come in with a new voice and build on what they've done and I think we're going to get some excitement out of this group."
