As the season winds down, watch these five LSU freshmen step into bigger roles, showcasing talent and building for the Tigers' future success.
With the season all but gone, the LSU Tigers have begun to give their young guys a shot and start to lay the groundwork for the future of the squad.
It's already started to happen, but here are five Tigers freshmen who will play bigger roles over the final few weeks of the season:
RHP Marcos Paz
Paz is going to log a start for the second-straight weekend. While it probably won't be a super long start, it's still good to see him getting looks. It's clear that the coaching staff sees a future weekend role for the hurler.
The Texas native hasn't had the strongest campaign with a 7.23 ERA, but he's been better as the season has gone along. Like most young pitchers, he racks up a lot of strikeouts but struggles with control.
OF William Patrick
Patrick is viewed as somewhat of the future in the outfield, given his impressive baseline of athletic ability. He is known for his speed, a track star, while also being 6-foot-2, nearly 210 pounds as a freshman. He was someone who could have realistically been drafted in the first couple of rounds out of high school.
Freshman year hasn't been too kind, he has one extra-base hit (a double) in 27 plate appearances with a .200/333/.250 slash line. He does have four RBI and not all Tigers hitters have been reliable at driving runs in.
RHP Zion Theophilus
Like Patrick, Theophilus was a big time recruiting pickup. Less of a sure thing, being from Ohio. He had a lot of hype around him following two no-hitters as a high school freshman. He's given up just two runs in his last four outings, so things look to be smoothing out for him as the season goes alone. He has a 5.68 ERA on the year.
IF Jack Ruckert
Ruckert was the top player in Louisiana coming out of high school. He had more playing time early in the season and then saw it decline, but he's back in the lineup and playing well over the last week or so. He has a .265/.405/.382 slash line. His biggest strength has been getting on base. He has drawn eight walks with just six strikeouts, which is an impressive feat for a freshman.
RHP Reagan Ricken
Ricken is a big, tall freshman hurler who has started to pick up some more outings lately. He has big of a control proble, 13 strikeouts to 11 walks in 15 innings of work. He does have the best ERA of his peers on this list at 4.80.