Pitching rotation for the week

| | | |

It’s all up in the air, just like approaching rain

By CARL DUBOIS
Tiger Rag Associate Editor

After LSU’s 9-2 victory Sunday against Brown, coach Paul Mainieri walked reporters through the pitching possibilities for the week ahead. CLICK HERE to read about it on yesterday’s game blog.

There are several maybes, largely because junior right-hander Anthony Ranaudo will do something every day this week to gauge the recovery of his elbow. He missed two starts because of a stress reaction in his right elbow.

Another maybe owes to rain that’s on the way. See below.

Meanwhile, here’s a brief outline of how Mainieri broke it down for us yesterday about the possibilities for LSU starting pitching this week:

6:30 p.m. Tuesday vs. UL-Monroe: freshman right-hander Michael Reed.

6 p.m. Wednesday vs. Northwestern State at Shreveport: sophomore left-hander Chris Matulis or junior right-hander Austin Ross, a Shreveport native, if Matulis isn’t ready. He experienced some soreness after his Thursday appearance vs. Pepperdine.

7 p.m. Friday vs. Kansas: sophomore right-hander Joey Bourgeois.

2 p.m. Saturday vs. Kansas: Rittiner or Ross.

1 p.m. Sunday vs. Kansas: Ranaudo, Rittiner or Ross. Assuming Ranaudo is ready to go, Ross could be the first out of the bullpen, with Ranaudo starting but pitching limited innings (set the over-under at three).

CLICK HERE to listen to our chat with Mainieri yesterday, which includes sections about the pitching and the options he has for the next five scheduled games.

Storms are on the way

LSU might have to adjust its thinking. As of this writing, the forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain Tuesday in Baton Rouge, so the UL-Monroe game could be in jeopardy. There is also a chance of rain Wednesday in Shreveport, so stay tuned. WATCH THIS VIDEO for details.

The forecast for the weekend series with Kansas looks baseball-perfect.

Associate editor Carl Dubois has covered LSU athletics since 1999 and is Tiger Rag’s lead writer for LSU baseball. Contact him at carl@tigerrag.com.