Jay Johnson raises urgency as LSU baseball looks for answers

The last three weeks have been the most troubling stretch of baseball in Jay Johnson’s tenure at LSU. The Tigers went from 16-2 and the No. 2 team in the country to now 20-10, 2-7 in SEC play, and No. 25 in the nation.

Johnson’s team has now lost four straight after Monday’s stunning loss to Southern at home 12-7 and the road only gets more challenging with Vanderbilt coming to Baton Rouge this weekend, starting Thursday.

“In all the years I’ve done this, I’m not sure there’s been a stretch like this and I’m not sure there’s been a conference like this, in terms of talent, age, experience. I just saw a top 100 prospects list and they’re all from our league and from the opponents we’ve played and will play. It requires your best to perform at a high level. We have good players and we’ll keep moving in the right direction.

“All of it is built around undivided attention towards improving as a player and helping our team win. It’s about how we play, not who we play right now.”

LSU’s inconsistencies at the plate have been troubling, now ranking 8th in the conference in batting average, 11th in RBIs, 7th in on base percentage, and tied for 9th in home runs this season. 

The Tigers don’t have a batter with an average over .320 that’s taken more than 35 at bats this year. Jared Jones has the highest OPS of the season, at 1.137, fueled by his 10 home runs, but his 29 strikeouts also are a team high.

“It’s not about this guy over this guy, it’s about all of them being a little bit better,” Johnson said. “That’s what gives me hope. We have a lot of room for growth. That’s the No. 1 team that we played, who I have a ton of respect for, a great homefield environment, and there’s something to go get for our players. It’s day-to-day. That’s the challenge we’re going through. I would be surprised if there weren’t six teams from the SEC in Omaha, so we have to have focus, attention, and execution. We have to put all of our eggs in that basket. There’s not a lot of margin for error.”

Johnson continues to preach focus and discipline. The past two LSU teams he has had perhaps had more experience and more veteran presence in the building, but this team has been more of a project for Johnson. Despite the obvious talent, getting all of the new faces on the same page has been more of a challenge than previously expected. 

Time is beginning to run out with seven SEC series left and just three wins over high-major  conference competition at the moment. Johnson knows this next month and a half will come quickly, but he’s ready for his best players to begin to step up and set the tone for LSU in the back half of this season.

“We need leadership from different players in different areas,” Johnson said. “You really need poise in these battles we have and I’d point to Luke Holman. You need competitiveness and I’d point to Tommy White. They’re talented, but they’ve also played through this, had success with it, and now operate with confidence. In terms of at-bats, Michael Braswell has done a great job and I’m proud of the improvements he made. If others were playing better, that would be highlighted even more.

“We had a staff meeting after the game on Monday night and there was something that was said that was profound: If your best players play good, a lot of the issues play well, a lot of your issues go away. That’s what we need. We need our best players to play good if we’re going to beat any of these teams on our schedule right now.”