South Bound & Down
Fansided

SEC Baseball: Preseason power rankings for 2022 season

By Matt Melton

OMAHA, NEBRASKA - JUNE 30: Luke Hancock #20 of the Mississippi St. reacts after tagging out Parker Noland #25 of the Vanderbilt in a double play in the bottom of the first inning during game three of the College World Series Championship at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on June 30, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - JUNE 30: Luke Hancock #20 of the Mississippi St. reacts after tagging out Parker Noland #25 of the Vanderbilt in a double play in the bottom of the first inning during game three of the College World Series Championship at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on June 30, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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LSU Tigers (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

5. LSU Tigers

The Tigers will be entering year No. 1 under new head coach Jay Johnson, headlined by an exciting returning roster from last season.

Going 38-25 overall a year ago (13-17 in SEC), the Tigers did advance to a Super Regional last season, and return many notable names from that team, especially in the lineup. As for which players LSU will have to replace though, Zach Arnold is the lone notable in the lineup, while the Tigers will have to replace three prominent starters in Landon Marceaux, AJ Labas, and Jaden Hill.

As mentioned previously however, LSU returns an exciting lineup featuring multiple familiar faces such as Dylan Crews, Tre’ Morgan, Cade Doughty, Gavin Dugas, Jordan Thompson, Cade Beloso, Drew Bianco, and Govanni DiGiacomo. A talented lineup already, the Tigers also added one of the top overall collegiate 2022 Draft prospects in Arizona transfer Jacob Berry (.352/.439/676 w/ 17 HR and 70 RBI’s in 2021), as well as a few other impact transfers and freshman.

The biggest question facing the Tigers this season will undoubtedly be replacing Marceaux, Labas, and Hill in the rotation, with the returning Ma’Khail Hilliard and Will Hellmers among the top options. In addition to those two, Devin Fontenot and Ty Floyd could also see extensive time in the rotation, while the bullpen led by Garrett Edwards should also be a strength for this LSU team.

The Tigers don’t have many question marks aside from the rotation entering the 2022 season. If a couple of arms can emerge in the rotation, this is a very-dangerous LSU team.

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