Continuing this series about college pitching, we take a look at LSU products. This list is organized chronologically. It includes all Louisiana State pitchers signed in 1990 or later who 1) made the majors or 2) were drafted in the first six rounds.
Louisiana State University Pitchers in Professional Baseball, 1990-2010
Chad Ogea: RHP, drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the third round in 1991. Zipped through minors quickly, reaching Cleveland in 1994. Injuries ended his career at age 30. 37-35, 4.88 ERA, ERA+98, FIP 4.78, 369/214 K/BB in 633 innings, 672 hits, WAR+6.1.
Paul Byrd: RHP, drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fourth round in 1991. Reached majors with the Mets in 1995, then bounced around as a control artist/fourth starter for a decade. Never an ace, but had a successful career. Career record 109-96, 4.41 ERA, 103 ERA+, 4.72 FIP, 923/401 K/BB in 1697 innings, WAR +18.2.
Ricky Greene: RHP, drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the first round in 1992, 16th overall. Had a couple of good years as a minor league closer, but serious command problems kept him from consistent success. Got just one inning in the majors, in 1999 with the Reds. Minor league record 36-46, 4.30, 77 saves, 318/259 K/BB in 496 innings.
Lloyd Peever: RHP, drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round in 1992. Had a very nice year in Double-A in 1994 but got hurt in Triple-A in '95, never recovered, and out of baseball by 1998. Minor league record: 22-21, 4.13, 324/107 K/BB in 368 innings.
Mike Sirotka: LHP, drafted in the 15th round by the Chicago White Sox in 1993. Very effective in the minors, reached Chicago in 1995 then earned a regular starter job for three years. Career ended in 2001 at age 30 due to injury but he was good while he lasted. Career 45-42, 4.31 ERA, ERA+111, FIP 4.39, 435/207 K/BB in 710 innings, 803 hits, WAR+12.1
Scott Schultz: RHP, drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round in 1995. Made five starts in the New York-Penn League, then never pitched again. I'm not sure what happened; either it was an injury or he just retired for some reason. He had pitched 117 innings for LSU that year with a 150/27 K/BB and a 3.46 ERA.
Ed Yarnall: LHP, drafted by the New York Mets in the third round in 1996. Very effective in the minors and was a hot prospect for awhile, reached the majors with the Yankees in 1999 and pitched 20 career innings. Pitched in Japan with good success in '01 and ‘02, but spent most of his career in Triple-A, 59-49, 3.86 ERA with 859/385 K/BB in 962 minor league innings. One of the bigger prospect mysteries of the late 1990s.
Brett Laxton: RHP, drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 24th round in 1996. Excellent in A-ball in 1997, pitched well in Double-A and Triple-A, saw brief action for the Athletics and Royals in '99 and '00 (7.86 ERA in 26 innings) but spent most of his career in Triple-A. Minor league record 54-55, 4.26, 641/373 K/BB in 870 innings.
Patrick Coogan: RHP, drafted in the third round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997. Had a good start in rookie ball but never pitched well again, posting ERAs above 5.00 with weak peripheral numbers. Topped out in Triple-A, then out of baseball in 2003. Minor league record 28-42, 5.27 ERA, 384/201 K/BB in 559 innings, 630 hits.
Randy Keisler: LHP, drafted in the second round by the New York Yankees in 1998. Successful right away, pitched well in upper minors and reached New York in 2000. Made 10 starts with the Yankees with weak results in '01, then missed all of '02 with injury. Came back in '03 but was never quite the same, drifting through Triple-A. Pitched indy ball last year. Career record 4-4, 6.63 ERA, ERA+67, FIP 6.22, 100/84 K/BB in 151 innings, 174 hits, WAR -1.4.
Kurt Ainsworth: RHP, drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round in 1999, 24th overall. Reached the majors in 2001 and had a good run of pitching over 11 starts for the Giants in 2003 before being traded to Baltimore and then getting hurt. Out of baseball in 2005; he could have been very good if his arm hadn't given out. Career 6-8, 5.19 ERA, 83 ERA+, 4.88 FIP, 90/61 K/BB in 127 innings, WAR 0.8.
Brian Tallet: LHP, drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the second round in 2000. Immediately effective in minors, reached Cleveland in two years, then had injury problems and has bounced between the majors and Triple-A ever since. Career 16-23, 4.65 ERA, ERA+94, FIP 4.76, 327/206 K/BB in 447 innings, 437 hits, WAR+2.2.
Trey Hodges: RHP, drafted by Atlanta Braves in 17th round in 2000. Zipped through minors due to sharp control, reached Atlanta in '02 and spent '03 in bullpen. Injuries struck after that and he drifted in Triple-A the rest of his career. 5-3, 4.77 ERA, ERA+90, FIP 4.78, 72/33 K/BB in 77 innings, 85 hits, WAR-0.1.
Shane Youman: RHP, drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 43rd round in 2001. Reached Pirates in '06 and '07 but couldn't sustain it, has been in independent ball since 2008. Career 3-7, 5.13 ERA, ERA+86, FIP 4.75 , 34/33 K/BB in 79 innings, 80 hits, WAR+0.6.
Roy Corcoran: RHP, signed as an undrafted free agent by the Montreal Expos in 2001. Moved through system fairly quickly, reaching majors with Expos in '04 and has seen action with Nationals and Mariners, still active in Triple-A in 2010. 8-3, 3 saves in majors, 4.17 ERA, ERA+ 104, FIP 4.41, 57/65 K/BB in 110 innings, 116 hits, WAR+0.2.
Billy Sadler: RHP, drafted in the sixth round by the San Francisco Giants in 2003. Hard-throwing reliever reached majors with Giants in 2006 then again in 2008 but spotty command kept him in Triple-A most of the time. 4.53 ERA, ERA+100, FIP 5.57, 50/30 K/BB in 50 innings, 41 hits, WAR -0.5.
Brian Wilson: RHP, drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round in 2003. Was injured in college but took off in the minors after regaining full health, emerging as an excellent closer. 14-16, 134 saves, 3.19 ERA, ERA+136, FIP 3.02, 284/108 K/BB in 262 innings, 231 hits, WAR+6.4.
Greg Smith: LHP, drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth round in 2005. Effective in minors, made 32 starts for Oakland in 2008 then got hurt in '09, pitched badly in Triple-A last year. Career so far 8-18, 4.51 ERA, ERA+94, FIP 5.03, 142/111 K/BB in 229 innings, 228 hits, WAR+1.3.
Charlie Furbush: LHP, drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round in 2007. Missed all of '08 with injury but has been effective in the minors since then and should get a major league chance soon, although he looks like a back-end rotation or bullpen guy to me. Career 20-17, 3.80 ERA, 345/86 K/BB in 332 innings in the minors.
Louis Coleman: RHP, drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fifth round in 2009. Very successful in the minors so far, could see the KC bullpen this year. 2.06 ERA, 125/29 K/BB in 114 innings, 72 hits, including a 48/11 K/BB and 2.23 ERA 40 innings in Triple-A.
Anthony Ranaudo: RHP, drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the supplemental first round in 2010. Obviously we don't know how this will turn out yet. His upside is tremendous if he can avoid the arm problems that dogged him last spring.
This is an impressive list in one way: there aren't that many that didn't reach at least the high minors, and most of them pitched great in A-ball, but in the end most of these guys just didn't pan out. The highest WARs so far are Paul Byrd at +18.2 and Mike Sirotka at +12. If Brian Wilson lasts long enough as a closer, he will end up ranking high as well. We'll have to see if Anthony Ranaudo can buck this trend. He certainly has the highest upside of anyone since Ainsworth.
Loading comments...