<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2KhVTU_0w0cKcQA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2KhVTU_0w0cKcQA00" width="1200" height="628" >For LSU baseball in 2023, everything went right. Well, almost everything. The Tigers put together one of the great postseason runs in recent memory behind a team that had future professional baseballers littered across the field and on the mound. One guy who was in the dugout for the end of that run was then freshman pitcher Chase Shores.As a refresher, Shores was a weekend starter to begin the 2023 season, pitching to an ERA of 1.96 in seven appearances with four starts and 15 strikeouts. He had pitched seven innings of three run baseball in conference play before the injury and was starting to elevate his level of play. But in one of the biggest games of his life to that point facing Tennessee at home, Shores released a fastball and instantly knew that something wasn't right in his arm. The diagnosis a few days later confirmed the worst as Shores suffered a torn UCL that would require Tommy John surgery. It's nothing new for a pitcher to sustain that severe an injury and work his way back. "It was the last two pitches of my outing and I instantly knew something was wrong," Shores said. Jay Johnson knew the loss of Shores would be felt well beyond what remained of that eventual championship season. "If you honestly ask me what was the lowest moment of that season it was him blowing his elbow out on a 97 mph fastball to strike a guy out and end the inning," Johnson said. "We knew it would impact our team in 24 by not having him and it certainly did.There was a chance that had LSU advanced past the regional round, that Shores would have returned the next weekend for the super regional round, approximately 14 months post surgery. In the summer, Shores pitched to live hitting twice before being shut down and the ramp up process for fall ball has gone smoothly. During that time, a major emphasis for Shores was getting the feel back for all of his pitches. The fastball command came back relatively quickly but the one pitch Shores devoted a lot of time to this offseason was his slider."I think the slider is probably No. 1 on the list of things I've been working on. Also just commanding the zone, presence on the mound, certain things like that. Velocity has been mid 90s, upper 90s. I'm kind of excited to see where it goes when I get into actual games too," Shores said."He's obviously going to be a guy who pitches a lot for us. So you'll see us do some different things in the fall where we're working on things with him," Johnson said. "He might just be able to blow a hitter away with a great sinking fastball or great changeup where we might use that slider a little more just to continue to develop it."One of the areas that Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie look for in those sessions is how quickly the command comes back and Johnson said Wednesday the 'early returns for him are great.'Johnson estimates that Shores has thrown 14 bullpens in anticipation of being ready to face live hitting starting this weekend. LSU has four different catchers on this roster and Shores has thrown to every single one in anticipation of a competitive fall and spring at that position.Shores will pitch on Sundays this fall, starting this weekend with the start of intrasquad scrimmages. Short of Paul Skenes, Johnson doesn't know that he's recruited a more talented pitcher in his time at LSU and Shores will get to display his immense arm talent fully now that he's healthy. "Getting back out there and competing. It's been a while since I've played in an actual game so I think this fall is gonna be huge just to go back out there and see what I got," Shores said."Missing the last year and a half, I feel like I have a lot to make up for. I've been around and seen how things are supposed to be done. I'm excited to implement that." "He's chomping at the bit. He's been ready to face hitters for a while. Super proud of him. The credit goes to him. He's doing great, super happy to have him out there on the mound. He has a great presence to everything that he does, I think he's shown some good leadership skills with the pitching staff and obviously an important part of what we're gonna do in 2025. It's his time," Johnson said.</div></body>

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NewsBreak

LSU pitcher Chase Shores ready for his triumphant return

For LSU baseball in 2023, everything went right. Well, almost everything. The Tigers put together one of the great postseason runs in recent memory behind a team that had future professional baseballers littered across the field and on the mound. One guy who was in the dugout for the end of that run was then freshman pitcher Chase Shores.

LSU pitcher Chase Shores ready for his triumphant return

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