LSU Tigers pitcher Eric Walker is ready to go with no limitations or restrictions three weeks before LSU opens their baseball season. Walker missed last season entirely after suffering an elbow injury known as “Tommy John” in the 2017 College World Series. The junior right hander looked back on a grueling rehab. “It’s been a process to say the least,” said Walker. “I think the 15 or 16 months recovering I’ve spent coming back…it’s a credit to the coaches and my teammates. I couldn’t have done this by myself.”
Walker will be the Tigers Sunday starting pitcher, a spot he held as a freshman before the injury. I asked Walker if his velocity is where it needs to be post-surgery. “I told coach in the fall I don’t want to know. I don’t really care what the number is right now. My game is not velocity anyways. I don’t want to know,” said Walker.
Eric Walker is a fierce competitor, who doesn’t rely on throwing hard. He’s a crafty right hander, who frustrates hitters with finesse pitching and accuracy. You have to be really dialed in as a hitter to beat him.
LSU baseball head coach Paul Mainieri told me Walker will be on a 65 pitch limit opening weekend. Traditionally, Mainieri puts pitch counts on all of his pitchers in the first month or so of the season, but with Eric Walker coming off a surgery of that magnitude, the leash will be a little shorter for him.