With Blake Trahan being selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, the UL baseball team anticipates having a huge void to fill at shortstop in 2016.
Ragin’ Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux knows who will not plug it: Stefan Trosclair, the team’s No. 2 hitter behind centerfielder Kyle Clement and leader in home runs and RBIs in 2015.
“Trosclair’s gonna stay at second base for us,” Robichaux said two days after UL was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a Game 3 Baton Rouge Super Regional loss to No. 1-ranked LSU and on the same day Trahan went 84th overall to the Reds.
Robichaux isn’t sure precisely whom it will be, but he has several candidates in mind to succeed UL’s three-year starter at short during a stretch in which the Cajuns made three Regionals appearances, won two Sun Belt Conference Tournaments and made back-to-back Super Regional appearances in 2014 and 2015.
“He does a lot of things for you that now … will be gone,” Robichaux said of Trahan, who along with first baseman Greg Davis was one of just two Cajuns to start all 55 games for 42-23 UL in 2013.
“But we have a bunch of guys coming in (so) I think somebody’s gonna be hold that position down. … You have Dylan Poncho coming in. You have Hunter Kasuls coming in. You’ve got Kennon Fontenot back, you’ve got Joe (Robbins) back. All those are shortstops. … So we’ve got a nucleus of guys that are athletic enough to play that position.”
Then there’s one he didn’t mention.
Brad Antchak has not yet been officially announced as a Cajun signee, preventing Robichaux from discussing him publicly, but that’s expected to happen soon.
The Canadian from Delta, British Columbia, hit .364 with 13 doubles, 10 homers and 55 RBIs in 44 juco games this season for Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, and he was selected in the 39th round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros.
Antchak identifies himself as a “Louisiana Lafayette commit” on his Twitter account, which carries the motto “When life gives you bad hops, make great plays.”
The left-handed hitting Kasuls also played football at Foster High in Richmond, Texas, outside of Houston.
“Hunter is an athletic, fast-twitch middle infielder with outstanding actions and range,” Robichaux said after he signed last fall. “With future strength gains, he projects as an impact (NCAA Division I) middle infielder, as his baseball IQ and skill set are already very high.”
Poncho is from Kinder High, the same tiny Louisiana-town school that produced Trahan.
He helped lead the Yellow Jackets to Class 2A state titles in 2014 and 2015, was ranked as the No. 8 prospect in Louisiana by Perfect Game during his junior season, previously was committed to LSU but signed instead with UL.
“Dylon was a huge addition late in the fall,” Robichaux said. “He’s just a throw-back baseball player with tremendous feel for the game.
“Coming to us from the same high school as Blake Trahan, he often reminds you of Blake with his mannerisms – the hands and feet work, and he flashes a big arm across the infield.
“For a guy who’s only 5-(foot)-8,” Robichaux added after the signing, “the ball jumps off his bat, as he is able to generate occasional power.”
Robichaux hasn’t ruled out returning reserves Fontenot or Robbins either, though he plans to keep Robbins as a utility player who can also play in the outfield.
“You’ve got some experience with Joe (Robbins),” Cajun coach said of the Tioga High product.
“We’ve already talked to Kennon Fontenot. … We’re gonna allow him to also come back at shortstop, but we’re gonna continue to work him like we did Joe.”
Robbins, who arrived at UL as a shortstop, began 2015 in centerfield but wound up as a platoon starter late in the season at third base with returning Brenn Conrad.
Fontenot, from Barbe High, started the season at second base, where he struggled defensively, as a true freshman, then moved to the outfield, where he played as a reserve.
Robichaux suggested plenty of players will be moved around next fall, when the Cajuns work to find their proper places in the field.
“We’re trying to get back to (being) very athletic at every position,” he said. “The reason LSU is so good is they’re athletic at every position, and … we want to stay athletic.”
Why did Trahan slip to third round?
Eight possible reasons UL shortstop Blake Trahan went from an anticipated first two rounds-pick to a third-round selection of the Cincinnati Reds in this week’s MLB Draft:
•1. PROJECTED POSITION: Not all teams see Trahan as a shortstop at the next level, and infielders who aren’t shortstops are much less likely to go in the top two rounds.
•2. THE ANGELS FACTOR: Some teams might have backed off because they thought the Los Angeles Angels were going to take him in the first round, but the Angels passed to instead take a catcher (Fresno State’s Taylord).
•3. THE THROW: Even though he was clocked at 90 miles per hours when pitching at Kinder High, some teams perhaps questioned the strength of Trahan’s arm because he frequently flips the ball to first base with a three-quarters throw.
•4. ANGELS FACTOR II: The Angeles might have taken Trahan early if they had more than two picks in the first two rounds, but they did not and – perhaps with split front-office views on Trahan – they opted for an outfielder (Georgia high schooler Jahmal Jones) with their second selection.
•5. THE BAT: A career .331 hitter and not a real power hitter, Trahan’s batting average this season dropped from .385 in late April to .315 by season’s end; he also was 1-for-19 in the NCAA Tournament.
•6. LOTS OF SHORTSTOPS: Teams that really wanted a shortstop probably took one in the first round – eight went, including the draft’s top three picks, Vanderbilt’s Dansby Swanson, LSU Alex Bregman and Florida higher school Brandon Rogers – so they were less inclined to select one in the second round.
•7. MONEY: While it’s unknown just what Trahan’s number was, it’s possible some teams backed off because – with potential negotiating leverage that he could return to UL for his senior season – they thought his bonus-money expectation was too high.
•8. DRAFT FACTOR: It’s the draft. Drafts can be quite crazy and decidedly unpredictable.
– Tim Buckley
UL signee Sensley selected
The Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday selected Steven Sensley, a UL baseball signee from Baton Rouge and LSU-Eunice, in the 38th round (1,138th overall) of the MLB Draft.
Sensley, picked as a first baseman, was the only Ragin’ Cajuns signee taken in the three-day, 40-round draft.
Sensley, a left-handed power hitter who can also play in the outfield, had 21 homers for NJCAA Division II national-champion LSU-E in 2015.
“He’s a man,” UL coach Tony Robichaux said of Sensley, adding that the signee put a ball in the upper deck of Marlins Park – with a wooden bat – during a recent workout with Miami.
Several other current Cajuns and their signees considered pro prospects – second baseman Stefan Trosclair, catcher Nick Thurman, high school pitchers Nick Lee and Hogan Harris and high school catcher Ryne Ray – were not selected as some with UL suspected they might be.
Via- Tim Buckley