LSU’s Derek Curiel FINALLY Explains Slow Start

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[00:00:01]Derek Curiel's injury we never knew he had until now. You'll hear it next.

[00:00:06]Locked on LSU. Here we go.

[00:00:14]>> You are Locked on LSU, your daily podcast on the LSU Tigers, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day.

[00:00:25]>> Okay, let's get it. It is Locked on LSU, your team every day. I'm your host Matt Mccona. Derek Curiel is going to have a very interesting decision to make coming up in July. He's very likely going to be a first round pick in the major league draft, but he's not dead set on leaving LSU. You're going to hear that in just a minute. But the thing that was maybe even more interesting from Curiel than his future in the draft talk, which feels like a foregone conclusion, but we'll get there, is what happened to him before this season even started. You might remember Derek Curielle had a little bit of a slow start at the beginning of the season before catching fire at the end of the year and really looking like well Derek Curiel. He started the season 14 for 48. A lot of people were looking at that going that's not very Derek Curiel like and then the guy was hit 354 as a freshman. Well, now we know why Derek Curiel started off so slowly during his sophomore season in Baton Rouge, as he told me on my radio show on Wednesday.

[00:01:33]>> I mean, this is the first time that it's ever been said, but like people don't know that. Uh, I mean, I I broke my ankle in November. Um, so I know that rumor is out there, but that was definitely true. And I kind of had three weeks to prepare for season, and it it was my back foot. Um, and it was kind of hard for me to load into my back leg.

[00:01:50]Obviously, I'm a leg lift guy. Uh so for me kind of going into the season there's no pressure. I never put pressure on myself. Uh baseball's a game that I get to play and I enjoy to play and it's a blessing to play. So like people were saying that I was pressing and trying to hit home runs and like that's not me.

[00:02:04]Like I never try to hit a home run. I'm trying to hit a backside single um backside. You're really good at it too.

[00:02:09]>> I appreciate that. Um, and that's why I mean I I told you guys like we were trying but like there's a lot of stuff that I mean everyone on our team got injured at one point and it was just very unfortunate and I mean I hurt my ankle I think it was like mid November and >> how'd you do it?

[00:02:25]>> Uh I can't say how I did it but >> it was it was not not a good reason. Um but that happened and uh that that's why this the season started how it did. But I felt like I showed some toughness. Um being able to progress through that and not giving up. I mean I I kept trying, kept pursuing. I think Monster M also had a a season similar like kind of started slow. Him and I started slow and uh we just kept getting better as the season went on and I felt like I played my best baseball in Hoover um because the season was on the line and um had a lot of games behind my belt.

[00:02:56]So Derek Curiel had a broken ankle in November. Now you may remember the timeline. Okay, remember what's happening in November. In November, LSU had fired Brian Kelly and were pursuing Lane Keifin. So there wasn't a whole lot of attention this past fall on LSU fall baseball. However, there were rumors out there that Curiel was in a boot and maybe had injured himself. something Jay Johnson never confirmed and clearly Curiel never talked about by his own admission. He said it on my radio show on Wednesday for the first time ever that he had a broken ankle. Now, that certainly explains the start. And he said, you heard him say there, people said he's pressing and trying to hit home runs. And very candidly, that's something we talked about here because I I had a scout um you know, you can see, look, LSU has all the data you could possibly imagine on every uh every player and everything. I mean, it's why, you know, Chief Wanukica does the shifting for every batter that LSU is facing, the defensive shift. I mean, they have the numbers and the metrics on everything.

[00:04:09]It's just what modern baseball is. And so, they you can look at spray charts and and everybody knows this. Coaches know it. Opposing coaches have all that information. Scouts have all that information. Everyone has that information. And so, Derek Curiel early in the season was hitting an inordinate amount of balls in the air to the pull side. So that was why a lot of people were saying, "Is he pressing? Is he trying to elevate the ball? Is he trying to hit homers? Is he trying to show his power for the scouts?" You know, it's interesting too because something else that Curiel said was he, and this was he and I were chatting after the interview.

[00:04:43]And he said, "Look, he had put on so much good weight. He had gained about 20 pounds. He was up to about 195 when that injury happened. And then he couldn't work out. And so he ended up losing about 15 pounds of that good weight he had put on. And so you know that would say for for hitters power is the last thing to come because it's as you physically develop and for a lot of people it happens at a different rate.

[00:05:06]His back control his hand eye his ability to spray the ball is incredible and we all 354 is a freshman in the SEC.

[00:05:12]It's Derk Curry. He's going to be a top 20 pick. So, uh, whenever he comes out.

[00:05:17]But the the point being like, yeah, it stands to reason he would have liked to have seen the power numbers increase this year, why he put on that good weight and worked real hard in the weight room, but he says he lost a lot of that weight whenever he was um, you know, after he uh, he he had had the injury. So, I I think it's it certainly explains what happened to Derek Curiel early in the season. when he finally started feeling like himself again, it showed and he ended up hitting it having a fantastic season for uh for LSU in his sophomore year. As you know, this is a um this is a guy who has been, you know, baseball famous really since he was in you 12, 13 years old. They've been on the the circuit. He they've all everyone's known him and he's been a great player and he finished the season hitting 353.

[00:06:10]So 345 as a freshman. He follows it up in the sophomore season after that injury by hitting 353 despite the slow start. Incredible. So look, Dererick Curiel is going to make a Major League Baseball team very happy when he gets in their organization. The next question is, well, when is he going to get in that organization? It seems like a foregone conclusion. You know, a week ago we looked at, excuse me, we looked at a lot of the draft projections and the lowest you see Kuriel is like 35.

[00:06:38]So, he's going to be a first round draft pick. That's if he agrees to sign and that's something it sounds like he's not pot committed to right now.

[00:06:46]>> Uh, I definitely don't have all my eggs in one basket yet. I mean, there's a definitely talked to coach Johnson. Uh, I obviously want to be a Tiger forever.

[00:06:53]Like, I told him if I there's a coach I could play for forever, it'd be him. Um, so definitely sucks. I mean, I'll be the youngest guy in the draft this year college-wise. Um, like I miss it by like a month or two or whatever it is. Um, so it's definitely a tough decision to make, but um, I'm just going to be praying about it, but like Gavin said, like coming back to LSU to compete for another national championship means the world to me. So, um, I'm excited for whatever lies ahead and it's all in God's hands in my opinion and um, I'm open to whatever.

[00:07:23]>> Okay. Um, a few things. I I look, I have covered this program for a very long time. I I've watched it as a fan, as a kid, and now I've covered the program for a very long time. Part of the game that's played with agents advising players is when you have leverage, when you have draft leverage, you use your leverage to get a bigger number. You you tell MLB teams, "I'll go back to school. I would love to go back to school." Aaron Nola did it. Aaron Nola is a Baton Rouge guy from Catholic.

[00:08:01]All he ever wanted to do was wear the LSU uniform. His brother played and Nola did the same thing when he was a first round pick. He was a first round pick.

[00:08:10]And even after having his name called, he didn't sign until the very end.

[00:08:13]Anthony Rado did the same thing as a first round pick. Held out to the very end on his agent's advice. Like, it's how that game is played. So part of me with the experience I have tells me some of what Derek Curiela is saying there is under his agents advice. I'm not saying he's being disingenuous. I'm saying he's following his agents advice. Like I knew better than to ask him the question, "Hey, what's your number?" Because he's not going to answer it and it's and it's it's honestly a disrespectful question at that point to even make him entertain that. So you have the conversation in a different way. So, I believe that part of Derek Curiel's comments there are under his agents advice about trying to tell MLB teams, I'll go back to school.

[00:08:54]Listen, those comments that Derk Curiel made on my radio show have have all you look at social media, they've already they've been seen a lot and they've they're going to be seen by every MLB team and every agent and every scout and every everything. So, I don't doubt that at all that that's part of it. But I also believe there's something genuine about what Derrick Curiel said about potentially coming back. And I want to talk about that and why I think it's possible we'll do that. And oh by the way, Cooper Moore interviewed him as well and Gavin Gry and Chris Stanfield and all of them have either draft decisions to make or had major injury questions and they dished all of it today. You're going to hear it on this episode. So don't you move. It's locked on LSU, your team every day.

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[00:10:54]Want to dive back into the episode here in just a quick second, but I want to remind you also you can get your daily LSU fix completely adree by joining the Everydayer Club today. Start your 7-day free trial right now and get closer to your team without the interruptions.

[00:11:09]Click the link in the show notes to claim your free trial. So Derek Curiel said there he is not putting all his eggs in one basket. He is open to a return to LSU. Now the important part about that to remember is Derek Curiel is a draft eligible sophomore which means he could return to LSU and still maintain his leverage. For those that don't know how the major league draft works, remember every team I would do this super simple. This is because it's different than any other draft. Every team has a bonus pool of money they can spend on signing bonuses for their draft picks in the top 10 rounds. So, for example, the highest bonus pool this year is the Pittsburgh Pirates with $19.1 million to spend on their top 10 round picks. Every selection in the top 10 rounds has an associated slot value.

[00:12:05]For example, the first pick of the draft is the White Socks. Slot value is 11.3 million. The Rays have the second pick, 10.5. It basically reduces by a million per pick, 9.7, 8.9, 8.3, 7.7, and so on.

[00:12:19]So when you have leverage, you hear say leverage all the time. When you have leverage, you use it. You tell teams, "Hey, pay me my number or I'll go back to school because I can." And that's never had more weight than now because of NIL and revenue share. I'm not saying LSU could put up a multi-million dollar offer to get Derek Curiel back, but Derek Curiel could return to school, let's say, make between a half a million and a million bucks, have another great season, healthy, maybe increase his power numbers, and go from being a top 30 pick to being maybe a top 10 pick.

[00:13:02]And even if you're looking at top 10, think about the difference between 10 and 30. Slot value at 10 overall is 6.675 million. At 30 it's 3.1 million. That's a difference of three and a half million dollars. So if you're Derek Curiel, what if you come back to school, make half a million, three quarters of a million next year at LSU and then go in the draft and make another 3 million on top of what you might get this year and go from 3 to 6 million. Well, now all of a sudden you're net net positive 4 million bucks. Like financially it makes sense for a guy like that if he's willing to take the risk because he has leverage and can make money in school. In a different era, if if you're a draft eligible sophomore and someone rings the phone, you're going to be a first round pick and they're going to pay you two five three million bucks, you take it.

[00:13:58]Because what if you come back to school, you get injured or you don't have a great year and then you slide well and now you've lost your leverage. So you have to take what they give you in that situation. So the the point being Derek Curiel actually does have a decision to make. Now now let me give you my opinion. Okay? Like that's an explanation of factually what could transpire. My opinion is Derrick Curio is a great player. He's going to be a first round pick. his phone is going to ring on draft day and someone is gonna pick him in the first round and he's going to accept their their offer, whatever it is, three, four, five, six million bucks wherever he goes in the draft. And honestly, I don't think it's a mistake that Curielle told me about his ankle injury. He wants that out there. Why would he want that out there?

[00:14:44]Well, that explains the start. That explains maybe the the lack of power numbers. I I'm not saying that he's being disingenuous. I genuinely believe he loves LSU, would be thrilled to come back, play for Jay Johnson, win another championship, you know, endear himself even further to LSU fans. All like I believe all of that is genuinely true what he's saying. I also know there's a business side of this that at some point you have to be logical and smart and that outweighs some of the emotion.

[00:15:13]That's why you hire an agent to advise you and to work deals on your behalf to remove a lot of the emotional attachment so you make the best decision for yourself, your family, your career.

[00:15:24]That's probably for Derek Carell going to be signing a professional contract.

[00:15:28]It's hard for look I I'm not saying it's completely unprecedented. It's happened.

[00:15:33]Kumar Rocker was a top 10 pick who didn't sign and went and ultimately, you know, we know his story which is sort of a um kind of winding. Um there are players out of high school who pass on millions of dollars. William Schmidt passed on a seven figure offer. Um Cam Johnson a year ago passed on a seven figure offer to show up at LSU. It happens in high school because guys think they can improve their value. Um, at this point though, if Kielle is going to be a first round pick making a mult making multi-million dollars, it's hard to imagine that scenario where he would come back. So, it's one to watch. Now, um, another one to watch is going to be Gavin Gry. Okay. Now, Gavin Gry, we know his story from Lake Charles, was the number one player in the state. two-way guy, pitcher, shortstop, hitter, focused on pitching, recorded the final out of the College World Series as a freshman in 2023. Slipped a little in 24, was gonna was projecting to be a starter in 25. Had the back injury, didn't pitch, came back this year and had an up and down year. So, it's a little up in the air as to what's going to happen with Gavin Gry.

[00:16:44]He's got a decision to make and he could return for a fifth season and he is very conflicted on this right now. Um, I mean, I love it here, but uh, just for me, like my age, I'm getting older. Um, I think I can pitch in the big leagues, you know? That's my that's been my dream my entire life is to chase that dream, pitch in the big leagues. And, uh, like I took I'll talk with Coach Johnson and honestly, this year was a bonus, you know what I mean? I was coming out of high school, I wanted to come here cuz I was draft eligible as a sophomore like him.

[00:17:15]>> And I wanted to be here for two years and get out of here and and uh move on and chase my dreams to be in the big leagues.

[00:17:24]>> And then the first two years were kind of like up and down for me, like just not knowing exactly what we were doing as far as pitching and hitting. And so it was a little bit weird. And then after my sophomore year was the first year where we like fully committed to like, all right, we're going do this.

[00:17:40]like I'm not putting the bat down. I'm just going to be a pitcher. And then I got hurt last year. So really this year was kind of a bonus of like I never thought I was going to be here. The only way I was going to be here is if I got injured in my mind.

[00:17:51]>> And so obviously that ended up happening and now I'm here. But >> I mean it's not like oh what's the worst case scenario? Play baseball at LSU another year. You know what I mean? Like such a bad scenario, you know? But, uh, yeah, I mean, we're we want to sign, um, but also I've had a lot of conversation with the coach about seeing what we can do moneywise to come back and also chase another dream of winning a third national championship because that'll put you in a completely different realm of LSU baseball players. The list of players that won three national titles at LSU has got to be minuscule. I looked to find it. Couldn't find it today on my own. And I'm going to ask Bill Frankz and Todd Pits at LSU have all the access to that data. Um because it's hard to find. It would have to be someone who who spent 5 years and either won one in 93 96 97 or 96 97 2000 whatever it is.

[00:18:47]That list is very very small. Something that's there for Gavin Gry. Now a guy we know is going to be back is pitcher Cooper Moore. You're going to hear him tell you the crazy story of how he got hurt and what the plan is for him as he makes his way through this off seasonason of recovery after having surgery on his elbow. You're going to hear that next. It's locked on LSU, your team every day.

[00:19:14]So, Cooper Moore was LSU's best strikethrower this year. That's not even debatable for a team that finished dead last in the SEC in staff erra. A team that finished first in the SEC and walks allowed, meaning they walked more hitters than any other pitching staff.

[00:19:34]The one guy who consistently was able to throw the ball over the plate was Cooper Moore. He had a 338 erra, a 116 whip. He only threw 32 innings on the season because he left his start in week two of conference play against Oklahoma. He made six appearances. He made six starts. He left his week 2 appearance in the SEC against Oklahoma with an injury and never returned. On the season, he struck out 39 and walked just seven. So, he was your consmate strikethrower, which is what LSU really lacked over the course of this season. Well, Cooper Moore has already said coming off of elbow surgery that he's he's coming back, but in the conversation that I had with Cooper Moore, he explained how his elbow injury happened, y'all. And this is a wild story.

[00:20:27]>> I feel great. I I really thought it was going to be a lot more painful and a lot more recovery process, but pain's been very minimal and I can move it around and stuff, so we're headed on the right track.

[00:20:37]>> What What h It was Oklahoma. It was the second SEC week and you had lifted from the start. We didn't see you again the rest of the year. So, what happened?

[00:20:44]>> Yeah. Um, kind of just a freak deal. I was in the weight room after my third start and I got hit right in between my elbow and forearm and it kind of was a bone bruise and it felt fine when I would throw and then after every start, it just kind of lingered and lingered and lingered and the recovery time to get back to 100% just wasn't the same. And I knew something was going on, but I wasn't going to miss a start. I was going to >> give as much as I could, you know, and it turns out it was a elbow fracture in my electronon, which is right right in my elbow. And they said it could have been up there. Excuse me. They said it could have been there for up to two to three years. So, I could have been pitching through it for a long time. And if that's the case, I'm really excited to get back.

[00:21:25]>> Yeah. Wait, you had hit in the weight room? Yeah.

[00:21:28]>> Somebody threw a dumbbell at you. What do you got hit in the weight room?

[00:21:31]>> Uh, I was doing landmine split jerk, which is like an overhead press. It was for speed. I had just thrown a bullpen and the other guys had already been in there working out and sweating all over everything and the bar was pretty slick and I didn't think anything to grab chalk. So I went first rep it flew out of my hand right arm I went like this hit me right there.

[00:21:50]>> Yeah.

[00:21:51]>> Next time use your non-throwing arm right.

[00:21:55]>> Um it's a wild story how he got injured.

[00:21:58]But by the way you heard him say it was after his third start. So like let's break this down. His first start of the year was in the opening weekend against Milwaukee. And remember, he didn't get to a three ball count in that outing. He went six innings, struck out 11, didn't walk anybody. Again, didn't get to a three-ball count. He threw 76 pitches.

[00:22:21]61 of them were strikes. He was amazing in that outing. He throws against Notre Dame, goes five and two/3, strikes out six, walks one. Week three against Nor Eastern strikes out 10 walks one. He's dominating. He went seven and that was he went in seven and two/3s against Jacksonville. Remember said it was after that third start. So remember he goes six innings, five and 2/3, 7 and 2/3.

[00:22:44]His long outing and then after the third he threw 104 pitches. That's when he said the injury happened after the third start. So then they play Sacramento State four and two/3. He strikes out four. He walks three. He hits two.

[00:23:01]Then against Vanderbilt, just four innings, struck out four, walked two.

[00:23:07]Then against Oklahoma, went just four innings, struck out four, didn't walk anybody.

[00:23:14]You can kind of see that's the point where it dropped off. He went six innings, five and two/3, seven and two/3 with 10 strikeouts in one walk. and four and 2/3, four innings, four innings, and he was done. The timeline certainly matches up. So now you look at that guy who, you know, Cooper told me in the interview, he was a draft eligible sophomore. He was a guy who thought he'd pitch two years at Kansas and go pro. Well, ultimately, you know, we saw what happened. He threw his two years at Kansas where, you know, he had a good season through 33 innings as a freshman, started as a sophomore, threw 88 innings, had a 396 ERA, was good, and then ultimately made the decision to come to LSU, pitch in the SEC, take that big leap. Well, he has the injury as we see, and now he's coming back for a fourth year in college. Clearly LSU's made it work financially for him. You got to to get him back. But it's hard not to imagine what that guy may look like if he is 100% full go and if he was potentially limited even when he was you know striking out 10 with one walk over seven and two/3 what do you think he'd be better than that maybe Cooper Moore is your ace next year if he's healthy now the question is how do you get there how do you get him healthy so I did ask the followup to Cooper Moore like what's the plan for you now I mean he's in this interview if you're listening not watching he's in a sling He told me this the arm is in the sling. He doesn't need the sling, but it's really just for comfort and and to prevent him from using the arm, but he doesn't need to be in a sling right now. It's just sort of a preventative type type deal. So, um, but he's obviously not going to pitch this summer. Here's Cooper Moore on what the plan is.

[00:25:07]>> Yeah, I talked with Jay about it and he said, "We're going to take it super super slow and I'm not going to throw in the fall like in the inner squads or any of that." and he said, "I'm not going to take a break over Christmas break. Like, that's the time where I'm going to really build up and I'm going to build up for longer this year." So, that off out of the gates, I can go up to five to six innings.

[00:25:25]>> Okay? So, remember, typically those guys throw in in fall ball, take a break over Christmas, then come back in January, start ramping up to the season in February. In the first month of the season, you start random you increasing your your uh your outings to get ready for SEC play so you can go full board.

[00:25:43]It's also colder in February. So, what he's saying is they're he's not going to pitch in the fall, but in in winter over Christmas when everybody else is gone and shut down to rest, that's when he's going to start his ramp up. So, week one, Cooper Moore should be ready to roll and extend early in the season while everybody else is building up throughout that first month of the season. Cooper Moore should be ready.

[00:26:04]And it makes sense because look, he he's been shut down already now for more than two months. So, a guy that's already been shut down for two months, by the time he starts throwing again, you know, and doesn't throw over the summer and starts working into it in fall ball, then you're going to start to see, you know, a guy that maybe is is more ready to roll and see what Cooper Moore can be at full boore. As we know, Tigers are really going to have to work on that rotation. Dead last in the SEC and ERA this year. How do you improve healthy Cooper Moore? That'll help. All right, that's going to do it for us here on today's episode of Locked on LSU. Thanks so much for hanging out with us here.

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