Will LSU baseball move star releiver Zac Cowan to the starting rotation in 2026?

USA Today

3 days ago

LSU baseball received good news this summer when pitcher Zac Cowan announced his return for the 2026 season. Cowan, who spent the first two years of his career at Wofford, emerged as LSU's top reliever in 2025.
After posting a 2.94 ERA and striking out 60 batters in 52 innings, Cowan certainly got the looks of a few MLB scouts. But as Cowan remained on the draft board, it became clear a team would need to pay well over slot value to convince Cowan to turn pro.
With Cowan's return, LSU retains a much-needed arm. LSU lost three pitchers to the draft -- Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, and Chase Shores. All three played key roles on LSU's march to winning the national title. With Anderson and Eyanson gone, LSU is down a couple of aces.
Casan Evans, who starred as a freshman, is a slam-dunk to take on a full-time role in the starting rotation. But what about Cowan?
Cowan has experience as a starter and a reliever. He's proven to be capable in both roles, but in 2026, it will be a matter of where LSU needs him more.
Why Zac Cowan could join LSU baseball's starting rotation in 2026
Cowan was one of college baseball's top starters in 2024. In 17 starts, he pitched 110 innings with a 3.35 ERA. The strikeout-to-walk ratio was close to elite, striking out 10.1 batters per nine innings while walking just 2.4. Wofford was even better than the stats suggest with his ERA being inflated by one nine-run outing.
Cowan was more than capable of handling the starter workload, tossing over 100 pitches on five occasions in 2024.
In his 17 starts in 2024, Cowan only failed to complete the sixth inning twice. Working as a starter in the SEC is more of a grind, and even the league's best pitchers falter, but Cowan has the baseline talent to give LSU competency as a starter. Cowan's level of command plays a role in that. It's easier to pitch deep into games when staying out of three-ball counts.
Cowan was called upon to make a start for LSU in the College World Series and delivered. Against one of the best lineups in the country, on the biggest stage, Cowan pitched 5.1 innings and allowed just one run.
Why Zac Cowan could remain in LSU baseball's bullpen
LSU's bullpen was inconsistent in 2025 -- the only trusted arms were Cowan and Evans. With Evans clearly moving to the rotation, LSU may want to keep a trusted arm in the pen. With the level of hitters in the SEC, it's hard to find relievers of Cowan's caliber. And LSU doesn't have many better options on the team.
If Cowan isn't in LSU's starting rotation, he can serve as a Swiss Army knife. He can close some games, get LSU out of jams in others, and make long relief appearances when needed. But if Cowan were a starter, he'd be penciled into a role.
And while Cowan has proven it as a starter at Wofford, you don't know what you're going to get facing SEC competition week in and week out. It's a different kind of grind. Cowan was inconsistent down the stretch in 2025, with his command faltering in longer outings. Those issues could appear again if Cowan were a starter.
Bottom Line
For now, expect Cowan to be a starter in 2025. The upside is too great to keep Cowan in the bullpen another year. Cowan has a chance to be one of the SEC's most effective arms and if that's the case, LSU needs to get more than 60 innings from one of its top pitchers.