LSU baseball continues pitching staff rebuild with yet another transfer portal addition

LSU coach Jay Johnson continues to scour the country for arms in the transfer portal and the latest commitment comes from Anthony Eyanson of Lakewood, California.

Eyanson was at UC-San Diego last season and was named to the All-Big West Second team. The right-hander was 6-2 in 14 appearances with a 3.07 ERA. Eyanson struck out 85 hitters in 82 innings and opposing hitters had a .190 batting average.

Eyanson became the Tritons Friday night starter midway through the season and is certainly a candidate to be a weekend starter for the Tigers, with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s. Eyanson also features a curveball and a hard slider.

He’s the seventh pitcher out of the transfer portal that has committed to LSU, all of them are right-handers.

Would not be surprised if LSU gets a couple of left-handers out of the transfer portal, with southpaw Gage Jump likely signing with a Major League team along with lefty reliever Justin Loer.

Hard-throwing left-hander Cam Johnson has already departed, committing to Oklahoma.

There’s also a chance the Tigers lose left-hander Griffin Herring in the draft. Right-hander Luke Holman will certainly sign with a pro team.

But this influx of pitchers out of the transfer portal gives Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie options for weekend and midweek starters.

Zac Cowan (Wofford), Luke Hayden (Indiana State) and Jacob Meyers (Nicholls) were starters at their former schools.

Six-foot-five right-hander Deven Sheerin from St. Mary’s struck out 109 in 70 innings and could be another potential starter.

Chander Dorsey from South Florida is a potential closer after recording seven saves for the Bulls last season.

Connor Benge of Dallas Baptist is a bullpen piece.

There are also potential weekend starters from the 2024 team. Chase Shores is coming off Tommy John Surgery, but if healthy has Friday night stuff. Jaden Noot is another pitching coming off of Tommy John Surgery that will be ready to go in 2025. He was ranked as the top pitcher in California in the Class of 2022.

Left-hander Kade Anderson is coming off an encouraging freshman season.

Next week’s Major League Baseball draft will have a big say on what LSU’s pitching staff will look like. It’s unlikely LSU commit William Schmidt from Catholic High and the top right-handed high school pitcher in the draft will make it to LSU.

Two other commitments to keep an eye on.

Left-hander Conner Ware from Pearl River Community College impressed scouts at the MLB draft combine.

Six-foot-eight left-hander Boston Bateman is another top-50 MLB draft prospect and there’s a chance he will not make it.