LSU baseball didn't end the 2024 season the way it wanted, only advancing to the Chapel Hill Regional championship and no further.
Since the close of the campaign, there's been a couple of oh-no's pertaining to next season's roster but for Jay Johnson and staff, there's been far more oh-yeah's to celebrate. The coaches have hit the transfer portal hard to build the team for 2025 and they also got a couple of high school signees to pull their name from the 2024 MLB Draft and enroll at school, headlined by hometown right-handed pitcher William Schmidt.
The MLB Draft for LSU, as a whole, was a win as guys like Jared Jones, Josh Pearson, Michael Braswell and a few others weren't selected, thus paving their way back to the team and providing plenty of experience and leadership as Johnson will welcome back six starters in total off last season's club.
Most of the players lost to professional baseball were expected, like Tommy White as well as LSU's top two starters Gage Jump and Luke Holman.
REQUIRED READING LSU football fan poll: Vote on who you believe is the Tigers' biggest rival?
Here's an early look at what LSU's roster will look like as it'll gear up for fall baseball in a few, short months before returning to the field next season.
LSU baseball pitching staff will have different look
LSU will have to replace it's Friday and Saturday starters in Jump and Holman. Because of that, the coaching staff attacked the portal hard for guys that had plenty of starting experience to help fill the void and compete for the Southeastern Conference weekend rotation.
San Diego transfer Anthony Eyanson (RHP) appears to be a solid candidate to fill one of those spots for LSU. Nicholls transfer Jacob Myers (RHP), Wofford transfer Zac Cowan (RHP) will certainly factor into things as well.
How quickly can Schmidt develop to the college game? Another pitcher to watch for will be sophomore Chase Shores (RHP), who missed all of 2024 due to recovering from Tommy John surgery. Johnson has been high on Shores since he recruited him and with his pitches and mix, the right-hander could be at or near the top of the rotation.
As far as the bullpen, the Tigers welcome back junior Gavin Guidry (RHP), Kade Anderson (LHP), who started some midweek games last season, Jaden Noot, Kade Woods and D.J. Primeaux.
LSU added nine pitchers from the transfer portal and another three freshmen.
LSU baseball lineup sees return from several key players
Jones not getting drafted felt like one of the biggest wins for LSU. The big righty has monster power and if he continues to improve his strikeout rate, he'll be a force to reckon with in his junior season in Baton Rouge. Other guys like Braswell and Pearson further the lineup's ability while returning sophomores Steven Milam, Ashton Larson and Jake Brown will only be expected to be better.
Catcher and third base are where the biggest questions loom for Johnson and company but transfer portal acquisitions in Utah Valley's Daniel Dickinson and JUCO catcher Blaise Priester seem able to take the reins at those positions. It's likely Indiana State transfer slugger Luis Hernandez, who will be a senior in 2025, will handle DH duties.
Other players that could challenge for playing time are Auburn outfield transfer Chris Stanfield and Dayton first baseman Eddie Yamin.
LSU baseball starting lineup, pitching rotation projections
- Steven Milam, Soph., 2B
- Josh Pearson, Sr., LF
- Daniel Dickinson, Jr., 3B
- Jared Jones, Jr., 1B
- Luis Hernandez, Sr., DH
- Michael Braswell, Sr., SS
- Jake Brown, Soph., CF
- Blaise Priester, Jr., C
- Ashton Larson, Soph. RF
Starting rotation
Friday: Anthony Eyanson (RHP), Jr.
Saturday: Jacob Mayers (RHP), Jr.
Sunday: Zac Cowan (RHP), Jr.
LSU MLB DRAFT TRACKER Tracking LSU baseball players as they come off the board of 2024 MLB Draft
LSU TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER LSU baseball 2024 transfer portal tracker: Who's in, who's out for Jay Johnson
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Projecting LSU baseball's lineup, pitching rotation post-2024 MLB Draft, transfer portal
Most Popular
Comments / 0