“We’re not defending anything. You’re being hunted, you’re kind of on defense, but we’re not doing that. We’re attacking 2024 and this opportunity.”
After winning a seventh national championship in program history, it has been a fun offseason for the LSU Tigers. However, head coach Jay Johnson and his team never stopped working. The Tigers plan to use that same motto during the 56-game season as Johnson said above.
At first glance, this LSU team looks built to contend for a second straight title, but replacing Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, last summer’s Top 2 picks in the MLB Draft, feels like a tall task.
But the National Coach of the Year from the Tigers’ magical 2023 title run is very pleased with how preparations for a title defense have gone.
“We’ve had a great six and a half, seven months since ending 2023,” Johnson said at LSU Media Day. “Very proud of the players in terms of what they’ve done and what they’ve put in. We have a lot of really good development stories that will come to light as we get into the 2024 season.”
“I’m really pleased with how they’ve operated both on and off the field. It’s always a goal of ours to be a low-drama program and to this point, we continue to be successful in that. Another really good semester in the classroom as well, the second one where we’ve exceeded any team GPA for LSU baseball.”
The major piece returning from last season’s group is Tommy White, the All-American third baseman who led the country in RBI with 105 on the year. The sophomore also blasted 24 home runs and produced a slash line of .377/.435/.729.
“He’s a special dude,” Johnson said. “Just the competitive nature is second to none, when he steps in the batter’s box it’s something else. Obviously, we saw that to the tune of 105 RBIs. And it wasn’t just 105 RBIs it was always when we needed it.”
Johnson also mentioned that White had shoulder surgery right after Omaha and missed the entire fall, but “you wouldn’t know he didn’t take an at-bat for six months with the way he looks now.”
“I’m proud of him for that. Complete the word that that I would use to describe him, and super excited about him being here this year again.”
Other key returners for the Tigers include Thatcher Hurd, who is getting the Opening Day start on Friday when LSU hosts VMI to open the 2024 season, Gavin Guidry, Nate Ackenhausen, Hayden Travinski, Jared Jones, and more.
However, LSU made the largest jump with recruiting and the transfer portal during the offseason. The freshman class the Tigers brought in was ranked in the Top 5 nationally and was headlined by Jake Brown, a 6’2″ outfielder from Sulphur who has a ton of upside. According to D1Baseball Managing Editor Kendall Rogers: “Brown is an exceptional athlete who runs like a gazelle and looks a surefire high-impact guy from day one. Brown has an advanced approach at the plate and has some serious pop in his bat. He looks like a sure thing as the season nears.”
Johnson also brought in Alabama transfer Luke Holman, who appears to have slotted himself into the Saturday pitcher role, and Gage Jump from UCLA. Jump is a highly touted prospect, but didn’t pitch last season due to Tommy John Surgery.
The final key pick up for LSU was Michael Braswell Jr, a shortstop that transferred from South Carolina. Jay Johnson spent time during the Tigers’ run in Omaha recruiting Braswell to the program.
“My first thoughts was he (Braswell) went in the transfer portal, I yelled at Josh to give me his number, like yesterday,” Johnson said. “We had just beaten Kentucky in the Super Regional and I remember being happy we’re going to Omaha, but the way my brain works like basketball, hard to replace, that kind of that caliber defense (of Jordan Thompson). So I was talking to Michael, who’s excited to hear from us. He said I’ll come down when you guys get back from Omaha and I was like no, why don’t you come tomorrow. So he flew in the next day and we had a good couple days.”
LSU, ranked second in the preseason polls, will begin their title defense Friday afternoon when the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) will come into Alex Box Stadium at 2:00 p.m. Pregame will begin at 1:30 on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette & 104.1 Lake Charles.