Paxton Kling and Sam Dutton also put their names in
Since we last discussed the state of the LSU baseball roster, the Tigers have seen a few more departures and added two players out of the portal.
Three Tiger pitchers have put their names into the portal: Cam Johnson, Sam Dutton, and Nic Bronzini; Paxton Kling also put his name in yesterday. I think it’s fair to say that Johnson and Kling are the two biggest names from LSU’s 2024 roster to enter the portal.
Johnson came to LSU as the highest rated high school prospect to ever make it to campus, even higher than Dylan Crews. His fastball certainly has a lot of heat to it, but control was a big issue for Johnson. Johnson walked 16 batters and threw four wild pitches in just nine innings of work and he wasn’t on LSU’s postseason roster. Despite the control issues, Johnson’s going to be one of the most sought after players in the portal because every baseball program in the country will take a chance on a guy who can throw 99 MPH from the left side.
Kling was one of LSU’s prized jewels in its 2022 class. The No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania, Kling was a top-25 high school prospect and has started games in the outfield in each of the past two seasons. Heck, Kling even got the start in right field and batted leadoff in the 2023 season opening series against Western Michigan.
Kling has good speed and was by far and away LSU’s best defensive option in the outfield this year, but for whatever reason his bat has been virtually non-existent through two years at the collegiate level. After hitting an okay .289 as a freshman, Kling’s batting average tumbled as a sophomore to .222. If there’s power to his bat it hasn’t shown yet. His .317 slugging percentage was the second lowest on the team among players who had 100 ABs.
Kling was supposed to be the heir apparent to Crews in centerfield but his bat kept him out of the lineup. Kling is a draft-eligible sophomore and coming into the 2024 season was a player you’d hope to hold on to like Jared Jones and Griffin Herring. And who knows, maybe he’ll still get drafted but for now it looks like Kling is off to try and find greener pastures.
Dutton’s last appearance in the purple and gold is one to forget. He got the start in LSU’s season-ending loss against North Carolina and was pulled after giving up hits to the first three batters he faced. He appeared in 57 games with 15 starts in three years with the Tigers and has a career ERA of 6.02.
Bronzini came to came to campus as a highly touted prospect but never really got the chance to show it. He took a redshirt in 2023 and recorded no stats. This season he pitched a total of 4.2 innings in six games and his longest outing was two innings against Mississippi State in the series finale. His last outing came against Grambling.
As always a player can take their name out of the portal and return to their original school.
While Jay Johnson’s seen nine of his players enter the portal, he’s starting to add some as well.
It got started yesterday when South Florida’s Chandler Dorsey announced he would be transferring in. Dorsey was USF’s closer this season and had eight saves in 30 appearances. Dorsey posted a 3.60 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 30 innings. The sophomore righty has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
There is a very real chance LSU will head into 2025 without both Tommy White and Bear Jones and if that’s the case, Johnson made sure to get a power bat out of the portal. Enter Indiana State’s Luis Hernandez. The rising senior hit .359 this season with 23 home runs and 76 RBIs. In his career he has played catcher, first base, and DH so he could be the Bear Jones replacement at first or the heir apparent for Hayden Travinski.
Be on the lookout for a third portal addition coming possibly later today. 104.5’s Matt Moscona said on his morning YouTube show that former Wofford pitcher Camden Wicker is expected to transfer today. Wicker pitched against the Tigers in the game that LSU won 13-6 and pitched well, striking out six in four innings.