Three more weeks
Friday was the unofficial start of the 2025 baseball season as Jay Johnson met with reporters for the annual media day at the Champions Club at Alex Box Stadium.
Kade Anderson, Jared Jones, Michael Braswell, and Gavin Guidry also took the podium.
Johnson said that over the next 21 days, his Tigers will have 18 practices including 12 or 13 scrimmages between now and the season opener against Purdue Fort Wayne (2:00 P.M., February 14).
“We’ll have 18 practices over the next 21 days leading into Opening Day,” Johnson said. “We’ll scrimmage about 12 or 13 times including each of the next four days. I don’t know that we’re a young team, but we’re a new team. We’ve only got 12 guys who played in a game for us last year.”
It is very much a new team indeed for Johnson. His weekend rotation will be completely new, as will third base and catcher.
“We have a lot to figure out still relative to where we’re going from a personnel standpoint,” Johnson said. “The goal is to win every game while figuring out what the best team looks like.”
Pitching wise there’s a ton of jobs to be won both in terms of starting and high-leverage, late inning situations. Johnson said there’s about eight core arms that will make up this staff specifically naming Conner Ware (JUCO transfer), Zac Cowen (Wofford transfer), Anthony Eyanson (UC-San Diego transfer), incoming freshmen William Schmidt and Casan Evans, and returners Chase Shores, Gavin Guidry, and Kade Anderson.
“Like it or not, one of our best pitchers is always going to be in the bullpen” Johnson said. “Everybody wants to start. I don’t really know why that’s such an important thing other than to see your name listed. But the most important outs happen from the seventh inning to the ninth inning. And they’re the hardest to get.”
The left side of LSU’s infield could look completely different this season as well. Tommy White is, of course, gone at third base, but there’s a chance LSU could have a new shortstop in 2025. Braswell and Steven Milam will battle for the shortstop position, while it appears Utah Valley transfer Daniel Dickinson will play third base. No matter how it shakes out, it appears that some combination of Dickinson, Braswell, and Milam will be LSU’s starters at second base, shortstop, and third, while Jared Jones mans first base once again.
Speaking of Jones, his power will be heavily relied upon as Johnson said this 2025 team probably doesn’t have the power that last year’s group had with Jones, White, and Hayden Travinski.
“I felt like we ended up being a good offensive team at the end of last year, but it was little bit reliant on Jared and Tommy hitting the ball over the fence,” Johnson said. “And both of them had 20. This year, I don’t know if there is another player who can hit 20 home runs. I don’t know that I want them to try to do that.”
Catcher might be the deepest position on LSU’s team, but also the group with the biggest question mark. Gone are Travinski, Alex Milazzo, and Brady Neal, in their place are four new faces: Blaise Priester, Luis Hernandez, Eddie Yamin, and Cade Arrambide.
“Really pleased with Luis Hernandez. When you see a guy hit 23 homers with a bunch of at bats from a great program, Indiana State’s a great program…that experience is really, really valuable,” Johnson said. “He went into the portal, and then he got through the draft. The unknown was he didn’t catch a lot year because they had a ridiculously good defensive catcher, but he’s exceeded all of my expectations in where’s he’s at defensively.”
Johnson also had high praise for Arrambide, a true freshman who seems to be the future at the position. Arrambide was the No. 1 high school catcher prospect heading into last summer’s MLB Draft, but LSU was able to get him to campus.
“Had he had maybe a lower opinion of himself in terms of a financial ask, he would not be at LSU right now,” Johnson said. “He had an outstanding fall. I think he hit right at .360. The at bats were way more professional than you would anticipate for someone with no exposure to this level of play. He’s obviously got power. The arm strength really jumps off the page at you. He’s well out ahead of maybe where you would think he could be.”
LSU is entering 2025 toward the top of the polls across college baseball and Johnson is excited to get the year going.
“It’s been a good start since we’ve been back, kind of getting our pathway to success or what we believe success for this team is,” Johnson said. “We’ve had some challenges with the weather. We’re excited to get out there. Really looking forward to what’s to come.”