While chaos breaks out in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, LSU Coach Jay Johnson is watching the transfer portal window closely as he looks to put the Tigers back in a position to play for a national championship.
We’ve seen Lane Kiffin and Will Wade take a patient approach with the portal, and I’m anticipating Johnson will do the same, as the portal players are expected to multiply quickly with several good players seeing their seasons come to an end this past weekend.
But this allows for the players who didn’t figure to be involved in LSU’s future plans to announce their plans to play elsewhere next year.
As of Tuesday morning, five LSU players from the 2026 team have announced they are entering the transfer portal.
Trent Caraway
Caraway was one of the big transfer portal additions last offseason after he displayed a power surge during last year’s NCAA Baseball Tournament. But he only hit two home runs for the Tigers. Ineffectiveness and injuries resulted in a difficult season for the West Coast kid on the Bayou.
Daniel Harden
It was going to be hard for the former Catholic High baseball and football star to crack the starting line-up in 2026, because the outfield was set well before the season started. But even when Harden got his opportunities, he ended up hitting a team low of .105.
Jaden Noot
Noot was expected to play a significant role in 2026 after appearing in 20 games during LSU’s 2025 national championship season. Noot was one of several pitchers who did not take that step in development. In 32.2 innings in 2025, Noot had an ERA of 4.13. In 2026, in just 9.1 innings, Noot had an ERA of 6.75. The California native leaves Baton Rouge with two national championship rings, as he was recovering from Tommy John Surgery when the Tigers won it in 2023.
DJ Primeaux
Primeaux was on both the 2023 and 2025 national championship teams. He redshirted in 2023, and in 2025, the lefty from Central High School made 22 relief appearances and posted an ERA of 3.86. But in 2026, Primeaux made just four appearances and only one appearance in an SEC game, walking four in 2.1 innings and allowing two runs.
Mavrick Rizy
The six-foot-nine right-hander from Massachusetts struggled with his command in 2026. His ERA was actually lower in 2026 compared to 2025, 4.22 to 4.74.
But in 21.1 innings pitched, he walked 19, hit seven other batters, and threw eight wild pitches.
His season epitomized LSU’s pitching woes.
