As I write this article, there are nine players who were on the 2024 LSU baseball roster who have entered the transfer portal. The list includes two promising players, center fielder Paxton Kling and left-hander pitcher Cam Johnson.
Both players were expected to have significant roles on the team this past season, but they struggled, and their opportunities were limited.
The LSU coaching staff does not want them to go, but this is the reality of the transfer portal landscape.
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Johnson says he takes pride in building programs, but you can’t do that anymore. You must take it one year at a time.
“I want the guy that Skip Bertman was able to redshirt and get in there in some type of role, and elevate that role and then become a player that everybody around here remembers, the reality of that is much more difficult to do in this landscape today, so we have to adjust, we have to adapt, improvise and overcome that.”
While Johnson is losing guys to the transfer portal, he’s also gaining.
On Monday, Johnson received a commitment from power hitter Luis Hernandez who hit 23 home runs with 76 RBIs and hit .359 at Indiana State. He can play first base and catch.
South Florida right-hander Chandler Dorsey has also committed to the Tigers. He has a fastball in the mid-90s and had 41 strikeouts in 30 innings this past season at USF.
With as many as eleven Tigers who could be selected in next month’s Major League Baseball draft, Johnson is also looking at the junior college ranks to rebuild the roster.
He’s adding a couple of local products. Catcher Blaise Priester had a standout high school career at Live Oak High School in Livingston Parish. This past year he hit .377 with 14 home runs for Meridian Community College.
Former Catholic High of Baton Rouge star Daniel Harden is set to come to LSU. He hit .309 this past season at McLennan Community College.