After winning eight games last season, including two in the College World Series, Thatcher Hurd is a lock to be a starter in the weekend rotation. Hurd had his struggles at the start of SEC play and had a bad outing in a series loss to Mississippi State later in the year.
But found his groove in the final weekend of SEC play and had an outstanding outing against Georgia that propelled his great run in the postseason.
Coach Jay Johnson said that by the time the season ended, Hurd was one of the top four pitchers in college baseball.
But there’s a chance Hurd might not be the Friday night starter.
Luke Holman could get the nod for the Tigers on opening day. Holman was Alabama’s ace last season as he went 7-4 with a 3.67 ERA and had 87 strikeouts in 81 innings. Opposing hitters only hit .186 against him.
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D1 Baseball.com recognized Holman as one of the top pitchers in college baseball as he was named to their preseason All-American team.
Shortly after winning the national championship, Jay Johnson boarded a private plane and visited Holman who was in the transfer portal and got his commitment.
“Adding Luke Holman from Alabama was maybe one of the most important things we did to improve this team, I think he was one of the top pitchers in the SEC last year that is returning this year,” said Johnson.
With Paul Skenes and Ty Floyd moving on to the pros, Johnson had to replace his top two starting pitchers from 2023. So, he didn’t stop at Holman.
He also got Gage Jump to transfer from UCLA. His story is like Hurd’s. Both started at UCLA, both got injured and Jump will try to duplicate Hurd’s success in Baton Rouge.
Jump is a left-hander who did not pitch last season for the Bruins. Coming out of high school he was regarded as the top left-hander in the state of California. He’s not big, 6-0, 197 pounds, but he can throw four pitches for strikes.
“I like to stay very aggressive, with pitching coach (Nate) Yeskie the idea of suffocating the zone, putting pressure on the hitter, just really happy to pitch with the talent we have on this team.” said Jump.
Holman, Hurd and Jump could be LSU’s top three starting pitchers. But this is a loaded pitching staff, and Johnson has more depth than his first two seasons at LSU.
He’ll trot a bunch of people to the mound to see what he’s got, as LSU plays eight games during the first ten days of the season.