Eight former LSU players appear on Major League Baseball active rosters as the 2025 MLB season opens on Thursday.
Former Tigers appearing on MLB active rosters include pitcher Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates), outfielder Dylan Crews (Washington Nationals), infielder DJ LeMahieu (New York Yankees), infielder Alex Bregman (Boston Red Sox), pitcher Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies), pitcher Kevin Gausman (Toronto Blue Jays), infielder Josh Smith (Texas Rangers) and outfielder Jake Fraley (Cincinnati Reds).
Skenes, who made his MLB debut on May 11 of last season, was voted the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year. He enjoyed a remarkable first season, posting an 11-3 record and a 1.96 ERA in 133.0 innings (23 starts) with 32 walks and 170 strikeouts. He was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game, becoming just the fifth rookie to start on the mound in the Midsummer Classic.
Skenes was chosen by Pittsburgh as the No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 MLB Draft. Skenes and Crews (No. 2 overall selection by Washington) became the first players from the same school to be selected Nos. 1-2 in a single draft.
At LSU, Skenes was the 2023 Dick Howser Award winner, the D1 Baseball National Player of the Year, and the SEC Pitcher of the Year, as he helped lead the Tigers to the National Championship. He compiled a 13-2 record and a 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings with 20 walks and an SEC-record 209 strikeouts, and he finished No. 1 in the nation in strikeouts (209), strikeouts per nine innings (15.33) and WHIP (0.75).
The product of Lake Forest, Calif., in 2023 finished No. 2 in the nation in ERA (1.69), No. 3 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.45), and No. 5 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.28). He was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series, as he was 1-0 in two starts with a 1.15 ERA in 15.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with two walks and 21 strikeouts.
Crews, who was promoted to the Nationals’ MLB roster on August 26, 2024, batted .426 (110-for-258) for LSU’s 2023 National Championship team with 16 doubles, two triples, 18 homers, 70 RBI and 100 runs. He was voted to the College World Series All-Tournament Team, batting .375 (12-for-32) in the CWS with one double, one triple, one homer, three RBI and 11 runs scored.
He finished No. 1 in the nation in 2023 in runs scored (100), No. 1 in walks (71), No. 2 in on-base percentage (.567), No. 2 in base hits (110) and No. 3 in batting average (.426). Along with claiming the 2023 Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s best amateur player, Crews was voted the 2023 Southeastern Conference Male Athlete of the Year, encompassing all SEC sports.
Crews, a product of Longwood, Fla., posted a .380 career batting average in 196 games over three seasons (2021-23) at LSU with 43 doubles, eight triples, 58 home runs, 184 RBI and 237 runs. He was a two-time consensus First-Team All-American, and he was voted the SEC Baseball Player of the Year in 2022 and 2023.
He was a two-time member of the SEC Community Service Team for his exemplary work in the Baton Rouge area with families affected by autism, and he was named to the 2023 SEC Academic Honor Roll.
LeMahieu, a product of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who is entering his 15th MLB season and his seventh with the Yankees, is a three-time MLB All-Star and has won batting titles in both the American League with the Yankees and the National League with the Colorado Rockies.
A four-time Gold Glove recipient and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, LeMahieu played at LSU in 2008 and 2009 and signed with the Chicago Cubs after he was selected in the second round of the ’09 MLB Draft. LeMahieu was the starting second baseman for LSU’s 2009 CWS championship team.
Bregman, who is entering his 10th MLB season and his first with the Red Sox, played at LSU from 2013 through 2015 and led the Tigers to two College World Series appearances. The No. 2 overall selection by the Astros in the 2015 MLB Draft, Bregman was a two-time first-team all-American at LSU, and he was named the recipient of the 2013 Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s best shortstop.
Bregman, a product of Albuquerque, N.M., made his MLB debut with the Houston Astros in July 2016, and he helped lead the Astros to four AL pennants and the 2017 and 2022 World Series titles as the club’s starting third baseman.
He was named the 2018 All-Star Game MVP after blasting the game-winning home run for the American League, and he was named the recipient of the 2019 Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive player at third base in the AL. Bregman was an American League Gold Glove Award winner in 2024.
Nola, a Baton Rouge native, enters his 11th season in the Philadelphia rotation, and he was instrumental in the Phillies’ drive to the 2022 National League pennant. He was selected in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Phillies, and he was named a 2018 National League All-Star.
Nola finished third in the 2018 NL Cy Young Award voting after posting a 17-6 record with a 2.37 ERA. In 2022, he registered the most strikeouts (235) with fewer than 30 walks (29) in Major League Baseball History.
Nola was a two-time first-team All-American at LSU, and he was voted SEC Pitcher of Year in both 2013 and 2014. He completed his three-year LSU career with a 30-6 record, a 2.09 ERA and 345 strikeouts in 332.0 innings.
Gausman, who pitched at LSU in 2011 and 2012, begins his 13th MLB season and his fourth with the Blue Jays. He was voted to the 2023 American League All-Star team, and he helped lead Toronto to a playoff berth in 2023 by posting a 12-9 mark with a 3.16 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 185.0 innings.
Gausman was a 2021 National League All-Star with the San Francisco Giants, recording a 14-6 mark with a 2.81 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 192 innings. The native of Centennial, Colo., earned first-team All-America honors at LSU in 2012, and he was selected in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles.
Smith, a Baton Rouge product, was called up to the Rangers’ MLB roster in May of 2022, and he helped lead Texas to the club’s first World Series title in 2023. He was the recipient of the 2024 Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive player in the American League at the utility position, seeing action at third base, at shortstop and as an outfielder.
Smith was the second-round selection of the New York Yankees in the 2019 MLB Draft and was traded in July 2021 from the Yankees to the Rangers.
He played at LSU from 2017-19, and he was the Tigers’ starting shortstop in 2019 after missing most of the 2018 season with a stress reaction in his vertebrae. He was the starting third baseman for LSU’s 2017 College World Series runners-up team, earning Freshman All-America and Freshman All-SEC recognition.
Smith, a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll as a finance major, was LSU’s leading hitter in 2019, batting .346 (89-for-257) with 17 doubles, two triples, nine homers, 41 RBI, 72 runs and 20 steals in 24 attempts.
Fraley begins his seventh MLB season and his fourth with Cincinnati after three years with the Seattle Mariners. The Tampa Bay Rays’ second-round draft choice in 2016, he was traded to Seattle in November 2018 and first advanced to the Major League roster in August 2019.
Fraley, a native of Middletown, Del., helped lead LSU to the SEC championship and a College World Series berth in 2015, and he was named the recipient of LSU Baseball’s 2016 Skip Bertman Award as the player who best exemplifies the spirit of the program.
LSU has had at least one former player make his MLB debut in 30 of the past 34 seasons. The Tigers have produced a total of 87 Major Leaguers during their illustrious baseball history.
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